Speaking

▇ Retelling the story in your own words

Hello, class. This time we shall try to retell the story we have just read in our own words. A: Have you seen the film called The Cat That vanished? B: No, I haven’t. Tell me about it in English. A: The film begins at one night when there was very little traffic. B: It’s terrible. A: And the road where a man was standing was quiet，with comfortable houses，and trees along both sides of the road． B: What is the name of the man? A: He is Will by name. B: How was Will then? A: He was so tired that he could not think clearly but as he stood trying to decide what to do，he saw a cat. B: A cat? What a strange thing to be seen at night! A: She came out of a garden to where Will was standing. Will held out his hand, and the cat came up to him. Then she turned away and went across the road，towards the bushes just past the trees，and there she stopped． B: What about Will? What was he doing? A: Still watching. All of a sudden, Will saw the cat behave strangely. B: how did she behave? A: She put out a paw to pat something in the air in front of her， something that was invisible to Will．Then she leapt back，with her tail held up． B: Did Will know about cats? A: Yes, he did. Will knew cat behaviour and watched more carefully. The cat approached the place again. B: What kind of place is it? A: It is just an empty patch of grass between the trees and the bushes. And the cat patted the air Zxxk once more. B: What came next? A: Again she leapt back，but less far and with less fear this time．After another few seconds，the cat stepped forward，and vanished． B: Unbelievable. A: Will blinked．Then he stood still，close to the nearest tree, as a truck passed by. B: What did Will do when it had gone past? A: He crossed the road, keeping his eyes on the place where the cat had vanished. B: Was it easy for him to find out about where the cat had gone? A: No, it wasn’t. It wasn’t easy at all. B: Why? A: Because there was nothing to really see. But when he came to the place and looked more closely, he saw it. B: The cat? A: Yes, the cat. But he could only see it from some positions. It looked as if someone had cut a patch out of the air, about two metres from the edge of the road. B: What did the patch look like? A: The patch was almost square in shape and less than a metre across. B: Was it visible? A: No, almost not. From most positions，It was nearly invisible，and it was completely invisible from behind． B: Where could you see it? A: You could only see it from the side nearest the road，and you couldn’t see it easily even from there. On the other side of the patch was exactly the same thing that was on this side: a patch of grass. B: The film is telling about an imagined story, I believe. A: But Will knew without any doubt that that patch of grass on the other side was in a different world B: I could go on with the story. Will couldn't possibly have said why. He knew it as strongly as he knew that fire burned and kindness was good. He was looking at something that was very alien. A: You are intelligent. B: And for that reason only, Will bent down and looked through. What he saw frightened him, but he didn't hesitate. A: Unbelievable! How strange it is that you could predict the story! B: Pushing his shopping bag through, Will climbed through the hole in the walls of this world and into another. A: You are right in all your prediction. Will was then standing under a line of tall trees. B: It’s my turn. Like the trees in his own town, they grew in a line along the road. A: But this was the centre of a wide road, and at the side of the road was a line of cafes and small shops, all completely silent and empty under a dark sky. B: The hot night had the scent of flowers and the salt smell of the sea. A: Will looked around carefully. B: Behind him the moon shone down over green hills, and on the slopes of these hills there were houses with rich gardens and an open park. A: Just beside him was that patch in the air. B: It was as difficult to see from this side as from the other, but definitely there． A: Bending to look through, he saw the road in his own town, his own world. B: How interesting it is to retell a story this way! A: Let’s go on. B: Ok. He, the Will, turned quickly away. A: Although he knew nothing at all about this world, it had to be better than the life he had just left. B: Feeling that he was dreaming but awake at the same time, he stood up and looked around for the cat, his guide. A: That was the end of the film. B: To know more about it, wait till we turn out its second part next year. A: Ha, ha, ha! ■ Reading and retelling a fantasy story

You have done a very good job. Now read another short fantasy story entitled The Price of Power by Benjamin Anible, aged 13, Houghton, Michigan. And then try to retell it in your own words.