The Offer

Make a mind map with the word “football” in the middle. Add the words below and write explanations or translations.

pitch goalkeeper defender midfielder striker referee coach penalty spot / penalty box free kick goal crossbar

Sophie McKenzie is a British author of books for young adults.

SOPHIE MCKENZIE The Offer Blake is the star striker on the local football team. A new stadium is about to open, and Blake wants to be the first to score a goal on the new pitch. One night, Blake and a friend sneak into the stadium, which has not opened to the public yet. They almost get caught by a security guard and his dog. They have to run, and Blake has to leave his ball behind. While hiding from the security guard, Blake overhears a conversation between a Mr Vilman and another person. Mr Vilman says that he has stolen money from the stadium Vurderingseksemplarfootball pitch soccer field savings account. Suddenly Blake’s phone rings, and his hiding place is revealed. Blake gets away, but Mr Vilman and the other person know that someone has heard their conversation, and Blake’s ball, which has his name on it, is left on the pitch.

The next day was Thursday. The last Thursday of the month. “No money from your dad again, Blake,” Mum said from his bedroom door. She sounded like she had been crying. Blake pulled the duvet over his head. He hated it when Mum got upset like that. Why did she go on expecting Dad to send them anything? Dad was long gone and all taken up

the public offentligheten savings account sparekonto revealed avslørt duvet dyne

creaked knirket dip bulk peeked tittet wobbling skjelve a thrill of excitement en kriblende følelse av spenning guilt skyldfølelse with a new family. For Blake, Dad was out of the picture for good. He and Mum had to look after themselves. The bed creaked as Mum sat down, making a dip in the mattress. Blake’s leg slid towards the dip. He peered over the top of the duvet. Vurderingseksemplar Mum’s bottom lip was wobbling. Blake stared at her, feeling helpless. She looked round. “Oh, Blake … I don’t want to get you all upset with your big match coming up on Saturday but I’m just so worried ….” Mum sniffed back her tears. Blake had forgotten. There’d been too much else to think about. The Colts Cup Semi-Final was in just two days’ time.

And he was playing. Blake felt a thrill of excitement, then a pang of guilt as he looked at Mum’s face. “We’ll be all right, Mum,” he said as he sat up in bed and gave her a hug. “That’s just it, Blake,” Mum said. “I don’t think we will this

time. If I don’t get £300 fast I’ll be under on the rent again. If that happens we’re going to have to move to Nanny Mam’s.” “What?” Blake sat back, shocked. Nanny Mam lived miles away. She was old and her house smelled. Plus, there was no decent football team anywhere near her … not even a kids’ team. “No way, Mum!” he said. “Why can’t you borrow the money … get a loan or something?” Mum turned on him. “I won’t go into debt again, Blake. I’ve only just paid off all the money your dad left us owing.” “But …” “I don’t want to hear it,” Mum said firmly.

Blake spent all day at school worrying. Either he worried about having to move to Nanny Mam’s or that Mr Vilman was going to track him down because of the name on his football. Twice the teachers shouted at him. He only just missed getting a detention for chewing some gum which he’d totally forgotten to take out after the break. At last school was over and he and Dan headed for football practice. As always, once Blake was on the pitch, all his worries dropped away. He was free, somehow, when he played football. The ball moved where and how he wanted it to. The other players were too slow to stop him. And space seemed to open up wherever he ran. He scored twice. The second goal was a real beauty – a curving free kick from just outside the box. “Nice one, Blake,” Coach grunted. Blake grinned. From Coach, that was top praise. As he came off the pitch he felt better than he had done all day. And then he felt a hand on his shoulder. “Blake Johnson?” He looked round. There, standing behind him, was Mr Vilman. He held out Blake’s football. “The security man found this. I think you left it behind on your little adventure last night.” Blake looked round. The rest of the squad were jogging ahead, eager to get home. Mr Vilman pushed the ball into Blake’s hands. His blue eyes were cold and mean. “Trespassing’s a crime, you know,” he hissed. “We didn’t do any damage,” Blake said. He felt scared, but he stared back at Mr Viman. Mr Vilman looked older than he had done last night. There

Vurderingseksemplarbe under on the rent være forsinket med å betale husleie debt gjeld pay off betale ned gjeld, betale tilbake owing skylde firmly bestemt detention sitte igjen the box her: sekstenmeteren grunted gryntet grinned gliste squad laget, gjengen mean slem trespassing ferdsel på andres eiendom hissed hveste

slickedback bakoversleik bounce sprette clenched his fist knyttet neven threat trussel

were lines round his eyes and streaks of grey in his slickedback hair. Mr Vilman came closer. “I know you heard me talking,” he said. “What about stealing from the stadium savings account?” Blake bounced his football on the ground. “Yeah, I heard.” “I need ...” Mr Vilman clenched his fist. “I need to know you’re not going to say anything to anyone.” Blake’s chest tightened. That sounded like a threat. “And what if I do tell someone?” he said, trying to stop his voice from shaking. “Like Holton City’s bosses …?” “I haven’t come here to hurt you, Blake.” Mr Vilman smiled – a thin, nasty smile. “I’ve come here to offer you money. Lots of money.” “Money?” Blake bounced the football again. “What, to stop me telling people you’re a thief?” Mr Vilman grabbed the ball. “Not exactly,” he said. And he smiled. “I want to pay you to fix the match on Saturday, so that Holton City Colts lose the Semi-Final.” Match-fixing is manipulating the result of a match. The most common reason for match-fixing is betting. People can win a lot of money with the correct bet. Match-fixing is illegal. Vurderingseksemplar

UNDERSTANDING

1 Answer the questions. a Why does Blake sneak into the stadium before it has opened to the public? b How does Blake know that Mr Vilman has stolen money from the new stadium? c Why is Mum so upset this morning? d How does Blake feel about the idea of moving to Nanny Mam’s house? e How does Mr Vilman find out that it was Blake who overheard the conversation? f What is Mr Vilman’s offer?

VIEWPOINTS

2 Discuss the questions. a What would you do if you were in Blake’s situation? b Have you heard about match-fixing before? What do you know about it? 3 Vote with your feet. Your teacher will read these ethical dilemmas. Move to one corner of the classroom if you would not do anything. Move to another corner if you would talk to an adult. Move to a third corner if you would do something else. Be prepared to explain what you would do and why. What would you do if: • you saw a kid cheating off of your test paper? • your friends started making fun of someone? • your best friend was wearing something ugly and asked how she looked? • someone put on a movie that you know isn’t good for you to watch? • you saw a friend shoplifting? • someone offered you the answer key to a test you have to take? • you knew you could get someone you really don’t like into trouble by telling a lie Vurderingseksemplar about that person? • you found a $20 bill on the hallway floor at school? • your friend asked you to lie about something so he/she wouldn’t get caught? • you discovered that one of your parents had left their credit card information on your computer, so that you could buy things online without asking them for money?

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LANGUAGE LAB

4 Future tense a What happens on Saturday? (scheduled) b What do you think Blake will do? (prediction) c Try to explain why we use different future forms in a and b.

VOCABULARY

5 Synonyms a Explore how the meaning of the sentences below changes if you replace “said” with “hissed” or “grunted”. “No money from your dad again, Blake,” Mum said. “We’ll be all right, Mum,” Blake said. “I haven’t come here to hurt you, Blake,” Mr Vilman said. b Use the verb wheel below and choose six other words that can replace “said”.

Use them in sentences. Discuss with a partner if the synonym for “said” gives the sentence a certain feeling. Does it makes the sentence angry, thoughtful, hopeful, sad, etc?