Page 90 - Prime Time 1-5 Leaflet

During my summer holiday, my friend James and I were
travelling across the USA. One day, we decided to take a
journey on a steam train which became a thrilling adventure.
Little did we know that we were in for a terrifying experience.
We had been enjoying the smooth ride when something
went terribly wrong. We had just come out of a tunnel and
we were slowly making our way down a hill when suddenly
there was a loud screeching noise. Then, instead of slowing
down we began to speed up.
People started screaming frantically. As we all held onto our
seats, the train started rocking dangerously from side to
side. A man got out of his seat and ran quickly to the front
of the train. A few minutes later, the train began to slow
down. Soon after that, we pulled into the next station and
we all got up anxiously to see what had happened. It seems
the driver had hit his head and fallen unconscious.
Luckily, the passenger had got there in time to slow down
the train and save the day. We were relieved to hear that no
one had been hurt and that the driver was well.
20
i 1
2 Read the story and answer the questions.
1 How does the writer set the scene?
2 What is the climax event?
3 What happened in the end?
4 How did the characters feel?
4 Which adjectives has the writer used to
describe the following?
1 ..............................
adventure
2 ....................... ride
3 ..................... noise
A story
Understanding rubrics
To plan your piece of writing you need to
understand the rubric as it contains information
on the imaginary situation, the imaginary
reader which will help you decide what style
you will write in, the type of writing and any
specific details.
Writing stories
Stories can be about real or imaginary situations.
They can be in first person (I , we) or third person
(he , she, they). Before we start writing a story, we
first decide on the type of story, the main
characters and the plot.
In the first paragraph, we set the scene (when/
where it happened, main characters, weather,
what happened first).
In the main body paragraphs, we describe the
events in the order they happened leading to the
climax event (the main event), and the main event.
In the final paragraph, we write what happened
in the end and how the character(s) felt.
We normally use past tenses and time linkers (as,
when, after, later, while, suddenly, finally, etc.) to help
the reader follow our story. We can also use a
variety of adjectives and adverbs and direct speech
to make our story more interesting to the reader.
1 Read the rubric and look at the key words
in bold. Answer the questions.
A travel magazine has asked its readers to send
short stories describing a nasty holiday
experience they had. The best story wins a three-
day visit to London. Write your story for the
competition (120-180 words).
1 What are you going to write?
2 Who is going to read it?
3 What should your piece of writing be about?
4 How many words should you write in?
5 Will your narrative be in the first person or the
third person?
3 Put the events in the order they happened.
Compare with your partner.
We heard a screeching noise.
We pulled into the next station.
James and I went on a train journey.
A man ran to the front of the train.
The driver hit his head.
The train began to speed up.
The train started to slow down.
The driver was well.
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
Writing