📖 The Last Message

Read the following short story carefully. You will answer questions about it afterwards.

Maya had always thought her grandmother's old radio was just another piece of vintage furniture cluttering the lounge. The wooden box with its fabric speaker and brass dials hadn't worked in decades, sitting silently on the bookshelf like a museum piece. But everything changed the night before her grandmother's funeral.

Unable to sleep, Maya wandered into the empty house, her footsteps echoing through rooms that still smelled of lavender and fresh baking. As she passed the bookshelf, a faint crackling sound made her freeze. The radio's amber dial was glowing softly in the darkness.

"Maya, darling, can you hear me?" The voice was unmistakable—warm, gentle, with that familiar hint of a Scottish accent. Her grandmother's voice.

Maya's hands trembled as she knelt beside the radio. "Nana? But how...?"

"Don't question it, love. I don't have much time." The voice crackled through the static. "I need you to know something important. In my bedroom, behind the loose floorboard under the window, there's a metal box. Inside, you'll find letters—love letters your grandfather wrote during the war. I saved them all."

Maya wiped away tears she didn't realise had fallen. "Why didn't you ever show us?"

"Some treasures are too precious to share while you're alive. But now... now they belong to the family. Read them, Maya. Learn about real love, about hope during dark times. Your grandfather was a poet, you know. That's where you get your writing talent."

The static grew louder, the voice fainter. "Remember, darling—love never truly dies. It just changes frequency. Take care of your mother, and tell her I'm proud of the woman she's become."

The radio fell silent, its dial fading to black. Maya sat in the darkness for a long moment before creeping upstairs to her grandmother's bedroom. Sure enough, the floorboard under the window was loose. Inside the metal box were dozens of yellowed letters tied with a faded blue ribbon, and at the bottom, a small note in her grandmother's handwriting: "For Maya—may these words inspire your own stories of love."

At the funeral the next day, Maya shared the story of the radio and the letters. Some family members looked sceptical, others amazed. But when Maya read aloud one of her grandfather's beautiful poems about missing home, there wasn't a dry eye in the chapel. The love in those words had indeed changed frequency, broadcasting across generations to heal hearts and bring a family closer together.

🎯 Part 1: Main Ideas and Supporting Details

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💭 Part 2: Vocabulary and Analysis

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