Unit 5 What were you doing when the rainstorm came?

Section A

2d Role-play the conversation.

Mary：What were you doing last night, Linda? I called at seven and you didn’t

pick up.

Linda：Oh, I was in the kitchen helping my mom.

Mary：I see. I called again at eight and you didn’t answer then either.

Linda：What was I doing at eight? Oh, I know. When you called, I was having a

shower.

Mary：But then I called again at nine. Linda：Oh, I was sleeping at that time. Mary：So early? That’s strange.

Linda：Yeah, I was tired. Why did you call so many times?

Mary：I needed help with my homework. So while you were sleeping,

I called Jenny and she helped me.

3a Read the passage and answer the questions.

1. What was the weather like before the heavy rain started? 2. What was the neighborhood like after the storm?

The Storm Brought People Closer Together

Ben could hear strong winds outside his home in Alabama. Black clouds were making the sky very dark. With no light outside, it felt like midnight. The news on TV reported that a heavy rainstorm was in the area.

Everyone in the neighborhood was busy. Ben’s dad was putting pieces of wood over the windows while his mom was making sure the flashlights and radio were working. She also put some candles and matches on the table.

Ben was helping his mom make dinner when the rain began to beat heavily

against the windows. After dinner, they tried to play a card game, but it was hard to have fun with a serious storm happening outside.

Ben could not sleep at first. He finally fell asleep when the wind was dying down at around 3:00 a.m. When he woke up, the sun was rising. He went outside with his family and found the neighborhood in a mess. Fallen trees, broken windows and rubbish were everywhere. They joined the neighbors to help clean up the neighborhood together. Although the storm broke many things apart, it brought families and neighbors closer together.

Section B

2b Read the passage and answer the questions.

Reading the Title and First Sentences

The title can be helpful for you to 1.What are the two events in the passage?

understand a text. It is also a good idea to 2. When did they happen?

read the first sentence of each paragraph

before you read the whole text.

Do You Remember What You Were Doing?

People often remember what they were doing when they heard the news of important events in

history. In America, for example, many people remember what they were doing on April 4, 1968. This was an important event in American history. On this day, Dr. Martin Luther King was killed. Although some people may not remember who killed him, they remember what they were doing when they heard the news.

Robert Allen is now over 50, but he was a school pupil at that time. “It was a bright, sunny day,” Robert remembers. “We were having fun in the playground when the

school bell rang. Our teacher said, ‘Dr. King died just 10 minutes ago.’ We were completely surprised!” School closed for the day, Robert and his friends walked home in silence.

More recently, most Americans remember what they were doing when the World Trade Center in New York was taken down by terrorists. Even the date-September 11, 2001-has meaning to most Americans.

This was a day Kate Smith will never forget. She remembers working in her office

near the two towers. “My friend shouted that a plane just hit the World Trade Center! I didn’t believe him at first, but then I looked out the window and realized that it was true. I was so scared that I could hardly think clearly after that.”