RICHMOND READERS. Radio Boy

Transcription

1 RICHMOND READERS Radio Boy The sky is grey and the sea is blue. A girl is walking on the beach. She finds a red bottle. A boy is watching her. What is in the bottle? Radio Boy is an exciting story where things happen fast.... John Escott writes for children and adults. He is from Somerset but he lives in Bournemouth, a large town on the south coast of England. He and his wife have two children.... STARTER LEVEL...

2 RICHMOND READERS... STARTER LEVEL (300 headwords)... The Man from Peru Ricky Banks Music Star! Supercomputerman Radio Boy... LEVEL 1 (500 headwords)... Oscar Jack s Game Maria s Dilemma Permission to Leave The Boy from Yesterday The Black Mountain... LEVEL 2 (800 headwords)... Saturday Storm Craigen Castle Mystery Jason Causes Chaos Where s Mauriac? The Road through the Hills... LEVEL 3 (1200 headwords)... Cold Feet A Christmas Carol The Canterville Ghost and Other Stories Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde A Trip to the Stars Frankenstein... LEVEL 4 (1800 headwords)... Dracula Jane Eyre The Adventures of Tom Sawyer A Trip to London Sense and Sensibility

3 Radio Boy... J OHN ESCOTT Richmond P U B LISHING

4 Richmond Publishing 19 Berghem Mews Blythe Road London W14 OHN John Escott 1998 Published by Richmond Publishing 1998 First published 1998 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers. ISBN: Printed in Spain by Cover Design: Blue Pig Design Cover Illustration: Debbie Lush Illustrations: Julia Pearson

5 CHAPTER ONE The Girl on the Beach Good morning! You re listening to Roundbay Radio, your favourite local radio station! It s Saturday morning and this is Tara Mason.The time is nine o clock. Hi, everyone. Steve opens his eyes. Hi,Tara, he says to the radio.then he sits up in bed. He always listens to Tara Mason on Saturday mornings. She is his favourite person on Roundbay Radio. Well, let s have some music.... 5

6 RADIO BOY Good idea, Steve says. His mother calls from the kitchen. Steve? Are you getting up? she says. Steve does not answer. He does not want to get up. He closes his eyes again. Steve! his mother calls again. You must go to the shop for me after breakfast! Are you getting up? OK, OK! Steve stays. Soon. Not soon - now! his mother says. I m making your breakfast. OK, Steve says. He opens his eyes. I m getting up now. After a moment, he gets out of bed and walks across to his window. He can see Roundbay beach across the road. It is not raining, but the sky is grey.there are one or two people on the beach. A man and a small boy walking, and a woman with a dog. And a girl.... What s she doing? Steve thinks. He watches the girl for a minute or two. The girl has short brown hair, and she is wearing jeans and a yellow shirt. She puts something into a bag, then walks on. A moment later, she stops 6

7 THE GIRL ON THE BEACH Steve can see Roundbay beach from his window. 7

8 RADIO BOY Anna is looking for interesting things for pebbles and shells. 8

9 THE GIRL ON THE BEACH again. She looks at something on the beach. She takes it and puts it in her bag. What is it? Steve thinks. It s something red. He watches her for another minute or two, then he puts on his clothes. Anna walks along the beach. She is looking for interesting things - for pebbles and shells. She sees something red. What s that? she says. A red... bottle? There s some writing on it, but I can t read it. It s not in English. Is it Russian? She sees something red. 9

10 RADIO BOY She puts the bottle in her bag with the pebbles and shells. She looks at the grey sky. It s going to rain again soon, she thinks. Another five minutes, and then I must go home. She sees a man and a small boy walking by the sea, and a woman walking with her dog.then the woman with the dog stops and looks at something on the beach.the woman calls the man and the boy. Now the three of them are looking at... what? Anna doesn t know.the man says to the boy, Don t go near it,tom. What is it? Anna thinks. What are they looking at? It begins to rain and she walks quickly up to the road. It is time to go home. Steve sits in the kitchen. He eats his breakfast and listens to the music on the radio. I need some shopping, his mother says. OK, Steve says. Can you go to the shop now, please? his mother says. OK, Steve says again. Here are the things we need. She gives him a list. 10

11 THE GIRL ON THE BEACH Steve s mother gives him a list. 11

12 RADIO BOY Can I listen to Tara Mason before I go? Steve says. She finishes at eleven o clock. I need those things before eleven, Steve, his mother says. OK - er, all right, Steve says. I can take my personal stereo with me. You can listen to Tara Mason later, his mother says. Why don t you find something to do? You can help me.you can wash the car or do some work in the garden. Don t sit and listen to the radio all morning. OK, Steve says. But he doesn t mean it. He likes the radio and he likes Tara Mason. Steve finishes his breakfast.then he gets his personal stereo and puts the headphones on. His mother gives him some money. Don t be long, she says. Steve doesn t hear her. He has music in his ears. 12

13 CHAPTER 1 CHAPTER TWO The Red Bottle Anna takes her bag to her room and sits on the bed. She can hear her young brother, Andy, watching a television programme in his room. Andy is five years old. He likes to watch children s television on Saturday mornings. Anna puts the shells, pebbles and other things from the beach on her table. Shall I draw the pebbles first? she thinks. Or a shell? Or the red bottle? She looks at a big shell. That s beautiful, she says. She sits down and draws the shell on some paper. She sits down and draws the shell on some paper. 13

14 RADIO BOY She looks at it. She is not happy with it. She looks for some more paper to do it again, but she cannot find any. Andy! Where s my paper? Anna calls. No answer. Anna goes into her brother s room. Andy does not look at her. He is sitting on his bed and watching television. Where s my paper? Anna says. I want to draw. I don t know, Andy says. That s not true! Anna says. Yes, it is! Andy says. Anna s father comes into the room. What s the matter? he says. Please be quiet. I m trying to work. Anna s father is a writer. He writes books and works on a computer in one of the other rooms of the house. Andy has all my paper, Anna says. Have you, Andy? her father asks. Andy does not answer for a moment.then he says, Maybe. That means yes! Anna says. I can t draw the things from the beach, and- 14

15 THE RED BOTTLE Please be quiet. I m trying to work. 15

16 RADIO BOY All right, all right! her father says. Be quiet, both of you! I haven t got any drawing paper, Anna, but here s some money. Go and buy some from the shop in West Street. Get some for Andy, too. He gives Anna some money. Thanks, Anna says. Her father goes to his room and Anna puts on her coat. Steve walks along the street.the shopping is in a bag in his hand. It is not raining now and there is some blue in the sky. Maybe the sun is going to come out, Steve thinks. I can wash the car, then go for a walk on the beach later. He is in South Street. He doesn t need to walk home along this street. But the Roundbay Radio building is in South Street and Steve likes to walk past it. He wears his headphones and he listens to the music. He looks at the windows of Roundbay Radio Station. Tara s in there, he thinks. Maybe only twenty or thirty metres away from me! Hi,Tara! At that moment, the music stops and Tara Mason begins to say something in his ear. 16

17 THE RED BOTTLE The Roundbay Radio building is in South Street and Steve likes to walk past it. 17

18 RADIO BOY That s Cloud Nine. And now... Oh, wait a minute. Some news is coming in... and we must go over to Mike Quinn in the newsroom.what s the news, Mike? Some important information from the police,tara.the police are looking for red bottles along the beach. People must not open these red bottles.they must call the police. What s in the bottles, Mike? The police aren t saying at the moment, but it s something bad. Something to make you ill. OK... thanks, Mike. Now for some music

19 THE RED BOTTLE Steve stops in the middle of the road. On the beach... something red.... The girl in the yellow shirt! he thinks. A car goes by and the driver calls to Steve. Get out of the road! Get out of the road, the driver calls. 19

20 RADIO BOY Steve walks quickly on. I must do something, he thinks. I must go to the police. Maybe the girl doesn t know the news. Maybe she s going to open the bottle and- He stops and looks at the windows of the radio station. And he has an idea. Andy goes into his sister s room. These things are from the beach, he thinks. Anything interesting? Anything for me to play with? Anna is at the shops.their father is in his room. The house is quiet. Andy goes across to the table near the window. He sees the pebbles and the shells. And then he sees the red bottle. What s in this? he thinks. He looks at it. Can I open it? 20

21 THE RED BOTTLE Anything for me to play with? 21

22 RADIO BOY CHAPTER THREE Stop! Don t Break It! Anna gives some money to the woman in the shop. The woman puts the paper into a bag. There you are, Anna, the woman says. Thank you, Mrs Clark, Anna says. Mrs Clark puts the paper into a bag. 22

23 STOP! DON T BREAK IT! You re always buying paper, Mrs Clark says. I m always drawing, Anna says. What are you going to draw today? Mrs Clark asks. Some shells and pebbles, and a bottle from the beach, Anna says. I got them this morning. Now I must go. Dad is working and Andy is watching television. It s a good time to do some drawing. Bye, Mrs Clark. Bye, Anna, Mrs Clark says. Mrs Clark goes into the room behind her shop. There is a radio on the table near the window. Then she hears the words red bottle and she sits down to listen. She hears the words red bottle and she sits down to listen. 23

24 RADIO BOY... a girl with a red bottle on the beach, Steve? Is that right? Something red,tara. Maybe a bottle. What is she wearing? Jeans and a yellow shirt. And she has short brown hair. Thanks, Steve.Well, the police know about this now and they are looking for this girl. But do you know her, listeners? Then call her quickly. And now for some music. Mrs Clark does not wait to hear the music. She runs out of the shop into the street. Anna! she calls. Anna, wait! Anna is thirty metres along the road, but she stops. What s the matter, Mrs Clark? she says. Andy is angry. He wants to open the red bottle, but it is very difficult. His little hands are not very strong. He likes red. It is his favourite colour. Maybe it s a nice drink, he thinks. I m going to take the bottle out into the garden and break it! 24

25 STOP! DON T BREAK IT! Anna! she calls. Anna, wait! 25

26 RADIO BOY He goes out into the garden with the bottle and begins to hit it with one of Anna s big pebbles. One... two... three..., he says. It is a very strong bottle and Andy is angry. One two three 26

27 STOP! DON T BREAK IT! He stops. Someone is calling him. Andy! Andy! Where are you? It is Anna. She runs down the garden. Andy has the big pebble in one hand and the bottle in the other. Stop! Anna calls. Don t break it! She runs and takes the bottle out of his hands. OK, OK! he says. What s the matter? It s only an old bottle! Oh no it isn t, Anna says. And she goes into the house and calls the police. Anna goes into the house and calls the police. 27

28 RADIO BOY It is eleven o clock at Roundbay Radio Station. Tara Mason puts down the phone and looks at Steve. That s good news, she says. The police are talking to the girl now. They ve got the red bottle, Tara says. Thanks to you. 28

29 STOP! DON T BREAK IT! And the bottle? Steve says. Have they got it? Yes, they ve got that, too, Tara says. Thanks to you. Steve feels happy. Me, on the radio! he says. Now I m famous! Yes. Do you like it? she asks. It s great! Steve says. I want to work on radio one day. It s not always this exciting! Tara says. 29

30 ... A Comprehension EXERCISES Chapter 1 Write answers to these questions. 1 What does Steve s mother need? 2 Why can t Anna read the words on the red bottle? 3 How can Steve listen to Tara Mason and go shopping? Who says or thinks these words? 4 I m making your breakfast. 5 What are they looking at? 6 Can I listen to Tara Mason before I go? Chapter 2 Are these sentences true (T) or false (F)? 1 Andy is ten years old. 2 Anna s father writes books and works on a computer. 3 Roundbay Radio Station is in West Street. Who says or thinks these words? 4 Where s my paper? 5 Be quiet, both of you! 6 The police are looking for red bottles along the beach. 7 The girl in the yellow shirt! 8 These things are from the beach. Chapter 3 Who in this chapter sells paper to Anna? 2... likes the colour red? 3... wants to work on radio one day? Find answers to these questions. 4 Where is Mrs Clark s radio? 5 Mrs Clark runs after Anna. How far from the shop is Anna? 6 Andy cannot open the red bottle. What does he do? 30

31 ... B Working with language 1 Use these words to join the sentences together. and then and or but a It is not raining.the sky is grey. b You can wash the car. Do some work in the garden. c A car goes by.the driver calls to Steve. d He watches her for another minute or two. He puts on his clothes. 2 Draw two boxes.write beach below one box and radio below the other.write the words in the correct boxes. station pebble shell headphones newsroom sea 3 Answer these questions with full sentences. Chapter 1 Steve sees four people and an animal on the beach. Who or what are they? Chapter 2 Anna s father gives her some money. What is it for? Chapter 3 Anna tells Mrs Clark, It s a good time to do some drawing? Why is it? C Activities 1 Write about your favourite radio programme. 2 Anna calls the police. She tells them about the red bottle. Imagine their conversation, and write it. 31