Modul 4: Story 49 The Fancy Dress Party
Video 01 Story Presentation 01.
Video 02 Story Presentation 02.
Audio 01 The story
The Fancy Dress Party
Auntie Ruth was turning 50, and so she decided to have a big party to celebrate. She invited all of her friends and family.
Gemma, her niece, was so excited to hear that it was a fancy-dress theme. She thought long and hard about what she could go to the party dressed up as.
As it was close to Easter, she decided to go as the Easter bunny. She hired a huge, pink, furry bunny costume and used face paints to give herself a big pink nose, buck teeth and long whiskers. She was running an hour late because she had to finish some homework before going to the party.
When she arrived, everyone was already there. The room was elegantly decorated with gold and black balloons and streamers. There was a long buffet table full of the finest foods and a string quartet, which serenaded the evening. It was the most beautiful music that Gemma had ever heard; only she couldn’t appreciate it at the moment because the guests looked nothing like she had imagined.
She thought she would be stepping into a room full of film and cartoon characters, but she didn’t. Everyone was dressed appropriately for the graceful surroundings. The women were all in long ballgowns with matching purses and stilettos. The men all had black suits on with ties that matched the colour of their partner’s dresses.
Gemma was horrified.
She walked further into the room in her giant bunny costume, causing conversations to dissolve and the music to abruptly stop. There were a few giggles from the young children, and Auntie Ruth’s eyes widened. Gemma immediately crossed over to Ruth.
“I thought you said it was fancy dress!” Gemma questioned desperately.
“Oh, honey no, I told you to wear a fancy dress, you know, to dress fancily!” Ruth replied awkwardly.
“This is humiliating! I’m dressed as a huge, ugly bright pink bunny…at a black-tie event! Everyone is staring at me!”
“I’m so sorry dear, but everyone else understood the dress code!”
Gemma, in utter despair, turned around and walked out of the room, whimpering as she was leaving.
Video 03 Simple statements
Audio 02 Simple statements
- Auntie Ruth – turning 50
- decided – have big party – celebrate
- invited – all friends – family
- Gemma – niece – overly excited
- she heard – fancy-dress theme
- thought long and hard – who – she dress up as
- date – close to Easter
- decided – go as – Easter bunny
- hired – giant, pink, furry bunny costume
- painted – face – look like bunny
- had to finish – homework – before going to party
- one hour late
- arrived
- everyone – already there
- room – elegantly decorated – gold and black balloons – streamers.
- long buffet table – full of finest foods
- string quartet
- serenaded – evening
- Gemma – not appreciate – beauty of music
- guests – looked different – what she had imagined
- thought – stepping into room – full of film and cartoon characters
- she – not step – such room
- everyone – dressed appropriately – graceful surroundings
- Gemma – horrified
- walked further into room – her big bunny costume
- caused – conversations – dissolve
- caused – music – abruptly stop
- children – giggling
- Gemma – immediately – rushed over – Ruth
- “thought – you said – fancy dress!” Gemma questioned her – desperately
- “no, I told – wear – fancy dress!” Ruth replied
- “humiliating!” Gemma exclaimed
- utter despair
- turned around – walked out – room
Audio 05-6 Story versions
The story (version A)
Auntie Ruth, who was turning 50, decided to have a big party to celebrate, so she invited all her friends and family. Gemma, her niece, was so excited to hear that it was a fancy-dress theme. She thought long and hard about who she could dress up as.
Because the date was close to Easter, she decided to go as the Easter bunny, so she hired a giant, pink, furry bunny costume and painted her face to look like a bunny. Since she had to finish her homework before going to the party, she was one hour late.
When she arrived, everyone was already there. To her surprise, the room was elegantly decorated with gold and black balloons and streamers. Also, there was not only a long buffet table full of the finest foods but also a string quartet, which serenaded the evening. However, Gemma could not appreciate the beauty of the music as the guests looked different from what she had imagined. She thought she would be stepping into a room full of film and cartoon characters, but she did not step into such a room. Instead, everyone was dressed appropriately for the graceful surroundings which made Gemma horrified.
She walked further into the room in her big bunny costume which caused not only conversations to dissolve but also the music to abruptly stop and children to giggle. Gemma immediately rushed over to Ruth and questioned her desperately, “I thought you said it was fancy dress!” to which Ruth replied, “No, I told you to wear a fancy dress!”
“This is humiliating!” Gemma exclaimed, and, in utter despair, she turned around and walked out of the room.
The story (version B)
Auntie Ruth was turning 50, so she decided to have a big party to celebrate and invited all her friends and family. Gemma, her niece, was overly excited when she heard that it was a fancy-dress theme. She thought long and hard about who she could dress up as, and because the date was close to Easter, she decided to go as the Easter bunny.
After hiring a giant, pink, furry bunny costume, she painted her face to look like a bunny. However, she had to finish her homework before going to the party. She was one hour late when she arrived, and everyone was already there.
The room was elegantly decorated with gold and black balloons and streamers. There was a long buffet table full of the finest foods and a string quartet serenading the evening, but Gemma could not appreciate the beauty of the music. The guests looked different from what she had imagined as she thought she would be stepping into a room full of film and cartoon characters.
However, she did not step into such a room. Everyone was dressed appropriately for the graceful surroundings, and this made Gemma horrified. Walking further into the room in her big bunny costume, she caused conversations to dissolve, the music to abruptly stop and the children to giggle.
Immediately rushing over to Ruth, Gemma questioned her desperately, “I thought you said it was fancy dress!”
“No, I told you to wear a fancy dress!” Ruth replied.
“This is humiliating!” Gemma exclaimed.
In utter despair, she turned around and walked out of the room.