Reading

My Job at a Summer Camp, by Charlie Rose

Every year I work at a summer camp for kids and I really enjoy seeing the children do things they never thought they could do. Nearly all the kids know how to swim and play table-tennis before they come, but things like rock climbing are new experiences for most. Some of them are very nervous, but after a bit of encouragement, they agree to try and they all get to the top in the end, which makes them feel great.

The kids stay several weeks and some do miss home. You might expect it to be the really young ones who feel like that the most but it’s actually the ten- to thirteen-year-olds. We don’t let them use their mobile phones all the time. First we tell them they can phone home after lunch. Then when they ask again, usually after dinner, we say it’s a bit too late to phone and suggest doing it the next day. Most children are fine in a couple of days and at the end of their stay, it’s amazing how many come and thanks us because they have had a great time.

It’s not just the children who get lonely. We get parents who are on the phone the whole time, asking how their child is getting on, which is quite unnecessary. Often their son or daughter will be busy, playing games or doing something else, so we have to tell parents to ring back another time.

Some kids arrive dressed in smart, designer, new clothes and they sometimes argue when we tell them to change into something they won’t mind getting dirty, but before long they realise what we mean.

1 What is the writer trying to do in this text?

2. What does the writer say about rock climbing at the camp?

3.What surprises the writer about the children who stay at the camp?

4. What does the writer think about some parents?

5. Which postcard might a child at the camp send home?