المفردات (VOCABULARY)

• مربوط: tied; fastened with something

• شريط: a ribbon or strip

• جريدة: a newspaper

• مبيعات: sales

• زميل: a coworker or colleague

• درج: a drawer

• رواية: a novel

• عيش بلدي: traditional Egyptian flatbread

• مفقود: lost; missing

• حضرتك: a respectful way to say “you”

• قائمة: a list

• أدوات منزلية: household items and equipment

• مقادير: ingredients and their required amounts

• كحك: kahk; small Egyptian cookies

• دورت: she searched or looked for something

• خيط: thread; a thin string

• بيستلم: he is receiving or taking delivery of something

• كراتين: cardboard boxes

• الموزع: the distributor; the person supplying goods

• المفروض: supposed to; expected to

• نحافظ عليها: to keep it safe; to take care of it

• فضوها: they emptied it

• إيصال: a receipt

• غطا: a lid or cover

• صبي القهوة: a café assistant who brings drinks

• الصينية: the tray

• بالصدفة: by chance; accidentally

• مستخبية: hidden; out of sight

• محل الخياطة: a tailor’s or dressmaker’s shop

• وصف: a description

• علبة صفيح: a tin box

• زراير: buttons

• اتأكدوا: they made sure; they checked

• حاجب: an eyebrow

• البالطو: the coat

• عيد جوازنا: our wedding anniversary

• عامل حساب: prepared for; having taken something into account

• الاحتمالات: the possibilities

• نصيبها: her share

• سوستة: a zipper

أسئلة اختيار من متعدد (MULTIPLE-CHOICE QUESTIONS)

Choose the correct choice based on the story.

‎1- ‏هالة لقت المفتاح فين أول مرة؟‏

‎A)‎ في درج الفلوس.‏

‎B)‎ تحت الترابيزة جنب الباب.‏

‎C)‎ في كيس عيش.‏

‎D)‎ على رف كتب الطبخ.‏

‎2- ‏عم عادل كان بيدور على إيه لما رجع للمكتبة؟‏

‎A)‎ مفتاح شقته.‏

‎B)‎ مقص مراته.‏

‎C)‎ إيصال الكهربا.‏

‎D)‎ ورقة فيها مقادير الكحك.‏

‎3- ‏المفتاح راح فين لما اختفى من جنب الكاشير؟‏

‎A)‎ وقع في طبق السكر.‏

‎B)‎ اتحط في كرتونة كتب.‏

‎C)‎ اترمى في سلة الورق.‏

‎D)‎ فضل في جيب مينا.‏

‎4- ‏المفتاح بتاع سلمى كان بيفتح إيه؟‏

‎A)‎ باب محل الخياطة.‏

‎B)‎ درج الفلوس.‏

‎C)‎ علبة صفيح فيها زراير.‏

‎D)‎ شنطة هالة.‏

‎5- ‏مرات عم عادل عرفت بالمفاجأة بدري إزاي؟‏

‎A)‎ سلمى قالت لها في التليفون.‏

‎B)‎ شافت السكر والدقيق على هدومه.‏

‎C)‎ قرت الإعلان على باب المكتبة.‏

‎D)‎ لقت علبة الكحك عند مينا.‏

تمرين إكمال الفراغات (FILL IN THE BLANKS)

Fill in the blanks based on the story. Use one word in each blank.

‎1- ‏الشريط اللي كان مربوط في المفتاح لونه ____.‏

‎2- ‏مينا افتكر إن المفتاح الصغير غالبا بتاع ____.‏

‎3- ‏مرات عم عادل بتحب تختار اللون ____ لحاجاتها.‏

‎4- ‏هالة ومينا فضوا سلة ____ وهم بيدوروا على المفتاح.‏

‎5- ‏المفتاح وقع بالصدفة في طبق ____.‏

‎6- ‏صاحبة المفتاح اسمها ____.‏

‎7- ‏عم عادل كان ناوي يفاجئ مراته في عيد ____.‏

‎8- ‏في النهاية، سلمى علقت المفتاح في ____ الشنطة.‏

صح ولا غلط (TRUE/FALSE)

Read the statements and decide if they are True (صح) or False (غلط).‏

‎1- ‏هالة لقت المفتاح قبل ميعاد قفل المكتبة.‏

‎2- ‏الإعلان على الباب كان فيه لون المفتاح ووصفه بالتفصيل.‏

‎3- ‏ورقة مقادير الكحك كانت مع سلمى.‏

‎4- ‏عم عادل قال إنه هيعمل الكحك من غير مساعدة أي حد.‏

‎5- ‏هالة كتبت في الآخر إعلان عن خدمة جديدة للعثور على المفاتيح.‏

ENGLISH TRANSLATION

THE KEY THAT DISAPPEARED

Ten minutes before Hala was due to close the bookshop, she heard something fall near the door. She looked under the table and found a small key tied to a blue ribbon. The last customer had left a little earlier: an older man who had bought a newspaper and asked about an old cookbook. Hala put the key beside the cash register and finished adding up the day’s sales.

The next morning, she returned to the bookshop on a quiet street in Shubra. Her coworker Mina was standing outside with two cups of tea. “I found a key yesterday,” she told him. “It’s next to you if anyone asks about it.” He looked at the ribbon and said, “It looks like a drawer key. Apartment keys are usually bigger.” Hala put down her bag and started arranging the books that had just arrived.

An hour later, a woman came in carrying a bag of Egyptian flatbread. She asked about a novel for her daughter, then looked at the key. “That looks like my husband’s key, but he uses a red ribbon,” she said. Hala smiled and put the key back. “Let’s put a notice on the door,” Mina suggested. They wrote that there was a lost key, without mentioning its color or shape.

Around noon, the man who had bought the newspaper returned. His name was Mr. Adel, and he lived in the building opposite the shop. “Have you lost a key?” Hala asked him. He shook his head. “No, but I’ve lost an important piece of paper.” He took a small list out of his pocket. It had the names of some cookbooks on it, with the address of a household goods shop underneath.

“I wrote down the ingredients and quantities for my wife’s kahk cookies on another piece of paper,” Mr. Adel explained. “I probably left it here.” Hala searched among the books, and Mina looked under the chairs. They found nothing. Before the man left, Mina asked him about the blue key. He laughed. “My wife chooses red for everything. Even our scissors are tied to a red string so they don’t get lost.”

Later that afternoon, Hala discovered that the key was no longer beside the cash register. She asked Mina, but he was receiving boxes from the distributor. “We’ve managed to lose the very thing we were supposed to keep safe,” she said, upset. They searched the cash drawer and under the bags. They even emptied the wastepaper basket. There was no key, but they found an old electricity receipt and a pen without a cap.

Mina remembered that the café assistant had come in half an hour earlier. He had brought Hala a cup of coffee and taken away the empty tray. Mina went out to ask him and came back carrying the key. It had accidentally fallen into the sugar bowl. Hala laughed at herself. “I was starting to imagine a whole mystery.” Mina replied, “The whole mystery was hiding under two spoonfuls of sugar.”

Near sunset, Salma, who owned the sewing shop next door, came in. She said she had seen the notice on the door. Hala asked her to describe the key. “It’s small, with a blue ribbon. It opens a tin box full of old buttons.” Once they were sure it was hers, they handed it over. “At last I can finish the jacket I’ve had since the beginning of the week,” Salma said happily.

“How did the key end up here?” Hala asked. “I was looking for a cookbook for our neighbor Adel,” Salma explained. “I opened my bag to get his piece of paper, and the key might have fallen out.” Hala raised an eyebrow. “A piece of paper with the ingredients for kahk?” Salma took it out of her coat pocket. “Yes. I only just realized I still had it. He’d left it at my shop.”

Hala called Mr. Adel on a number he had left with them. He arrived ten minutes later and collected the paper with a laugh. “The kahk is a surprise for my wife on our wedding anniversary.” Salma asked, “Are you going to make it yourself?” “I’ll try, and my brother is coming to help,” he replied. “But if it goes wrong, the pastry shop is nearby. I’ve planned for every possibility so the day goes well.”

Two days later, Mr. Adel returned with a box of kahk. He opened it on the table, revealing cookies of different sizes. “They taste good, but I still need to practice getting the shape right.” Hala tasted one and passed the box to Mina. Mr. Adel continued, “My wife found out about the surprise early. She spotted sugar and flour on my clothes while I was telling her I’d been fixing the shelf.”

At the end of the day, Salma came to collect her share of the kahk. In front of them, she attached her key to the zipper on her bag. Hala took the notice off the door and replaced it with the shop’s new opening hours. “Aren’t we going to mention that we find recipes too?” Mina asked. As she tidied the box, Hala replied, “Let’s not. Let’s learn to sell books first, then we can see about this key-and-recipe business.”

ANSWER KEY

Multiple-Choice Questions

‎1- ‏B) تحت الترابيزة جنب الباب.‏

‎2- ‏D) ورقة فيها مقادير الكحك.‏

‎3- ‏A) وقع في طبق السكر.‏

‎4- ‏C) علبة صفيح فيها زراير.‏

‎5- ‏B) شافت السكر والدقيق على هدومه.‏

Fill in the blanks

‎1- ‏أزرق

‎2- ‏درج

‎3- ‏الأحمر

‎4- ‏الورق

‎5- ‏السكر

‎6- ‏سلمى

‎7- ‏جوازهم

‎8- ‏سوستة

True/False

‎1- ‏صح

‎2- ‏غلط - الإعلان مكانش فيه لون المفتاح ولا شكله.‏

‎3- ‏صح

‎4- ‏غلط - قال إن أخوه هييجي يساعده.‏

‎5- ‏غلط - كتبت مواعيد المكتبة الجديدة مكان الإعلان.‏