1 Reading
a Read the text and tick (✓) the correct answer.
a The old lady lost her handbag in the park.
b The thief gave the handbag back to the old lady.
c The police officers thought Tom had stolen a handbag.
d Tom stopped a man who had taken a woman’s handbag.
Local hero
One hot day last July, Tom was walking home from university after playing in a rugby match. He had just said goodbye to his best friend, Brian, and was walking across the park near his house. Suddenly, he heard someone shouting, ‘Stop, thief!’ He turned round and saw a little old lady. She was pointing at a young man of about 20 who was running towards him. ‘He’s stolen my handbag!’ she shouted. e thief was coming towards Tom and the old lady shouted to him, ‘Hey, you! Stop him!’ A few seconds later, Tom threw himself at the young man and the thief fell over on the path. Tom immediately sat on the thief’s back so he couldn’t escape. A few minutes later Tom heard a siren and saw the flashing blue light of a police car. e old lady had called the police on her mobile phone and, luckily, a police car had been near the park at the time.
Two police officers got out of the car quickly and ran towards Tom and the thief as fast as they could. As soon as they got to Tom, they immediately arrested the young man. While one of them took him to the police car, the other started asking Tom and the old lady some questions about what had happened. Tom gave the old lady her handbag. Fortunately, everything was still inside it. The old lady thanked Tom and asked him for his telephone number. She explained that she couldn’t stop because she was going to visit a friend in hospital. When the old lady had gone, Tom told the police officer what had happened and he wrote everything down in his notebook. Finally, he gave the police officer his phone number and went home.
The following day the old lady phoned Tom. She thanked him again and invited him to her house. She said that she wanted to give him a reward. Later that week Tom went to visit the old lady at her house. She lived in a big house near the park and there was a Rolls-Royce in front of it. While they talked she made him a cup of tea and gave him some delicious chocolate cake. Then, just as he was standing up to leave, she opened her handbag and gave him £500. Tom told her that he didn’t want to take it, but she insisted: ‘Please take it. I’ve got plenty of money and I’d really like to thank you for being so brave.’ In the end Tom agreed to take it and used it to buy a new laptop.
b Read the text again. Are the sentences true or false?
1 Tom was walking across the park with Brian when he heard the old lady.
2 The young man couldn’t escape because Tom was sitting on him.
3 Both police officers asked Tom to explain what had happened.
4 Tom didn’t want to accept the old lady’s money at first.
5 The old lady didn’t have much money.
Answer
a d
b True: 2, 4; False: 1, 3, 5
2 Writing Skills – Linkers: past time
Underline the correct words to complete the sentences.
1 As soon as / Suddenly the police arrived, the man started running down the street.
2 He saw the strange man with the black dog at 7:30 in the morning. Suddenly / Later that day, he saw him again, but this time without his dog.
3 They said goodnight and went back to their hotel to sleep. As soon as / The following morning, they caught the train to Paris.
4 We were sitting outside a café, reading the guidebook. After a while / Suddenly, there was a huge explosion and people started running in all directions.
5 The sky was covered in dark clouds. A few minutes later / Later that year, it started to rain very heavily.
Answer
2 Later that day 3 The following morning
4 Suddenly 5 A few minutes later
3 Writing
David went on a walking holiday in Scotland last year. Write a story about what happened. Use the time expressions in the box and the notes to help you.
|
about an hour later suddenly after a while later that day 10 minutes later as soon as the following day later that evening after a short time soon last year when |
Notes on accident during walking holiday
• Scotland + 3 friends
• accident – top of a mountain? eating sandwiches?
• weather changed – heavy snow – only see 20 metres
• started walking down path: next village (spend the night?)
• snow: getting deeper?
• all conf dent walkers: no problems?
• shout from behind me: Anthony lying on the ground (fallen over a rock?)
• leg hurting badly: broken?
• call for help? Mobile phone: emergency services
• mountain rescue team (helicopter)
• arrived hospital
• leg not badly broken: no need to operate – all felt v. relieved
Answer
Suggested answer
Last year, I went on a walking holiday in Scotland with three of my friends. We had only been there for a day when the accident happened. We had just got to the top of a mountain and we were having some sandwiches that we’d made for lunch. Suddenly, the weather changed completely. It had been a clear, sunny day when we left the village where we were staying. However, now it was snowing heavily and you could only see clearly for about 20 metres. We started walking down the path towards the next village where we were going to spend the night. The snow was getting deeper, so we walked slowly down the mountain. All of us were confident walkers, so we didn’t think we would have any problems. Suddenly, I heard a shout from behind me. When I turned round, my friend Anthony was lying on the ground. He said that he had fallen over a rock. As soon as I saw him, I knew it was serious. He said his leg was hurting badly and that he thought he had broken it. We decided to call for help. Fortunately, my mobile phone was getting a signal, so I managed to call the emergency services.
After a short time, the mountain rescue team arrived in their helicopter. They landed very close to where we were. They carried Anthony to the helicopter and we all got in with him. Ten minutes later, we arrived at the hospital. Luckily, Anthony’s leg wasn’t badly broken and they didn’t need to operate. We all felt very relieved.
David
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