Meant to be - Module 8
B2 First · Gapped Text · First Expert Coursebook, Pearson Education
You are going to read an article about a couple's first meeting. Six sentences have been removed from the article. Choose from the sentences (A-G) the one which fits each gap (1–6). There is one extra sentence which you do not need to use.
Meant to be
Five minutes later, and Wendy would never have met Dennis on the tube. Wendy Hatton, 39, and her husband Dennis, 32, live in London. She works in publishing and he is a scientist.
So I really had met my Mr Right on an underground train.
Wendy's heart was pounding as she stepped onto the platform, clutching the scrap of paper.
This came as a shock to Wendy, who told him it was out of the question.
As Wendy explains, 'I know it seems ridiculous but it never occurred to me to refuse.'
Fortunately, Wendy saw the funny side of it and they started going out together.
Seeing this, Dennis suddenly felt irritated and gave the man's briefcase a kick.
It was Dennis, who had noticed Wendy as soon as she got on but was trying not to make it too obvious that he found her attractive.
On 18 October, Dennis and Wendy celebrated their second wedding anniversary - three years to the day after they first met on a crowded underground train in London. However, it was only a chance in a million that they got to know each other at all. Wendy had intended to get a taxi home that night but seeing the long queue, she changed her mind and got the tube instead. It was a decision that was to change her life. She remembers: 'The train was packed. There was only one seat free - next to a businessman in a smart suit who had dropped off to sleep. As I pulled out my book, I caught the eye of the man sitting opposite, who gave me a little nod.
'Late night trains are horrible enough without strange men staring at you,' he says. Wendy smiled briefly and got on with her reading but she could feel herself blushing. Meanwhile, the businessman's head was slowly moving towards Wendy's shoulder as he fell into a deeper sleep. Suddenly, to her horror, it was resting on her arm. Wendy was very embarrassed but didn't know what to do.
It woke him up, and Wendy smiled her appreciation. As Wendy reached her stop and got to her feet, Dennis pushed a note into her hand with his phone number on it. To this day, he doesn't know what made him do something so totally out of character but he felt he couldn't just let her disappear into the night.
She hadn't gone far before she felt a tap on her shoulder. 'I'm sorry,' said Dennis, who had run after her. 'I honestly don't make a habit of chatting up women on trains but would you come for a coffee with me?'
There was, however, nowhere open at that time of night, so they ended up going back to Wendy's flat for a drink. As she recalls: 'He was so non-threatening that I felt instantly comfortable with him.' They sat and talked for hours, both realising they had met someone special. When Dennis left, he asked Wendy to phone him. Five minutes later, on his way home in a taxi, he rang her. 'I was worried that I might never see you again,' he said, and started to explain. When he'd scribbled down his mobile number on that scrap of paper in the train, he'd been feeling very flustered. Suddenly, the horrible truth had just hit him: he hadn't given her the right number! He could never remember his own number and, without thinking, he'd written down the number of his ex-girlfriend!
They got on so well that two weeks later, realising they were made for each other, Dennis proposed. 'To me, it seemed too soon to be thinking of anything like that,' said Wendy. 'But that night Dennis had a bad fall - he slipped on some wet stairs at home and knocked himself out. At the hospital they found my number on a slip of paper in his wallet and called me. I dashed straight round. It was when I saw him lying there on that hospital trolley that it really hit me: I had fallen in love with him.
Fate must have been on my side when I decided against getting that taxi, because there's no way we'd have met at any other time.' They got married the following year. Wendy is still stunned by her good fortune.
On 18 October, Dennis and Wendy celebrated their second wedding anniversary - three years to the day after they first met on a crowded underground train in London. However, it was only a chance in a million that they got to know each other at all. Wendy had intended to get a taxi home that night but seeing the long queue, she changed her mind and got the tube instead. It was a decision that was to change her life. She remembers: 'The train was packed. There was only one seat free - next to a businessman in a smart suit who had dropped off to sleep. As I pulled out my book, I caught the eye of the man sitting opposite, who gave me a little nod. ___ 'Late night trains are horrible enough without strange men staring at you,' he says. Wendy smiled briefly and got on with her reading but she could feel herself blushing. Meanwhile, the businessman's head was slowly moving towards Wendy's shoulder as he fell into a deeper sleep. Suddenly, to her horror, it was resting on her arm. Wendy was very embarrassed but didn't know what to do. ___ It woke him up, and Wendy smiled her appreciation. As Wendy reached her stop and got to her feet, Dennis pushed a note into her hand with his phone number on it. To this day, he doesn't know what made him do something so totally out of character but he felt he couldn't just let her disappear into the night. ___ She hadn't gone far before she felt a tap on her shoulder. 'I'm sorry,' said Dennis, who had run after her. 'I honestly don't make a habit of chatting up women on trains but would you come for a coffee with me?' ___ There was, however, nowhere open at that time of night, so they ended up going back to Wendy's flat for a drink. As she recalls: 'He was so non-threatening that I felt instantly comfortable with him.' They sat and talked for hours, both realising they had met someone special. When Dennis left, he asked Wendy to phone him. Five minutes later, on his way home in a taxi, he rang her. 'I was worried that I might never see you again,' he said, and started to explain. When he'd scribbled down his mobile number on that scrap of paper in the train, he'd been feeling very flustered. Suddenly, the horrible truth had just hit him: he hadn't given her the right number! He could never remember his own number and, without thinking, he'd written down the number of his ex-girlfriend! ___ They got on so well that two weeks later, realising they were made for each other, Dennis proposed. 'To me, it seemed too soon to be thinking of anything like that,' said Wendy. 'But that night Dennis had a bad fall - he slipped on some wet stairs at home and knocked himself out. At the hospital they found my number on a slip of paper in his wallet and called me. I dashed straight round. It was when I saw him lying there on that hospital trolley that it really hit me: I had fallen in love with him. ___ Fate must have been on my side when I decided against getting that taxi, because there's no way we'd have met at any other time.' They got married the following year. Wendy is still stunned by her good fortune.
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