1 Reading
a Read the email and tick (✓) the correct answer.
a The alligator attacked Blackie and broke his leg.
b The alligator bit Pam and broke her leg.
c Blackie was afraid of the alligator and didn’t stay with Pam.
d Pam broke her leg while she was walking with Blackie.
I read an amazing story in the newspaper this morning about a dog called Blackie who saved his owner’s life in Florida. It seems that his owner, Pam Evans, who is 79 years old, was walking near a lake when she fell over and broke her leg. Unfortunately, she couldn’t move and didn’t have a mobile phone so she couldn’t call for help. At that moment, a huge alligator came out of the lake and started walking towards Pam, threatening to attack her. Incredibly, Blackie wasn’t frightened by the alligator and, apparently, he started fighting it to try and protect Pam. Amazingly, after a few minutes, the alligator gave up trying to attack Pam and went back into the lake. Fortunately, a man who was near the lake with his dog heard Blackie barking and came to rescue Pam. It seems that he then phoned for an ambulance, which immediately took Pam to hospital. Luckily, neither Pam nor Blackie were hurt in the attack and Pam has now made a full recovery.
b Read the news story again. Are the sentences true or false?
1 Pam Evans has a dog called Blackie.
2 Pam couldn’t call for help because her mobile phone was broken.
3 When Blackie saw the alligator he was very frightened and ran away.
5 The man near the lake called for an ambulance.
6 Blackie was seriously injured by the alligator.
Answer
a d
b True: 1, 4; False: 2, 3, 5
2 Writing Skills – Summarising information
Use one of the words in the box to connect the sentences. Make any necessary changes. Sometimes there is more than one possible answer.
|
before who but with and which |
1 The man spent several hours looking for his son. Unfortunately, he couldn’t find him anywhere.
……The man spent several hours looking for his son but, unfortunately, he couldn’t find him anywhere. ……
2 I heard a story on the radio about an elephant. Apparently, it sat on a car in a safari park.
……………………………………………………
3 The 12-year-old girl stole her father’s motorbike. She rode it for 40 km along the motorway. The police stopped her near Oxford.
……………………………………………………
4 The woman hit the teenager hard on his head with her umbrella. Then she used his mobile phone to call the police.
……………………………………………………
5 Amanda escaped from the burning building by breaking a window. She used her shoe to break the window.
……………………………………………………
6 There was an incredible story on the news about a baby in China. She fell from a fourth-floor window. She wasn’t hurt because a man in the street caught her.
……………………………………………………
Answer
2 I heard a story on the radio about an elephant which, apparently, sat on a car in a safari park.
3 The 12-year-old girl stole her father’s motorbike and rode it for 40 km along the motorway before the police stopped her near Oxford. / The 12-year-old girl stole her father’s motorbike and rode it for 40 km along the motorway but the police stopped her near Oxford.
4 The woman hit the teenager hard on his head with her umbrella. Then she used his mobile phone to call the police. / The woman hit the teenager hard on his head with her umbrella and then used his mobile phone to call the police. / The woman hit the teenager hard on his head with her umbrella before using his mobile phone to call the police. / The woman hit the teenager hard on his head with her umbrella and then called the police with his mobile phone. / The woman hit the teenager hard on his head with her umbrella before calling the police with his mobile phone.
5 Amanda escaped from the burning building by breaking a window with her shoe.
6 There was an incredible story on the news about a baby in China who fell from a fourth-floor window but she wasn’t hurt because a man in the street caught her.
3 Writing
Read the notes. Write the story.
FAMILY’S LUCKY ESCAPE WHEN CAR CRASHES INTO HOUSE
Car crashed into house. Manchester.
Family watching TV in living room at time of accident. Heard loud noise.
Driver lost control of car. Drove straight through front door. Stopped 2 metres from kitchen.
No-one seriously hurt. Driver & 3 passengers only minor injuries.
Police were called. Arrived 5 minutes later.
Front of house badly damaged.
Car removed. Took fire service 6 hours.
Answer
Suggested answer
There was an incredible story on the Internet today about a car which crashed into a family’s house in Manchester. Apparently, Richard and Judy Knowles and their children were watching TV when suddenly they heard a loud noise. The driver of the car had lost control of his car and had driven straight through the front door of the house before stopping two metres from the kitchen. Amazingly, no one in the house nor in the car was seriously hurt. It seems that the family of four and their dog were all in the living room at the time of the accident. When they realised what had happened, they immediately called the police, who arrived at the scene five minutes later. The front of the house was badly damaged but, fortunately, the driver of the car and his three passengers only suffered minor injuries. It took the fire service six hours to remove the vehicle from the house.
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