God Bicycle - Simplified Intermediate Edition

By Ian O'Malley

Graded Reader (Intermediate) - Evan O'Gorman is a young Irish rower who is coached by his father and is trying to qualify for the Olympics. One morning while rowing, Evan’s oar hits a dead horse in the River Liffey. It starts a series of events that leads him to Spain to search for a girl there… but it also leads him into great danger. This book is specifically written to provide easy and enjoyable reading for English language learners. It is an adaptation of an original contemporary novel. This book is most suitable for language students of Intermediate / B1 level. It includes an introduction to the story, illustrations, a glossary of difficult words and activities.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Jan 30, 2016
• ISBN: 9781326549558

Book preview

God Bicycle - Simplified Intermediate Edition

GOD ON A BICYCLE

GRADED STUDENT READER

INTERMEDIATE (B1)

IAN O’MALLEY

Malleyman Publications

© 2020 Ian O’Malley

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

978-1-326-54955-8

First published by Malleyman Publications, Dublin, 2016.

Malleyman Publications 2, 98 Street, Graiguecullen, Carlow, Ireland

www.malleyman.com

Printed in the United States of America by lulu.com

Contents

GOD ON A BICYCLE

INTRODUCTION

PART ONE

1 THE CRAB AND THE HORSES

2 DUST

3 APPLES AND SHADOWS

4 COLD FIREPLACES

5 THE HEAD AND THE HEART

6 OLÉ EIRE

7 THE BURN

8 THE DANCE

9 EVAN’S SPORTS DIARY

10 DOWN THE COUNTRY

11 THE BANK

12 THE CHAMPS

PART TWO

13 BARCELONA

14 THE BODY

15 THE SCHOOL

16 THE OLD MAN AND THE BICYCLE

17 BARS AND FARMHOUSES

18 RAIN AND CONVERSATIONS

19 THE TINGLE OF CAVA

20 POETRY AND CRAIC

21 THE FLIGHT

22 THE VILLAGE

PART THREE

23 MOVIES AND MEN IN PINK

24 TWO TESTS AND A BREAKDOWN

25 A KISS AND A COFFEE

26 THE PAIR

PART FOUR

27 THE LAKE

28 THE RACE

29 THE BEACH

GLOSSARY

ACTIVITIES

INTRODUCTION

This book has been specifically written to provide easy and enjoyable reading for English language learners. It is most suitable for language students of intermediate level, including A2 to B1 levels. It includes an introduction to the story, illustrations, a glossary of difficult words and follow-up activities.

The book is an adaptation of an original contemporary novel.

MAIN CHARACTERS

Evan O’Gorman – a young Irish rower hoping to qualify for the Olympics.

Rocky O’Gorman – Evan’s father and also his coach.

Zuriñe – a girl from Barcelona who has just moved to Dublin.

Gráinne – Evan’s on-off girlfriend.

Synott – Evan’s biggest rival in rowing.

Captain – a member of the rowing club and an old friend of Zuriñe’s parents.

Aiert – from the Basque Country in the north of Spain. He has connections to drugs and crime.

This book is based in Ireland and Spain and follows a young Irish rower called Evan who, coached by his father, hopes to qualify for the Olympics.

Rowing is a sport that is practised in Dublin on the River Liffey. It is a very hard physical sport which requires huge time and dedication. Olympic success is the ultimate goal for international rowers.

In the story, Evan meets and becomes interested in a girl, Zuriñe, whose father was a member of ETA and was killed many years before. ETA was an organisation that fought for full independence for the Basque Country from Spain for forty years. It was viewed as a terrorist organisation by the Spanish government.

MAPS

ROWING

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PART ONE

1 THE CRAB AND THE HORSES

The man walked beside the river in the cold night as the moonlight shone on the water. He stopped at the iron fence and could hear the horse on the other side. He reached through the fence and offered her pieces of apple to eat.

Then the man quickly tied the horse to the fence. Talking to her softly, he climbed over to her side. He touched her neck softly with his fingers. Breathing slowly, he took a long knife from his belt and gently held it against her neck. He closed his eyes and listened to her breathing.

With a quick action, he stabbed the knife deep and downwards.

The horse screamed and she knocked the man sideways across the ground. She pulled against the rope with her head going left and right. Thick blood came from her neck as she was panicking.

The man sat a small distance away watching with his back against the fence.

She fell forward on her face, then on her side and lay with her legs straight out. For a while she moved and made strange sounds. Finally, she was still.

The man stood up. Everything was peaceful again by the river.

In the early morning dawn beside the river, nine men sat into the long, narrow boat. From the back of the boat forward, each called out their numbers in turn.

Five ready, said Evan.

The men pushed the boat out into the middle of the river. Evan looked back towards the car by the side of the Fianna boathouse on the north bank where the girl who had said hello to him was. He then looked to the south bank and the Memorial Gardens.

On the top of the hill in the Gardens, Evan saw the horses that always stood there at this time. He didn’t notice that today there were only two horses instead of three.

The rowers in