Exam Card 6

 Reading 

 1. Read the story and say in 2—3 sentences what it is about.

CHRISTMAS TREE

           Just before Christmas in 1944, a letter arrived at our house in Philadelphia. The postmark was from Tuskegee, Alabama, so we all knew who it was from. We excitedly gathered around Mother as she opened it.

                  My Dear Mother,

                I did not get the leave I expected for Christmas. I will miss all of you. Please leave the Christmas tree up until I make it back. I hope to be home by March.

               Love from your son,

              Clifton.

              I was 17 years old at the time. My heart sank. I felt a deep sadness that my favourite brother would not be home for Christmas. He was one of the Tuskegee Airmen and was responsible for maintaining the airplanes flying off to fight in World War II. My mother, being the optimist, said, “Well, it looks like we’ll get to have two Christmases this year!” After Christmas, my sister and I worked together to make sure we kept that Christmas tree looking as pretty as possible. This was no easy feat.

            By mid­January, the branches dropped so low to the ground that they became a sliding board for the decorations. Each day, ornaments would come crashing to the ground and there were brand new pine needles all over the wooden floor. My sister and I took turns sweeping them up. We moved the ornaments to the stronger branches on the tree, hoping they would stay on.

              Each time we freshened that tree up, my sister and I were full of thoughts about Clifton and how happy we would be to see him again. It made us feel that he was close by, even though he was hundreds of miles away. On March 5, the doorbell rang. We ran to the door and gave Clifton a big hug. As he hugged Mother, I could see him looking over her head at the Christmas tree.

                “It’s beautiful,” he said. “Thank you.” Clifton opened his presents and told us all sorts of stories about his work in Tuskegee. That night as we slept, we heard a crash in the living room. We all ran to see what had happened. The tree had toppled onto the sofa and there were needles and broken ornaments everywhere.

                  We all had a good laugh. It was fortunate that Clifton got!

 Tuskegee Airmen [tʌsˈkiːeəmən] пилоты из Таскиги
 to maintain [meɪnˈteɪn] обслуживать, готовить
 a pine needle [ˈpaɪnˌ niːdl] сосновая иголка
 to topple [ˈtɒpl] опрокинуться, свалиться


2. The family got a message from Clifton. Find the extract which says about it and read it aloud.
3. What was Clifton’s job?
4. Which facts show that all the family loved Clifton very much?

Listening

II. Listen to three teenagers talking about homework and answer the questions below.

1. Why does the first speaker dislike doing homework?
2. What does the second speaker regret about?
3. What are the benefits of doing homework according to the third speaker?

Speaking

III. Let’s talk about Science and Technology