Chapter 2 — The Group Project Disaster
On Wednesday afternoon, Emma felt much more confident than on her first day. She was no longer «the new student.» She was part of the history group with Leo, Sophie, and Mia.
Their project about ancient Egypt was due on Friday. They had planned to act out a short scene about a young pharaoh and his advisors. Emma helped write the script, Leo wanted to be the pharaoh, Sophie prepared the slides, and Mia was in charge of costumes.
«It’s going to be amazing,» Leo said during lunch. «We still have two days. We have plenty of time.»
Emma smiled, but she wasn’t so sure. «Are you sure we’re ready?»
«Relax,» Sophie said. «Everything is under control.»
On Thursday afternoon, they met at Sophie’s house to practise. At first, everything seemed fine. Mia brought some white sheets to use as costumes. Leo had made a paper crown. Sophie opened her laptop to show the presentation.
«Okay,» Sophie said. «Let’s start from the beginning.»
They began acting. Emma read her lines. Leo spoke loudly and dramatically. Mia tried not to laugh.
Then suddenly, Sophie’s laptop screen went black.
«What happened?» she said.
She pressed a few buttons. Nothing.
«Oh no,» she whispered. «My battery is dead.»
«Can you charge it?» Emma asked.
Sophie looked around. «I left my charger at school.»
For a moment, nobody spoke.
«It’s fine,» Leo said quickly. «We still have the file.»
«Yes,» Sophie said slowly. «But… I didn’t save the last version.»
Emma felt her stomach drop. «What do you mean?»
«I worked on it last night,» Sophie explained. «I added pictures and fixed some mistakes. But I forgot to save it.»
All of a sudden, the situation felt serious.
«Maybe it saved automatically?» Mia suggested.
Sophie tried to turn the laptop on again, but it didn’t work.
«This is a disaster,» she said quietly.
Emma took a deep breath. «Okay. Let’s not panic. We can fix this.»
Leo nodded. «She’s right. We still have the script. And we remember most of the information.»
«But the pictures,» Sophie said. «And the design. It took hours.»
Emma thought for a moment. «Take your time. First, let’s make a plan.»
They decided to divide the work again. Mia would help Sophie recreate the slides from memory. Leo and Emma would practise their scene one more time.
For the next hour, everyone worked hard. There was no more joking. They wanted to save their project.
At one point, Leo forgot his lines.
«Sorry,» he said. «My mind is a mess.»
«It’s okay,» Emma said. «We’re all stressed.»
Finally, Sophie stood up.
«I have good news,» she said. «I turned the laptop on. It had a little battery left. And… the file is here!»
«Is it the new version?» Mia asked.
Sophie clicked on the file and waited.
«Yes!» she shouted. «It saved automatically!»
Everyone started laughing.
«That was close,» Leo said. «I thought we were in real trouble.»
Emma smiled. «At least we learned something.»
«What?» Sophie asked.
«Always save your work,» Emma said.
On Friday morning, the group felt nervous but ready. Other students were also preparing their presentations. Some looked confident. Others looked worried.
When it was their turn, Leo walked to the front of the class with his paper crown. A few students smiled.
The presentation began. Sophie changed the slides carefully. Mia helped with the costumes. Emma and Leo acted out their scene.
Leo spoke clearly and confidently. Emma remembered all her lines. The class watched quietly.
When they finished, there was a short silence.
Then the students started clapping.
«That was creative and well prepared,» Mrs. Miller said. «Excellent teamwork.»
Emma felt proud. This time, her heart was beating fast for a different reason.
After class, Leo smiled at the group.
«We did it,» he said.
«And no more disasters,» Mia added.
Sophie laughed. «Next time, I’ll save my work twice.»
Emma looked at her new friends. A few days ago, she felt like a stranger. Now she felt like part of something important.
Maybe group projects were stressful.
But sometimes, they brought people closer together.
Glossary
confident — уверенный
due — срок сдачи
act out — разыгрывать
advisor — советник
in charge of — отвечать за
practise — репетировать
seem — казаться
screen — экран
battery — батарея
charger — зарядное устройство
save (a file) — сохранять
version — версия
automatically — автоматически
serious — серьёзный
disaster — катастрофа
panic — паниковать
divide — разделить
recreate — воссоздать
from memory — по памяти
stressed — в стрессе
turn on — включить
close (situation) — опасный, напряжённый момент
creative — креативный
teamwork — командная работа
proud — гордый
prepare — готовиться
clap — хлопать
presentation — презентация
trouble — проблема
bring closer — сближать
Discussion Questions
What was the group’s project about?
What problem happened at Sophie’s house?
How did the group react to the problem?
Why was Emma proud at the end?
What lesson did the students learn?
Fill in the Gaps
The project was ______ on Friday.
Sophie forgot to ______ the last version of the presentation.
When the laptop turned off, everyone felt it was a ______.
Emma told the group not to ______.
Leo said his mind was a ______.
The file saved ______.
Their presentation was creative and well ______.
The students started ______ after the performance.
Emma felt ______ of her team.
In the end, the project brought them ______ together.
Answers
Discussion Questions:
The project was about ancient Egypt.
Sophie’s laptop battery died, and she thought she didn’t save the new version of the presentation.
At first they were stressed, but then they stayed calm and worked together to fix the problem.
She was proud because the presentation was successful and they worked well as a team.
They learned to always save their work and not to panic.
Fill in the Gaps:
due
save
disaster
panic
mess
automatically
prepared
clapping
proud
closer
