7 Our graduation ceremony

Chapter 7 Our graduation ceremony. . . A Read the story. The P6 students at Happy School were busy. They were preparing for their graduation ceremony. There were different jobs to do: welcoming the guest of honour, giving the guest a bunch of flowers, singing in the choir, presenting the souvenir and giving a speech. Miss Chan, P6A's class teacher, wanted to choose someone to give the speech on behalf of all P6 students. Both Tom and Sally were good at speaking in front of people so Miss Chan asked them to read a short poem. Afterwards Miss Chan told them, 'Tom and Sally, you did very well. Sally, you didn't just read your notes. You looked at the audience and smiled. Your voice was clear but it was a bit quiet. Tom, your voice wasloud and clear. You had lots of confidence. But remember to look up sometimes and smile. Try not to just read aloud. It's important to look at the audience when you give a speech and speak from the heart. ' Finally Miss Chan said, 'Sally, I think you did better so I

The graduation ceremony was two weeks away. Sally worked on her speech every day. She interviewed teachers. She talked to her classmates about their memories of school life. Her speech got longer and longer. A week before the graduation ceremony, Sally said to her parents, 'I'd like to practise my speech. Can I read it to you?' Her parents agreed. The speech lasted for fifteen minutes. 'It's very good, Sally. But I think it's a bit too long, said her mother. Yes, ' said her father. You should cut it down. Make it short and to the point. ' I can't do that, ' thought Sally. I've worked so hard on it. ' The day before the graduation ceremony, Sally walked to school as usual. As she walked along, she read her speech and tried to memorise it. Suddenly the wind blew the paper out of her hand and into the water. 'My speech! ' cried Sally. What do you think happened next?

B How did Miss Chan choose the speaker for the graduation speech? Read thestory again and tick (√). Why did Miss Chan choose Sally to give the speech? C These students are practising for the graduation ceremony. What will theydo at the ceremony? Write the names next to the jobs.

D Sally has lost her speech. The other P6 students are helping her to write a new speech. Read and make suggestions. I've lost my speech! Can you help me? Can you give me some suggestions? OK. You can begin the speech by saying, 'Honourable guests, principal, teachers and friends. I. . . thank you all for coming today. '

E Finish reading the story. At last it was the day of the graduation ceremony. At the beginning. the choir sang a song about remembering old friends. We gather here on this sad day To say farewell to you. We'l miss our teachers and our school And they will miss us too. We promise to remember you And always to work hard. We'll send you news of our new life In photos and a card. We hope our friends will carry on The standards that we set. We'll think of you throughout our lives And be glad that we met! After that Sally went onto the stage. She was nervous at first. Then she saw Miss Chan smiling at her. Sally looked at her new speech and began to speak. 'Honourable guests, principal, teachers and friends, I'd like to thank you all for coming today, ' she started. 'Since we came to Happy School, we've done many things. We've learnt a lot. We've made friends and learnt how to get along with one another. We've played games. We've had fun.