It was eleven o' clock of Tuesday evening. The three of us were sitting around in the living room after supper. At the time, I didn’t pay much attention to it. Even when the noise got louder and the window began to rattle I wasn’t particularly concerned. In fact, I was mildly annoyed. I assumed it was an unusually heavy lorry coming up the road and I was just about to come out with a few expletives directed at vehicles like this when the cups in the kitchen and the jars on the shelf began to rattle as well. I don’t remember which one of us was the first to realize it was an earthquake. At any rate, I had been disabused of the idea that it was just another lorry. By this time everything inside the flat was shaking, rattling or wobbling, including the walls, ceiling and floor. It felt as if some awful giant was venting his anger by holding the building and giving it a good shake. For a moment, we sat motionless, transfixed with horror, shock or both. Then we all sprang to our feet, with what purpose I can’t really say. Not that it did much good anyway, as we were all promptly thrown back into our seats. I had a terrible feeling of helplessness. At a second attempt, we managed to stay on our feet and started making for the open door out on to the balcony. When we got there, we saw that there had been a power cut and the whole city had been plunged into darkness. By this time, the shaking had stopped and everything seemed curiously still and quiet. For a moment it seemed as if a hand had passed over the city and extinguished it like a candle. Although it had seemed like hours, the quake had only lasted ten seconds or so. Gradually, the sounds of life began again- horns tooting, windows opening, voices. I don’t remember any screaming or shouting. Everything was strangely muted, disturbed rather than desperate. After a while, we went back into the house. There was no obvious damage. A few books had fallen out of the shelves and the only thing broken was an egg cup. As we listened for news on the radio over the next few hours, we realized we had been very lucky. People nearby had televisions and stereos smashed, and several villages outside the city had been virtually flattened. Most people spent that night outside. Some people had to spend weeks outside because their homes had been damaged. We didn’t . We lived at the top of a building which is the safest place to be in an earthquake, so we stayed out. At three o' clock we even went to bed, which is where we were when the first big aftershock came about two hours later. Write in your own words a summary of the passage in only 50 words
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Answer:
It was a Tuesday when the three of us were sitting in the living room. That is when I heard an unusually loud noise - assuming that it was just a heavy lorry, I didn't pay much attention to it. Slowly - the noise grew, and the things inside the kitchen started rattling- only then did I realise that it was an earthquake.
We sat there motionless in complete shock, but then got to our feet and noticed that there was a power cut. everything was back to normal - we were grateful that we were lucky - unlike others whose houses had been destroyed.
Answer:
On Tuesday evening, an unfamiliar sound intruded on our quality time, post our supper for three. A sound that transcends into noise, capable of rattling windows. After venturing a wrong guess in a frenzy, I realized it was an earthquake. Lucky we, our top-floor house was unscathed.
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