Short Texts from Oz © copyright Thorold May 1998 All Rights Reserved; published by The Plain & Fancy Language Company
go to end; go to Table of Contents / 18. The Old Country / 19. Stood Up Again / 20. Let Down Again / 21. St Valentine s Day Kiss / 22. Eureka Stockade
pattern: will /will have V-ed/ be going to V
text:
By August Ali will have been in Australia for twenty-five years. He is going to have a reunion with some old friends from the migrant hostel. They will have a lot to talk about. Everyone is going out to the wharf where an Italian ship, the Achille Lauro, first brought them. The kids won't come because most of them will never have known another country. The Achille Lauro won't be there either, because she went down off East Africa in 1994.
response:1. What anniversary will Ali be celebrating in August?
2. How is he going to celebrate?
3. Make a question using the words talk about.
4. Why does Ali and his friends remember the Achille Lauro?
5. Why won t Ali's kids come to the gathering?
6. What has happened to the Achille Lauro?
7. Who could you have a reunion with to talk about past experiences?
pattern: should have known / you couldn't believe x / would be x
text:He should have known better. You couldn't believe anything that Georgia said. The bitch had said she would be here at seven p.m., and it was already seven-twenty. It was the same last time, and the time before that. She would have an excuse, she always did. He was sick of being stood up. It would always be the same, Mike decided. It would be better to make a clean break and finish the affair. Ah, here she came now, all wide-eyed innocence. This was the moment of truth, he thought to himself.
response:1. How does Mike criticize his own judgement?
2. Why has he decided that Georgia can t be believed?
3. What is the time?
4. What was the same last time?
5. Make a question using the word decide.
6. Mike has come to a big decision. What is it?
7. How would you interpret Georgia s wide-eyed innocence?
8. What does Mike think about the next few minutes?
pattern: should have known / you couldn't VERB x / would be x / would have to x
text:She should have known better. Mike was completely unreliable. You just couldn't trust him. The bastard had promised to book the Honolulu flight. Qantas said there was no record on the computer, and now the flight was overbooked. They were supposed to rendezvous at 7pm. Well bugger him, he would have to wait while she phoned around the other airlines. He would be fuming, but for once he should pay a price for incompetence. In fact, she thought to herself, she should tell Mike get himself another girlfriend.
response:1. What does Georgia think of Mike's behaviour?
2. Why has she decided that she can't trust Mike?
3. Where did Georgia expect Qantas to have a booking for?
4. What did Qantas tell her?
5. Why does she have trouble making a booking?
6. How is she going to punish Mike?
7. How does she think Mike will feel about the broken rendezvous?
8. Make a question using the words tell Mike.
pattern: hardly ... anyone else; always V; every year
text:Adrian hardly noticed anyone else in the restaurant. He came every Tuesday to have a vegetarian pizza with a stubby of beer. He always told himself that this was his night out, but he always brought a book to read at the table. He hardly ever spoke. The waitresses knew his order and always brought it automatically. He was very surprised tonight when three of them came up behind him giggling. They hesitated, then a dark haired girl stepped forward. "Every year," she said, "we choose one customer." She kissed him quickly on the cheek and whispered "Happy St Valentine". Adrian gasped.
response:1. Did Adrian mix with other people much?
2. Make a question using the words every Tuesday.
3. How did Adrian amuse himself?
4. Why didn't he have to give an order?
5. What surprised him tonight?
6. Why did the dark-haired girl kiss him?
7. Describe a custom like St Valentine's Day (February 14th) from your country.
patterns: reported event: time, location, catalyst, action, consequence.
text:On 3rd December 1854 Australia had its first and last armed uprising. This was on the goldfields at Ballarat, where the miners revolted against a licence fee of 30 shillings every month. They demanded representative government and the abolition of the fee. When the police charged the miner's stockade, thirty men were killed in fifteen minutes and their leader, Peter Lalor, lost his arm. Everyone in Victoria was so angry with the police that Peter Lalor was set free and a parliament was soon established. Many people think that the Eureka flag should be Australia's national flag.
response:1. When was Australia's first and last armed uprising?
2. Where did it happen?
3. Why did it happen?
4. What happened exactly?
5. Make a question using the words Peter Lalor.
6. What was an outcome of the Eureka Stockade?
7. Describe the present Australian national flag.
creation exercise:
Prepare a short description of some historical event from your country and be ready to explain it to the class. Your account should answer at least the following questions:
<> What is the name of the event? <> When did it happen?
<> Where did it happen? <> Why did it happen?
<> Who were the main actors?
<> What was the outcome of the event?
Short Texts from Oz © copyright Thorold May 1998 All Rights Reserved; published by The Plain & Fancy Language Company