Reading Transcription

ESOL student
Transcription of reading

Luke was always last. It didn’t matter what was happening—something always made him late or last. “Hurry up, Luke. Your toast is getting cold!” Mom called. Luke always tried to be last to breakfast. He didn’t like his toast too hot because the butter would melt and make his toast soggy. And he didn’t like to watch his sister, Jane, heaping horrible apricot jam on her toast, or slurping her milk through her missing front teeth. It was so gross! And he hated the way his baby brother, Thomas, would spit cereal, dribble orange juice, and finger paint with the peanut butter that had started out on his toast!

“Hurry up, Luke, and get in the car. It’s time for school!” yelled Dad. Luke grabbed his schoolbag and wandered out to the car. Jane made a face at him because she was first, and so she got to sit in the front. But Luke liked sitting in the back. He could see everything that was happening out of all the windows.

“Hurry up and get in line, Luke,” called his teacher, as the bell rang to go into school. “One day you just might surprise me and be first!” But Luke liked to be the last in line. He could pick up things that the other kids had dropped and give them back to them.

“It’s an exciting day,” said Luke’s teacher, Mrs. Michaels. “Did you all remember? We’re going to the zoo. Hurry up and get on the bus.” Luke was last in line, as usual. And when he finally climbed up the steps and onto the bus, there were no seats left because some of the mothers had come on the field trip, too. “Just sit up front next to the driver,” said Mrs. Michaels. She was way in the back with Emma Evangaline, cleaning up because Emma had already thrown up.

Luke got off the bus first. It was strange being first. He didn’t like it much. Amanda Brown stepped on his heel, and his shoe came off. Mrs. Michaels pressed her lips together, which meant she was about to lose her cool. “Hurry up and put on your shoe,” she said angrily. Luke had to stay behind, put his shoe on again, and do up the laces.

Last in line again, Luke felt happy. They went to see the elephants, and the biggest one was in a bad mood. It squirted black gooey stuff all over Sarah Diaz’s best blue dress, and she screamed her head off. “Be quiet, Sarah. It’ll wash off,” snapped Mrs. Michaels. She hurried them all away from the elephants. Luke was last, of course. He picked up the doughnut Sarah had dropped and threw it to the baby elephant. The big elephant trumpeted so loudly that Luke nearly jumped through the sky. But it was great fun.

At the ostriches, Ben Borgani teased the biggest ostrich by strutting and jerking his elbows up and down. It fluffed u its feathers angrily and charged at the fence. Everyone screamed. Mrs. Michaels went ballistic at Ben, and then she hurried them all away. Luke was last in the line again. He was able to pick up the beautiful feather that the ostrich had dropped. He put it in his bag.

They all arrived at the gorilla’s cage. Ben Borgani mad faces and jumped up and down in front of the gorilla. “Hey, King Kong, can you play Ping-Pong?” he yelled. Then he took off his cap and threw it into the cage. Everyone laughed. Mrs. Michaels went ape! She made them all move on. Luke was at the end of the line, so he was able to pick up Ben’s cape when the gorilla threw it back. “Mrs. Michaels, Mrs. Michaels,” he called. But she wasn’t listening, so Luke put the cap in his bag.

“Hurry up, Luke” called Mrs. Michaels, as they walked toward the picnic area. “We’re going to have our lunch.” Luke sat by a tree, eating slowly. Everyone else finished and Mrs. Michaels took them off to play base ball. Luke finally finished and started after them.

But on the way, he saw some people who were busy with cameras and overhead microphones. They were making a TV program about the zoo. “Could you just walk over there and hold out this bread to those geese?” said a man wearing a floppy hat, to Luke. So Luke did as he was asked. Mrs. Michaels came rushing back. She thought that Luke was getting attacked by the geese. The man asked her to sign a piece of paper so that Luke could appear on TV.

“Stay with the group, please, Luke,” said Mrs. Michaels. She went rushing off to stop Ben Borgani from putting his fingers in the aviary. The other kids were near the kangaroos. Luke wandered across to look, too, just as the rest of the class walked off with Mrs. Michaels. A baby kangaroo had climbed out of its mother’s pouch and gotten its head stuck in the fence. Luke told a zookeeper. The zookeeper rescued the baby kangaroo and gave Luke some special zoo postcards. Luke proudly put them in his bag.