A Village School in Australia (6 Reading)

a VILLAGE SCHOOL IN AUSTRALIA

(After Eleanor Spence)

Шкільне життя – 6 клас                        

Irregular Verbs (Past Simple) from the text:

Part I

The Wilsons were an English family. They lived in London. The father, Mr. Wilson, worked in an office and the mother, Mrs. Wilson, was a housewife (домогосподарка). She looked after the house and the children. There were three children in the family: a son Aidan who was thirteen years old, and two daughters, Harriet who was twelve, and Rose who was ten.

The children went to school in London. Aidan was at a boy’s school, his sisters went to a school for girls. They also took music and singing lessons. Aidan was a tall boy with clever face. He enjoyed reading books and studying at school. He was a very clever pupil at his London school.

Harriet had dark hair and brown eyes. She was not pretty but she was very clever and a good pupil. She was good at her school lessons, but she wasn’t good at her music or singing lessons. Her sister Rose was a pretty girl with long fair hair and large blue eyes. She was good at singing and music.

One day Mr. Wilson received a letter from Australia. The letter said that Mr. Wilson’s uncle was dead, and Mr. Wilson inherited the uncle’s house and farm in Australia. Mr. Wilson decided to leave for Australia and take his family with him. He bought tickets to a ship to get there (туди).

So one day in January they all got on (зайшли на) the ship to get to Australia. Australia is very far from England and they were on the ship for three weeks. The weather was bad, the strong cold wind blew. Rose was ill during (протягом) the voyage.

They came to Australia at last and went to their farm. The uncle’s house was big. It stood on a hill. It was summer then because January, February, March and April are summer months in Australia. Mr. Wilson began to work on the farm and his children helped him.

When autumn came, Mr. and Mrs. Wilson began to think about a school for their children.                        

I. Choose True or False:

1. The Wilsons lived in England.

2. There were four children in the family.

3. The children went to school in Brighton.

4. Aidan was at a boy’s school, his sisters went to a school for girls.

5. One day their father decided to go to America.

6. The uncle’s house was not small.

II. Answer the questions:

1. Did Aidan enjoy reading?

2. What did Harriet look like?

3. What was Harriet good at?

4. What did Rose look like?

5. What was Rose good at?

6. Why did Mr. Wilson decide to leave London?

7. Did Rose feel well during the voyage?

8. What are summer months in Australia?

9. What did the children do on the farm in Australia?

Part II

One day Harriet went down to the village which was not very far from their house. The local (місцеві) people in the village told her that there was a school there, but it was a one-room school and very small. There was only one teacher for all the pupils. The people showed her the teacher’s house. Harriet went up to the house and looked into the garden. In the garden she saw a small plump (огрядний, повний) man with fair hair. He had grey moustache and beard. The girl went up to the man and said, “How do you do? I am Harriet Wilson from the house on the hill”.

“Yes”, answered the man. “And I am Mr. Burnie, the school teacher. What can I do for you?”

“Oh”, said Harriet, “I want to ask you if we, my siblings and I, may come and study at your school”.

“Yes”, answered Mr. Burnie. “Of course you can, but you must come with your parents and see the school first. Perhaps you won’t like it”.

“Oh, no”, said Harriet, “we will like it very much”.

Then Harriet said good bye to the teacher and went home. She told her father, mother, Aidan and Rosie about the school and the teacher. The next day they all went to see the village school. It was a small wooden building. There was only one classroom with many desks in it.                                         

IV. Answer the questions:

1. Who told Harriet about the village school?

2. How large was the village school?

3. How many teachers were there in the school?

4. What did Mr. Burnie look like?

5. How many classrooms were there in the school?

Part III

Harriet and her siblings got up early in the morning and began to dress up. It was their first day at a village school in Australia. Harriet and Rose wore green dresses and white pinafores (фартухи). Aidan wore a blue suit (костюм).

After breakfast they all went down the hill to their new school. There were twenty children from four to fourteen years old at the desks in the classroom. Some of the older girls and boys had their little siblings with them.

Mr. Burnie, the teacher, taught his pupils all the subjects. Lessons began at 9 o’clock. The older (старші) pupils read books and wrote dictations (диктанти) in their copy books. They studied Geography, Biology, Physics, Chemistry and other subjects with their teacher.

The teacher gave pencils and paper to the little children, and they drew pictures or learnt to read and write. One of the older girls helped Mr. Burnie with the younger (молодші) children. During the breaks they all played on the playground.

Harriet enjoyed studying in her new school and she had many friends there. Soon she asked Mr. Burnie to let her teach the younger children. Her siblings didn’t like the village school, they often talked at home about their schools in London and wanted to return there.                                        Шкільне життя – 6 клас

V. Answer the questions:

1. What did Harriet and Rose wear to school?

2. What did Aidan wear to school?

3. How many children were there in the classroom?

4. What time did the lessons begin?

4. What subjects did the pupils study with their teacher?

5. What did the children do during the breaks?

6. Did Harriet like studying in her new school?