StudentMaterialsForstudentreferenceonly–donotincludeinfinalpromotionportfolio
11
StandardReadingPassage–FictionPassage#2
WelcometoTheGrandCineplex
17‐yearoldMassoudsmiledandgreetedpeopleastheyenteredthemovietheater
“WelcometotheGrandCineplex.MayIseeyourtickets,please?”
HestillhadastrongIranianaccent,butatleastpeopleun derstoodhim.Theyevensmiledback.
It had not always been this way. Massoud
had arrived in New York from the countryside of Iran six
months before.Hehadcome to stay with his older brother for a year.Massoud’sbrotherhadalready
beeninAmerica for severalyears,but Massoud had never been out ofIranbefore. When he first saw
NewYork
City,hewasoverwhelmed.Thepeople,thenoise,everythingwasdifferentthanbackhome.
Massoud’s brother enrolled him in the local high school. He also helped him get a part‐time job in a
movie theater, so Massoud could earn spending money. Massouddid not speakmuch English, and he
struggledtounderstandhisteachersinschoolandhisbossatthemovietheater.Massoud’sjobwasto
sweepupthepopcorn after the movie, because hecoulddoitwithouthavingtospeakto anyone. He
triedtomakefriendswiththeotheryoungpeoplewhoworkedthere,butall
theywantedtotalkabout
wasbaseball,agameMassouddidn’tunderstand atall.Hetriedtotellthemaboutsoccer,buttheyhad
troubleunderstandinghim,andtheyweren’tinterested,anyway.Theytreatedhimasifhewasn’tvery
smart,justbecausehedidn’tspeaktheirlanguageverywell.
BackinIran,Massoudhadbeenatthetop
hisclassathis highschool.NowMassoudfeltfrustrated andleftout,andhedidn’tlikesweepingfloors.
Hefeltlikequittinghisjob,buthedidn’twanttogiveup.
Oneday,whilehewasworking,Massouddecidedto
watchthemovie.Hedidn’tunderstandeveryword,
buthegotsomeofit.Thenextday,hewatchedthesamemovieagain.Thistime,heunderstoodmore.
Massoud was excited. He started writing down the words he didn’t understand, and he asked his co‐
workerswhatthey mea nt. They were
surprised,buttheyhelped him.Soon,hewas using many of the
same words and expressions that they did. Massoud’s co‐workers became friendlier, now that they
couldunderstandhim.Theyeveninvitedhi mtogooutforicecreamwiththemafterwork.
After Massoud had been working at
the theater for about five months, he went to see his boss.
Massoudaskedhimtogivehimthejobofgreetingcustomersatthedoor.Themanagerwasn’tsure.
“YourEnglishisn’tgoodenoughyet,”hisbosssaid.
“ItwillbecomebetterifItalktothepeople,”reasoned
Massoud.
Thebossagreed,becausehesawhowdeterminedMassoudwas.