READING 10 A2

Mother sat in her armchair.

The Story of Goldie

Chapter 1
The shout came from the kitchen. Mother was near
the cooker looking very worried. She pointed at their
empty breakfast bowls on the table.
"My breakfast!" she said in a surprised voice.
"My bowl's empty, too!” shouted Father. "Where's my
breakfast?" He sounded a little angry.
"And mine's all gone- there's nothing left!" cried the
little boy, looking sadly at his empty bowl.
They were all very hungry because they had just
returned home after a long morning walk. Every day
Father and Robert made the beds so the bedrooms
were nice and tidy, while Mother made the breakfast.
After this, they always went for a walk, came back and
then had breakfast together. That was their routine and
they enjoyed it.
"This is horrible! I’m very upset," said Mother. Father
took her into the living room.
"This is strange," he said. "Maybe someone is still here?
Both of you stay here while I look upstairs."
"Oh!" she said. "Where are all my cushions? I can't sit
on a hard chair if I don't have my soft cushions. Did
you take them, Robert?"
"No, I didn’t,” he replied. “Are they on my chair? Oh
no!” he cried, seeing his chair. “Look! My beautiful
chair, it’s broken!”
"Dad!" shouted Robert. "Someone has broken my chair
and stolen Mum's cushions!" They ran upstairs and
found Father in the large bedroom. The bed was a
mess. All the covers were on the floor.
"But you and Robert made the beds before we went
out…" said Mother.
Father put his arm around her and Robert. "This
is really strange. Let's check if there's anything else
missing, before we call the police." He opened the door
to Robert's small bedroom. Mother sniffed the room.
"The air smells strange in here," she said. "A bit like a
wet animal."
"Something's in my bed!" shouted Robert. "Look! It's
still here!"
****
"Look! It's still here!" a voice shouted in her ears.
Goldie woke up and lay quiet under the blanket, but
she was ready to jump out of bed and run away.
"They think I'm an animal…how strange," she thought.

1 Read the story quickly. Complete the sentence. 3 Match the words with their opposites.
Goldie is a dog / girl / boy. 1 upstairs A happy
2 broken B full
2 Read the story again. Put the sentences in the order they happened.
3 a mess C tidy
Father went upstairs and Mother and Robert waited in the living room.
4 upset D downstairs
Robert saw that his chair was broken.
5 empty E fixed
Goldie woke up.
They saw that the bed was a mess.
They went upstairs to tell father about the broken chair.
Mother couldn't find her cushions.
The family went for a morning walk.
1 Mother made breakfast.
Robert saw something in his bed.
When they came back, their breakfast wasn't there anymore.

Skills Boost A2 READING 10 © Richmond 2014 Photocopiable