Mr.

Brown Makes Several Telephone Calls

Mr. Brown : (Speaking into telephone) I’d like to speak to Mr. Frank Smith. Is he there?

PR Operator : I’m afraid you have the wrong number. What number were you calling?

Mr. Brown : I was calling 647-2992

PR Operator : This 647-2992. But there is no one by the name of Smith here. This is a private
residence.

Mr. Brown : I must have made a mistake. I’m sorry to have bothered you

PR Operator : That’s quite all right.

(Both parties hang up. Mr. Brown dials number 411 and gets “Information”. Operator answers)

Operator : This is information. May I help you?

Mr. Brown : I am trying to relocate a Mr. Frank Smith, who has offices at 2 West 45 th Street. The
company has moved there only recently and the number is not yet in the telephone book.

Operator : I’ll look it up for you. (After a moment) I have an F. Smith and Company, Exporters, at 2
West 45th Street. Would that be your party?

Mr. Brown : Yes, that’s the name of the company. What is the number?

Operator : Will you write the number down please? It is 647-2991.

(Mr. Brown dials number, phone rings in office of Mr. Frank Smith. Secretary answers) Hello! F. Smith
and Company, Exporters.

Mr. Brown : May I speak to Mr. Smith?

Operator : Mr. Smith is not in right now. Who’s calling please?

Mr. Brown : This is Mr. Brown of Chicago calling. Can you tell me what time Mr. Smith will be back?
We are clients of his; that is, he acts as agent for our company in the export of some of our products. I
am in New York at present and thought I would like to say hello to him.

Operator : Of course, Mr. Brown. We know your company very well. Mr. Smith is out to lunch
right now but I expect him back very shortly.

Mr. Brown : At what time would you suggest that I call him again?

Operator : He generally gets back to the office about two o’clock. However, occasionally he has
some business to attend to outside, and then he doesn’t get back until much later. Maybe it would be
better, Mr. Brown, if I have him call you.
Mr. Brown : I’m calling from a pay phone now, but I expect to be in my hotel room almost all
afternoon. He can telephone me there.

Operator : What is the telephone number there?

Mr. Brown : I’m at the Hilton Hotel. I don’t know the number off-hand, but you can look it up easily.
Tell Mr. Smith, if I happen to have stepped out for a moment, to leave a message and I’ll call him right
back.

Operator : Fine! I’ll have Mr. Smith get in touch with you as soon as he comes back to the office.
Good-bye, Mr. Brown.

Exercises for Conversation

A. Questions for Conversation Practice:

1. What different persons take part in the dialogue?

2. Why does Mr. Brown first get a wrong number?

3. If you answer your telephone and the person calling has the wrong number, how do you answer him?

4. If you yourself are calling and get a wrong number, what do you say?

5. At the conclusion of a telephone call do you “pick up” the receiver or “hang up” the receiver?

6. Are most operators men or women?

B. Vocabulary Drill. Choose the correct form

1. Wrong means (to the left, tardy, incorrect, ambiguous).

2. To bother means to (amuse, cause annoyance, applaud, suspect).

3. If I expect somenone shortly, I expect him (much later, to have grown shorter, soon, with
displeasure).

4. Occasionally means (now and then, after a while, up to now, by and by).

5. To get in touch with someone is to (touch him, communicate with him, respect him highly, criticize
him).

6. How many syllables do each of the following words have: Chicago, business, listening, station

7. Give the opposites of these: wrong, private, later, well, outside, easily, loud.
8. Which of these verbs have the same form in the present and past tenses: get, know, look, leave, put,
hold, cut, take?

9. To look up something is to (lose it, search for it in a book of reference, forget it, overlook it).

10. A common colloquial synonym for difficult is (soft, hard, distant, at hand).