Как это всё началось?

How it all began…

I met … on my first day at new school right before an English lesson. It was in winter.

I was feeling nervous. I always do when I am in a new place.

When I came into the class, there were about ten people there. They were chatting to each other and didn`t even look at me. Then I saw… She was sitting alone and she wasn`t talking to anyone. So I went up to her and asked her about the time.

She said it was nine o`clock and her voice wasn`t very friendly.

Then suddenly her pencil fell off the desk and got broken. I gave her my sharpener and then she smiled at me. It was a very nice, friendly smile.

I sat down next to her and we started chatting.

… has been my best friend since then and I can talk to her about anything.

1. Предтекстовый этап

Task 1. Look at the title and the first paragraph of the text. Read them. In your opinion, what does the word “all” mean?

Task 2. Match the words with their definitions.

nervous when you don’t wait for it

chatting a tool which makes pencils better for writing

suddenly communicating on different topics

sharpener worried or stressed about something

1. Текстовый этап

Task 1. Listen and read the text. Did the main characters become good friends in the end?

Task 2. Are these sentences true or false? Find evidence in the text.

1) The narrator feels unconfident in a new place.

2) Other students paid their attention to him as soon as he entered the classroom.

3) The girl was glad to see the boy at first.

4) Pencil was a trigger to their acquittance.

5) This girl has become the boy’s best friend.

Task 3. Make the questions to these answers.

1. -…? – English lesson.

2. -…? – Ten.

3. -…? – No, she wasn’t.

4. -…? – It’s nine o’clock.

5. -…? – Next to the girl.

1. Послетекстовый этап.

Task 1. Answer these questions, according to your own opinion.

1. Have you always been at this school? And at this grade? If you haven’t, how did you feel at first?

2. Do you make new friends easily? Which personal qualities can help you to do it?

3. How, where and when did you meet your best friend? What was a trigger to your meeting?

Task 2. The main characters of the story aren’t very sociable. Do you think they are “mousy people” in the class? Why/why not? How do you think a “typical grey mouse” looks like? What are his/her personal qualities? Describe him or her.

Task 3.

Work in pairs. Try to prepare a new dialogue between the girl and the boy in the classroom. Act your dialogues out.

Task 4.

Imagine the situation. The girl and the boy are meeting each other five years later. A lot of new things happened in their lives, but they remember how they met and remember their friendship. Prepare and act out a new dialogue.