Read (using ReadWrite) the passage that follows.

The writer, Mike

Brace, became blind after the accident described below.

Remember, remember

When I came round, I was lying on the grass, with the smell of
burnt flesh and gunpowder in my nostrils and a warm sticky liquid
trickling down my face. For a second or two I could not work out
what had happened, but when I put my hand to my face and saw
5 my palm covered in blood, I remembered, and realized that I was
badly cut.

I had been playing football on the local common in Hackney,

near my home in East London, when I had seen a small group of
boys huddled together looking at something on the ground. As the
10 ball went out of play I ran to where they were gathered and
arrived just as they were moving away. On the ground, and the
 object of their attention, was a black medicine bottle with the lid
screwed on tight. I bent and picked the bottle up and was reading
the label, when it exploded in my face. I remember hearing
15 someone say, 'Drop it!' but had taken no notice until it was too
late. The date was Wednesday 2nd of November 2010, and the
cause of the explosion, a banger inside the bottle.

I rose to my feet and began to run home, my friends racing along

with me and I remember an old lady saying, 'Have you cut
20 yourself son?'

My reply was none too polite for a ten-year-old lad. It was

something like, 'No, I have always had blood running down my
face you silly old ...'

As I entered my street I remember seeing my aunt on the as

25 doorstep talking to a neighbour. I pushed past her and into the
kitchen, where I filled a basin with cold water and plunged my
face into it. It was then, I think, that I realized just how serious my
injuries were. The water turned immediately a very dark red and
no matter how many times I emptied the basin and put my face in,
30 the water continued to turn red.

At that point a neighbour came into the kitchen to look at the cuts.
His alarm was obvious, and he offered at once to take me to the
hospital. At this point I could still see normally and thought that I
had just cut myself badly.
Slightly adapted from Where There's a Will by Mike Brace. Mike is now
a social worker and a keen sportsperson.

Answer all the questions that follow.

1. How did the accident happen?

2. What details in the text make it clear that Mike is badly hurt?

3. Was anyone to blame?

4. Why do you think the chapter heading is 'Remember, remember'? You

may need to look this up with Ann on Youtube.

There are two reasons for this.

5. How do you think the boys who had left the bottle in the field felt?

Options – using Dragon

1. Imagine that you are the aunt of Mike Brace. The children with the
firework were only ten years old. You are very angry because a lot of
shops in your area are selling fireworks to children who are too young.
Write a letter to your local newspaper. Explain what happened. Give
your views.

2. Imagine that you are one of the boys who had put the firework in the
bottle. Write your diary entry for the day of the accident. Say what
happened and how you felt.