On the Other Side of the Hill Reading Level
Advanced EFL / ESL short story
Blueish Glue Tree - a brusk story from New Zealand
by Pat Boyle
WITH AUDIO. ►: Click to open/close audio histrion
It was a week night, we were a half dozen guys in our belatedly teens, hanging around 'the flat' - as usual. The apartment was sparsely furnished, a few old chairs in the lounge , plenty of chrome and formica in the kitchen, a mattress on the floor of each bedroom. The only thing of whatsoever existent value in the place was "the Stereo". Similar a shrine nosotros would kneel before it, changing records, or adjusting the tone controls. After a fourth dimension, fifty-fifty this most holy of appliances grew tiresome. We wanted action.
We got in the car - a large white Valiant, big enough for all of us to crowd in to - and off we went, in search of take chances. Nosotros before long found ourselves at Blue Gum Corner, a place named afterwards the lone huge former blue gum tree that stood by there, a well-known local landmark. Information technology stands at a minor intersection leading to our boondocks. The trunk is alpine and smoothen with no handholds for climbing. Near six metres from the ground the first branch sticks out over the road.
We parked beneath the huge sometime tree and discussed what nosotros might do. It was decided that we would utilise the tow-rope from the automobile to attempt to climb it. I stood upon the roof of the auto and threw the rope over the lowest co-operative, tied information technology off, and gave it a skillful tug. One of the guys remarked how the loop at the bottom end of the rope looked like a noose - used for hanging. All at once the young thrill-seekers hatched an idea - we would fake a hanging! I was nominated as 'hangee'.
The programme was absurdly simple. As I stood upon the roof of the car, the rope was threaded down my jacket through my collar and down one leg of my jeans. I put my foot through the loop at the bottom and the car was driven abroad and hidden downwards the road. At that place I hung, motionless. The boys rolled about laughing until, A motorcar, I hear a car! Before they ran to hibernate, they gave me a adept shove then that 'the trunk' would swing as the car drove by.
To our collective thwarting, the car only turned off for town without even slowing. The boys came out of their hiding places and we discussed the situation, surely they had seen me, hadn't they? Then we heard another auto, the act was repeated, but withal without whatever apparent reaction. We played the game well-nigh five or half dozen times, but as no one seemed to notice, we abandoned the prank . What nosotros did not know was that every car that had passed had definitely seen 'the torso' and each one, too scared to stop, had driven directly to the local Police Station. Now at that time of the night, the local constable was well tucked up in his bed, and then the outset person dispatched to the scene was the traffic officer that happened to be on duty that particular dark.
The traffic officer that arrived on the scene that night was typical of his kind; moustached, timid, and not the smartest person in boondocks.
Hearing the siren before we saw the car, we had plenty of fourth dimension to run and hide in the field beside the tree. I finally felt that familiar mix of fearfulness and excitement we had been striving for all dark.
The traffic officer, always the professional, began scanning the area with his spotlight; as soon as the calorie-free was off any 1 of u.s., we would brainstorm to crawl away. The resulting rustling and scuttling sounds would crusade the calorie-free to exist turned on the spot whatsoever racket emanated from, the crawler instantly freezing. As this would happen another would-exist Houdini from our grouping would begin his escape on the other side of the field. The poor traffic officer ended upwards darting his light back and forth all over the paddock chasing some invisible, suicidal lunatic.
It may exist useful for me to elucidate on the thinking of the officer at this time. He had been informed that some person had been killed, by hanging, at Blue Gum Corner. When he arrived, the body was gone! and he was hearing 'unnatural sounds' from the surrounding surface area. As far every bit he knew, some crazed monster was lurking around in the field earlier him, possibly dragging a corpse behind him - and we thought we were scared!
One of the boys, I had no idea which, had made it to a fence. When the spotlight was off him, he had started to climb it. Now when you climb an 8-wire farm fence, the wires tend to create a screeching noise; this acquired the cop to just about leap out of his black boots! He fumbled for his torch then ran off down the road towards the sound. He got nearly half way so slowed and stopped, thinking better of it he ran back to the machine calling, "Go the dog Kevin, get the d - o - k!" Nosotros all knew he was completely alone, so this simply resulted in a few giggles from the field.
The cop kept looking nervously at his lookout man, I figured he was probably waiting for support from the local police officer. Once there were two of them, the chances of getting caught were going to be pretty high, so I figured I had amend do my best to become out of there every bit soon equally I could. Some other screech from a fence on the far side of the field really upset our friend in the uniform. Once more he yelled, this fourth dimension, "I've got a gun!" We well knew that in those days traffic officers were non even issued with a billy.
He went to his radio and made a call that really began to worry us. I lay so shut I could hear every word, he chosen for the "armed offender squad" and a "dog team, better go far two", he had a "serious situation" at Blue Gum Corner. Then the police officer arrived. After a briefing from the traffic cop he decided not to go into the field until armed squad and dog teams arrived.
Now two spotlights were on the field and none of us could motion. By and so, Keith had managed to make his fashion dorsum to his automobile that was hidden at the gravel pit a few hundred meters away. As we lay in the field nosotros heard his engine kickoff, we heard the audio of gravel beneath his tyres, but the cops did not take their optics off the field. As nosotros lay in the now damp grass, we all knew information technology would exist a long walk back into boondocks!
As luck would have it, police cars cannot leave their spotlights on all night without flattening their batteries. So, after a time, the two cops began alternating their lighting of the field, assuasive us the opportunity to resume our crawl for freedom. Ane past i, we all managed to sideslip off and make our way habitation. Behind us we left what must have looked similar a small metropolis of lights, law cars, roadblocks, barking dogs, armed officers and an old towrope hanging from a tree.
When I think back to that night, to what the drivers of the cars think happened, what police believe happened, and to what happened from my perspective, I am reminded of a elementary truth - our optics perceive darkness and light, colour and movement, our ears detect only vibrations in the air. It is how we interpret these images that shapes our "reality".
WORDS:
glue tree - eucalyptus - hang round: pass the time - lounge: living room - shrine: holy place - holy : sacred - - appliance: auto - towrope: rope used for pulling something backside a motorcar - tug: pull - noose: ring of rope - thrill-seekers: people looking for excitement - false: imitate - shove: push - prank: game - constable: policeman - on duty: on service - strive: search - clamber ! motility on easily and knees - rustling and scuttling sounds: soft duplicate sounds - paddock: field - elucidate on: clarify - corpse: dead trunk - bollix: look - giggle: express joy - back up: support - issue with: provide with, give - squad: squad - slip off: escape.
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WORKSHEET
Blue Gum Tree
Using information: complete the dialogue: Interactive exercise: write your answers in the boxes. The boxes volition expand if you write more than ane line.
Imagine that on the day post-obit the events narrated in the story, the policeman had come up knocking on Pat Boyle's door: Complete the dialogue as advisable
Policeman: Where ....
Pat: Why? I was here, in the flat!
Policeman: .....
Pat: Well, yes, we did go out for a bit!
Policeman: .....
Pat: Aye of class, we collection out of town.
Policeman: .....
Pat: Oh no, nada at all.
Policeman: .....
Pat: Well no, I dont think so; simply at present yous happen to mention it, I seem to retrieve that there was something there.
Policeman: .....
Pat: I don't know; only yes, I suppose it could have been.
Policeman: .....
Pat: Well we didn't think about information technology.
Policeman: .....
Pat: No, we drove correct past. Policeman: ..... Policeman: .....
Ideas for the classroom :
Listening exercise:
Being a story, this document is more appropriate for unprepared audio presentation than a factual article.
Read this story to your students twice, preferably without letting them follow the text. Permit them take notes during the second reading.
And so do one of the post-obit activities:
Either accept students collectively retell the story from start to end, or have them piece of work individually or in pairs to retell the story every bit a written text - nonetheless without consulting the printed text.
If you prefer the spoken exercise, ask 1 pupil to first and to produce a first sentence. And then ask other students if they can add together any details; the beginning judgement should describe the situation at the outset, for case - There are several bored boys in a flat, wanting activity.
Ask other students to expand on this. Where does the story take place? Why are the boys bored? What sort of town practice they live in?
Deport on in this manner, asking advisable questions to elicit replies that will eventually atomic number 82 to a adequately detailed re-creation of the chain of events.
This should keep your course occupied for quite a while!
If you choose the written exercise, it is probably safest to practice it immediately, before you let your students expect at a printed or on-screen version of the text.
Going farther.
Have students annotate on the meaning of the final sentence.
Free expression:
Have students retell the story equally information technology might have appeared a few days later in the local newspaper, post-obit a report on the mysterious incident sent to the newspaper past the local police force.
Preferably, have students incorporate the following verbs into their report: say, tell, recollect, see, know, look
and these other words: nonetheless, yet, again, according to, after, before, during, since, for
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