Vaughan world by Richard Vaughan

advice was to pay no attention to the ball when playing defense, but to concentrate only on Ricky Tanner and follow him everywhere. Michael had the advantage that he was faster than Ricky Tanner, so he stayed with him everywhere on the basketball court. This was suffocating for Ricky and disastrous for his team. Michael’s defensive effort had broken the Buffaloes’ strategy.

    1. When did Michael turn 15?
    2. How many presents did he get from his parents?
    3. How many presents did he get from other relatives?
    4. Who woke him up on Saturday morning?
    5. What did his father show him when he woke him up?
    6. What was in the middle of the front page?
    7. What was Michael doing in the photo?
    8. How long did it take Michael to wake up completely?
    9. What did he remember when he finally woke up?
    10. What had happened the night before?
    11. What was the final score of the game?
    12. Was Michael’s team favored to win the game?
    13. How many points did Michael score?
    14. What did Michael’s father feel about his son?
    15. Had he seen Michael play better in previous games?
    16. How did Michael seem to his father during the game?
    17. What was the most important thing for Michael?
    18. Who was Ricky Tanner?
    19. How many points per game did Ricky usually score?
    20. What was Ricky considered by basketball experts?
    21. How many points did he score last night?
    22. Whose advice did Michael follow concerning Ricky?
    23. What was the coach’s advice?
    24. What advantage did Michael have over Ricky?
    25. Who did Michael concentrate on when playing defense?
    26. What was the result for Ricky Tanner and his team?

39. PHILLIP JOHNSON
    Phillip Johnson is lying in bed, thinking about George Clooney. His wife, Nancy, is still in the kitchen, washing dishes. Half an hour ago, Nancy told him about the offer from Eddie Campbell to decorate George Clooney’s home in Aspen, Colorado. He’s not worried about George Clooney. The guy must be around 50 by now and besides, he heard that up close George Clooney is not that handsome. What worries him, however, is that if Nancy does a good job on Clooney’s home, she’ll probably start getting other offers of a similar type. A lot of Hollywood stars own homes in Aspen and Phillip could imagine Nancy getting involved in a lot of work up there. On the other hand, it might be a good opportunity for him too. Even though he’s the general manager of the Lincoln Bank, he’s not a member of the Board of Directors. In many cases he doesn’t have the final decision. Sometimes he feels more like a glorified employee than a real decision-maker. And besides, he hates having to travel to Omaha all the time. The bank has several difficult clients there and Phillip always has to argue with them about payments. He may be able to find a job in a bank in Aspen. The town is quite big. In high season, there must be at least 50,000 people living there and they need bank accounts like everybody else. He could probably get a good job in a local bank or maybe he could get an even better job in a Denver bank. Denver is only three hours from Aspen and maybe Nancy could work out of Denver instead of living in Aspen. Denver would also be a good city for Michael. Basketball in Colorado is even more competitive than in Nebraska. Maybe he’s counting his chickens before they hatch. In any case, he’ll tell Nancy that he supports her one hundred percent.

    1. Where is Phillip Johnson right now?
    2. Who is he thinking about?
    3. What is his wife doing right now?
    4. What did Nancy tell him about earlier?
    5. When did they have this conversation?
    6. Is he worried about George Clooney?
    7. How old must the guy be by now?
    8. What do people say about George Clooney’s looks?
    9. What is Phillip worried about if Nancy does a good job on Clooney’s home?
    10. Who owns a lot of homes in Aspen, Colorado?
    11. What could he imagine Nancy getting involved in?
    12. Does he see an opportunity in it?
    13. What’s Phillip’s