“DEAR MOM, YOU'RE RUINING ME" Jean Van Leeuwen
Dear mom,
I am working very
hard on cleaning my room. But I want to go to Katy's this afternoon to work on our
Halloween costumes. Can I finish tomorrow? I would get up early and do it before breakfast and I'll do
a good job. Please? Write back.
Love, The Prisoner in Tower # 3
Dear Prisoner,
No.
Love, Mom.
For days a time Sam's mother never came up
to her room. And then one day Sam would come
home from school and find the Condemned sign on her doorknob. Her mother had made the sign. It said: THIS ROOM IS CONDEMNED.
ITS OWNER MAY NOT GO ANYWHERE OR DO ANYTHING UNTIL THE PREMISES ARE RESTORED TO
NEETNESS. In other words, Sam was grounded until she cleaned her room.
It wasn't fair. She was always getting the Condemned sign. Bradley
hardly ever did. And his room was really
disgusting, with posters of rock stars and basketball stars and movie stars wearing tiny bikinis covering every
inch of his walls, and even suspended
from the ceiling. But, her mother pointed out, his floor was clean. And his desk. That was all she cared
about.
Sam had been imprisoned in her room
for three hours now. She sat on the floor, looking at everything she was
supposed to be putting away. It was possible she
might be there all day.
There were her clothes, piled high on her
chair and overflowing onto the floor. Assorted shoes. An umbrella from when it rained on Tuesday.
Library books.
Magazines with pictures of adorable teen-movie stars that Rebecca had lent her. Her piano music from yesterday's
lesson. And odds and ends of junk: nail polish remover, cotton balls, a tennis-ball,
wadded-up notes from Katy, rocks from rock collection they were making for science, pencil stubs, gum
wrappers. And about twenty
crumpled tissues.
The thing to do, Sam decided, was sort
everything into piles. A pile of dirty laundry, a pile of her dresser drawers, a pile to
throw away. That was how her father, the organization man, would do it.
She sighed. It was conceivable she
could be imprisoned in her room all week-end.
She decided to paint her finger nails instead.
I. Find
true and false statements.
1. Sam was a schoolgirl.
2. She was the only child in the
family.
3. The above mentioned episode
occurred in winter.
4. Sam was put into prison.
5. Sam was often punished by her
mother for the constant disorder in her room.
6. Sam's mother was abusive and aggressive.
II. Choose the correct variant
1. As a punishment the girl was
not allowed to: a) visit her friend; b) attend the party;
c) leave the room until it is
cleaned.
2. Sam wanted to go to Katy's because she wanted: a)
to prepare costumes for
the party; b) to gossip about their classmates; c) to do homework together.
the party; b) to gossip about their classmates; c) to do homework together.
3. Bradley was fond of: a)
basketball stars; b) rock, movie and basketball stars;
c) posters of stars.
4. The mother didn't scold Bradley because:
a)she liked Bradley more than Sam; b) he was physically handicapped; c) the
floor in his room was always clean.
5.
Sam's clothes were:
a)
scattered around the room; b) piled on her chair, c)kept in a wardrobe.
6 Concerning her
possessions lying on the floor Sam's decision was:
a) to sort
everything into piles; b) to throw everything away; c) to put everything into her dresser drawers.
a) humorous; b) tragic; c)
dramatic.
III. Answer the questions.
1.
What sign did Sam see
on her doorknob?
2.
Why did Sam think
that it wasn’t fair?
3.
What was Sam doing in
her room?
4.
What kinds of things
were there on the floor?
5.
What did she decide to do first?
6.
What did she do at
the end of the story?
IV. Make up six questions of different type to the text.
THE DISCOVERY OF DINOSAURS
Less than two hundred years ago, no one ever dreamed there was such a
thing as dinosaur. Today, everyone knows about dinosaurs. They are especially
popular with children. Even young children who can barely write their own names
are often familiar with such dinosaur names as Tyrannosaurus, Stegosaurus, and
Triceratops.
People have known of dinosaurs for only
about 150 years. Before then, no one dreamed there had ever been such
creatures. The word “ dinosaur” didn’t even exist.
Anyone who chanced to dig up a
fossil dinosaur bone or tooth might have thought it had come from an elephant –
or perhaps from a dragon or giant! There were few if any people who could look
at a bone and tell what sort of animal it had come from.
But by 150 years ago there were a good many
scientists who could examine a bone or a tooth
and tell exactly what kind of animal it had come from. Some of these man
were very interested in the fossil remains of ancient animals. And they began
to discover a number of fossils that
they knew had come from reptiles – scaly skinned creatures such as lizards,
snakes and crocodiles. But most reptiles of today are rather small, and these
fossil reptile bones and teeth were enormous!
In a book written in 1824, an Englishman named William Buckland
described a huge fossil jaw that had been dug up near an English town. He
called this creature Megalosaurus, which means “ giant lizard ”. It was the
first dinosaur to be named. During the next few years, fossils of other ancient
reptiles were found and named. Scientists now realized that a great many
different kinds of giant reptiles must have lived long ago. A name was needed
for these reptiles, just as there is a
name for every other group of animals that are alike. In 1841, the English
scientist Richard Owen suggested these huge, terrible-seeming reptiles should
be called dinosaurs. The word was made up from Greek words “deinos “, which
means “terrible”, and sauros”, which
means “lizard”. As it turned out, this really wasn’t good name, because
dinosaurs were not lizards.
I. Say if the sentence true or false
1) People have known of dinosaurs for about 150 years.
2) Three hundred years ago there were few people who could tell what
sort of animal the bones belonged to.
3) By 150 years ago the
scientists learned to tell exactly what kind of animal it had come from.
4) The first dinosaur to be named was Triceratops.
5) William Buckland was the first man to name the creature Megalosaurus.
6) The word “dinosaur” was suggested by Richard Owen
II. Complete the sentences.
1) The word … didn’t even
exist.
a) thesaurus; b) dinosaur; c)
jigsaw d) creature
2) These fossil reptile bones and teeth were … !
a) anomalous; b) great; c) enormous; d) normal
3) William Buckland described a huge fossil … that had been dug up near
an English town.
a) jaw; b) skeleton; c) bone; d) leg
4) He called this creature Megalosaurus, which means “ giant … ”.
a) elephant; b) crocodile; c) bird; d) lizard
5) A … was needed for these
reptiles.
a) title; b) name; c) kind; d) surname
6) The word was made up from … words.
a) Latin; b)
Italian; c) German; d) Greek.
III. Answer the questions.
1)
For how much time
have people known of dinosaurs?
2)
Who named the first
dinosaur?
3)
When and where was
it?
4)
Who suggested he name
for that group of animals?
5)
How was the word
“dinosaur” created?
6)
Why wasn’t it a very
good name for the animals?
IV. Make up and write down a plan to retell the story
In Britain censorship of videos is much stricter than in many other European
countries. And it might be even stricter in future, especially with violent.
Soon, it may be difficult to hire films like Reservoir Dogs on video in Britain.
Film censors are worried that young people might copy screen violence.
In England last year, a ten-year-old and eleven-year-old killed
two-year-old boy. Many people blamed a famous horror film. The two boys copied
many of the violent scenes in the film when they attacked their victim.
A recent investigation showed that many
young, violent criminals watch violent films. However, this does not mean that
there is a definite connection. Millions of other people also watch them, but
not perform violent crimes.
In the USA, a boy dropped a bowling ball from a bridge onto cars
on motorway and killed someone after he saw it on “Beavis and Butt-Head”. A
mother blamed this programme when her son started a fire, which killed his
sister. But don’t young people know the difference between reality and fiction?
The producers of the programme say that the audience know that the two
characters are “crazy”, but prefer “Beavis
and Butt-Head” to cartoons with moral messages because they are original and
funny.
Countries vary in their opinion of video
violence. Spain and Portugal have almost no limitations for the cinema or video. France has no limitations for videos.
In England “Die Hard 2” was a certificate 15 but the film censors cut out the most violent
scenes. In France, there was no age limitation and it was possible to
see the entire film.
Many film producers believe that too much
censorship might destroy the film industry. What do you think?
I. Find true and false
statements
1) In most European countries there’s no
censorship on videos.
2) censorship in Great Britain is very strict.
3) Violent films on TV cause
violence in reality.
4) Teenagers sometimes cannot
see the difference between reality and fiction.
5) The film producers think
that too strict censorship might destroy the film industry.
6) Parents may not be worried
about the quality and content of the films their kids watch on TV.
II. Complete the sentences.
1) Film censors are worried that young
people might copy screen … .
a) fights; b) violence; c) kisses; d)
movements
2)
A recent … showed that many young, violent criminals watch violent
films.
a) discussion; b) investment; c)
research; d) investigation
3) But don’t young people know the
difference between reality and … ?
a) fiction; b) fantasy; c) film; d)
flowers
4) France has no limitations for … .
a) music; b) films; c) videos;
d) clips
5) Countries vary in their
opinion of video … .
a) cruel scenes; b) murders; c) fights;
d) violence.
6) Spain and … have almost no limitations for the cinema or
video.
a) Ukraine; b) Portugal; c) Peru; d) Germany.
III. Answer the
questions.
1) Why can the censorship become stricter
in Great Britain?
2) Why do people prefer to
watch “Beavis and Butt-Head”?
3) What countries don’t almost
have censorship?
4) What might destroy film
industry?
IV. Ask 6 questions of
different type to the text.
MOTHER TERESA
Mother Teresa was a simple nun. She never wanted to be famous, but everyone in the world knew
who she was. She received many important awards. She travelled around the world
to accept them. She asked people for help. Then she gave everything to the poor.
Mother
Teresa was born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu in 1910 in what is now Macedonia. She was the youngest
of three children. Agnes's father died when she was a child. Her mother
made dresses to support the family. Agnes's mother also liked to do charity
work, such as visiting the sick. Agnes often went with her, and she enjoyed
helping these people. She was a good and religious girl.
Even as a child, Agnes wanted to be a nun. When she was 18 years old,
she joined
a group of nuns in Darjeeling, India. There, she chose
the name Teresa. Then she went to Calcutta to work at St. Mary's School. The school
was in a convent. Sister Teresa lived in
the convent and worked at the school for 20 years. She eventually became
the principal. During all those years, Sister Teresa was always concerned about how other people lived. The
convent had clean buildings and beautiful
lawns. But outside the convent, the streets were dirty and crowded and full
of very poor people.
One day in 1946, Sister Teresa
was riding on a train to Darjeeling. She looked out of the window and
saw dirty children. They were wearing rags and sleeping in doorways. Sick and
dying people were lying on filthy streets. She loved her work at the school,
but she realized that other people needed her help more. At that moment, she
believed God sent her a message. She decided to go to work with the poor.
Two years later, Sister Teresa left the convent.
First, she went to a hospital to learn to
take care of sick people. After three months, she was ready to live with the poor and the sick. One day, she saw a group of
poor children and called them to her. She told them she was going to open a
school. The school had no roof, no walls,
and no chairs. On the first day, only five students came. She used a stick to write lessons in the dirt.
Several months later, Sister Teresa had many students.
Everyone in Calcutta knew about her. A
friend let her use part of his house for the school. She taught the children language and math. She also taught
them how to keep clean and stay
healthy. Soon, other nuns came to help her. Sister Teresa was happy that they wanted
to join her. But she told them that life with her was not easy. She said that everyone had to wear the same clothes — white
cotton saris. She wanted all the nuns
to look like the poor people in India.
In 1948, Sister Teresa started her
own group of nuns. They were called the Missionaries of Charity. She was their
leader, so they called her "Mother" Teresa. The nuns lived in the slums with people who were
poor, dirty, and sick. It was hard work and
the days were long. But many young nuns came from around the world to join
Mother Teresa.
One
day, Mother Teresa saw an old woman in the street. She took her to a hospital. They
refused to help the woman because she was poor. Mother Teresa decided to open a
place for the sick and the dying. Later, she started homes for children without families. She also
started clinics. Over the years, news of her work
spread around the world. Many people sent her donations of money. Others came to work with her in India or other places. By
1990, the Missionaries of Charity were working in 400 centres around the world.
Over the years, Mother Teresa received many great awards, such as the Nobel Peace Prize.
But she always said her greatest reward was helping people. Her message to the
world was, "We can do no great things — only small things with great
love". She died in 1997 at the age of 87. The whole world mourned her
death.
READING COMPREHENSION TEST
1. True or False Statements
1. Everyone in the world knows who
Mother Teresa was.
2. Agnes chose the name Teresa when
she joined a group of nuns in India.
3. Sister Teresa had worked at St. Mary's school for 20
years and eventually became a principal.
4.Sister Teresa was rarely concerned about the convent
where the school
was.
was.
5. She decided to go to work with
the poor because she didn't like her
work at school.
work at school.
6.Sister Teresa was the only nun in
the school she opened.
2. Multiple Choice Questions
1. Mother
Teresa became famous because she...
A. started a hospital; B. was a good teacher; C.
knew everything about everybody;
D. lived
her life to help others.
2. When
Agnes was 18 years old, she went to...
A. Macedonia.
B. Mexico; C.
India. D. Indonesia.
3. Sister
Teresa lived and worked in the convent in Calcutta for...
A. two
years; B. twelve
years; C. twenty years; D.
twenty two years.
4. Right
after Sister Teresa had left the convent, she...
A. went to hospital to learn to take care of sick people; B. went
to Calcutta; C. travelled around the world to accept
awards; D. went to St. Mary's School.
5. Sister
Teresa decided to work with the poor...
A. when she did charity with her mother; B. when she saw sick and dying people lying on dirty
streets; C. when she asked people for help; D. when
she opened her school.
6. Mother
Teresa's first school...
A. taught religious subjects only; B. was very small and simple; C. wasn't liked by the people of Calcutta; D.
had clean buildings and beautiful lawns.
3. Complete the sentences.
1) She
never wanted … , but everyone in the world knew who she was.
2)
Even as a child, Agnes wanted to be … .
3)
During all those years, … Teresa was always concerned about how other people lived.
4)
First, she went to … to learn to take care of sick people.
5)
She also taught them how to keep … and stay … .
6)
By 1990, the Missionaries of … were working in
400 centres around the world.
4. Make up four questions of different type to this
text.
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