Passage 1: 1. I remember my childhood as being generally happy and can recall experiencing some of the most carefree times of my life. But I can also remember, even more vividly, moments of being deeply frightened. As a child, I was truly -terrified of the dark and getting lost. These fears were very real and caused me some extremely uncomfortable moments. 2. Maybe it was the strange way things looked and sounded in my familiar room at night that scared me so much. There was never total darkness, but a street light or passing car lights made clothes hung over a chair take on the shape of an unknown beast. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw curtains move when there was no breeze. A tiny creak in the floor would sound a hundred times louder than in the daylight and my imagination would take over, creating burglars and monsters. Darkness always made me feel helpless. My heart would pound and I would lie very still so that ‘the enemy’ wouldn’t discover me. 3. Another childhood fear of mine was that I would get lost, especially on the way home from school. Every morning, I got on the school bus right near my home—that was no problem. After school, though, when all the buses were lined up along the curve, I was terrified that I would get on the wrong one and be taken to some unfamiliar neighbourhood. I would scan the bus for the faces of my friends, make sure that the bus driver was the same one that had been there in the morning, and even then ask the others over and over again to be sure I was in the right bus. On school or family trips to an amusement park or a museum, I wouldn’t let the leaders out of my sight. And of course, I was never very adventurous when it came to taking walks or hikes because I would go only where I was sure I would never get lost. 4. Perhaps, one of the worst fears I had as a child was that of not being liked or accepted by others. First of all, I was quite shy. Secondly, I worried constantly about my looks, thinking people wouldn’t like me because I was too fat or wore braces. I tried to wear ‘the right clothes’ and had intense arguments with my mother over the importance of wearing flats instead of saddled shoes to school. Being popular was very important to me then and the fear of not being liked was a powerful one. 5.One of the processes of evolving from a child to an adult is being able to recognise and overcome our fears. I have learnt that darkness does not have to take on a life of its own, that others can help me when I am lost and that friendliness and sincerity will encourage people to like me. Understanding the things that scared us as children helps to cope with our lives as adults. Questions: 1. On the basis of your reading of the above passage, make notes using headings and subheadings. Use recognizable abbreviations, wherever necessary. 5 2. Write a summary of the passage in not more than 80 words using the notes made and also suggest a suitable title. 3
Answers
Answer:
Childhood memories are strange things because sometimes you can’t quite be sure if you really remember something, or if you just think you do because others have told you about it, or you have seen a photo of the event later on. I’m going to talk to you about a memory that I’m very confident is real. I’ll tell you what it is, when it happened, how it affected me and why I still remember it. Thank you for this great cue card topic.
The memory is the earliest one I have of me and my Dad. I was very small indeed, I’m not exactly sure how old, but I’d guess about three years old, maybe even younger. My Dad was not a particularly tall or strong man, but I was small enough, and by comparison, he was big enough then for me to stand with both my feet on one of his and to reach up with my arms and cling onto his leg. I would then hang on and laugh delightedly as he tried to go about his daily business, walking around the house with me gripping on tightly refusing to be budged. It was a favourite game.
I don’t know that I can honestly say it affected me in my life. These days our family members don’t live particularly close to one another; so see each other rather infrequently. I suppose the way the incident affected me was by making me at a subconscious level feel close to my dad even years later as we had shared that happy playtime together when I was tiny.
I didn’t know I had held onto this memory until quite recently. Sadly my dad died, he had been very ill for a long time, so it wasn’t unexpected, but of course, it was very sad. I wanted to say something about him at his funeral, and I wanted to pick a memory that was personal just to him and to me. For some reason that image of me tiny and laughing and him solemnly ‘pretending’ that he hadn’t noticed I was there came into my mind and it seemed very appropriate somehow to share that one. It was a happy memory, but also an intimate one. I think he would have been really pleased that I could recall it so many decades later.
So why can I remember it? I’m not sure, but I like to think the memory was there dormant all the time just waiting for the moment when I needed to retrieve it. It is a comforting thing to recall. The human mind is an amazing thing and so is our childhood!
[ Written by - Lucy Marris | Careers Adviser (UK), TEFL teacher (Vietnam) ]
Model Answer 2:
Life is full of many, many memories that we cherish for many years to come. But childhood memories are somewhat special because they shape up our beliefs and lifestyle in a rather direct manner, and today I would like to talk about one such childhood memory.
I remember it like it all happened just yesterday. But, I am talking about something which happened about 15 years ago. Back then, as a child, one of my most favourite things to do was to visit my grandparents’ house in the countryside during the summer vacations, when the schools were closed. And, we visited them only during the summertime because my parents lived far away from my grandparents because of their jobs. Anyway, visiting my grandparents would allow me to visit their bee farm out in the countryside by riding on a bicycle with my grandfather, who would paddle it real quick. My grandfather also used to raise cows on the farm in order to collect fresh milk. When we would arrive on the farm, we would leave the milk jars in a lake nearby, after milking the cows, so that it would remain cool. And, once we would return home after finishing farming activities with my grandfather, grandmother would serve us with freshly-made and delicious homemade food, bread, fresh milk and, of course, honey.
Anyway, I remember it because these great memories from my childhood have made me realize the value of living in the countryside instead of living in a busy and monotonous city environment. Besides, it also made me appreciate and understand the value of being close to the loved ones and visiting them as often as possible, no matter how busy we really are. Finally, I remember it because I just don’t really think that it is ever possible to forget about the unbeatable experience of enjoying freshly-harvested honey, collected straight from the bee farm, and home-made bread, let alone the anticipation, the intense excitement of visiting my grandparents on the eve of every summer vacation, and the sleepless night before visiting