The Empty Collection Shelf

Your goal

Separate an observation from a belief and ask past questions with did.

Read the story

Ben orders a blue notebook from a small stationery shop. He wants to use it for his English goals and weekly reviews. The assistant tells him to collect it after four on Thursday. When Ben arrives at half past four, his blue notebook is missing from the collection shelf. He can see a red folder and a packet of envelopes, but no blue notebook. He feels annoyed because he thinks the shop has sold his order to another customer. He starts to prepare a complaint.

Before speaking, Ben looks at the message on his phone. It gives the correct day and time, but it does not say that the notebook will be on the front shelf. Ben notices a difference between what he can see and what he believes. He can see an empty space where he expected his order. He does not yet know why the notebook is absent. He can ask a question before he decides what happened. He puts his phone away and waits at the counter.

The assistant, Priya, checks the order book. Ben asks whether his notebook arrived that morning. Priya finds his name and a blue mark beside it. She explains that the mark means the delivery arrived. However, this is not the end of the check. The book does not show where someone put the notebook. Priya asks her colleague, Owen, whether he moved any customer orders. Owen remembers carrying a paper bag to the back room because the front shelf was full at lunchtime.

Priya brings out the bag, but Ben checks it before he leaves. There is a blue notebook inside, with the correct size and the plain cover he requested. His name is on the order slip. These details give him a good reason to accept it. He thanks both assistants and explains that he first thought someone had sold it. Priya understands his concern. She adds a location note beside the next order in the book so that another assistant can find it easily.

On the bus home, Ben writes his first entry. He makes two short headings: what I noticed and what I thought. Under the first, he describes the empty shelf. Under the second, he records his first explanation. Then he adds the questions that helped him check it. He still wants shops to keep clear collection records. However, he now has a useful routine for uncertain situations: name the feeling, describe the available facts, and ask for the missing information before choosing a response.

A conversation to practise

Ben: Did my notebook arrive this morning?

Priya: Yes, it did. I can check its location.

Ben: Did someone move it from the shelf?

Priya: Yes, Owen put it in the back room.

Understand the story

1. What does Ben first believe about his notebook?
2. Why did Owen move the paper bag?
3. What does Ben check inside the bag?

Practise the language

1. Complete with arrive or arrived: Did the notebook ___?
2. Make a yes/no question: Owen moved the bag.
3. Complete with can or to: Ben ___ ask for the missing information.