The Kid from Kabul ELI Readers

The Kid from Kabul

Aarash has to leave his home city of Kabul in Afghanistan and move to England with his mum and younger sister. They go to live with Uncle Naz. Everything is new and confusing for Aarash and he misses his old life. There are more problems for Aarash when he starts school, but luckily he also finds a new friend there, Tim. Will Uncle Naz and Tim be able to help Aarash adapt to his new life, or will he feel sad and lonely forever?

Stage 2 A2

Readers

In this reader you’ll find:

Stage 1

Sarah Gudgeon The Kid from Kabul

Sarah Gudgeon

- Focus on: Afghanistan, Immigration - Glossary of difficult words - Comprehension and grammar activities including A2 Key style exercises and 21st century skills activities - Final test

Tags

Downloadable

Audio Files

Teen

Bullying | Family | School | Friendship

Look at the inside front cover flap to find out how to download your free Audio files.

STAGE 1 STAGE 2 STAGE 3

600 headwords 800 headwords 1000 headwords

Elementary Pre-intermediate Intermediate

A1 A2 B1

Movers Flyers/Key Preliminary

Original

Readers

RS l 3 l. E u 3.r. AD ab 9 I s E K -43 EL LI R rom 36 E f -5 d 8 EN Ki -8 TE he 978 T BN IS

Eli Readers is a beautifully illustrated series of timeless classic and original stories for learners of English.

The pleasure of Reading

Teen

www.eligradedreaders.com

Original

Stage 2 A2

ELT A2

Downloadable

Audio Files

Downloadable

Audio Files

The Kid from Kabul Book brief

is a teenage boy from Kabul in 1 Aarash Afghanistan, but he has to leave his home and move to England.

in England is different and 2 Everything Aarash misses his old life, but most of all, he misses his dad.

is difficult and a couple of boys 3 School make fun of Aarash, but he makes a new friend there too.

likes hanging out with his new 4 Aarash friend, Tim, and then of course there is

Uncle Naz and the community project.

themes include immigration, 5 Main diversity, culture and language, tolerance, and friendship.

www.eligradedreaders.com 1

Spazio didascalia

In this reader: 21st Century Skills

To encourage students to connect the story to the world they live in.

Key

A2 level activities.

Simple Story

A brief summary of the paragraph.

Glossary

Explanation of difficult words.

Picture Caption

A brief explanation of the picture.

Audio

These icons indicate the parts of the story that are recorded.

Think

start stop

To encourage students to develop their critical thinking skills.

The FSC® certification guarantees that the paper used in these publications comes from certified forests, promoting responsible forestry management worldwide.

For this series of ELI graded readers, we have planted 5000 new trees.

Sarah Gudgeon

The Kid from Kabul Illustrated by Marco Bregolato

Teen

Readers

Teen Eli Readers The ELI Readers collection is a complete range of books and plays for readers of all ages, ranging from captivating contemporary stories to timeless classics.

There are four series, each catering for a different age group: First ELI Readers, Young ELI Readers, Teen ELI Readers and Young Adult ELI Readers.

The books are carefully edited and beautifully illustrated to capture the essence of the stories and plots. The readers are supplemented with ‘Focus on’ texts packed with background cultural information about the writers and their lives and times.

ELI Readers Founder and Series Editors Paola Accattoli, Grazia Ancillani, Daniele Garbuglia (Art Director)

© ELI s.r.l.

P.O. Box 6 62019 Recanati MC Italy T +39 071750701 F +39 071977851 info@elionline.com www.elionline.com

Graphic Design Emilia Coari

Typeset in 12 / 17 pt Fulmar designed by Leo Philp

Production Manager Francesco Capitano Photo credits Shutterstock

Printed in Italy by Tecnostampa - Pigini Group Printing Division Loreto - Trevi - ERT285.10 ISBN 978-88-536-4393-3

First edition: 2024

www.eligradedreaders.com

The Kid from Kabul

by Sarah Gudgeon Illustrated by Marco Bregolato

Contents

6

Main Characters

8

Before you read

10

Chapter 1

18

Activities

20

Chapter 2

28

Activities

30

Chapter 3

38

Activities

40

Chapter 4

48

Activities

50

Chapter 5

56

Activities

58

Focus on...

Afghanistan

60

Focus on...

Success Stories

62

Test Yourself

63

Syllabus

A New Home A Good Friend A Community Garden The Past A New Start

Main Characters

A a ra sh

Tim

A teenage boy from Kabul, Afghanistan

Aarash’s new best friend

Oli ver

Le wi s

Classmate

Classmate

6

Un cl e N az

Miss Lane Teacher

Esi n Mum

M rs Ne edh am Neighbour and community garden leader

Yam n a Sister

7

Before you read

Reading • A2 Key 1 Complete the text about the book with the correct answer (A, B or C).

his home in Kabul, in Afghanistan. He Aarash has to leave _______ moves to England with his mum and younger sister, Yamna. They (1) _______ with Uncle Naz and his cat Freddie. Uncle Naz is very kind (2) _______ Aarash finds life in England difficult. He can’t understand people because they speak English (3) _______ and use slang, and he doesn’t know much about his new country. Aarash is (4) _______ and lonely. He is also very scared about his first day at school and (5) _______ of the kids don’t make him feel very welcome. Luckily, Aarash meets Tim. (6) _______ the two boys help each other to learn more about other cultures and traditions? With Uncle Naz helping them, they will certainly try.

A my 1 A lives 2 A but 3 A angrily 4 A sad 5 A any 6 A Must

Speaking

B his B live B and B slowly B happy B much B Can

C your C living C so C quickly C hungry C some C May

21st Century Skills

2 At the start of the story Aarash misses

his home in Afghanistan. Discuss these questions about home with a partner.

1 Where is home for you?

2 Have you ever lived in any other countries?

3 Which other country would you like to live in?

4 You have to leave your home country. What do you miss?

8

Writing • A2 Key 3 You live next door to Aarash in England. Write an informal note to Aarash.

In your note:

– Tell Aarash who you are.

– Welcome Aarash to the street.

– Invite Aarash to the park on Saturday.

Write between 25 and 35 words. _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________

Listening 2 4 Listen to the start of chapter 1. Underline the correct answer,

a or b.

Aarash is (a) awake / (b) dreaming.

1 It is (a) rainy / (b) sunny outside.

2 Aarash is (a) alone / (b) with his family in the bedroom.

3 He is in (a) Afghanistan / (b) England.

4 Aarash is at (a) home / (b) Uncle Naz’s house.

5 Uncle Naz is (a) kind / (b) horrible.

6 Uncle Naz (a) likes / (b) doesn’t like the British rock band Queen.

9

Chapter 1

A New Home 2 Aarash was dreaming about home. He was sitting

Aarash dreams about his family and his home in Afghanistan.

He lives in England now at Uncle Naz’s house.

on the Persian rug in front of the TV. He was with his mum and dad and Yamna was there too. They were playing a board game1 together and his dad was laughing at a joke. TIP TAP TIP TAP. TIP TAP TIP TAP. The noise became louder and louder but Aarash didn’t want to wake up. Slowly, he opened his eyes. There was rain dancing on the bedroom window. It took Aarash a few seconds to remember where he was. He didn’t really want to remember. He wanted to be back in Afghanistan, laughing with his dad. But he was here in England, at Uncle Naz’s house. Uncle Naz was cool but he wasn’t dad – actually he wasn’t even that cool! He was kind and funny but ‘cool’ was probably the wrong adjective for a fifty-yearold guy who liked gardening and Queen. Uncle Naz was a huge fan of the British rock band which probably explained the giant2 poster and why his duvet3 cover had a huge picture of the lead singer, Freddie Mercury, on it.

1 board game a traditional game in a box where players move around the board to win

10

2 giant very big 3 duvet a thick quilt that you put on a bed instead of sheets and a blanket

The Kid from Kabul 3

Freddie was the charismatic frontman1 of Queen and Uncle Naz says he was an amazing performer – and maybe he was – but he’s been dead since 1991! Anyway, apart from the rain, the house was quiet that morning. Uncle Naz was at work and mum and Yamna were out. Aarash realised2 he was actually very hungry and went downstairs to find some breakfast. The kitchen was small but Uncle Naz loved food and the cupboards were full. At home Aarash always had cheese, sweet bread and sweet milky tea for breakfast. Delicious! Today he decided to try something different: cereal with orange juice on it. Hmmm… maybe the orange juice wasn’t a good choice. He must remember to ask Uncle Naz about the best liquid to put on cereal. Tea maybe? After breakfast, Aarash went through to the living room and turned on the TV. There were three people sitting on a sofa in a TV studio. They were laughing and talking but Aarash couldn’t understand anything they said – it was too fast!

This isn’t like the English we learnt at school!

1 frontman lead performer in a rock group

2 realised became aware of the fact that

11

Uncle Naz loves the British rock band Queen.

Aarash is home alone.

He has a very strange breakfast.

Sarah Gudgeon

Aarash is sad and lonely. He doesn’t know England and he doesn’t understand the English on TV.

Aarash and his sister Yamna have to go to school. Yamna is happy but Aarash is scared.

Aarash suddenly felt very alone. He was in a country that he didn’t know, where the people spoke a different language and where the weather was terrible! He stared out of the rainy window and everything looked grey. The rain came down again and again and Aarash thought that it looked like tears falling from the sky. Just when he thought that he might cry too, Aarash felt something soft on his leg. He looked down and saw Freddie (yes, you’ve guessed who he’s named after). Uncle Naz’s old tabby cat1 jumped onto Aarash’s knees and he didn’t feel so alone anymore.

‘Hey, Freddie. Do you want to be my new friend?’ he whispered to the cat.

Before Freddie had the chance to answer, the front door burst open and Yamna ran into the living room.

‘Get ready, Aarash,’ she shouted. ‘We have to go to school in five minutes!’

‘School?’ replied Aarash. ‘Today?’

‘Yes! Yes! Yes!’ laughed Yamna.

Aarash was not as excited as his sister. In fact, he was terrified. What if all the other kids spoke like the people on TV? 1 tabby cat a grey or brown cat with dark stripes

12

>

Aarash is sad.