B2 B2 B2 B2 AT THE YOUTH CLUB FOCUS ON FCE - Reading Part 1 Read the extract below from a writer s journal. For each question 1-8, choose the correct answer A, B, C or D. Six months ago I made a promise. The leader of the youth club in our village rang me in March saying, We re thinking of running a children s play-scheme for a day in October half-term. Would you be prepared to help? My response was Sure, why not? In truth I was a little flattered to be asked, even though working as a care assistant with old people hardly qualified me for the role. Still, I put the date in my diary and of course I forgot all about it. I don t know if you ve noticed this, but time has a habit of speeding along faster than a police car chasing a robber, and before I knew it, the day was coming. I arrived at the youth centre that morning feeling full of trepidation. There was a gang of 12 helpers including me and each pair had been allocated a particular age group. Mine was the 1011 year olds. Even with the planning meeting I had attended the week before, I worried about whether I was up to the task. Why hadn t I read through the plenty of lesson plans we were given beforehand? And wasn t the average 10-year-old more interested in the latest PlayStation game than making things with paper and glue? All too quickly the children began arriving. The look of relief on parents faces as they handed their children over to us was quite comical. Some of the children were already members of the club but the other forty-five or so were from the local primary schools. Again I asked myself why I had chosen to spend a day with all these little monsters , especially when I have two all of my own to manage! I needn t have worried, of course, as it turned out to be a marvellous day. We watched entertaining DVD clips, learnt action songs, made clay pyramids, decorated biscuits, played memory games and spent some time in quiet reflection. I say we because I rediscovered my inner child and joined in all the activities. The particular highlight for me was the final performance of He s got the whole world in his hands in the closing part of the day. The children knew the words by heart and sang so loudly it was almost enough to bring the roof down. It s difficult to explain those moments and the pleasure of having witnessed something so magical. Of course there were also moments of great sadness. I found it difficult to stop thinking of one little girl, who mentioned that her mum was in hospital and would be there for a long time. It s easy for us adults to idealise childhood and forget that some children have their anxieties and concerns. When I got home exhausted, still with modelling clay under my fingernails, I reflected on what a privilege it had been. There was one disappointment for the children and that was that the play-scheme was only running for a day, and not the whole week. As I said farewell to my group, one of the children turned and said, Can we do it again in the next holiday, Miss? My response was, Sure, why not? 86