Mother’s statement
Sno-cone vendor’s statement
I was busy selling sno-cones, so I did not see what happened very clearly. I saw the little boy playing near the edge of the road, while his mother was looking for change in her purse. I heard people shouting and the screech of brakes. Then there was a loud bang. I looked up and saw that a minibus had collided with a small black car.
I went to fetch my little boy Xavier from school. On the way home we stopped outside the Post Office to buy a sno-cone. I was waiting to pay the vendor when I saw Xavier standing on the edge of the road. I shouted at him to come back. The driver of a little black car saw him, and swerved into the middle of the road. I saw a minibus racing behind the car, trying to overtake it. I’m not sure what happened next, but I heard a loud bang. Then everyone started shouting.
1 Why did the car driver pull out into the middle of the road? 2 Which statements say that the little boy was very near the road? 3 Did the minibus driver expect the car to pull out? How do you know that? 4 What evidence can you find to suggest the van was travelling fast? 5 Which ONE of the following statements about the minibus driver is true?
a) He did not know the road very well. b) He drove along the road most days. c) He had never driven on that road before. d) He usually took a different road.
6 What is different about the statements from the sno-cone vendor and Xavier’s mother? 7 Do you think that Xavier’s mother was responsible for the accident? Why? Why not? 8 Which of the following titles would be best for this text? a) Car and Van in Collision b) Traffic in Town c) Don’t Play Near the Road! d) Accidents Happen Quickly 9 Which witness do you think gave the most helpful statement? Why do you think that? 10 Make up four rules of your own for drivers.
• Inferring: Help students to read between the lines by looking for clues. For example: the boy’s mother was waiting to pay the vendor while her son was playing near the road. What can we infer from this? DA Allow some students to answer fewer questions from questions 1–8, but give them all the opportunity to discuss the answers to questions 9–10.
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