To the learner // Stories // Contents // Themes // The star // by Alasdair Gray // Strange animal // an African story re-told // by Alexander McCall Smith // Escape from routine - Loneliness // The rich world of the imagination // 9 Tolerance of others - The magic of music // Family relationships // Malachi Whitaker // 15 Youthful anticipation - Social conventions // Unexpected turns in life - Regrets | // Report on the shadow industry // by Peter Carey // Reality and illusion - Escapism // The search for happiness // I erbai transcription - 6 a.m. // by William Carlos Williams // 33 Everyday concerns in crisis situations // Behaviour in emergencies // The debutante // by Leonora Carrington // Important things // by Barbara L. Greenberg // 38 Cruelty beneath civilised behaviour // Reality and dream // 47 Parents and children // What is important in life? // Secrets // by Tim Winton // 52 A child’s vision of the adult world // Family breakdown and the need for love // Dazzler // by Suniti Namjoshi // 60 Introverts and extroverts // Different ways of solving problems // Misunderstood // 65 Animals and humans // an anonymous story // Shell songs // A letter from the Laird’s wife // by George Mackay Brown // The importance of communication // 73 Rich and poor | // Intuition versus the intellect // People and nature // The authors of the stories 83 // \\otes on the stories 85 // Key 92 // Tapescripts 94 // To the teacher 37 // Bibliography 101