Speed Reading — Letters - Level 6 — 500 wpm

Now do this put-the-text-back-together activity.


This is the text (if you need help).

Many moons ago, it took an age to send someone a message. Today, we have the Internet. We can instantly send someone on the other side of the world a message using email. One message that arrived earlier this week was not so instant. A letter was mailed from the English city of Bath in 1916. It then got lost in the post. It was finally delivered 107 years later to an address in London. The Royal Mail postal service in the UK said it was "uncertain what happened". A spokesperson said she was delighted the letter finally arrived, but had no idea why it was more than a century late. She said it may have fallen behind a piece of furniture.

Before the Internet, people wrote letters on paper. They then put these letters in an envelope. The sender then bought a stamp from a post office and stuck it on the envelope. They then put it in a mail box in the street. A postal worker would collect the envelope and the letter would begin its journey. It usually took a few days to reach its destination, if the address was in the same country. It could take weeks if the address was overseas. It sailed on a ship and was called "sea mail". Later, airplanes transported mail and we used "air mail". However, there was a slight problem with the letter that arrived 107 years late. The person to whom it was addressed was no longer living. He passed away in 1951.

Comprehension questions
  1. How long ago did it take people an age to send a message?
  2. Where was the letter sent from?
  3. Where was the letter delivered to?
  4. How did a postal worker feel when the letter finally arrived?
  5. Where did a postal worker say the letter might have fallen?
  6. What did people stick on envelopes?
  7. Who does the article say collects the letters?
  8. How long did a letter take to be delivered overseas?
  9. What do we call letters that are transported by airplanes?
  10. When did the addressee of the letter die?

Back to the post office letter lesson.

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