Man Reunited with his Wartime Girlfriend 70 Years Later
Before
you
read: some questions to help you think about the topic
and the words you might need.
How
would you feel if you lost contact with someone and saw them again many years
later?
What
do you think will happen in this story today?
After 70 years a couple have hooked up again.
She smiled and recalled the fun times they’d had all those years ago in England.
They laughed like teenagers. She was his
wartime sweetheart.
At the end of their two-hour video reunion,
WWII veteran Norwood Thomas told Joyce Morris, his wartime girlfriend, that
he’d love to reunite in person someday and not just on the internet. And he said he wanted to give her a hug after
more than 70 years apart.
But he didn’t expect it would actually
happen.
Morris, 88, has lost much of her eyesight
and lives on the other side of the world, in Australia. Thomas, 93, has health
problems of his own and lives on a pension in Virginia Beach.
But after the story of
their online reunion was seen in The Virginian-Pilot newspaper two
months ago, hundreds of people reached
out, asking how they could help reunite the pair. Readers started an online
collection; more than 300 people made donations. Others mailed money
directly to Thomas’ house. One neighbor flagged
him down and gave him cash.
More than $7,500 has been donated since
then, a kind result from complete strangers, but not enough to cover travel to
Australia and back.
Air New Zealand is paying for the rest.
The airline confirmed this week that it had
organized everything to send Thomas and his caretaker son, Steve, to Adelaide,
Australia, next month.
They’ll fly first class, free of charge.
Thomas says he’s stunned and amazed by all the kindness.
I’m over
the moon about meeting again. And he says that he has no idea what his emotions
are going to be once they meet face to face.
He’ll find out soon.
If everything goes as he plans then Norwood
and Joyce will spend Valentine’s Day together in Australia.
Try to guess the meaning of the words in bold and match them with their closest meaning from
the choices in the right. Some of the answers are very close and have similar
meaning. The meaning of these words is how they are used in the reading. Some
of these words have different meanings in the dictionary depending on how they
are used.
The
answers are below the table.
Reunited
|
A
|
1
|
To try and make contact with someone
|
hooked up
|
B
|
2
|
To organize two people to meet, to
organize that you can get something that you want
|
recalled
|
C
|
3
|
Amazed in a confused way, a shock, a
surprise
|
sweetheart
|
D
|
4
|
To remember
|
people reached out
|
E
|
5
|
Totally happy about something
|
flagged …. down
|
F
|
6
|
To stop someone
|
stunned
|
G
|
7
|
To get back together again
|
over the moon
|
H
|
8
|
A girl or boyfriend that you love very
much
|
A=7, B=1, C=4, D=8, E=1, F=6,
G=3, H=5
Some
example sentences using the new words or phrases from the meaning of how they
are used in the reading to help you understand better.
Many people have been reunited with family members from North
Korea at the meeting between the two countries.
Dating sites are a place that
many people hook up these days.
I could not recall all the answers in the test.
He married his high school sweetheart.
Facebook is a good way to reach out to people you have not seen
for many years.
It’s harder to flag down a taxi when it’s raining
hard.
She was one of the most
beautiful and stunning models I have
seen.
My son was over the moon to be accepted into medical school at the best
university in the country.
Some
questions using the new words/phrases. Try to use the words/phrases in your
answer.
Is there someone in your life
you would like to reunite with?
What is a good way to hook up with a date when you are young
in your country?
What interesting stories did
you your grandparents recall to you?
What would it be like to marry
your high school or university sweetheart
if they were the only person you ever dated?
Who would you reach out to that you haven’t seen in
many years? Why?
Where are the worst places to
try and flag down a taxi in your
city?
How stunned would you be if this happened to you or a family member?
What experience might make you
feel over the moon?