Rita and Fred are in a mobile phone shop. Rita is looking for a cheap and simple phone. The salesman wants to sell her a more expensive model.

Rita: I want to get my ten-year-old sister a phone. It’s her birthday on Sunday.

Salesman: What features does she need?

Rita: None really. She’ll only use it for phoning her family and friends.

Salesman: What about internet access? That would be good for her education.

Rita: No, she can use the internet at home. Besides, that can be very expensive.

Salesman: Not necessarily. Our economy tariff is very reasonable -

Rita: I’d prefer pay-as-you-go. That way we can control how much she spends.

Salesman: A contract might be cheaper.

Fred: He’s right. When I had pay-as-you-go, I spent a fortune.

Rita: That’s because you were downloading games, Fred! My sister only needs to use the phone to make and receive calls. And not too many!

Salesman: Points to a phone in the display cabinet. This model has a 4mb camera, an mp3 player and Bluetooth

Rita: No, that is too expensive! Do you have a cheaper model?

Salesman: Reluctantly points to a pink phone hidden at the back of the cabinet. There is this model. But it has camera, no Internet and no mp3 player. All it can do is make and receive calls.

Rita: That’s exactly what my sister needs. And she’ll love the colour. I’ll take it.


Bones
New Phone
Prize Draw






The Fred and Rita dialogues come with a glossary and activities. They first appeared in Ming Pao Daily in 2008.

Text: © 2009 Kieran McGovern
Illustrations: © 2009 George Hayford-Taylor