El día de la tormenta (The day of the storm)
MCER A2142 palabras
Two winters ago a big storm arrived on a Tuesday afternoon. At four o'clock the sky over our village, near Valencia, was yellow. Ten minutes later it was black.
I was at my grandfather's house. He closed the windows, put a torch on the table and made hot milk. 'This is nothing,' he said. 'In 1957 the water came into the streets of the city.'
Then the lights went out. My grandfather did not move. He knows this house in the dark better than I know it in the light.
The storm lasted one hour. When we opened the door, the street was a river of brown water and leaves, and our neighbour's chairs were in the middle of it.
Nobody was hurt. The next day the sun came out, and the only problem was the mud. We cleaned for three days.
Palabras que quizá no conozcas
- stormtormenta
- torchlinterna
- the lights went outse fue la luz
- leaveshojas
- hurtherido
- mudbarro
Preguntas
Se contestan con el texto delante. No es memoria: es entender.
What colour was the sky at four o'clock?
Yellow at that moment — A las cuatro era amarillo; diez minutos después se puso negro. El marrón es el del agua de la calle, después.
What did the grandfather prepare before the storm?
A torch and some hot milk — Cierra las ventanas, pone una linterna en la mesa y hace leche caliente: sabe lo que va a pasar.
Which task took longer than the storm?
Cleaning the mud. — Limpiar duró tres días; la tormenta duró una hora. Cerrar ventanas y hacer leche fueron preparativos.
The grandfather was afraid during the storm.
False — Falso, y el texto nunca usa la palabra miedo: dice this is nothing y, cuando se va la luz, did not move. Se ve por lo que hace.
Why did the grandfather not move when the lights went out?
Because he knows the house well in the dark — La frase siguiente lo explica sin decir «no necesita luz»: conoce la casa a oscuras mejor que su nieto con luz.
Why does the grandfather talk about 1957?
Because an earlier flood puts this storm in perspective — Lo dice justo después de this is nothing: compara con una vez en que el agua entró en las calles de la ciudad. No amenaza: relativiza.