In the Lift
Once, I came home from school and got in the lift and about half way up it suddenly stopped. There was no one in with me. I was terrified. It just stopped with me inside. I felt so stupid. I felt as if I was hanging miles up in the air in a box tied by strings. I didn’t know what to do. I looked at the buttons.
I began by pressing all the numbers. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. No good. Then I looked at the other buttons. One said, “STOP”. I didn’t bother to press that one. Another said, DOORS OPEN”. I didn’t dare to press that. Imagine the door opening and me stepping out and falling down four floors.
I shouted out, “Help!”
No one answered. I shouted again.
“Help! Help! Get me out. I’m stuck in the lift.”
There was a switch at the bottom of the buttons. So I pressed it down. Nothing happened.
Then the light went out.
I started to cry and scream at the same time. I screamed and screamed. In the end I couldn’t scream any more. But I could keep on crying and I did. I don’t think I’ve ever cried as much in my life.
I sat down on the floor and pressed myself against the back wall. I don’t know, It felt safer, as far away from the door as possible. I kept thinking, “They’re going to open soon and I’ll fall out.”
If only I could get a light. Then I could, perhaps, try to escape. If I could see. Maybe that switch, I thought, was really the light-switch even though the light hadn’t gone off when I’d pressed it.
I slid myself round and stretched up my arm to feel for the buttons. I got my fingers on the switch and pressed it back up. Nothing happened. I screamed out, “Help! Please! Help! Get me out! Mum! Mum! Mum!” And I banged my hand against all the buttons; I banged and pressed them all.
Then I heard a bell ringing. It was just like the electric bell we had at our school. But it didn’t stop. It just kept on ringing and ringing.
“It’s an alarm bell,” I thought. “The building must be on fire.”
“Please, God,” I said, “Please get me out. I’ll do anything. I’ll be better. I really will. Please get me out.”
It was hot. It was getting really hot in the lift. I was sweating. I knew that I would soon be able to smell the smoke.
And then – the lift moved.
I screamed as loud as I could, though I knew no one would hear me. The lift was moving. The fire must have burnt through the cables. I was scared stiff but then I realized that the lift was moving very slowly as if someone was carefully lowering it down.
Very gently, down we went – me and the lift, together in the dark.
It stopped. I pressed myself against the steel wall. And the door opened. There was a man standing there. I couldn’t see his face against the light. He stepped towards me.
“Right, love,” he said. “Let’s have you out.”
1) Put these sentences in the correct order.
The building was on fire and it was getting hot in the lift.
Once, I came home from school and got in the lift. The lift stopped half way up.
“Please, God,” I said, “Get me out. I’ll be better.”
There was no one in with me.
I shouted out, “Help!” No one answered.
I started to cry and screamed at the same time.
Then the light went out.
I pressed all the buttons. No good.
Then the lift moved down very slowly.
Then I heard a bell ringing. It was an alarm bell.
The lift stopped, the door opened. There was a man standing there.
2) Choose true or false
1. The storyteller stuck in the lift
2. The hero felt as if he was hanging miles up in the air in a box tied by strings.
3. The first button which the teller pressed was STOP
4. When the light went out the hero started laughing and mewing
5. The teller stood up from the floor and pressed himself against the back wall
6. In the dark the hero continued looking for the buttons and pressing and banging them all
7. Suddenly he heard an alarm system
8. There was a great fire in the house
9. At last, the hero managed to get out of the lift
3) Find the right translation
Нажать на кнопку, застрять в лифте, выбраться из лифта, электрический звонок, протянуть руки, на полпути, выпасть из лифта, выключатель, опускаться вниз
(The text is about The 24 Hours of Le Mans, France!)
Skill, speed, and stamina are the three s’s that mark the world’s best automobile race, the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The race, organized by Automobile Club de L’Ouest, bridges past and present on the automotive circuit.The competition is set on a non-permanent track at Circuit de la Sarthe near the city of Le Mans on the Sarthe River. Roughly 46 cars start the race, in a series of classes that include prototype high-performance vehicles, dedicated race cars, and street cars. The diversity of autos gives the race a mix of old-fashioned and modern competitors. The winner is the car, driven by a team of three drivers, that covers the greatest distance in 24 hours.The first Le Mans contest took place in May 1923; today it is held every June. The race begins at 4 p.m., and for 24 hours the sound of roaring engines fills 8 miles (13 kilometers) of French countryside.