After breakfast， I sent the children to school and then I went to the shops. It was still early when I returned home. The children were at school， my husband was at work and the house was quiet. So I decided to make some meat pies. In a short time I was busy mixing butter and flour and my hands were soon covered with sticky pastry. At exactly that moment， the telephone rang. Nothing could have been more annoying. I picked up the receiver between two sticky fingers and was dismayed when I recognized the voice of Helen Bates. It took me ten minutes to persuade her to ring back later. At last I hung up the receiver. What a mess！ There was pastry on my fingers， on the telephone， and on the doorknobs. I had no sooner got back to the kitchen than the doorbell rang loud enough to wake the dead. This time it was the postman and he wanted me to sign for a registered letter！

　　New words and expressions 生词和短语

sticky adj. 粘的

finger n. 手指

pie n. 馅饼

mix v. 混合，拌和

pastry n. 面糊

annoying adj. 恼人的

receiver n. 电话的话筒

dismay v. 失望，泄气

recognize v. 认出，听出

persuade v. 说服，劝说

mess n. 乱七八糟

doorknob n. 门把手

sign v. 签字

register v. 挂号邮寄