Getty Images / serggn / Thinkstock
AUTUMN 2014 – 10th grade
Time
TErminprøver engelsk
Informasjon
Engelsk terminprøve – forberedelse
Bokmål:
Forberedelse og prøve
Tekstsamlingen er delt inn i to deler: Part A: Facts of the matter og Part B: The stories I have heard.
Begge delene er obligatoriske. På prøvedagen vil du få oppgaver knyttet til både part A og part B.
Forberedelsestiden skal du bruke til å jobbe med tekstsamlingen. Du kan både lese, bearbeide og sortere
ukjent stoff. Du kan ta notater som er knyttet til temaet. Du kan samarbeide med andre elever, snakke
med læreren og bruke lærebøker og andre kilder. Under forberedelsen er alle hjelpemidler tillatt, inkludert
bruk av internett. På prøven kan du ikke bruke internett og andre verktøy som tillater kommunikasjon, eller
oversettelsesprogrammer. Alle kilder du benytter deg av på prøven, direkte eller indirekte, skal oppgis slik
at det går an å finne fram til kilden. Dersom du har med deg utskrifter og sitater fra nettsider, må du oppgi
adresse og nedlastingsdato.
På prøvedagen skal du svare på tre oppgaver, to som krever kortere svar (Task 1 og Task 2) og en
langsvaroppgave (Task 3 A, B, C eller D). Du skal svare på engelsk.
Nynorsk:
Førebuingsdel og prøve
Tekstsamlinga er delt inn i to delar: Part A: Facts of the matter og Part B: The stories I have heard.
Begge delane er obligatoriske. På prøvedagen vil du få oppgåver knytt både til part A og til part B.
Førebuingstida skal du bruke til å jobbe med tekstsamlinga. Du kan både lese, studere og sortere ukjent
stoff. Du kan ta notat som er knytte til temaet. Du kan samarbeide med andre elevar, snakke med læraren
og bruke lærebøker og andre kjelder. Under førebuinga er alle hjelpemiddel tillatne, inkludert bruk
av internett. På prøven kan du ikkje bruke internett og andre verktøy som tillèt kommunikasjon, eller
omsetjingsprogram. Alle kjelder du brukar på prøven, direkte eller indirekte, skal oppgjevast slik at det går
an å finne fram til kjelda. Dersom du har med deg utskrifter og sitat frå nettsider, skal adresse og dato for
nedlasting oppgjevast.
På prøvedagen skal du svare på tre oppgåver, to som krev kortare svar (Task 1 og Task 2) og ei
langsvaroppgåve (Task 3 A, B, C eller D). Du skal svare på engelsk.
2
contents
Perspectives on time
There is one thing that affects our lives more than anything else, and that is time.
In this issue of Perspectives Magazine we see examples of the many ways in
which time changes us. Read about research which shows that the time we wake
up affects how well we learn. Share Kasey’s experience, as she stops to soak up
(quite literally) a single moment in time. Hear a message of peace and forgiveness
as it echoes through time. This issue will offer you some new and interesting
perspectives on time; but, as they say, time waits for no one … so, read on!
to affect
å påvirke / å påverke
to soak up
å suge til seg
literally
bokstavlig talt /
bokstavleg tala
Happy reading!
PART A
PART B
FACTS OF THE MATTER
Time
4
Hitting the Snooze Button
6
Rainstorms in Guatemala
9
Peaceful resistance through time
11
THE STORIES I HAVE HEARD
Slam
14
Boy Overboard
17
I Sit Beside the Fire and Think
21
3
Part
Part
a –afacts
– facts
of of
thethe
matter
matter
/ time
/
Getty Images / UmbertoPantalone / Thinkstock
Time
When you hear the word ‘time’ you often think of the past, the
present and the future. Or maybe you think of all the things you
have to do in a short amount of time? How you want to spend
your time is mostly up to you. Many famous people have shared
their thoughts on time. Here is what some of them have said:
an amount of time
et tidsrom / eit tidsrom
to waste
å sløse
Time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time.
– Marthe Troly-Curtin, Phrynette Married
Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let
us begin.
– Mother Teresa
Don’t spend time beating on a wall, hoping to transform it into a door.
– Coco Chanel
fortsetter på neste side 
4
Part a – facts of the matter / time
It’s being here now that’s important. There’s no past and there’s no
future. Time is a very misleading thing. All there is ever, is the now. We
can gain experience from the past, but we can’t relive it; and we can
hope for the future, but we don’t know if there is one.
– George Harrison
Time is an illusion.
– Albert Einstein
The best thing about the future is that it comes one day at the time.
– Abraham Lincoln
Time changes everything except something within us which is always
surprised by change.
– Thomas Hardy
We must use time wisely and forever realise that time is always ripe to
do right.
– Nelson Mandela
If you don’t have time to do it right, when will you have time to do it
over?
– John Wooden
Time is free, but it’s priceless. You can’t own it, but you can use it. You
can’t keep it, but you can spend it. Once you’ve lost it you can never get
it back.
– Harvey Mackay
There are moments when I wish I could roll back the clock and take all
the sadness away, but I have the feeling that if I did, the joy would be
gone as well.
– Nicholas Sparks, A Walk to Remember
5
misleading
villedende/villeiande
to gain
her: å skaffe seg
wisely
klokt
ripe
moden
to roll back the clock
å skru tida tilbake
Part a – facts Part
of the
a –matter
facts of
/ hitting
the matter
the snooze
/
button
Getty Images / Madhourse / Thinkstock
Hitting the snooze button
Hate getting up early for school? Sick of hitting that snooze
button? Then you will love this article!
More American teens are catching up on their Zs – not just on
weekends, but on school days too.
The nearly twenty-year effort to start high school classes later in the
morning – pushed in some cases by students – has gained momentum,
with hundreds of schools in dozens of districts across the U.S. bowing
to mounting research on the adolescent body clock.
[…]
New research suggests that later high school starts have widespread
benefits. Sleep experts at the University of Minnesota studied eight
high schools before and after they moved to later start times. They
found that the later a school’s start time, the better off students were
on measures like mental health, car-crash rates, attendance, and, in
some schools, grades and standardized test scores.
a snooze button
en slumreknapp /
ein slumreknapp
an effort
en innsats / ein innsats
to gain momentum
å skyte fart
mounting research
stadig mer forskning /
stadig meir forsking
a benefit
en fordel / ein fordel
measures
her: faktorer/faktorar
attendance
frammøte
standardized test scores
standardiserte
prøveresultater
/ standardiserte
prøveresultat
fortsetter på neste side 
6
Part a – facts of the matter / hitting the snooze button
Researchers have known for some time that quality sleep directly
affects learning. During R.E.M. (rapid eye movement) sleep – a period
of deep sleep that happens three to five times a night in well-rested
people – the brain is wildly active, sorting and categorizing the day’s
data. The more sleep you get, the better the information is absorbed.
[…]
The solution is not as simple as hitting the sack earlier. During
puberty, as hormones surge and the brain develops, teenagers have
a later release of the “sleep” hormone melatonin, which means they
may not feel drowsy until about 11 p.m. Nighttime use of technology
like smartphones and iPads, which emit a blue light that tricks the brain
into thinking it’s still daytime, further slows the release of melatonin.
Twitter activism
One of the schools that recently got on board with later start times is
Rock Bridge High School in Columbia, Missouri – thanks, in large part,
to one student. As a sophomore last year, Jilly Dos Santos rarely made it
to school by the first bell, at 7:50 a.m. Then she heard the school board
was planning to make the day start even earlier, at 7:20 a.m., which
meant she’d have to wake up at 6:00 a.m.
“I thought, ‘If that happens, I will die,’” recalls Jilly, 17. “I will drop out
of school!”
Encouraged by her teachers, who mentioned that the school board
would soon be meeting on the issue, Jilly became a sleep activist.
She created a Facebook page and set up a Twitter account, alerting
hundreds of students about the school board meeting: “Be there to
have a say in your school district’s decisions on school start times!”
She then got in touch with Start School Later, a nonprofit in Maryland,
which provided her with scientific ammunition. She recruited friends
and divvied up sleep-research topics. With a blast of e-mails, she
enlisted the help of high school teachers in the district. She started an
online petition.
7
R.E.M.
drømmesøvn/
drøymesøvn
to hit the sack
å legge seg / å leggje seg
to surge
å rase
drowsy
søvnig
to emit
å avgi / å komme med
to get on board
å komme i gang
a sophomore
en andreårsstudent /
ein andreårsstudent
to encourage
å oppmuntre
a school board
et skolestyre /
eit skulestyre
to alert
å varsle
nonprofit
uten økonomisk
fortjeneste / utan
økonomisk forteneste
to divvy up
å dele opp
a topic
et emne / eit emne
a petition
en underskriftskampanje /
ein underskriftskampanje
Part a – facts of the matter / hitting the snooze button
At a meeting packed with students and parents, Jilly presented her
case to the board. After a heated debate, it decided against the earlier
start time. The next day, Jilly began campaigning to start school later.
The board met again on the issue in March, 2013, and Jilly addressed
it one last time. “I know it’s … going to get some pushback,” she said,
referring to the later time, “but it is the right decision”.
This time, the board voted six to one to push back the start time to
8:55 a.m. “Jilly kicked it over the edge for us,” says Chris Belcher, the
superintendent.
Nine months into the new normal at Rock Bridge High, some parents
and first-period teachers say students seem more rested and alert.
[…]
© TM ® & © 2014 Scholastic Inc.
8
pushback
motstand
kicked it over the edge
her: overtalte/overtala
a superintendent
en inspektør /
ein inspektør
alert
våken/vaken
Part a – factsPart
of the
a –matter
facts of/ rainstorms
the matter /in guatemala
Masterfile / Brian Sytnyk
Rainstorms in Guatemala
by Kacey Sorenson
Have you ever been lost in a moment where you forget time and
place? You know, when all you feel is pure joy and happiness?
Well, this girl has. And it happened during a rainstorm in
Guatemala.
Rain is, without any doubt, my favorite weather. I love turning on the
windshield wipers and driving. I love checking out of class to dance in it
alone, and I especially love standing still and listening to it fall. At home
the rain is cold, and it is hard to stay outside for five minutes without
needing three extra layers.
Over the spring break, my family and twenty medical and nonmedical professionals traveled to a small town in Guatemala. In Nuevo
Progresso, it rains every afternoon for at least an hour. Every few years,
a medical group that works with my dad’s ophthalmology firm travels
to Nuevo Progresso for one week to perform cataract, glaucoma, and
other surgeries at the local hospital. The medical group is comprised
of surgeons, assistants, Spanish-speakers, and young adults. I roomed
with and spent most of my down-time with Camilla, a family friend
about the same age and immaturity level as me.
a windshield wiper
en vindusvisker /
ein vindaugsviskar
layers
her: lag med klær /
lag med kle
spring break
en ukes skolefri på våren /
ei veke skulefri om våren
an ophthalmology firm
en bedrift med øyeleger /
ei bedrift med augelegar
cataract
grå stær (øyesykdom) /
grå stær (augesjukdom)
glaucoma
grønn stær (øyesykdom) /
grøn stær (augesjukdom)
to be comprised of
å bestå av
down-time
fritid
immaturitiy level
her: like umoden
fortsetter på neste side 
9
Part a – facts of the matter / rainstorms in guatemala
Camilla and I walked through the market every afternoon on our
lunch break. We played soccer on the dirt field, marveled at the
colorful, hand-woven bracelets and accessories, spoke with the
locals, but mostly hoped for rain. Around 3 p.m. each day, there are
rainstorms, and Camilla loves the rain almost as much as I do. On our
third day at the market, we were discussing our mutual love for rain
when we felt small, hesitant drops on our overheated shoulders. We
stopped speaking, and simultaneously looked skyward. We sprinted up
the hill, through the nunnery doors, to our rooms.
Almost immediately, I ran outside, into the open area, shoeless but still
clothed, and lay down. I closed my eyes and started giggling. I couldn’t
stop giggling; it was not a surface giggle or the giggle girls use to flirt. It
was the giggle little kids make on a teeter-totter or when they are playing
tag (before the part when someone gets hurt and starts crying). The
giggle turned into a full laugh, and mind you, my laugh is anything but
gentle. It began in the bottom of my chest and built to its loud, intrusive
volume. I was too happy to care about disturbing someone’s meal or
nap. My whole body and outfit were soaking wet, shaking with laughter.
I had just started to calm down when I looked to my left and saw Camilla
lying down, shoeless, her eyes closed. The giggles returned, and we lay
on the ground, laughing, until we started feeling cold.
But the cold did not stop us. We got up, drenched in tropical rain,
and started dancing and singing. We were fountain fish, spitting water
into the air for all to enjoy. We were tribal dancers, stomping our feet
in the water granted to us by the rain gods. We were anything but
overstressed young adults about to go to college. Our giggles and songs
had attracted the townspeople who not only glanced into the nunnery,
but entered to stare and laugh at the insane Americans.
This moment was not special because I was in a foreign country
experiencing a vague realization about the connectedness of people,
or because I was doing service for people who I assumed needed my
service. Rather, this moment was incredible because I was completely
out of my element and yet felt completely at home. It was a feeling of
pure joy, love, and peace. It was a feeling I have not often felt before or
since. This feeling reminds me what it means to take an opportunity,
however small and unimportant, when it is given. It reminds me to be
happy, even when the sky is cloudy and the rain is falling.
© Copyright 2014 KidSpirit, Inc. Used by permission.
Links:
http://kidspiritonline.com/2014/05/rainstorms-in-guatemala/
10
to marvel
å undre seg
mutual
felles
hesitant
nølende/nølande
skyward
mot himmelen
a nunnery
et nonnekloster /
eit nonnekloster
a teeter-totter
en vippehuske /
ei vippedisse
tag
sisten/tikken
intrusive
påtrengende/
påtrengjande
drenched
klissvåt
to stomp
å trampe
anything but
alt annet enn /
alt anna enn
to glance
å kikke
the connectedness of people
menneskers samhørighet
/ samhøyret mellom
menneske
Part a – facts of the
Part
matter
a – facts
/ peaceful
of the matter
restistance
/
through time
Getty Images / The LIFE Picture Collection
Getty Images / Joe Hale / Redferns
Peaceful resistance
through time
Malala Yousafzai is a freedom fighter of the new generation. This
extraordinary girl has taken the time to learn from the past. Like
the famous Indian leader Gandhi, she knows that results can be
gained through peaceful movements and non-violent actions.
History has taught her so.
How Gandhi changed the world
He wasn’t the first, nor would he be the last, but the wiry, bespectacled
man from Gujarat is certainly the most famous of the world’s peaceful
political dissidents.
Mohandas Gandhi – also affectionately known as Mahatma – led
India’s independence movement in the 1930s and 40s by speaking
softly without carrying much of a big stick, facing down the British
colonialists with stirring speeches and non-violent protest. For his
to gain
å oppnå
wiry
senete
bespectacled
med briller
a dissident
en politisk avviker /
ein politisk avvikar
to face down
å opponere mot
fortsetter på neste side 
11
Part a – facts of the matter / peaceful restistance through time
troubles, he’s often named among the 20th century’s most important
figures and remains revered in India as a father of the nation.
More than anything else, historians say, Gandhi proved that one man
has the power to take on an empire, using both ethics and intelligence.
Other peaceful resisters such as Martin Luther King Jr. during the
1960s civil rights movement and Tibet’s Dalai Lama have emulated his
methods in years since, shaking up the dynamic of world politics in the
process.
[…]
India finally gained full independence in 1947 when Gandhi was 78.
[…] Ironically, the ultimate proponent of non-violence was killed by
assassination in 1948 while walking to his evening prayer meeting.
Today, Indians, anti-war protestors and authors, for the many
interesting quotes he provided, celebrate Gandhi as a preeminent
figure. Not twenty years after his death, Gandhi also had a direct
impact on the history of the United States.
Martin Luther King Jr. is said to have been heavily influenced by
Gandhi’s philosophy of non-violence, believing it to be the only logical
approach to the problem of race relations in America.
© LiveScience / Wrights Media. Used by permission.
Introducing a female Gandhi: Malala
In 2012, the Taliban shot (then fourteen-year-old) Malala Yousafzai, a
Pakistani education activist for girls’ rights to education.
[…] When interviewed by Jon Stewart, Malala proves herself to be a
true female Gandhi by advocating a fight through peace, rather than
with cruelty, or violence. When asked about how she reacted when she
found out the Taliban wanted her and her father dead, she said:
‘If he comes, what would you do Malala?’ then I would reply to
myself, ‘Malala, just take a shoe and hit him.’ But then I said, ‘If you hit
a Talib with your shoe, then there would be no difference between you
and the Talib. You must not treat others with cruelty and that much
harshly, you must fight others but through peace and through dialogue
and through education.’ Then I said I will tell him how important
revered
høyt verdsatt /
høgt verdsett
emulated his methods
etterlignet hans
framgangsmåte /
etterlikna
framgangsmåten hans
a proponent
en talsmann /
ein talsmann
an assassination
et attentat, snikmord /
eit attentat, snikmord
preeminent
fremragende /
framifrå, ypparleg
a direct impact
en direkte innvirkning /
ein direkte innverknad
influenced by
påvirket av / påverka av
an approach
en tilnærming /
ei tilnærming
Jon Stewart
komiker og tv-vert for The
Daily Show / komikar og
tv-vert for The Daily Show
to advocate
å støtte, kjempe for
cruelty
brutalitet, ondskap /
brutalitet, vondskap
harshly
brutalt
fortsetter på neste side 
12
Part a – facts of the matter / peaceful restistance through time
education is and that ‘I even want education for your children as well.’
And I will tell him, ‘That’s what I want to tell you, now do what you
want.’
Her response parallels Gandhi’s famous quote, ‘an eye for an eye
would leave the whole world blind’. She fights, like Gandhi, as a
peaceful warrior, a full-hearted being, armed with weapons of peace,
compassion and knowledge.
© Elephant Journal. Waylon H. Lewis Enterprises. Used by permission.
Links:
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/history/asia/india/gandhi/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/malala-yousafzai/
13
compassion
barmhjertighet /
miskunne
Part Part
b – The
a –stories
facts of
i have
the matter
heard //slam
Getty Images / Windzepher
Slam
by Nick Hornby
In Slam we meet Sam, a sixteen-year-old who has met more
challenges than most teenage boys. He falls head over heels
with a beautiful girl named Alicia, but the crush doesn’t last
and he breaks it off. Then Alicia reveals that she is pregnant and
determined to keep the baby. The excerpt you are about to read
is from the beginning of the novel where Sam is thinking about
a time when his life was uncomplicated, a time when there were
few worries and no drama. A time when all was calm before the
storm.
[…]
So things were ticking along quite nicely. In fact, I’d say that good
stuff had been happening pretty solidly for about six months.
For example: Mum got rid of Steve, her rubbish boyfriend.
• For example: Mrs Gillett, my art and design teacher, took me to one
side after a lesson and asked whether I’d thought of doing art at
college.
•
a challenge
en utfordring /
ei utfordring
to fall head over heels
å bli hodestups forelska /
å bli hovudstups forelska
a crush
en forelskelse /
ei forelsking
to reveal
å avsløre
ticking along
tikket av gårde /
tikka av garde
to get rid of
å kvitte seg med
rubbish
ubrukelig/ubrukeleg
fortsetter på neste side 
14
Part b – The stories i have heard / slam
•
For example: I’d learned two new skating tricks, suddenly, after
weeks of making an idiot of myself in public. (I’m guessing that not
all of you are skaters, so I should say something straight away, just
so there are no terrible misunderstandings. Skating = skateboarding.
We never say skateboarding, usually, so this is the only time I’ll use
the word in this whole story. And if you keep thinking of me messing
around on ice, then it’s your own stupid fault.)
All that, and I’d met Alicia too. I was going to say that maybe you should
know something about me before I go off on one about my mum and
Alicia and all that. If you knew something about me, you might actually
care about some of those things. But then, looking at what I just wrote,
you know quite a lot already, or at least you could have guessed a lot
of it. You could have guessed that mum and dad don’t live together,
for a start, unless you thought that my dad was the sort of person who
wouldn’t mind his wife having boyfriends. Well, he’s not. You could
have guessed that I skate, and you could have guessed that my best
subject at school was art and design, unless you thought I might be
the sort of person who’s always being taken to one side and told to
apply for college by all the teachers in every subject. You know, and
the teachers actually fight over me. ‘No, Sam! Forget art! Do physics!’
‘Forget physics! It would be a tragedy for the human race if you gave up
French!’ And then they all start punching each other.
Yeah, well. That sort of thing really, really doesn’t happen to me. I can
promise you, I have never ever caused a fight between teachers.
And you don’t need to be Sherlock Holmes or whatever to work out
that Alicia was a girl who meant something to me. I’m glad there are
things you don’t know and can’t guess, weird things, things that have
only ever happened to me in the whole history of the world, as far as I
know. If you were able to guess it all from that first little paragraph, I’d
start to worry that I wasn’t an incredibly complicated and interesting
person, ha ha.
This was a couple of years ago – this time when things were ticking
along OK – so I was fifteen, nearly sixteen. And I don’t want to sound
pathetic, and I really don’t want you to feel sorry for me, but this
feeling that my life was OK was new to me. I’d never had the feeling
15
in public
foran alle / framom alle
wouldn´t mind
ikke brydde seg om /
ikkje brydde seg om
to apply
å søke / å søkje
a subject
et fag / eit fag
to punch
å slå/bokse
incredibly
utrolig/utruleg
Part b – The stories i have heard / slam
before, and I haven’t really had it since. I don’t mean to say that I’d
been unhappy. It was more that there had always been something
wrong before, somewhere – something to worry about. (And, as
you’ll see, there’s been a fair bit to worry about since, but we’ll get to
that.) For instance, my parents were getting divorced, and they were
fighting. Or they’d finished getting divorced, but they were still fighting
anyway, because they carried on fighting long after they got divorced.
Or maths wasn’t going very well – I hate maths – or I wanted to go out
with someone who didn’t want to go out with me … All of this had just
sort of cleared up, suddenly, without me noticing, really, the way the
weather does sometimes. And that summer there seemed to be more
money around. My mum was working, and my dad wasn’t as angry
with her, which meant he was giving us what he ought to have been
giving us all the time. So, you know. That helped.
[…]
Anyway, all I’m saying is that there was this time – maybe it was a day,
maybe a few days, I can’t remember now – when everything seemed to
have come together. And so obviously it was time to go and screw it all
up.
© Penguin Books. Used by permission.
For more on Nick Hornby:
http://www.nickhornbyofficial.com/
16
to clear up
her: å ordne seg
ought to
burde
obviously
åpenbart/openbert
to screw it all up
å ødelegge alt /
å øydeleggje alt
Part b – The
Part
stories
a – facts
i have
ofheard
the matter
/ boy overboard
/
Getty Images / Asanka Brendon Ratnayake
Boy Overboard
by Morris Gleitzman
Sometimes, we find ourselves in situations where every second
counts. Jamal and Bibi live in Afghanistan, in a village where their
parents run a secret school. The people in the village live in fear
of the Taliban and of landmines that are hidden in the ground
around the village. One day, Bibi steps on a landmine. For the
children, this is a race against the clock to save Bibi before the
mine goes off.
rubble
steinrester/steinrestar
to screech
å hvine (i bremser) /
å kvine (i bremsar)
muffled by
dempet av / dempa av
gross
ekkel
[…]
No bang.
That’s all I think as I claw my way up the side of the rocket crater
towards Bibi. Rubble scrapes my fingers raw, but I hardly notice.
No explosion. That’s good. Unless …
Unless I missed it when the tank was screeching. Or it was muffled
by Bibi’s long skirt. Or someone’s invented a silent landmine. I stop
thinking about that and keep climbing. I can’t smell any explosion.
That’s good too. When Yusuf’s grandfather demonstrated a landmine
exploding to us kids in the village the smell was gross. Worse than
Mussa’s socks.
fortsetter på neste side 
17
Part b – The stories i have heard / boy overboard
‘Hang on, Bibi,’ I shout frantically. ‘It’s going to be OK.’
They can’t hear me. Yusuf is yelling too loudly and Bibi’s screams are
filling the air like desert birds after a battle.
Please, I pray. Don’t let her legs be blown off. Not even just one.
I fling myself over the rim of the crater. Bibi is on the other side of
the football pitch, surrounded by war wreckage. She’s standing rock
still, one leg straight, the other crooked. Yusuf is kneeling next to her
straight leg, pushing down with both hands on her foot.
As I run to her I see what’s happened. The mine hasn’t gone off
because Bibi’s weight is still on it. If she moves her foot off the metal
plate, the mine will explode.
‘Bibi,’ I yell. ‘Don’t move.’
It’s a dumb thing to say and I can see from the tearful glare Bibi gives
me that she thinks so too. I drop to my knees and press my hands on
top of Yusuf’s.
‘Ow,’ says Bibi. ‘That hurts.’
‘Why didn’t you keep an eye on her?’ I shout at Yusuf.
Immediately I wish I hadn’t said that. Yusuf looks as miserable as I
feel.
‘I’m sorry,’ I say. ‘It’s not your fault. The government’s supposed to
have cleared all the mines this close to the village.’
‘That’s what they said seven years ago,’ mutters Yusuf, sliding one
hand off Bibi’s foot and rubbing his leg stump inside his baggy shorts.
‘I’m sorry, Jamal.’
‘It’s my fault,’ says Bibi. ‘I saw something I wanted for my bird
migration project.’
She’s pointing to a chunk of rusty debris nearby. An entire wing
section off a fighter plane. I don’t say anything. I can feel Bibi’s foot
trembling. Her lips have gone pale. The poor thing’s terrified. This is
not the time to remind her that our school is meant to be secret and it
won’t be secret much longer if she starts dragging ten-metre pieces of
project material into the house.
‘What are we going to do?’ she whimpers.
‘Don’t worry,’ I say. ‘I’ll think of something. Just remember the secret
of football. Never give up, even when things are looking hopeless.’
Bibi bursts into tears again.
18
frantically
panikkslagen
fling myself
kaster meg / kastar meg
a rim
en kant / ein kant
a football pitch
en fotballbane /
ein fotballbane
crooked
bøyd/bøygd
a glare
et sint blikk / eit sint blikk
to mutter
å mumle
a leg stump
en beinstump /
ein beinstump
bird migration
fugletrekk
debris
skrot
Part b – The stories i have heard / boy overboard
‘Don’t say hopeless, you camel poop,’ she yells.
I look around for help. The village isn’t that far away and I know Yusuf
will hop like the wind if I ask him, but I don’t. If the wrong people come
to rescue Bibi and see she’s a girl, she’ll be in almost as much trouble as
she is now.
There’s only one thing to do. I stand up and put my foot next to Bibi’s.
‘OK,’ I say. ‘Slide your foot off the metal plate while I slide my foot on.’
Bibi gawks at me. Yusuf’s mouth is hanging open too.
‘Are you sure?’ he whispers. ‘If that plate pops up, the mine’ll
explode.’
Yusuf’s got a good heart, but he can be a bit of a referee sometimes.
I don’t mind. He’s only my age but he’s taller than me and he’s already
got hair on his leg.
‘I’ll be careful,’ I say, struggling to look confident. ‘Come on Bibi, just
slide your foot off slowly.’
‘But then you’ll be on the mine,’ says Bibi. ‘You could be blown up.’
‘I won’t,’ I say. ‘It’s probably a dud mine anyway. A lot of these
landmines are twenty years old and totally clapped out. Aren’t they,
Yusuf?’
Yusuf doesn’t say anything. He’s probably not the best person to be
asking. Bibi is staring at Yusuf’s empty shorts leg.
‘No,’ she yells. ‘It’s too risky.’ She crumples into tears again.
‘Bibi,’ I say desperately. ‘If you get blown up, people will find out
you’ve been playing football. Even if I tear up the note.’
Bibi shakes her head. ‘Mum and Dad will understand,’ she replies.
‘They’re always doing things they’re not meant to. Like school, and Dad
putting army petrol in his taxi that time.’
I’m getting frantic and I can see Yusuf is too. I’m hoping the mine’s a
rusted dud, but it might not be. Yusuf’s grandfather says that some old
mines are seriously unstable. Some go off even before the metal plate
flips up.
I’ve got to get Bibi away from here.
‘What about the government?’ I say to her. ‘If the government finds
out a girl’s been playing football, Mum and Dad are in big trouble,
remember?’
Bibi thinks about this. I can see she knows it’s true. But instead of
getting off the mine, she gets angry.
19
poop
bæsj
to gawk
å måpe
a referee
en dommer / ein dommar
confident
selvsikker/sjølvsikker
a dud mine
en blindgjenger, mine som
ikke kommer til å gå av
/ ein blindgjengar, mine
som ikkje kjem til å gå av
clapped out
utslitt/utsliten
to crumple
her: å knekke sammen /
å knekke saman
Part b – The stories i have heard / boy overboard
‘It’s not fair,’ she yells. ‘I don’t want to get blown up and I don’t want
you to get blown up either. It’s not fair.’
This is bad. She’s working up to a tantrum. When Bibi has a tantrum
she stamps her feet. I grab her shoulders and put my face close to hers.
‘Listen,’ I say. ‘Let me step on the mine. Then Yusuf will help you get
home, and once you’re inside he’ll bring help for me. We’ll all be fine.’
‘He’s right,’ says Yusuf.
Bibi glares at me for a long time. ‘OK,’ she says finally. ‘If I die, I hope
you do as well.’ Then her eyes fill with tears again and she puts her
arms round me. ‘Because if I was dead and you weren’t, I’d really miss
you.’
She shuffles off the mine, Yusuf holding her feet so she doesn’t move
too fast. I shuffle on at the same time. In the tension of the moment
I forget Bibi is meant to be sprinting away. We hold each other tight
while we wait and see what happens.
Nothing.
I can feel the spring of the mine pushing against the soles of my feet,
but the mine doesn’t explode.
‘OK,’ I say to Yusuf. ‘Run for it.’
It’s not a very thoughtful thing to say to a kid with one leg, but I know
Yusuf doesn’t mind. He grabs his crutches with one hand and Bibi with
the other.
She’s still holding on to me, her dark eyes staring at me fiercely.
‘Jamal,’ she says, ‘I like football and I’m going to keep on playing it.’ She
hugs me, then thinks of something. ‘Unless you’re dead, because then I
wouldn’t feel like it.’
She gives me a final hug and hurries away with Yusuf.
[…]
© Penguin Books Australia. Used by permission.
For more on Morris Gleitzman:
www.morrisgleitzman.com
20
a tantrum
et raserianfall /
eit raserianfall
fiercely
intenst
Part b – The stories
Part
i have
a – facts
heard
of/ the
i sitmatter
beside the
/ fire and think
I Sit Beside the Fire and Think
“I Sit Beside the Fire and Think” is a song from J.R.R. Tolkien’s The
Lord of the Rings, an epic fantasy novel. Tolkien’s imaginary world
has become world famous through his books and several movie
adaptations. The hobbit, Bilbo Baggins, sings this song when he is
in Rivendell, a valley belonging to the mythical elves.
“I sit beside the fire and think
Of all that I have seen
Of meadow flowers and butterflies
In summers that have been
Of yellow leaves and gossamer
In autumns that there were
With morning mist and silver sun
And wind upon my hair
I sit beside the fire and think
Of how the world will be
When winter comes without a spring
That I shall ever see
For still there are so many things
That I have never seen
In every wood in every spring
There is a different green
I sit beside the fire and think
Of people long ago
And people that will see a world
That I shall never know
But all the while I sit and think
Of times there were before
I listen for returning feet
And voices at the door”
Reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd. © J.R.R. Tolkien 1954.
21
a movie adaptation
en filmatisering /
ei filmatisering
a meadow
en eng / ei eng
gossamer
spindelvev
mist
tåke