The tightrope walker

1 BEFORE YOU READ What do you do to make your life interesting? Do you have hobbies? Are you a member of any clubs in school? Have you joined a sports club outside school? Talk about why you like doing these things, and what other activities you would like to do to make your life interesting.

Martin’s village was a small, quiet community Martin’s village was a small, quiet community. Nothing ever happened there. The only sound that filled the village was the roar of the great Randall Waterfall a few kilometres away. Martin and his school friends spent the long, hot afternoons sitting in the village square, playing games and dreaming of a more exciting life. ‘If I could cross the waterfall, I would go to the circus in the city,’ he told his friends. ‘If we went to the city we could see the acrobats and tightrope walkers doing unimaginable things.’ But Martin and his friends knew this was just a dream. They sat in silence, looking up at the hot summer sky and listening to the sound of the waterfall beyond.

Waterfall

Acrobat

One day, the sound of excited chattering filled the village One day, the sound of excited chattering filled the village. A rumour had seeped into the community. The Great Giovanni, a famous Italian tightrope walker, was going to walk across the Randall Waterfall! To make the spectacle greater, the Great Giovanni was going to walk across the rope carrying a large wooden barrel, filled with heavy clay bricks! None of the villagers could believe it. Nothing this exciting had ever happened in their village. ‘I didn’t use to think anything thrilling would happen here,’ Martin said, ‘but the Great Giovanni is coming!’

Seep into

Spectacle

Thrilling

The day came. The Great Giovanni stood at the end of the rope as the water cascaded below him. The acrobat didn’t let his nerves show. He knew that if he concentrated fully, he would succeed.He balanced himself on the rope and began, with the heavy barrel of bricks in his arms, to walk slowly over the thundering waterfall. The villagers were tense and silent. They knew that if he lost his footing, he would fall into the torrent below.

Cascade

Nerves

Concentrate

Tense

Torrent

The Great Giovanni, the master acrobat, succeeded! He stood at the other edge of the waterfall and bowed dramatically. The crowd cheered and shouted. ‘We used to have a boring life,’ Martin exclaimed to his friends, ‘but the memory of the Great Giovanni will keep us happy for ever!’

Because it was a small, quiet community. 2 1.1 Listen and read the story. Answer these questions. 1. Why did nothing exciting ever happen in Martin’s village? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Because it was a small, quiet community. 2. Who were Martin and his friends thinking about in the village square? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 3. Why did the Great Giovanni decide to carry a barrel of bricks across the rope? 4. How did the Great Giovanni succeed in crossing the waterfall? 5. What did the villagers know as the acrobat walked across the waterfall? They were thinking of more exciting life. To make the spectacle greater By concentrating fully. They knew that if he lost his footing, he would fall into the torrent below.

------------------------ --------------------------- 3 Answer the following questions. 1. Find another word in the text that means ‘exciting’. ------------------------ 2. Find three adjectives in the text that describe what Martin’s village is like. ------------------------- ------------------------ --------------------- 3. Find the adjective in the text that describes the extraordinary nature of what an acrobat does. --------------------------- 4. Find four words that describe the sound and movement of the waterfall. ------------------------------ ----------------------- ------------------------------ ------------------------ thrilling Small quiet boring Unimaginable Roar Thundering Torrent Cascaded