Text interpretation, “Your presence in my life was fundamental”, aimed at 7th grade students. In it, the writer Ziraldo tells us a little about the facts that marked his life.
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SCHOOL: DATE:
PROF: CLASS:
NAME:
Read the text below carefully:
Ziraldo
Funny, I don't have an unforgettable teacher. I have many unforgettable teachers. The first teacher that my memory records had no affection for me. She put all the white boys on her lap, but not me. One day I sat on her lap on my own and she put me down. It was a private school, Dad couldn't pay the tuition, it was his boss who paid. Maybe that's where my lack of prestige with the teacher came from. I should have forgotten her name, but I didn't. She was called Dulce, but she wasn't sweet at all.
Fortunately, I didn't stay at this school for long, but because of it, I came through life enjoying a huge lack of affection. Which I managed to transform into drawings, books, theater play, logos, posters, illustrations – all at low prices. (At least in the beginning. Now, after fame, at prices more in line with fame…)
My second outstanding teacher was Mrs. Glorinha d'Ávila, mother of poet and writer from Minas Gerais João Ettiene Filho. She was a disciple of Helena Antipoff, who revolutionized basic education in Minas Gerais in the 1940s. Dona Helena soon realized that she couldn't change the minds of the teachers from Minas, who still had the frightening paddles hanging on the classroom wall. So, she trained 150 idealistic young people and spread them around Minas Gerais, with the mission of changing the school from the inside. One of these young women was Dona Glorinha, who, among other things and against the wishes of the old women teachers from the Escolar Group and its grumpy principal, removed the punctured cane from the wall of my class. Only later did I notice Dona Glorinha's struggle. That she won. Discovering – much later – that her presence in my life had been fundamental for me not to lose her there. Life, I say. One Sunday I took my first communion and didn't get a holy picture. On Monday, she sent for me at the office. "You took First Communion yesterday, didn't you?" How is it, my God, that such an important adult person could pay attention to a little brown boy taking First Communion in that huge cathedral? (Because my town had a cathedral…) She then asked: “Did you get a souvenir saint?” There was no winning, no. Then she opened the drawer, took out a beautiful picture and wrote a dedication where I read the words “brilliant” and “future” which, at the time, didn't make any sense to me. Only a little later did I discover that she knew everything about my life, she had been watching me among hundreds of students from the old Group and had even sent for my father to talk...
Funny, now, brooding over these memories, I find I had a crazy teacher, yes. It was Mrs. Glorinha d'Ávila, so tiny, so fragile, so cute...
(Source: “New School Magazine”, September/98, p.58.).
1) To whom does writer Ziraldo refer when he says “Her presence in my life was fundamental”? Why does he make the said statement?
2) Put V for true statements and F for false statements:
____ Helena Antipoff revolutionized basic education in Minas Gerais in the 40s.
____ Professor Dulce was affectionate with Ziraldo.
____ Professor Glorinha is the mother of poet and writer João Ettiene Filho from Minas Gerais.
____ Ziraldo had no unforgettable teacher in his life.
The CORRECT sequence is:
a) V, V, F, F.
b) F, F, V, V.
c) V, F, V, F.
d) F, V, F, V.
3) Dulce and Dona Glorinha had in common the fact that they were teachers. But when comparing them, we realized that they were quite different. Because?
4) In the sentence “Only a little later did I discover that Is it over there I knew everything about my life…”, the highlighted word refers to:
a) Glorinha
b) Dulce
c) Helena Antipof
d) Director of the School Group
By Denyse Lage Fonseca – Graduated in Languages and specialist in distance education.
At answers are in the link above the header.
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