The following text makes use of a number of American linguistic features. Rewrite it in British English.

Jim parked bis automobile in front of bis ground-floor apartment when he came home. There was a letter in the mailbox. It was a strange color. The letter was from an old friend in India, who wrote that he was sending him an elephant as a birthday present. It would arrive by freight car. Jim went to the icebox and fixed himself a strong drink. The next morning, as he was setting off for work, he met the mailman coming along the sidewalk. Another package arrived from his friend in India. It contained books on how to keep big animals, and there was also a telegram asking Jim to come to the depot where a large box was waiting to be collected. Jim was flabbergasted. He sat down on the hood of his Pontiac and wondered what to do. Was he dreaming, was he only an actor in a play at the theater, or was all this true? What would the conductor on the train have thought? Well, if it wasn't just a joke he could at least save a lot of gas by leaving the Pontiac at home and riding to the office on the back of his new pet. It would be much nicer than the subway, too, and if ever he had to move he would not have to borrow a truck from a friend, but could use his birthday present.


In the story about Jim and the elephant, the following American words were to be replaced by their British equivalents: