📜 The Lost Time Capsule
📦 What could be inside this rusty box?
🔮 Before Reading
1. Look at the picture and the title. What do you think the story is about? (Think or discuss with a partner.)
2. Preview these key words (listen and repeat):
Now you are ready to read. Listen to the story or read it silently. Pay attention to the new words.
📖 While Reading
In the summer of 1985, twelve-year-old Elena and her younger brother, Marco, were digging in their grandmother’s garden when their shovels hit something hard. It was a small, rusty metal box, about the size of a shoebox. They carefully pulled it out of the dirt. The box was locked, but the lock was so old that it broke easily.
Inside, they found a collection of handwritten letters, a faded photograph of a young soldier, and a dried flower pressed between two pieces of paper. The letters were written in elegant, old-fashioned handwriting, and they were signed with the name “William”. The first letter began: “My dearest Clara, I am writing this by candlelight somewhere in France…” The date was November 11, 1918 – the day World War I ended.
Elena and Marco realised that the box must have belonged to their great‑grandmother, Clara, whom they had never met. The letters told a story of love and longing. William was a soldier who promised to return home. Sadly, he never did. The last letter was never sent; it was found inside the box, still folded.
Years later, Elena decided to search for William’s grave. With the help of online archives, she discovered a small military cemetery in Belgium. She travelled there and placed a single red rose on the grave. For her, it was a way to heal a wound that had been open for more than seventy years. The lost time capsule had finally told its story.
📝 Check Your Understanding
✍️ After Reading – Vocabulary & Speaking
Practice the vocabulary again. Then, speak your answer.
💬 Discussion & Speaking Task
Imagine you found a time capsule from the past. What would you hope to find inside? How would you try to learn more about the people who left it?
Use at least three of the new words: rusty, elegant, longing, archives, heal
Your answer:
