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25. THE OPEN DOOR Yesterday was the anniversary of the terrible tragedy that happened to Jane’s aunt Mrs Dunley. Jane, as every year, came to see her aunt. Three years ago, her husband and her two young sons went off hunting, but they never came back. They crossed the moors and were all engulfed in a treacherous fog. Their bodies were never recovered. That was the dreadful part of the tragedy. Jane was there yesterday. Her poor aunt always thinks that they will come back one day, they and the little brown spaniel that was lost with them, and walk through that door just as they used to do. That’s why the door is kept open every evening till dusk. Sometimes on a still, quiet evening Jane almost got a creepy feeling that they will walk in through that door. And that was one of those evenings. “I hope you don’t mind the open door”, she used to say to Jane, “but my husband and sons will be home directly from shooting, and they always come in this way. Unfortunately, there is scarcity of birds and there are fewer and fewer ducks in winter.” Jane always tried to turn the talk on to a less ghastly topic. It was certainly an unfortunate coincidence that Jane should have paid her visit on this tragic anniversary. Her aunt’s eyes were constantly straying past her to the open door and the lawn beyond. Just then, suddenly, Mrs Danley brightened into alert attention. “Here they are at last!” she cried, “just in time for tea. They look muddied up to the eyes.” Jane shivered slightly and turned towards her aunt with a look of sympathetic comprehension. Then she looked in the same direction when, in a chill shock of fear, she stared out through the open door with a dazed horror in her eyes. In the deepening twilight three figures were walking across the lawn towards the door; they all carried guns under arms, a tired brown spaniel kept close at their heels. “Here we are, my dear! Fairly muddy, but most of it’s dry.” Jane dashed off without a word of goodbye or apology. One would think she had seen a ghost. 1- Reproduce the story from the point of view of Jane 2- Who said the following and why? a) ‘I hope you don’t mind the open door.’ 3- A friend told me that… 4- Complete the following short passages with the help of the key words and phrases provided. The latter may be freely used. On his fourteen birthday Donald was given a black retriever puppy. He called the dog Smokey and tried to train it to follow him everywhere, but his training was not very successful. The first time he took it for a long walk in the country Smokey ran after a rabbit, and in spite of Donald’s shouts disappeared from view. Donald searched for it everywhere; couldn’t find it; went home, very sad; six hours later a farmer rang up Donald’s home; dog at his farmhouse; Donald names and address on dog’s collar; Donald overjoyed; went by bus to collect Smokey.