71.
Read the text and say where the
students are going this summer.
In the first week of term, the teacher
gave jobs to her students. It was one of
the most exciting days for all the children in the class. On that day, the teacher gave
every boy and girl a job for which they had to be responsible during the school year.
Some jobs were more interesting than others, and all the children wanted to get the
best job. When giving the jobs out, the teacher took into account1 which students had
been the most responsible and helpful during the previous school year. Carol was
one of these students. She was a kind and smart girl; and during the previous year she
worked hard. All the children knew Carol was the most likely to get the best job of
all: to look after the class hamster.
But that year there was a big surprise. Each child received
one of the class jobs: preparing the books or the CD-player
for the lessons, cleaning the blackboard, or looking after one
of the pets. But Carol’s job was very different. She got a big
box. There was a flowerpot with an ugly little plant inside
it. She had to take care of this plant. Although the teacher
said that this plant was a very rare tropical plant, Carol was
sad and ready to cry. Most of her classmates felt sorry for
her. Even her father became very angry with the teacher and
encouraged Carol to pay no attention to this strange plant. But
Carol decided to do something special with her strange job.
“I will turn this little task into something great,” Carol said
to herself. So Carol started reading about the little plant. She
learned where it grew, if it liked light or dark places and how
often she had to water it. She took care of her little plant for the
whole school year and in the spring, the plant became nice and
strong. Beautiful big red flowers appeared on it.
One day in spring, when the students were in the classroom,
the door opened and a man who looked very important came in.
The teacher said, “This is Doctor Rogers. He has got a wonderful
piece of news for you.” “Yes,” said the doctor. “Today, they
have published the results of a competition which you have
taken part in. Your class has been chosen to accompany me,
this summer, on a journey to a tropical rain forest. We can
discover different flowers and plants. Among all the schools
of this region, your school has taken the best care of the rare
tropical plant which you got at the beginning of the school
year. Congratulations! You will be wonderful assistants!”
That day the schoolchildren were happy. They thanked
Carol for having been so patient2 and responsible. And Carol
was happy too. She said to her classmates “Try to turn even
little tasks into something great. And you’ll have success.”
