2. a. Read an adapted version of an extract from Matilda by Roald Dahl and complete the gaps with the appropriate
modals that express ability (can, be able to and their
forms).
Matilda’s brother was a perfectly normal boy but
his sister, as I said, was different. By the age of one
and a half she 1. … speak perfectly well and she
Communicative area: inferring meaning from
context, speaking about abilities / possibilities
in the past
Active vocabulary: to borrow, to return, to learn
by heart; a chatterbox, a cover, a grown-up, a
teenager
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knew as many words as most grown-ups. The parents
called her a noisy chatterbox and used to tell her
that small girls should be seen and not heard.
By the time she was three,
Matilda had taught herself to
read by studying newspapers and
magazines that lay around the
house. At the age of four, she
2. … read fast and well and she
naturally began looking for books. The only book in
the house was something called Easy Cooking. When
Matilda had read it from cover to cover and had
learnt all the recipes by heart, she decided she wanted
something more interesting.
“Daddy”, she said, “do you think you could buy me
a book?”
“A book?” he said. “What do you want the book for”?
“To read, Daddy.”
“What’s wrong with the telly? We’ve got a lovely
telly and now you come asking for a book! You’re
getting naughty, my girl!”
Nearly every weekday afternoon Matilda was left
alone in the house. Her brother (5 years older than
her) went to school. Her father went to work and
her mother went out playing bingo in a town 8 miles
away. So, Matilda 3. … do anything she liked. On the
day when her father had refused to buy her a book,
Matilda set off all by herself to the public library in
the village. When she arrived, she introduced herself
to the librarian, Mrs Phelps. She asked if she could sit
a while and read a book.
“Would you like me to help you find a nice one with
lots of pictures in it?”
“No, thank you,” Matilda said. “I’m sure I 4. … find
a book myself.”
From then on, every afternoon, as soon as her
mother had left for bingo, Matilda would go down to
the library. The walk took her only ten minutes and
then she 5. … sit in a cosy corner for two hours reading
one book after another.
“I’m wondering what to read next,” she said one
day. “I’ve finished all the children’s books.”
“You mean you’ve looked at the pictures?”
“Yes, but I’ve read the books as well.”
Mrs Phelps was surprised.
“Exactly how old are you, Matilda?” she asked.
“Four years and three months,” Matilda said.
“What sort of book would you like to read next?”
she asked.
Matilda said:
“I would like a really good one that grown-ups read.
A famous one. I don’t know any names.”
“Try this,” Mrs Phelps said at last. “It’s very
famous and very good. If it’s too long for you, just
let me know and I’ll find something shorter and a bit
easier.”
