A long walk home

Jerry lived in a small town in Texas. He was 16 when one morning his father told him that he could drive him into a remote village about 18 miles away on the condition that he took the car (1) _____________ at a nearby garage. Having just learned to drive and hardly ever having the opportunity to use the car Jerry readily (2) ____________ the offer.

He drove his father into the village and promised to pick him up at 4 p.m., then he drove to a nearby garage and (3) _____________ the car. Having a few hours to spare the boy decided to catch a couple of movies at a (4) _____________ near the garage. He was so fascinated by the films that he completely lost track of time. When the last movie had finished, he looked down at his watch. It was six o’clock. He was two hours late.

Jerry knew that his father would be angry if he (5) ___________ he’d been watching movies. His father would never let him (6) ___________ again. So the boy decided to tell his father that the car needed some repairs. He drove up to the place where they had planned to meet and saw his father waiting patiently on the corner. Jerry apologized for his being late and told the father that he’d come as quickly as he could, but the car (7) ____________ some major repairs. The boy would never forget the look his father gave him.

The father was disappointed because knew that his son was telling a lie. But Jerry insisted on his telling the truth. His father looked very sad. He (8) ___________ his son that when the boy hadn’t appeared two hours before, he had called the garage. The car serviceman told the father that the car didn’t need (9) _________ and it had not been picked up yet.

A rush of guilt ran through Jerry as he feebly confessed to his trip to the movie theatre and the real reason for his tardiness. The father listened (10) ___________ as a sadness passed through him. The father sadly said that he realized that he had failed as a father if after all those years his son felt that he could lie to him. The father had failed because he (11) _______________ a son who could not tell the truth to his own father. The father was going to walk home then and contemplate where he had gone wrong all those years.

Jerry protested and apologized as the distance to cover was 18 miles and it was dark, but his utterances were useless. The boy had to let his father (12) __________, and he was about to learn one of the most (13) __________ lessons of his life. The father began walking along the dusty roads. The boy quickly jumped in the car and followed behind, hoping his father would relent. The boy pleaded all the way, telling his father how sorry he was, but the father simply ignored him, continuing on silently, thoughtfully and painfully. For 18 miles the son drove behind him, (14)____________ about five miles per hour.

Seeing his father in so much physical and emotional pain was the most distressing and painful experience the boy had ever faced. However, it was the most (15) ______________ lesson. The boy had never lied to his father since.

	A	B	C
	serviced	to be serviced	to have been serviced
	accepted	admitted	taken
	dropped about	dropped off	dropped in
	playhouse	picture	theatre
	found out	found	was found
	ride	to drive	drive
	needing	needed	had needed
	was explained to	explained	explained to
	repaired	repairing	repair
	intensively	anxiously	intently
	had brought up	had brought	brought up
	in	down	off
	disappointing	saddest	painful
	average	averaging	having averaged
	successful	lucky	victorious

16. Choose the title of the story:

A. Failing to Fix the Car

B. The Angry Father

C. To Lie or Not to Lie

D. A Long Walk Home

Дата добавления: 2015-08-09