Crossing the River to School

How do you get to school? Do you walk or ride a bike? Do you go by bus or by train? For many students, it is easy to get to school. But for the students in one small village in China, it is difficult. There is a very big river between their school and the village. There is no bridge and the river runs too quickly for boats. So these students go on a ropeway to cross the river to school.

One 11-year-old boy, Liangliang, crosses the river every school day. But he is not afraid. “I love to play with my classmates. And I love my teacher. He’s like a father to me.” Many of the students and villagers never leave the village. It is their dream to have a bridge. Can their dream come true?

I. Skim and answer

1. How do the students in the village go to school? ___________________________________________ 2. What’s the villagers’ dream?

__________________________________________ II. Scan and match

Paragraph 1 Why does Liangliang like his school? Paragraph 2 The villagers’ dream

Paragraph3 Why do they go to school on a ropeway? III. Read the passage and answer the questions

1. Why do the students go to school on a ropeway? ____________________________________________ 2. Does Liangliang like his school? Why?

_____________________________________________ 3. Do you think the villagers’ dream can come true?

___________________________________________ IV. Read the passage again. Complete the sentences with the words from the passage.

1. For the students in the village, it is ______________ to get to the school.

2. They have to cross a very _________ river between their school and the village.

3. They can’t go by boat because the river runs too ___________.

4. It is not easy to cross the river on a ropeway, but the boy is not _____________.

5. The students and villagers want to have a bridge. Can their dream come __________?