8541RB Reading for Me Level 4 Part A

Imaginative
VacMac 2000
My mum bought a new VacMac 2000 vacuum
cleaner. VacMac is a small, round, black disc.
Every morning at seven, VacMac leaves its docking
station and proceeds to vacuum the entire house.
At eight o’clock, it docks itself again to charge.
At first, everyone was very impressed with
VacMac, because it quietly vacuumed every last
crumb off the floor. A few weeks ago, I realised
that VacMac had started missing spots in my
room. Yesterday, I saw VacMac rolling right past
my room. ‘Hey,’ I shouted, ‘come here, silly, lazy vacuum!’ My football
boots had made a big mess and I was definitely not going to clean it. I
walked over to VacMac, picked it up and put it in my room. It paused for
a second and zoomed right out the door. I stormed after it and, knowing
that it is only a robot and can’t talk back, I still shouted, ‘What’s your
problem?’
‘You are my problem,’ the answer came in a robotic voice, ‘You are a
disrespectful and unkind boy.’
What was happening? Talking was definitely not one of the 13 features of
the VacMac 2000. The vacuum hadn’t finished just yet and continued, ‘You
are rude to your parents. You are extremely untidy and ungrateful.’
‘Why are you talking to me?’ I asked the VacMac.
The VacMac spun around and zoomed back into my room. It emptied its
entire filter on my floor and zoomed back out. What a horrifying mess!
‘I’ll just tell my mum that you are broken and she’ll put you out with the
recycling!’ I screamed at the vacuum.
VacMac stopped dead in its tracks, turned around slowly and said, ‘I
wouldn’t do that if I were you.’
‘Why not?’ I asked.
‘I can disable the internet, the television, your computer and your phone,’
the robot voice answered. It continued, ‘You will respect your parents.
You will be kind to all. You will be clean. Otherwise ...’ The lights
flickered ominously. The VacMac zoomed back to its docking station.
I remained standing in my room, completely shellshocked, thinking that I
should probably go and fetch the broom to clean the mess on my floor.
68 Reading for Me Level 4 (Part A) 978-1-922843-63-0 R.I.C. Publications ® Prim-Ed Publishing