Cambridge University Press
978-84-832-3537-9 – The Mind Map
David Morrison
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Chapter 1
Homework
Lucho Valdez looked at the little yellow bird singing happily in
a tree on the other side of the classroom window.
‘It’s almost as beautiful as Eva Villa,’ he thought to
himself.
Eva was sitting at the front of the class. Lucho could only
see the back of her head, but he knew she was listening to every
word their history teacher, Mr Parra, was saying.
‘The problem is that I don’t know anything about her,’
Lucho said to himself. ‘I don’t know what she does after school.
I don’t know if she likes going to the cinema, if she likes pizza,
or if she has a boyfriend. I don’t even know where she lives
in Santa Marta! And I certainly don’t know what she thinks
about me!’
‘And what do you think, Lucho?’
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Cambridge University Press
978-84-832-3537-9 – The Mind Map
David Morrison
Excerpt
More information
Lucho’s name woke him from his daydream.
‘Did you even hear my question, Lucho?’ asked Mr Parra.
The students at the front of the class turned round to
watch the show. They were all smiling. Eva Villa had turned
to watch too, but she wasn’t smiling. For a moment Eva looked
straight into Lucho’s dark, sad eyes and he could feel his face
turning bright1 red. Then she turned back to the front and said
something to the girl sitting next to her. The girl laughed.
Mr Parra walked towards Lucho’s desk. Lucho liked
Mr Parra, although he didn’t like history class. There was
too much information to remember.
‘Maybe you could tell us what I have been talking about
for the last twenty minutes, Lucho, while you were looking out
of the window,’ said Mr Parra.
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Cambridge University Press
978-84-832-3537-9 – The Mind Map
David Morrison
Excerpt
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Lucho’s heart felt heavy. He had no idea what to say. He
looked down at his history textbook. The page was about ‘The
stolen past’ and there was a photograph of a gold object2 that
looked very old. Next he looked quickly at the board and saw
one of Mr Parra’s favourite things: a mind map. Every time
they had to write about something for homework, Mr Parra
asked them to make a mind map.
The mind map had four empty circles joined by four lines
to a bigger circle in the centre. In the centre circle Mr Parra
had written the word ‘guaca’. Lucho tried to remember where
he had heard the word before.
They were all waiting. Lucho looked out the window for
a second and saw the little yellow bird. Yes, that was it! Guaca
was a word that his grandmother had used, but what did it
mean? The class was still waiting for him to speak. Suddenly he
heard the little yellow bird singing in the tree outside and
he opened his mouth.
‘We were talking about guaca, sir,’ he answered.
‘And what is guaca, Lucho?’ Mr Parra asked.
‘Guaca means “special object”. An antique3 object that was
made by South American tribes,4 usually from gold, sir.’
Mr Parra looked surprised. He hadn’t expected Lucho to
know the answer. Lucho felt strange. He had no idea where the
words were coming from.
‘The people who lived here in Colombia, before Christopher
Columbus and the Spanish arrived, made lots of gold guaca.
But many years later collectors5 all over the world became very
interested in these objects and took the guaca out of Colombia.’
The girl next to Eva turned to look at Lucho again. The rest
of Lucho’s classmates had lost interest. Lucho felt better, but
Mr Parra hadn’t finished with him yet.
‘That’s correct, Lucho,’ said Mr Parra. ‘And what is today’s
© Cambridge University Press [Link]
Cambridge University Press
978-84-832-3537-9 – The Mind Map
David Morrison
Excerpt
More information
homework?’
Homework? Lucho hadn’t heard Mr Parra talk about
homework. He looked at the mind map on the blackboard
again. Outside, the bird had stopped singing.
‘I’m not sure, sir,’ Lucho said quietly. He felt stupid. ‘Is it
something about guaca?’
His classmates laughed. Mr Parra turned to another
student in the class.
‘Can you help us, Pablo?’
Pablo Silva was every teacher’s favourite student. He
always knew the answer to every question. Some people didn’t
like him and laughed at his old-fashioned glasses, but Lucho
thought he was OK and he sometimes helped Lucho with his
homework when he hadn’t listened in class.
‘We have to write four hundred words by next Thursday
about why guaca should be returned to Colombia, sir,’ Pablo
answered. ‘But first we have to find out some information and
organise it into a mind map like the one on the board.’
‘That’s correct, Pablo. Thank you. Give me your mind
maps on Monday, and …’
When they heard the bell for end of class, everybody
started putting their things in their bags.
‘Wait a minute, wait a minute!’ shouted Mr Parra.
Mr Parra made a loud noise with his ruler. Lucho saw the
little yellow bird fly into the air when it heard the noise.
‘I’ll check your mind maps in class on Monday. Remember,
they are as important as the written work!’
Lucho put his books into his bag and walked towards the
classroom door with the rest of the class.
‘We can do this really quickly.’
The voice was Eva Villa’s. Lucho turned and saw that she
was standing behind him waiting to leave the class.
© Cambridge University Press [Link]
Cambridge University Press
978-84-832-3537-9 – The Mind Map
David Morrison
Excerpt
More information
‘Sorry?’ he said.
Lucho looked at Eva’s lovely dark brown eyes and her long
black hair. Unfortunately, he turned red again.
‘I said that we can do this really quickly. We can do the
mind map together
tomorrow in the library.
That way we won’t have
to meet this weekend,’
Eva continued.
She could see that
Lucho didn’t understand.
‘Don’t worry, you
were probably asleep!’
she joked.
‘Mr Parra said we
had to do the homework
in pairs. I have to work
with you,’ she explained
patiently. ‘It’s Friday
tomorrow so we have a
free hour after English
class. We can use the
Internet in the library.’
Lucho wanted to shout with happiness. He was going to
spend an hour in the library with Eva Villa. Eva Villa!
‘Um, yes, OK,’ Lucho replied. ‘Tomorrow morning, in the
library, after English class.’
He had tried to sound cool but, when he walked out of the
classroom, he could feel his heart beating hard in his chest.
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