It was very hot that day. On my way home, my bus stopped
and I got off at the bus station. At once I noticed a man lying on
a bench. All the people saw him and just shrieked with laughter.
They thought he was drunk. But he wasn’t.
Boys standing not far from the bench giggled loudly. One of
them pointed to the bench, and said “Look at that old drunk.”
Get the Flash Player to see this player.
Only one man stopped next to this person. All the people
around turned and watched. This man turned to the boys and
said: “What are you laughing at? He can be sick. It’s very hot
today. Why don’t you understand that?” The boys stopped
laughing at once.
The boys looked down. They looked ashamed.
The man talked to the sick man, the man that the boys called
“drunk”. But he was not drunk. He was sick because of the sun
and the high temperature. He stood up with the help of that man
and they walked away. I saw them going to the pharmacy.
That was the lesson I will never forget. We were all
indifferent to a person in need. We are all people. We should
help if someone needs help. That is one reason we are living on
the Earth.
Exercises
I. Understanding the Story
1. Why did the people notice the man?
2. Why did they laugh at him?
3. What did the kind man do?
4. What do you conclude?
II. Vocabulary
Answer the questions about some words in the story.
1. What is the difference between a shriek and a giggle?
2. What is the temperature when it is really hot?
3. Why were the boys ashamed? How does a person show
shame?
4. What do you buy in a pharmacy?
III. Now you Talk
1. Describe an occasion when someone was kind to a stranger.
2. Why do people get sick when it is hot?
3. What does this story teach you?
IV. Now you Write
1. Write a summary of the story in five to seven sentences.
2. Write an email from the sick man to the helpful man, thanking
him.
V. Role Play
1. The writer and friend: They talk about the man on the bench.
2. Kind man and boy: He tells them to behave well.
3. Two boys: They laugh and joke about the sick man.
4. Kind man and sick man: They talk about his problem.
5. The writer and her mother: They talk about helping people. |
