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Return to Algeria
Level 1 l Elementary
1 Key Words
Fill the gaps using these key words from the text.
crazy disappointed victorious aggressive
colourful delighted enthusiastic hospitable
1. If a person is
, they are interesting and sometimes funny.
2. If you are
, you are very, very pleased.
3.
people are very kind to visitors and guests.
4. The
side is the winner in a war, battle, competition or match.
5. If you are
, you are unhappy because something is not as good as you expected.
6. An
person is very interested in something or excited by it.
7.
is another word for ‘mad’.
8. An
person behaves in an angry or rude way towards another person.
2 Find the information
Look in the text and ind this information as quickly as possible.
1. Where were the people travelling to?
2. How many people were in the group?
3. Who organised the trip?
4. How many people have made the trip in the past two years?
5. How long did the trip last?
We are waiting for a light from Marseilles to Algiers. In the departure lounge no-one says anything. They
are worried and lost in their thoughts and perhaps their fears too. But when they are on board the plane they
start to relax. “When we get there, it will be like going back to my teenage years,” says Robert, 60. It is his
wife Marie-France’s irst light. They live near Marseille, and in less than an hour they will be in Algiers.
As we approach Algiers Robert starts talking. “I was born in the Hussein Dey district,” he says. “I started
work at 15. We lived in a rented lat, but we were happy. We used to go to the beach and do some ishing
and shooting.” When the plane lands, Robert simply says: “Here I am, back where I started 44 years ago.”
Everyone in the group of about 50 people wants to do the same thing: see their old street, their house,
maybe their school and perhaps some childhood friends. A French tour company has organised the three-
day trip. It organises visits specially for French people who left Algeria during the war in 1962. In the past
two years about 60,000 people have made the trip and more and more want to visit.
“When I saw the advert I decided I wanted to go,” says Lydia, 50. “My family and friends all said: ‘Algiers?
Are you crazy? What are you are going to do there? What do you expect to ind?’ Maybe they think we are
going to Baghdad.” She really wanted to go and she told them: “Perhaps I’ll be disappointed, but at least I’m
© Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2006
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Return to Algeria
Level 1 l Elementary
going to see what it’s like now.” So here they are again in Algiers for the irst time in almost 50 years. During
the dark years of Islamist terror (1990-2000) they thought they would never see Algiers again. For many of
them it is a big surprise. The streets are full of people, there are trafic jams and pollution, satellite dishes
and washing drying everywhere.
They cannot believe the how friendly everyone is. Wherever they go they hear the same greeting: “Welcome
home.” Older people come up to them and ask, in French: “Why did you leave? Come back, we need you.”
Even the young people tell them: “It’s good to see Europeans again.” As time passes the anger they have
felt for so many years begins to disappear. Why did they leave in such a hurry in the summer of 1962? Were
they afraid of the victorious National Liberation Front or the [far-right] OAS extremists? Nothing seems clear
any more. “It was a mistake to leave” says Mary-Josette, a retired nurse. “We had no choice. We had to go,”
say the others.
They have not forgotten their unpleasant arrival in France. Suddenly Algeria was no longer part of France
and they were no longer important. They lost everything. In France people didn’t care about them and some
people were aggressive towards them. “In Marseille and Toulon they called us ‘repatriates’ but that was
nonsense. We were immigrants. Here in Algeria we are repatriates,” says Lydia.
Fabienne, 73, and Pierre, 60, met on the plane and discovered they were born in the same quarter of
Algiers. Fabienne is a colourful igure. Pierre is quiet, with blue eyes and fair hair. His family irst arrived
in Algeria in 1870. He plans to visit his family’s old lat, something that Fabienne thinks is very brave. She
gathers some earth from outside her former home, a block of lats in a poor condition. This is where she
used to buy doughnuts for breakfast and where she did her athletics training. In the 1950s she was the
“Algerian champion over 100 and 200 metres”. She sees a bar she used to visit. “Ah, I was young then,” she
says, and doesn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Algerians smile at her, she says: “Khuya” [my brother]. “I
feel I know them, we have the same blood” she says.
When he reaches his building Pierre stops for a moment. “It’s a bit too much,” he says, his voice full of emo-
tion. He climbs to the second loor and rings the bell. The door opens slightly. His wife Dominique waits on
the stairs. She is very worried. Her husband has been dreaming about this moment for 40 years and she
wonders what will happen if he cannot go inside. A woman in her 60s appears. “Come in,” she says with a
smile. Little has changed inside the lat. Pierre goes from room to room. He inds the room where he was
born. And here is the ireplace where the family used to put their Christmas presents. For a while, Pierre
says nothing, lost in his thoughts.
“Everything is the same as it was,” says Pierre. The woman, who has lived in the lat with her husband’s
family since 1963, says: “This gentleman was born here and now he is reliving his whole life. It must be
terrible for him.” Finally everyone sits down and they exchange addresses. “You must come back with your
family, stay for a week,” says the old woman’s husband, when the visitors leave. “It’s so dificult to see all
this again,” says Pierre, his eyes full of tears.
Marcel Pontier had a shock during the afternoon. He was taking a photograph of his old home when the owner
came out. Marcel apologised and explained that he once lived there. The other man replied: “Oh, you must be
Mr Pontier.” Another member of the group, Andre, a Jew born in the poor district of Bab el-Oued, is delighted.
“What a welcome! After everything that has happened, it is really surprising. These are our people.”
Enrico, 79, is not so enthusiastic. He is a barber who now lives in the US. At the time of the war he was a
member of the OAS. “Algiers is dirty. I’m sorry I didn’t just stay at home with my memories. But I must say
that I’ve never met such hospitable people as the people here.”
© Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2006
Downloaded from the Magazine section in www.onestopenglish.com
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Return to Algeria
Level 1 l Elementary
3 Comprehension Check
Match the beginnings and endings of the sentences
1. The people in the group were visiting Algiers because
2. They were worried because
3. They left Algeria in 1962 because
4. They were surprised because
5. Pierre was very emotional because
6. Enrico was sorry because
a. it was very dificult for him to see his old family home again.
b. of the war.
c. he didn’t stay at home in the US with his memories.
d. they wanted to visit their former homes and childhood friends.
e. the streets were full of people and there were trafic jams and pollution.
f.
they didn’t know what to expect.
4 Vocabulary 1 Collocations
Match the words in the left-hand column with those they go with in the right-hand column
1. departure a. jam
2. rented
b. friend
3. childhood
c. company
4. tour
d. lounge
5. trafic e. dish
6. satellite f. lat
5 Vocabulary 2 Prepositions
These words are all followed by prepositions. Fill the gaps and check your answers in the text.
1. afraid
2. care
3. aggressive
4. smile
5. full
6. dream
© Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2006
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Return to Algeria
Level 1 l Elementary
6 Vocabulary 3 Word building
Complete the table
Verb
Noun
1. ly
2. depart
3. visit
4. arrive
5. train
6. dream
7. think
8. organise
© Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2006
Downloaded from the Magazine section in www.onestopenglish.com
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Return to Algeria
Level 1 l Elementary
KEY
1 Key Words
1. colourful
2. delighted
3. hospitable
4. victorious
5. disappointed
6. enthusiastic
7. crazy
8. aggressive
2 Find the information
Look in the text and ind this information as quickly as possible
1. Algiers (Algeria)
2. 50
3. A French tour company
4. 60,000
5. Three days
3 Comprehension Check
1. d; 2. f; 3. b; 4. e; 5. a; 6. c
4 Vocabulary 1 Collocations
1. d; 2. f; 3. b; 4. c; 5. a; 6. e
5 Vocabulary 2 Prepositions
1. of; 2. about; 3. towards; 4. at; 5. of; 6. about
6 Vocabulary 3 Word building
1. light
2. departure
3. visit/visitor
4. arrival
5. training
6. dream
7. thought
8. organisation
6 3
© Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2006
Downloaded from the Magazine section in www.onestopenglish.com
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