## Task 3 Reading

#### Task 3.1

Read the text and do the exercise.

Sister problems

Maria’s little sisters were fighting. She could hear them from her room. Maria was
supposed to be babysitting. She knew that she should go in and check on them.
She put her book on the bed, and went down the hall to Anna and Olivia’s room.

“What is going on here?” Maria asked.
Her sisters stared angrily at each other. There were clothes all over the floor.
“Tell Anna she is wrong,” shouted Olivia.
“Tell Olivia she is wrong,” shouted Anna.

Maria shook her head. “Let’s slow down,” she said. “First, I need to have all
the information and understand the problem. Then, when I know what is going on,
I can tell you what I think. Why are you fighting?”

Olivia took a deep breath. “Well, Anna borrowed my shirt,” she said. “My
green shirt. It is my favorite one. She took it without asking, and then she got it
stained.” Olivia held out a green T‐shirt with a brown stain on it.

“It isn’t my fault,” said Anna. “My friend Greg dropped his chocolate pudding
on me. And then Olivia started yelling at me and she threw all of my clothes out of
my closet.”

“Okay,” said Maria. “Now I know what you are fighting about. I can tell you
how we solve this problem.”
She sat the girls down on the bed. “Anna,” said Maria, “you took Olivia’s shirt
without asking, right?”
“I guess so,” said Anna.
“You did. And then you got it stained at school,” said Maria. “You didn’t stain
the shirt, but it is your responsibility because you took it.”
Anna nodded.
“And Olivia,” said Maria, “yelling at your sister and throwing her clothes
won’t help. The best way for you to speak to your sister is to be calm and talk
about what is wrong.”
Olivia nodded.
“So go ahead and talk to each other calmly,” Maria said.

Olivia turned to Anna. “I am sorry I threw your clothes around,” she said. “I
was mad because of the shirt. I don’t like it when you take my things without
asking. I’ll help you put it all away.”
“And I am sorry that I took the shirt,” said Anna. “I like it, but I should have
asked you.”
“See?” said Maria. “Isn’t it better that you spoke about it?”
The girls nodded.

Maria smiled. “Okay, so I’ll put this shirt into the washing machine. Let’s see
if we can get this stain out. The three of us can eat some ice cream while we wait.”
“Thank you, Maria,” said Olivia. “We love it when you babysit!”