Name: Class: Date: / / John couldn’t take it any more His upstairs neighbor was blasting her stereo again He had asked her twice already to turn the volume down The first time he asked, she was surprised She said she didn’t know that he could hear her stereo "Yes," he said, "it’s just like your stereo was in my living room I can hear every note!" She said she would keep it down He hoped that she was telling the truth Of course, she wasn’t The very next day, she blasted her stereo again He marched upstairs to remind her of her promise She said the volume was so low that she could barely hear it He asked her to turn it lower She said she would try John could swear that when he reentered his apartment, the music was louder than when he had walked upstairs So, this was the third time He took his baseball bat upstairs with him He knocked very loudly on her door When she opened the door, he screamed at her like a crazy person He told her he would kill her if she didn’t turn the music down and keep it down Her eyes got big He went back downstairs He couldn’t hear a note I can’t believe I said that, he told himself Answer How old is John? Write What happened next in the story? What does John do? Where does John live? What is his neighbor’s name? What kind of music does she like? How often does John play baseball? What should the neighbor do? What kind of music you like? Teacher Notes The aim of this kind of reading exercise is to stimulate children’s imagination Just imagine for a minute that the comprehension questions were the following: What is the man’s name? What happened? What did the woman play loudly? What did John take upstairs? and so on… I dare you to answer them and reflect on how you feel when doing so These kinds of questions are incredibly BORING!!! So try something new, something students don’t expect At first they’ll ask ‘Teacher, what’s the correct answer, I can’t find it in the text?’ That’s right Try to make them understand that they are free to answer whatever they think could be right After they have all finished, you could have a meaningful discussion about why they chose these particular answers and turn the reading lesson into some conversation practice I hope you all enjoy this approach to make reading more interesting Credits: Original free story available at http://www.rong-chang.com/eslread/index.htm The version in this worksheet has been slightly modified for teaching purposes Any answer is possible Write He’s 22 • loudly and John called the police He’s a student He’s in his final year The police told her not to play music He lives in a small flat in Springfield, USA Her name is Patricia Black Patricia played her stereo again loudly anymore or face a heavy fine • She should turn her music down or use headphones when listening to She likes hip-hop and heavy metal loud music Never He keeps the bat to scare away burglars • Answers may vary