Learn English #1 Intermediate | •Advanced

Read the newspaper story below, and then answer the questions that follow it.

Man hung on to stolen car at 130kph

A US man held on to the back of his sports car and rang police as a thief drove off at speeds of up to 130kph.

Tony Young managed to call 911 on his mobile phone as his Ford Mustang Coupe sped through Flint, Michigan.

He said he was determined to hang on to his beloved car as it had been stolen before but admitted he thought he was a 'goner'.

Mr Young, 35, of Swartz Creek, told the Flint Journal: "I wasn't letting it go again. That car's my pride and joy."

The car was stolen from his home after a woman took his keys but Mr Young got a friend to give him a lift and soon spotted the car at a stop sign.

He challenged the driver but the car sped off. Mr Young jumped on the back of the car and managed to grab hold of the rear spoiler.

As the car went faster and faster and swerved back and forth, Young hung on and gave police a running commentary.

At one stage, he was hanging on to the back of the car and skiing with his feet on the snowy road. He says he thought he was going to die when the car turned on to a motorway.

The chase finally ended when the thief stopped the car and fled on foot. He was caught by police about 10 minutes later.

Amazingly, Mr Young was unhurt - despite the fact that he recently had back surgery and is on sick leave from work.


• Text from Ananova.com

Reading comprehension

True or false?

    true false
1. Mr Young phoned the police when he saw his car had been stolen.
2. This was the first time someone had stolen Mr Young's car.
3. Mr Young and a friend drove around the area looking for the car.
4. Mr Young tried to get into his car when it stopped at a road sign.
5. Mr Young stayed in contact with the police by phone from the back of the car.
6. The police finally managed to stop the car.
       

Exercises

1. Expressions with "and" that describe position or movement
Complete the sentences with the expressions below.

Please ensure the Java Virtual Machine is installed and enabled

 

2. More exercises
You will find more exercises relating to this text in the Intermediate section:

 

What do you think?

Do you think that Tony Young was right to jump on the back of his car? Is it ever a good idea to confront a criminal, or should you always leave that to the police? Is theft a serious problem where you live? What type of theft is most common?

Have you ever had anything stolen? What were the circumstances? Did you see the person who stole it? Did you get the stolen object back? Have you ever seen anybody else being robbed? What happened?

 

More exercises

 


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