Dramatic Moments
Text One
This is part of the opening scene of ‘Enduring Love’ by Ian McEwan.
- Joe Rose is the narrator
- James Gadd is the hapless pilot
- Harry, the boy in the basket, is James Gadd’s grandson
An escarpment is a steep slope or cliff, such as one that marks the end of a range of hills.
A hummock is a small hill or raised part of the ground
Wagging is moving or causing to move rapidly and repeatedly up and down (as in wagging one’s finger)
Read the passage very carefully.
We heard a man’s shout. We turned to look across the field and saw the danger. Next thing, I was running towards it. There was the shout again, and a child’s cry enfeebled by the wind that roared in the tall trees along the hedgerows. I ran faster. And there, suddenly from different points around the field, four other men were converging on the scene, running like me.
What were we running towards? I don’t think any of us would ever know fully. But superficially the answer was, a balloon. It was an enormous balloon filled with helium. At the base of the balloon was a basket in which there was a boy, and by the basket, clinging to a rope, was a man in need of help.
A huge grey balloon, the size of a house, the shape of a teardrop, had come down in the field. The pilot must have been half -way out of the passenger…
