The Silver Statue

The Silver Statue\n\nKele loves singing and playing her guitar – and she’s good, too. One Saturday, she sees the town square being prepared. Lucy and her friends are doing this thing, playing in front of people, and Kele and her sister, who is dressed in a silver statue, perform to the applause. The other sisters perform, and that’s OK because there are no winners or losers. But the drummer isn’t there too, and Kele’s music and Joe’s music aren’t good together. Or are they?\n\n[Word count: 1,401]\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n OXFORD\n\nOxford Bookworms Library\n\nOriginal Fiction\n\nThe Silver Statue\n\nPaul Shipton\n\n[UNREADABLE TEXT]\n\nK P SHIPTON P\n\nThe Silver Statue\n\n000001266\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n OXFORD\n\nCONTENTS\n\n1 Guitar and Drums 1\n2 An Early Morning 7\n3 Louder and Louder 11\n4 A Note 15\n5 Silver Pint 20\n6 The Secret 25\n\nGLOSSARY 29\nVOCABULARY EXTENSION 30\nACTIVITIES Think Ahead 34\nACTIVITIES Chapter Check 35\nACTIVITIES Focus on Vocabulary 38\nACTIVITIES Focus on Language 39\nACTIVITIES Discussion 40\nPROJECT 42\nRECOMMENDED READING 44\n CHAPTER I\nGuitar and Drums\nMy friend Kate loves music. She’s always singing and playing her guitar, and she’s good,\nbut she usually plays in her bedroom, but today, she’s going to play in the town square. She’s going to play in front of people, and she’s afraid, so I’m going with her.\nMy name’s Lucy and I’m Kate’s best friend. The Silver Statue\nWe arrive at the square and there are lots of people.\nNear the flower shop, there is a living statue. She is silver from head to foot. Her face, hair, but, hair out.... everything.\n\nWe walk across the square and stop near a café. “I’m going to sing here, I think,” says Kate. She gets her guitar out of its bag.\n“Good luck,” I say.\n“Thanks.”\nKate begins to sing and play her guitar. She’s good, but she’s usually better. She’s afraid, I can see. Perhaps she’s thinking, Are people going to like my music?\nBut some people stop and listen, and soon, Kate is happier. She begins to play better. The Silver Statue\nThen, suddenly, everything changes. I hear something new - drums! LOUD drums!\nA young man is sitting in the square and he’s playing drums on three white buckets.\n\nKate sings louder, but it doesn’t help. Nobody is listening; now because nobody can hear her over the drums.\nKate stops playing. “How can I play over that terrible noise?” she asks angrily.\n(It isn’t terrible, he’s a good drummer, but I can’t say that now!)\nKate puts her guitar in its bag.\n“Let’s have a drink at the café and wait,” I say. At the café, Kate says, 'Those drums are loud!' The woman from the café smiles. 'Oh, that’s Joe,' she says. 'He plays here every Saturday.' We finish our drinks and wait, but the drums don’t stop. 'Let’s go,' Kate says. 'We can come back next week.' The silver statue watches us. Of course, she says nothing... Of course, the silver statue is there when we arrive. Then we look across the square. Someone is sitting near the café. It’s Joe with his drums! 'Look,' says Kate. 'He’s here early, too!' She begins walking fast across the square. 'Wait, Kate!' I say, but she doesn’t listen to me. 'You’re playing the drums here again,' Kate says. Joe looks up and says, 'I always play here on a Saturday.' 'But you’re very loud,' says Kate angrily. 'I want to help. Perhaps you can play first,' I say to Joe, 'and then...' But now Joe is angry, too. 'This isn't your square!' he tells Kate, and then he begins playing. 'And that isn’t music!' Kate shouts over the drums. But Joe closes his eyes and plays. 'Let’s go to the café again,' I say. 'We can wait there.' But Kate is walking away. 'Next week is going to be different...' she says. The next Saturday, we’re back in the square. The silver statue is there - of course - but we don’t see Joe today. Kate has her guitar, but that isn’t all. She has an amp and a microphone, too. They’re from our school. When Kate begins playing this time, the music is louder. People stop and listen. They like her, I know it. Some people give her money. They put it in her guitar bag. But when Kate is singing her third song, we suddenly hear drums. We look across the square and see Joe.\n\nThis time, Kate is ready. She doesn’t stop playing – no, she smiles and turns up the amp. That’s better! But then Joe begins playing louder, too. Kate turns up the amp again. Now her music is very loud.\n\nBut wait – the drums are louder now, too!