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Kevin-05: The Big Smoke

An A2 English reading worksheet about Kevin the Koala arriving in the busy city of Sydney.

Title

Reading Text

Episode 5: The Big Smoke The train stops. Kevin walks out of Central Station. He is in Sydney! It is the Big Smoke. It is very loud and very busy. Cars are beeping. People are running to work. Trains are arriving and departing. Kevin feels very small. He sees a busker playing a guitar. People are clapping and giving him coins. "This is very different from the Blue Mountains," Kevin thinks. He is carrying his heavy bag. He is looking for a place to eat. "I am starving," he says. "I want to eat heaps of food." Kevin walks into a small cafe and sits down. He is watching the busy city from the window. The adventure is just beginning! 🐨 Aussie Talk Kevin calls Sydney the "Big Smoke." This is an old slang term for a large city. He also sees a "busker," which is a street performer who plays music for money. Finally, Kevin says he wants to eat "heaps" of food. In Australia, "heaps" is used all the time instead of saying "a lot" or "very much." 📝 Grammar Spotlight Look at this sentence: "People are running to work." This is an example of the Present Continuous tense (be + verb + -ing). We use this tense to talk about things that are happening right now, exactly at this moment. Throughout the story, Kevin is carrying his bag, cars are beeping, and people are clapping.

Seo_intro

An A2 English reading worksheet about Kevin the Koala arriving in the busy city of Sydney.

Activities

Vocabulary

Items:

Label: busy
Answer: def1
Label: departing
Answer: def2
Label: busker
Answer: def3
Label: starving
Answer: def4
Label: heaps
Answer: def5

Definitions:

Text: Full of people, activity, or moving vehicles.
Text: Leaving a place, especially to start a journey.
Text: A person who performs music in the street for money.
Text: Feeling very, very hungry.
Text: An Australian word that means a lot or very much.

Fill In The Blanks:

Before: The city streets are always very
After: on a Monday morning.
Answer: busy
Before: The train is
After: from platform three in five minutes.
Answer: departing
Before: We gave some coins to the
After: playing the guitar.
Answer: busker
Before: Is dinner ready yet? I am
After: !
Answer: starving
Before: I cannot go to the park because I have
After: of homework.
Answer: heaps

Comprehension

Questions:

Text: Kevin thinks Sydney is very quiet.
Answer: false
Text: People are clapping for a busker playing a guitar.
Answer: true
Text: Kevin feels very big in the city.
Answer: false
Text: "The Big Smoke" is a name for a large city.
Answer: true
Text: Kevin goes to a small cafe to eat food.
Answer: true

Scrambled:

Text: out / Station / walks / Kevin / of / Central
Answer: Kevin walks out of Central Station
Text: loud / very / busy / It / is / and / very
Answer: It is very loud and very busy
Text: work / are / running / People / to
Answer: People are running to work
Text: playing / a / He / busker / guitar / sees / a
Answer: He sees a busker playing a guitar
Text: just / is / beginning / The / adventure
Answer: The adventure is just beginning

Written Expression

Questions:

Text: What do you like or dislike about big cities?
Text: If you were a busker, what instrument would you play or what would you do?

Examples:

I like big cities because there are many things to do, but I dislike the loud noise and traffic.

If I were a busker, I would play the piano and sing my favorite songs.

Critical Thinking

Title: Think and Discuss

Instructions:

Why do you think Kevin feels very small in the city compared to his home in the Blue Mountains?
The story says 'The adventure is just beginning!' What do you think Kevin will do next in Sydney?