READING AND SPEAK ING

Saroo's story

1 Look at the pictures and read the title and

caption. What do you think happened to
Saroo Brierley? How old do you think he is
now? Discuss with a partner.

2 liD Cover the text and listen to some of

the things that Saroo says about his story.
Answer the questions.
1 Where did Saroo fall asleep?
2 How old was he?
3 Why was he scared? Which city was he in?
4 How do you think he ended up in Australia?
S What do you think is the significance of
14 hours and 1,200krn?
6 'J zoomed down and bang - the waterfall
where J used to play.' How did he 'zoom
down'? What did he find'
7 Why didn't he recognize his mother
at first?
S What did his mother do? What couldn't
she do?
Saroo Brierley was on ly five years old when he got lost.
3 Read Saroo's full story. Are these statements He was working with his older brother as a sweeper on India's t
true (of) or false eX)? Correct the false ones. trains. Together they trave11ed hundreds of mi les up and down 1
I Saroo and his brother both had jobs the vast network.
cleaning the trains. "It was late at night. We got off the train, and I was so
2 Saroo fell asleep at the station in Calcutta. tired that I just sat down at the train station, and I ended
3 He lived on the streets and continued to up falling asleep."
work on the trains. "I
That fatefu l nap wo uld determine the rest of his life. He thought his
4 He was given food and shelter by a man. brother would come back for him but when he woke up the brother
S He was adopted from an orphanage by an was nowhere to be seen. There was a train in front of him. Perhaps
Australian family. his brother was on board. He got on it to look for him. However, Saroo
6 He had a happy childhood in Tasmania. did not meet his brother on the tra in. Instead, he fell asleep again and
7 When he found his hometown his mother when he woke up 14 hours later he had a terrible shock. There were
was still living in the family home. hordes of people pushing, rushing, speaking in an unfamiliar tongue.
S He moved back to live with his birth family. He had arrived in Calcutta (Kolkata), India's third biggest city and
notorious for its slums. He was nearly 1,500 kilometres (930 miles) "I
from his home. Soon he was sleeping rough.
What do you think?
Would Saroo be happy living back in his hometown? "It was a very scary place to be. I don't think any mother
Why?/Why not? or father would like to have their five-year-old wandering
• Why would his story make a good film? around alone in the slums and train stations of Calcutta.
Who in your class has ever used Google Earth? I was scared. I didn 't know where I was."
What for? The little boy learned to fend for himself. He became a beggar, one
of the many children begging on the streets of the city. Once, he was
Vocabulary work approached by a man who promised him food and shelter. But Saroo
had learned to be suspicious of such peop le and ran away. In the end,
4 Find the highlighted words or phrases in the he was taken in by an orphanage and put up for adoption. He was
text. Work out the meanings from adopted by the Brierleys, a coup le from Tasmania, Australia.
the context.
"I accepted that I was lost and that I couldn't find my
way back home, so I thought it was great that I was
going to Australia"
10 Unit 1 • Home and away!
 o
Saroo settled down well in his new home. But as he got older "The last time I saw her she was 34 years old and a
th e desire to find his birth family became increasingly strong. pretty lady. I had forgotten that age would get the better
The problem was that as an illiterate five-year-old he had not of her. But then I recognised her and I said, " Yes, you
known the name of his hometown. All he had to go on were are my mother". She grabbed my hand and took me into
his vivi d memories. So he began using Google Earth to search her house. She couldn 't say anything to me. She had a
for where he might have been born. bit of trouble grasping that her son, after 25 years, had
It was difficult but eventually Saroo hit on an effective strategy. returned. She had long feared I was dead."

"I multiplied the time I was on the train, about 14 hours, Fatima had searched the train stations for her missing son but
with the speed of Indian trains and I came up with a she had never ventured as far as Calcutta. She couldn't imagine
n he had gone so far. However, she had never lost hope - a fortune
rough distance, about 1,200km
teller had told her that one day she would see her son again.
00
He drew a circle on a map with its centre in Calcutta, with
1d And what of the brother with whom Saroo had originally gone
its radius about the distance he thought he had travelled.
e travelling? Unfortunately, the news was not good.
Incredibly, he soon discovered what he was looking for: the
town of Khandwa. "You see, a month after I'd disappeared my brother was
"Wh en I found it, I zoomed down and bang - the found in two pieces on a railway track. We were extremely
wa terfall where I used to play. " close and when I left my mother, I was
heartbroken knowing that my older
He j ourneyed to Khandwa. He found his way around the town brother had passed away. "
with his childhood memories. Eventually he found his home.
But it was not what he had hoped for. It looked old and shabby, His mother had never known
as if nobody had lived there for a long time. A neighbour whether foul play was involved
said that his family had moved. Then he struck gold, another or whether the boy had simply
neighbour said he knew where his mother lived now. The slipped and fallen under a train.
is man guided Saroo to where three women stood waiting. He Saroo Brierley's lifelong wish
o stared at them blankly. Only the woman in the middle seemed had been to see his birth mother
ld,
remotely familiar. The man gestured towards her. 'This is your again. He feels incredibly grateful
mother', he said. that this wish was granted. He has
She had been young, in her thirties, the last time he saw her. kept in touch with his newly found
She looked so much older now. But behind the weathered family. And now Hollywood studios are
face, there was something unmistakable, unforgettable, his eager to make a film of his amazing story.
mother, Fatima.
Unit 1 • Home and away! 11
 Name:
Lost & Found

Instructions: Choose the best answer for each question.

1. very large in size or area.

vast

grasp

unforgettable

slum

2. to bring about; produce.

notorious

fateful

determine

vast

3. (often plural) a crowded, run-down area of a city where poor people live.

grateful

slum

shabby

shelter

4. to adopt a quieter and more stable way of living.

beggar

heartbroken

settle down

vast

5. to get the meaning of; understand.

shelter

illiterate

determine

grasp

6. the act of becoming the legal parent of a child who is not one's biological offspring.

adoption

shelter

determine

notorious
 7. known for something bad.

grasp

determine

notorious

settle down

8. having very important consequences.

shelter

vast

fateful

beggar

9. a person who begs as a way to meet basic needs such as food and clothing.

beggar

adoption

grateful

settle down

10. not able to read or write.

illiterate

unforgettable

grateful

notorious

11. of poor quality.

fateful

settle down

shabby

vast

12. filled with deep and sometimes lasting sorrow or grief.

heartbroken

shabby

determine

grasp

13. not easily forgotten; very memorable.

unforgettable

grateful

heartbroken

shabby
14. feeling thankful or showing thanks for kindness or something pleasing.

determine

grasp

grateful

heartbroken

15. a place or structure that gives protection against weather or danger.

grasp

illiterate

fateful

shelter
 Name:
Lost & Found

Instructions: Choose the best answer for each question.

1. She was brought up in an __________ after her parents died.

orphanage

suspicious

foul play

determined

2. The report says it suspects __________ was involved in the deaths of two journalists.

pass away

foul play

suspicious

shelter

3. We __________ a date for the wedding.

pass away

foul play

shelter

determined

4. Her father had cancer and passed away last year.

suspicious

unfamiliar

pass away

foul play

5. He is __________ with the rules.

pass away

unfamiliar

foul play

orphanage

6. She is a __________ person and trusts no one.

determined

suspicious

foul play

pass away
7. Everyone needs food, clothing, and __________.

orphanage

shelter

unfamiliar

determined
 Name:
Lost & Found

Instructions: Complete these sentences using the words on this list.

adoption beggar determine fateful fortuneteller foul play grasped

grateful heartbroken illiterate news notorious orphanage rough
settle down shabby shelter slum suspicious sweeper tongue
Unfamiliar unforgettable vast vivid

1. We had just a _______________ idea of what we wanted our new house to be like.

2. The dead man was a victim of _______________ .

3. She was _______________ when her grandfather died.

4. The _______________ was not good, unfortunately.

5. The detective suddenly _______________ the importance of the clue.

6. His joining the army was a _______________ decision that changed the entire course of his life.

7. The thief was _______________ for stealing diamonds.

8. _______________ faces scare the baby.

9. The couple was happy when they found out the _______________ was final.

10. That poster has many _______________ colors.

11. He lived as a _______________ for years, wandering the streets of London looking for food.

12. She spoke in a foreign _______________ .

13. He was sent to an _______________ where life was everything but easy.

14. Because he is _______________ , his daughter reads his mail to him.

15. They drove past _______________ fields of corn.

16. He worked as a _______________ with his brother.

17. The policemen who patrolled the big city _______________ area that summer were sitting on a volcano.

18. The police questioned him about his _______________ activities.

19. After traveling for years, she settled down.

20. The colors you choose will _______________ the mood of the picture.

21. Seeing our grandchild for the first time was an _______________ moment.

22. A _______________ told her that her son was alive.

23. We were _______________ for your help fixing the tire.

24. She wore a _______________ coat.

25. During the storm we used a little shack as our _______________ .

 LOST & FOUND

1. vast a) a building designed to give protection from bad

weather, danger or attack
2. fateful
b) a home for children whose parents are dead or unable
3. notorious to care for them
c) a very poor and crowded area, especially of a city
4. slum
d) approximate, not exact
5. sleep rough e) die
6. to fend for himself/herself f) dishonest or illegal behaviour
g) extremely large
7. shelter
h) extremely sad and upset
8. suspicious i) famous for sth bad
j) FORMAL to allow someone to have or do what they
9. orphanage
want
10. put up for k) having an important and usually negative effect on the

11. settle down future

l) making you feel that sth illegal is happening or that sth
12. illiterate
is wrong
13. hit on something m) offered, made available, enlisted for
n) old and in bad condition
14. rough
o) to become familiar with a place and to feel happy and
15. shabby confident in it

16. strike gold p) to go somewhere unpleasant, dangerous, or exciting

q) to live outside not in a house, and sleep on the ground
17. grasp
r) to suddenly become very rich or successful as a result
18. venture of finding or doing something
s) to suddenly have an idea
19. heartbroken
t) to take care of and provide for himself/herself without
20. pass away depending on anyone else
u) to understand something
21. foul play
v) unable to read and write

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16 17. 18. 19. 20. 21