"you know i can't do this," daphne groaned and glared at the paper in her hands. spending her saturday preparing for an oral presentation was not her idea of fun. she slapped the papers against her leg, and they fluttered to the floor. peter bent down, picked up the scattered sheets, and put them in order. smiling, he handed the papers back to her and straightened up.
"you'll be fine," he assured his friend. peter had no trouble speaking to groups of people. his mom worked at a radio station, and during the summer, peter spent a lot of his spare time there. he had even made some announcements on-air, and daphne admired his developing talent. "just speak slowly," he cautioned. "and loudly. and clearly."
"every time i have to speak in front of the class, i get so tongue tied. the words don't come out right, and then i forget what to say," daphne explained.
"you'll have your report right in front of you, so all you have to do is read it," peter pointed out. he was always so practical it almost infuriated her.
daphne took a deep breath and looked at her written report. "you know that's easier said than done." she began reading her report aloud, and, even though peter was the only other person in the room, her mouth suddenly felt dry and her hands started to shake. "you see! i can't do it. why do we have to give an oral report anyway? isn't it enough that i did the research and wrote all these pages? "
daphne had a keen intelligence and writing was easy for her, but speaking to an audience was difficult. she had worked hard on the report and didn't want to ruin her grade with a poor presentation. peter rubbed his chin, deep in thought. "i have an idea." peter went into the kitchen and returned with his mom's smartphone and turned on the recorder. "read your report into the phone."
daphne sat down and began reading her report with an eloquence that surprised them both. she looked up at peter with a wide grin and asked, "do you think mrs. rhodes would let me record it? "
"i have another idea! " peter said. "you keep practicing," he called as he disappeared into the garage. he returned with a large box and winked mischievously at her.
on monday morning, daphne's class sat in curious silence as she and peter arranged two unplugged microphones on a table in the front of the room. peter placed the box, which they had transformed into a fabulous old-time radio, in front of the microphones, and he and daphne sat down behind the box.
"hello, folks," peter said into his microphone. "this is krpt radio and next up is a report by daphne bridges on the country of venezuela! take it away, daphne."
daphne spoke slowly and clearly into the microphone. "the country of venezuela is located in south america." she smiled at her friend and thought to herself, so far so good.
1
choose the correct answer from each drop-down menu.
choose the phrases that best describe the setting of the story.
during the beginning and middle of the story, the setting is at the end of the story the setting is