On Sept 11th he had a meeting at 9am so he left home at 7:30. He arrived at his office at 8:30 and when the first plane hit, he was having a cup of coffee and looking out of the window. There was a terrible explosion and he felt the tower swaying. Then someone shouted : "Evacuate !".
The elevators were no longer working, so everybody started walking down in the dark, calmly at first. Jack was reaching the 30th floor when he met the first firefighters rushing up to help with the evacuation.
It was the he first called me on his mobile. I was frantic I was watching television and I knew. I told him to get out. I didn't say it. I screamed it. I yelled it ! Jack tried to reassure me. He didn't know about the plane ! "Calm down, I'll call you as soon as I'm out," he promised.
A few minutes after his call I saw the second plane hitting the South Tower. from then on it was a nightmare. I waited and waited for Jack's call. It was endless. Then it came and I heard his voice saying : "I'm walking up Broadway. It's chaos here but I'm OK.3 Just then, the South Tower collapsed.
Before the tragedy, we didn't use to see each other much, but now our lives have changes. Jack no longer works day in day out and he spends more time with us. We used to argue a lot, but we don't anymore. Life is too precious.
The big disaster
Global understanding
1) Who is talking ?
Jessica is talking about her husband Jack.
2) What is the subject of the text ?
The text is about the 11th of September terrorist attack.
Detailed understanding
1) What did Jack use to do ?
He used to work in an office on the 55th floor of the North
Tower.
2) What happened while he was having a cup of coffee ?
He was looking out the window when the first plane hit.
3) What things were broken ?
The elevators were broken.
4) What did the people have to do ?
The people had to walk down the stairs in the dark.
5) What was Jessica feeling ?
She was frantic because her husband was in the tower.
6) What did she see on the television ?
She saw the second plane flying into the South Tower.
7) What street was Jack in ?
He was walking up Broadway.
8) What didn't they use to do ?
They didn't use to see each other much.
9) What do they do now ?
Jack works less so they see each other more.
10) Why have they changed ?
Because life is too precious.
Grammar
1) Explique les formes verbales '' was having " ligne 5 et "was watching" ligne 12.
BE-ing au passé (was:were -ing), cette forme verbale s'utilise pour une action en cours au passé.
2) Explique les formes verbales " used to work" ligne 1
et "didn't use to see" ligne 21 . :)
Used to +BV, cette forme verbale s'utilise pour parler des actions
passées d'autrefois, d'avant.
storey - floor - étage
shout - crier
reach - atteindre
frantic - très inquiet
scream = yell - crier
nightmare - cauchemar
argue - disputer
* each other - pronom réfléchi réciproque
autres verbes réfléchis réciproques :
play
fight
love
hate