Carolina writes an email to her friend about work:

"Hi Cristina, I am sorry I haven’t called you for so long. How are you? How is your new
apartment? I have been very busy at work. I arrive at the office at 7 am and leave at around
6:30 pm. I just get half an hour for lunch and a five-minute break in the morning and in the
afternoon. I am very tired when I get home so I just eat, watch some television and go to
bed. In the office, I am on the phone all day, listening to customer complaints and entering
them into our computer system. At the end of the day I have to write a summary of all the
calls I received during the day and give my boss a status on the complaints that are not yet
resolved. I do not know how much longer I can do this. I need a vacation, or even better, I
need another job! I’ll call you this weekend.

Carolina”

Q1: At what time does Carolina usually arrive at the office?

Q2: At what time does she leave?

Q3: What does she do almost all day at work?

Q4: What does she have to give her boss at the end of each work day?

Q5: Does it seem like she likes her job?

My name is Sangeeta. I am 11. I live in New Delhi, India with my father, mother, two
brothers and three sisters. My grandparents also live with us. In India, family is very
important. It is common to have grandparents, aunts, uncles and/or cousins living in the
same house. My aunts, uncles and cousins also live nearby. We see each other often. My
older brother is a computer programmer. Right now, he is in Australia. His company sent him
there for one year. We all miss him a lot. We write him letters every week. I want him to
come home soon.

Q1: How old is Sangeeta?

Q2: Which country does she live in?

Q3: Does she live with her parents? Who else lives with her?

Q4: What does her older brother do?

Q5: Where is he right now?

Q6: Does the family miss him? How do you know?

John stands outside his new house. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out the key. He turns
the key in the lock and opens the door. He steps into the living room and looks around. The
paint is peeling off the walls. There is no furniture. The house is dirty and smells bad. He tries
to open a window but it is broken. The house does not have a kitchen or a bedroom but there
is a microwave on the floor on one side of the room. He wonders if it works. The place looks
terrible but it is all he can afford. He covers his nose and mouth with his hand and opens the
bathroom door. It is in bad condition.

Q1: Is John's new house clean?

Q2: Is the house in good condition?

Q3: How many bedrooms does the house have?

Q4: Does the house need to be repainted?

Q5: Why did John buy a house that is in such bad condition?

Michael is standing in line at the airport. It is his turn and he walks to the counter. The lady at
the counter asks him for his ID and she checks his flight details. Yes, he is confirmed on flight
103 from Los Angeles to Hawaii at noon. He does not have any bags to check in but has one
small carry-on bag that he will take with him. The agent prints out his boarding pass. The
airport security officers walk past him with a big dog. The dog is sniffing around people’s
luggage trying to detect drugs and explosives. Michael is relieved when he sees the dog walk
past him. Suddenly, the dog turns and begins to sniff his bag and bark. The security officer
looks at Michael. “Sir, please bring your bag and come with me.”

Q1: Where is Michael?

Q2: What is an ID?

Q3: What time does Michael’s flight leave Los Angeles?

Q4: What does Michael need in order to get on the plane?

Q5: What are the airport security agents trying to detect?

Andrew is not feeling well. He was at a party last night and got home at 3 am. He has a
headache and feels nauseous. He had too much to drink and ate too much shrimp. He gets
out of bed and realizes that he is not wearing any pants. He looks around but cannot find
them. He goes into the bathroom and looks around for his pills. He cannot find them. He
hears voices. He walks out of the bedroom, goes down the stairs and into the kitchen. There
are people talking and laughing in the kitchen. He wonders who else came back home with
him last night. Then he realizes something. He doesn’t have stairs in his apartment. He is in
someone else's home!

Q1: Why is Andrew not feeling well?

Q2: Why do you think he cannot find his pills?

Q3: When does he realize that he is not in his own apartment?

Q4: Why doesn’t he realize that he is not in his apartment when he wakes up?

Q5: What do you think he should do?

The team is exhausted. They sit in silence in the locker room, waiting for their coach. It is
halftime and they don’t know what to do. They are losing 28 – 0. The coach staggers in. He
stinks of smoke and whiskey and his shirt has a big yellow stain on it. He raises his hand and
yells “SILENCE!! I CANNOT UNDERSTAND ANYTHING IF YOU ALL TALK AT THE SAME TIME!!”
The players look at each other confused. No one had said anything.

“Now, everyone be seated and listen to me. We can still win this game. Just keep defending
and… you know… scoring. That’s the beauty of basketball. A twenty-eight point lead is
NOTHING!! Now… if you gentlemen will excuse me…” He walks over to the restroom, goes in
and shuts the door. The players hear a loud thud and assume that he has passed out. No one
says a word. They look at their captain. He stands up and speaks to the team. “Well…we
should have mentioned that we were playing soccer and not basketball… but I guess it’s too
late now. So, what can I say? Let’s go out there and do our best to limit the humiliation.
Okay?”

Q1: Why is the team sitting in the locker room?

Q2: Does the coach seem sober? Why?

Q3: Does it seem like the coach will come out of the restroom anytime soon? Why?

Q4: Do you think this team can still win the game?

Q5: Do you think the team is surprised by the way the coach is behaving?

The bank teller counts the money in front of George and hands it to him. “Here you are sir.
That is everything you have in your account. I have closed it as you requested. You should
receive a confirmation in the mail. Have a nice day!”

George looks at the money and takes a deep breath. It is everything he has saved. He lost his
job a month ago and cannot find anything else. He has to use all the money from his savings
account to feed his family. They were evicted from their apartment three days ago and now
live with relatives. This money is all he has to survive until he gets another job. He carefully
puts the money in his coat pocket and walks to the exit holding it tight. “I will guard this
money with my life” he whispers to himself.

Three men wearing masks enter the bank. One pulls out a gun, fires a shot in the air and
yells: “Everyone stay calm! This is a robbery! No one will get hurt if you do exactly as you are
told!”

Q1: Why is George withdrawing all the money from his savings account?

Q2: Does he have a place to live?

Q3: Why are the three men wearing masks?

Q4: Do the robbers sound dangerous?

Q5: Do you think George will hand over his money to the bank robbers?
Paul looks at his watch. He is worried. He has fifteen minutes to get to his interview and he is
stuck in a traffic jam. He looks around. Everyone is honking their horns and trying to move
into the lane that seems to be moving faster. They have barely moved in the last thirty
minutes. Paul looks out of the window at the people walking past him on the sidewalk. An old
woman walking with a cane passed him fifteen minutes ago. He cannot be late for this
interview. He grabs his suitcase, opens the door and gets out of the car. He shuts the door
and begins to walk quickly down the street. All the cars behind him begin to honk and the
drivers start yelling at him. One yells: “HEY! WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU’RE GOING? YOU
CAN’T JUST LEAVE YOUR CAR!! HEY!!!! COME BACK!!

Q1: Why is Paul worried?

Q2: Why does he think he will be late?

Q3: What does he decide to do in order to get to his interview on time?

Q4: What do the drivers behind him think of that?

Jacob takes the ladder and leans it against the tree. He starts to climb up and tries not to look
down. He cannot believe he is doing this. His neighbor’s cat climbed up the tree in front of the
house and cannot climb down. Now normally, Jacob would not offer to rescue a cat in a tree.
He is afraid of heights, ladders and cats. But his neighbor, Anita, is gorgeous and rescuing her
cat would be the perfect way to be a hero and get her attention.

He is almost there. The ladder begins to shake and he looks down and realizes how high he is.
He looks at his beautiful neighbor and decides that it is not worth it. He screams loudly
“HELP!!! I’M FALLING!!!” The cat suddenly jumps from the tree onto his head. They both fall
to the ground and the cat runs to her owner. Anita runs to Jacob, who is lying on the ground.

“Thank you so much”, she says. “That was very heroic! I hope you are not hurt.”

“It was nothing”, he whispers. “By the way, if it’s not too much trouble, would you be so kind
as to call me an ambulance?”

Q1: What is Jacob doing and why?

Q2: Why does Jacob offer to rescue the cat even though he is afraid?

Q3: Why does he fall off the ladder?

Q4: Do you think Jacob is hurt at the end?

Q5: Do you think he has a chance of going out with Anita?

Renata walks into the restaurant. She sees her boyfriend Diego sitting at a table near the
window and smiles. He sees her and gets up. They hug and sit down. They call the waiter and
order two glasses of wine. He looks nervous and begins to talk. “Look, I know this is awkward
but let me…” but Renata interrupts him.

“You don’t have to tell me. I know how you feel. I was so excited when you called to invite me
to lunch. I have missed you too. Not seeing each other for a couple of months was the best
thing for our relationship. I realize now that you are the one for me. Let’s forget the past.
Things will be different from now on, I promise you.”

Diego takes a deep breath and takes a sip of wine. “Actually, I invited you to lunch because I
didn’t want to tell you over the phone. I’m sorry but I’ve met someone else”.

Q1: Why did Renata come to this restaurant?

Q2: Does Diego want to restart the relationship?

Q3: Why doesn’t he want to get back together?

Q4: Why didn’t he tell Renata this over the phone instead of inviting her to lunch?

Q5: What would you do if you were in Renata’s place?

Marcelo and his friend Chris are exploring a new country in a rented car. They are looking for
a restaurant called 'The Best Steak in Town'. However, they are completely lost. The
directions they were given were very difficult to follow, so they stop a stranger by the side of
the road to ask him for directions. The stranger smiles and replies: “Oh, that’s a really
popular restaurant. I can tell you how to get there. It’s really simple”. Chris takes out a paper
and pencil and begins to make notes. The stranger continues.

“Drive straight ahead until you see a house with a broken fence. Make a right after that house
and keep going until you pass two big rocks on the left. Soon after that you will see a bush
that looks like a giant cockroach. Turn left at that bush and keep going for another twenty
minutes. You should pass two gas stations on your right. About a mile after the second gas
station, you will see three mounds of dirt and a house with a horse tied to a tree. Make a right
at that house and it will be the second restaurant on your left. The sign is broken but you
can’t miss it. It has a rock next to it that looks like a bear holding a sword. You may see a few
people standing outside drinking beer. Good luck!”

Q1: What is the name of the restaurant that Marcelo and Chris are looking for?

Q2: Why are they lost?

Q3: So what do they do to find the restaurant?

Q4: Are the stranger’s directions easy to follow?

Q5: Can they identify the restaurant by the sign in front?

It is Richard’s turn to speak. He is nervous. He doesn’t want to be here but he has no choice.
He has lost his job, his home, his family and most of his friends. He takes a deep breath, gets
up and walks to the podium at the front of the room. He adjusts the microphone and looks at
the group of people in front of him. They begin to clap and shout words of encouragement.
Rodrigo takes deep breaths to relax and grips the sides of the podium to stop his hands from
shaking. When the clapping stops he summons up his courage and speaks.

“Good evening everyone. Thank you for your support. My name is Richard, and I am addicted
to heroin.”

Q1: Why do you think Richard is nervous?

Q2: What does he do to calm himself down?

Q3: Why does Richard grip the podium?

Q4: What does the crowd do to make him feel more at ease?

Q5: What is Richard addicted to?

Hi! I’m Peter. I am 10 years old and live with my parents in San Francisco. I am in the fifth
grade. In the United States we call that elementary school. I love playing sports, watching
cartoons and playing video games. Playing sports is fun and very good for you. I have a
brother and a sister. My brother is 17 and is in his last year of High School. He loves sports
and going to parties. He never takes me to any parties but sometimes he takes my sister and
me to the beach. My sister’s name is Jane. She is 11. She loves reading and playing soccer.
She reads one or two books every week and watches every soccer game on TV. She gets into
trouble at school all the time because she doesn’t do her homework. She pretends to pay
attention in class but reads her books under the desk. My parents sometimes make my
brother help her with her homework. Very often he just does her homework for her so that he
can go out with his girlfriend. have a girlfriend too. Her name is Shenaaz. She moved to San
Francisco with her parents from Lebanon. She is very pretty. She speaks French and Arabic
and is learning English. She doesn’t have her own books yet so we sit together in class and I
share my books with her. On the weekend, she comes over and watches movies with my
family and me. Her parents like her to spend time at our house because she can learn English
with us. At home, they only speak French or Arabic. When I grow up I want to be a policeman
and help catch criminals. My teacher says I will have to study hard so I will be smarter than
the criminals. The cops on TV seem really smart, so I make sure I get ‘A’s in everything so I
can be smart like them. My Dad is really smart too. He is a mechanic. He can fix any car in
the world. He told me he had to study really hard too. If I don’t become a cop, I want to
become a mechanic and fix people’s cars. I guess I will have to stop playing video games so
much and study so that I can be smart and help people when I grow up.

Q1: What are Peter´s hobbies?

Q2: Why is Peter´s sister in trouble at school all the time?

Q3: Where´s Peter´s girlfriend from?

Q5: What does Peter want to be when he grows up?

Today was the best day of Luke’s life (according to him). He went to the movies with Andrea.
As you already know, Andrea moved to San Francisco from Paris and since she didn’t have
her own books, they sat together in class so that Luke could share his books with her. They
spend most weekends together, watching TV, doing homework and taking Checkers (Peter’s
dog) to the park. They have a great time together, talking about school, TV programs and
what they would like to do when they grow up. Peter is now 11 years old. One day he had an
idea. “Why don’t we go to a movie together?” he asked Andrea. “I’m not sure” she replied.
Andrea had never been to a movie theatre in the United States. “How is it different from
renting a DVD and watching it at home?” Luke was very surprised by her question. “It’s very
different! The first thing is that the screen is huge! The theatre is dark so you can really focus
on the movie. You’re also with other people who are enjoying the movie along with you.”
Andrea wasn’t sure but she agreed to try it. Andrea wasn’t sure about which movie she
wanted to see either, so she let Peter decide. Luke loves Jackie Chan so he picked the movie
“The Spy Next Door” which is a comedy for kids. Shenaaz had never seen a movie with Jackie
Chan so she agreed. Luke’s mother drove them to the theatre the following afternoon. She
gave Luke money for the tickets and snacks and waited for them outside the theatre. Once
the movie started it was fun. All the other kids in the theatre were laughing. When Andrea
didn’t understand something, Peter explained it to her. They held hands during most of the
movie. Peter was sure he was in love. He wondered if Andrea felt the same way but he was
too afraid to ask. When the movie was over, they walked out together. On the way out,
Andrea gave Luke a kiss on the cheek and told him how much she had enjoyed the movie.
She thought that some parts of the movie were a bit silly but she didn’t want to hurt Luke’s
feelings. On the way home, they stopped for pizza and ice cream. They told Luke’s mother all
about the movie and decided that they must go to another one. However, the next time
Andrea would pick the film. Luke didn’t mind. He had just had the best day of his life!.