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Linda and David have travelled by air from London to Sydney, Australia．Linda has promised her mother that she will ring her to let her know that they have arrived safely．This is something she has done ever since she was a child．David thinks it is not a good idea to ring so far, to spend too much．a(chǎn)nd to say so little．
But Linda has promised that she would ring．She says：“It doesn't cost much when you just think that it's the other side of the world．It's only six pence per second．”
“If you're on that telephone for less than one minute, I'll eat my hat．”David says, “And one minute is nearly four pounds．”
“That's no more titan you'd pay for a new hat．”Linda answers．
She has asked the man at the hotel desk to get her the number．The telephone rings．Linda picks it up．
“Hello, Mum．Is that you?”She says．
“Six pence per second．”David reminds her．
“Hello, love．”It is Mrs Lee, Linda's mother, speaking from London．“I can hear you very clearly just like you are in the next room．It's a better line than when you called me from your office．Do you remember?I shouted at that time, and still you couldn't hear me sometimes．”
“Yes, Mum．”Linda puts in, “I just wanted to ring to…．”
“I remember how you rang when you went to Betty's house to eat, when you were a little girl．And then when you…”．Mrs Lee is a great talker．
“Nearly four pounds．”says David．
Linda tries to tell her mother that it is time to say goodbye．
“Yes, all right,”says Mrs Lee, “But you will write, won't you, as you did when you were at work…”．
“Four pounds fifty,”says David．
At last, Linda cuts her mother short, promises to write, and rings off．
“There!That wasn't long, was it?”
“Four pounds, ninety pence．”David answers．“And you didn't even say that we've arrived．”
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