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Script Ali Goes To University
Script Ali Goes To University
Introduction
Download the LearnEnglish stories and poems podcast. Youll find more information on this page:
http://www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish-podcasts-stories-poems.htm
This support pack contains the following materials:
The story that you can listen to in the podcast
A comprehension activity based on the story
A vocabulary activity based on the story
Read the story
Ali Goes to University
by Chris Rose
Ali couldnt wait until September. Finally, his life
was going to change. June had been terrible, with
all those school-leaving exams to do. He spent
July waiting. The exam results finally arrived in
August. He was worried when the envelope with
the exam results in it arrived at their house one
morning. He didnt think hed done very well in his
exams. He wasnt the most intelligent or studious
boy in his school, he knew that. However, it was
really important for him to do well. Ali absolutely
had to get out of the small town where he lived.
He had to do well in his school-leaving exams so
that he could go to university and get away from
his hometown.
Like many people his age in Britain, for Ali, going
to university wasnt a chance to develop his
education or to pursue academic interests. No,
for Ali, going to university was a chance to get
away from his home town and his parents, to
meet lots of new people, to stop being a child and
become an adult. To become a new and totally
different person. The town he lived in was a very
small town in the countryside. It had one school
and one pub. There were a few shops on the
main street. There wasnt anywhere for young
people to meet, so they spent time walking up
and down the main street. Everybody knew
everybody else in his town. There was never
anything new, or different, or unusual. It was
boring, very, very boring. Ali couldnt wait to
leave. The town was too small for him, he
thought. He had other ideas. He had big
ambitions. He didnt really know what his ideas or
ambitions were yet, but he was sure he had
them. And when he went to university, he was
going to find out what they were.
His hands trembled as he opened the envelope.
He took out the letter, and sighed with relief. It
The United Kingdoms international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations. We are registered in England as a charity.
The United Kingdoms international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations. We are registered in England as a charity.
Page 3 of 4
The United Kingdoms international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations. We are registered in England as a charity.
Exercise 2
Choose the right word from the box to complete each of the sentences from the story. There are some
extra words.
ashamed
disgusted
embarrassing
shaming
disgusting
surprised
bored
dressed
surprising
boring
dressing
boring
embarrassed
Answers
Exercise 1: 1. True (T); 2. T; 3. False (F); 4. T; 5. F; 6. T; 7. T; 8. T; 9. F; 10. T; 11. T
Exercise 2: 1. boring; 2. dressed; 3. disgusting; 4. embarrassed; 5. impressed; 6. bored; 7. boring; 8. ashamed; 9. surprised
Page 4 of 4
The United Kingdoms international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations. We are registered in England as a charity.