John Milne: Lucky Number

Cafe Colombo is always busy. There are always people sitting at the tables in Cafe Colombo. The men and women are all well-dressed. They drink coffee. They eat ice-cream. They read newspapers.

Charlie does not sit in Cafe Colombo. Charlie is not well-dressed. He sits on the pavement outside Cafe Colombo. He sits on a small box.

Charlie is a shoeshine boy. Charlie shines shoes. He does not go to school. He works all day.

Charlie shines men's shoes. He shines ladies' shoes. He shines black shoes. He shines brown shoes. He shines blue shoes.

— Shoeshine! Shoeshine! Ten cents! Ten cents! Ten cents a shine!

A man in Cafe Colombo shouts, 'Charlie!'

Charlie runs into Cafe Colombo. He puts his box at the man's feet. The man puts one foot on the box.

The man's shoes are black. The man's shoes are dirty. Charlie cleans the man's shoes.

The man gives Charlie ten cents. Charlie takes the ten cent coin. He picks up his box. He goes back to the pavement.

An old man walks slowly along the pavement. The old man is carrying a large board. There is a notice on the board. The old man is selling lottery tickets.

— Buy a ticket! Win a fortune! One dollar a ticket!

— Give me a ticket! Hurry!

A well-dressed man in Cafe Colombo is shouting.

The ticket-seller gives the man a ticket. The man gives the ticket-seller a dollar.

The well-dressed man is in a hurry. A taxi is waiting. The man puts the ticket in his pocket quickly. The man gets into the taxi. The ticket falls out of his pocket. The wind blows the ticket into the air.

— Your ticket! Your ticket!

Cafe Colombo closes at midnight. Charlie's home is far away. Every night, Charlie has a long walk home.

Charlie's mother is waiting for him. He gives her all the money.

Charlie has no father. Charlie has younger brothers and younger sisters. Charlie's mother needs the money. She buys food with the money.

Charlie shows his mother the lottery ticket. His mother looks at the ticket.

She reads the number — SEVEN — FIVE — THREE — EIGHT — ONE — TWO — NINE — FOUR — SIX.

Is this the winning number? Perhaps it is. Saturday 21st is tomorrow. Perhaps tomorrow will be their lucky day!

Сharlie is tired. He puts the ticket on his box. He falls asleep. Charlie has a dream.

A goat comes into the house. The goat finds the ticket. The goat is eating the ticket.

The goat eats the number six. The goat eats the number four. The goat eats the number nine.

Charlie wakes up. It is morning. The ticket is not on the box! Where is the ticket?

Charlie runs to the lottery office. Charlie sees his mother. She has the ticket!

A man is shouting out the winning number.

— Seven — five — three — eight — one — two — nine — four —

Will the next number be six? Will it be their lucky number? Will it be their lucky day?

Put the events in the order they happen in the story. The first is 1.

1 A well-dressed man buys a lottery ticket. | |

2 An old man walks past Charlie. | |

3 Charlie catches the ticket. | |

4 Charlie cleans the man's shoes. | |

5 Charlie dreams that a goat eats the lottery ticket. | |

6 Charlie shows the ticket to his mother. | |

* Charlie is sitting outside Cafe Colombo. |1|

7 Charlie's mother is in the lottery office with the ticket. | |

8 The man gets into a taxi and the ticket falls out of his pocket. | |

__/ 8

Complete the sentences with the correct word. The first letter is given.

9 There are always people sitting at the tables. Cafe Colombo is very b_________________.

1 °Charlie's clothes are old. He is not w_________________-d_________________.

11 The man's shoes are d_________________. Charlie cleans the man's shoes.

12 An old man walks slowly along the p_________________.

13 There is a n_on the board.

14 The old man is selling lottery t_________________.

15 The man puts the ticket in his p_________________.

16 Will it be their l_________________number?

__/ 8

Put the words in the correct order to make sentences.

Example: always / busy / Cafe Colombo / is /. Cafe Colombo is always busy.

17 Cafe Colombo / Charlie / does / in / not / sit /.

18 a / box / He / on / sits / small / wooden /.

19 brown / He / shines / shoes /.

20 are / dirty / man's / shoes / The /.

21 air / blows / into / the / the / The / ticket / wind /.

22 Is / number / the / this / winning /?

__/ 6

Complete the sentences with the prepositions in the box.

at in into on out of outside to up

Charlie sits _________________the pavement _________________Cafe Colombo.

He does not go 25_________________school .

Charlie picks 26_________________his box.

The man gets 27_________________the taxi.

The ticket falls 28_________________his pocket.

He has the ticket _________________his hand.

Cafe Colombo closes _________________midnight.

__/ 8

Total:__/ 30

Put the events in the order they happen in the story.

*, 4, 2, 1, 8, 3, 6, 5, 7

Complete the sentences with the correct word. The first letter is given.

9 busy

10 well-dressed

11 dirty

12 pavement

13 notice

14 tickets

15 pocket

16 lucky

Put the words in the correct order to make sentences.

17 Charlie does not sit in Cafe Colombo.

18 He sits on a small wooden box.

19 He shines brown shoes.

20 The man's shoes are dirty.

21 The wind blows the ticket into the air.

22 Is this the winning number?

Complete the sentences with the prepositions in the box.

23 on

24 outside

25 to

26 up

27 into

28 out of

29 in

30 at

A Before Reading

1 Read the back cover of the book.

2 Look at the picture on the front of the book.

a) What is the name of the boy?

b) What does he do?

c) What is the boy thinking? Write in the bubbles.

B While Reading

3 Start reading. Read to page 7. Complete the sentences. Use these words:

gives read sits drink shines eat

People…………coffee at Cafe Colombo. They…………ice cream and they….

newspapers. Charlie…………on the pavement. Charlie…………shoes. A man

Charlie a ten cent coin.

4 Read to page 15.

Are these sentences True (T) or False (F)?

a) A man gives the ticket-seller ten cents.

b) Charlie does not buy a lottery ticket.

c) Charlie has no father.

d) Charlie's home is not far from Cafe Columbo.

C After Reading

5 Here are four new titles for Lucky Number. Which title do you like?

a)

b)