Unit Nineteen Wrong Number
"Well, that's a bit odd,' said Sheila.
'What?' I asked.
"That phone call, she replied. 'I don't know who it was. He was talking
about something I couldn't understand, and then he just broke off
in mid-sentence and hung up.'
'Maybe he realised he had mistaken you for someone else,' I pointed
out.
'No doubt something simple lies behind it,' she replied, going
over to the window. 'But doesn't it strike you as a bit odd
that it's the third time this week that it's happened?"
Notes
BREAK OFF E In the middle of his lecture he broke off to drink
some water.
HANG UP E At the end of a telephone conversation you hang up.
MISTAKE FOR BC You can mistake one thing or person for another
e.g. I beg your pardon; I mistook you for my sister."
POINT OUT ABC You point out something to someone who has not seen it.
Exercises using verbs from the passage
A Complete these sentences:
1 I wonder what
his strange behaviour.
2 He
in mid-sentence and stared past my shoulder.
3 She something he had overlooked.
4 If you hadn't been here, I would have
it
a genuine antique.
5 I would never have noticed the fault if you had not
it
to
me.
6 She
before I could apologise.
7 I'm sorry; I
your
umbrella
mine.
8 The fact that there was a dead bird on the doorstep me rather curious.
B Answer these questions:
1 When would you hang up?
2 Does it strike you as odd that there are no detailed photographs of the Loch
Ness Monster?
3 What explanation do you think lies behind the story of the Loch Ness Monster?
4 What does a tourist guide do?
5 Have you ever been mistaken for someone else?
6 When would you break off during a conversation?
7 Is it easy to mistake a peach for an apricot?
8 When you have a telephone conversation, do you usually hang up before the
other person?
C Use the following pairs of verbs in sentences of your own:
1 strike one as, break off.
2 hang up, mistake for.
3 point out, lie behind. hang up.
4 break off,
A Vb + prep. + NP. B Vb+NP+ prep. C Vb pron.
+ prep. D Vb + prep. + pron. E Intrans.
19
Exercise: