It was a cold Monday morning in March. The sky was grey, and the streets were wet from the rain.

Julia, a 19-year-old student, stood at the bus stop with her school bag. She was going to her English class. Julia lived in a small town outside the city, and the bus to the city came every 30 minutes.

When the bus arrived, she got on and found a seat by the window. She put her bag on her lap and looked outside. Everything was quiet. Some people looked at their phones, while others looked out of the window. No one spoke.

After a few stops, Julia saw something strange. On the seat across from her, there was a black leather wallet. It was open, and she could see money inside—notes, not coins. She looked around, but the wallet’s owner was no longer on the bus.

Julia picked up the wallet. It was heavy. She opened it slowly. Inside, she found over €400 in cash, a bank card, a photo of a man and two small children, and an ID card. The name on the card was Luca Bernardi, and he was 38 years old.

Julia’s heart started to beat faster.

What should she do?

I could keep it, Julia thought. No one saw her pick it up. She needed money. She worked part-time at a bakery, but the job did not pay much.

Then she looked at the photo again. The man looked kind, and the children were smiling.

What if he needs this money for his kids? she thought.

She put the wallet in her bag and decided to take it to the bus station office.

When she got off the bus, she walked to the Lost and Found office. It was small and quiet, and an old man sat behind the desk. Julia explained what happened and gave him the wallet. He wrote down her name and phone number in a notebook.

“Thank you for being honest,” he said. “Not everyone would return something like this.”

Julia left and went to her class. She felt proud, but she still thought about the €400. It was a lot of money.

That evening, Julia received a phone call.

“Hello?” she said.

“Hi, is this Julia?” a man asked. “My name is Luca Bernardi. You found my wallet today.”

Julia stood up straight. “Yes, I gave it to the Lost and Found office.”

“I just picked it up,” he said. “Everything is there—the money, my cards… even the photo. Thank you.”

Julia smiled. “I’m happy you got it back.”

“You don’t know what this means to me,” Luca said. “I was taking that money to pay for my daughter’s school. I thought it was gone.”

“I’m glad I did the right thing,” Julia said.

There was a pause.

“Can I meet you and thank you in person?” Luca asked. “Maybe I can buy you a coffee?”

The next day, they met at a café near Julia’s school. Luca gave her a small box. Inside, there was a card that read:

“Thank you for your honesty. The world needs more people like you.”

There was also a €20 note.

“You didn’t have to do this,” Julia said.

“I know,” Luca replied. “But you did the right thing. That matters.”

From that day on, Julia always remembered Luca, the lost wallet and the two smiling children in the photo. She didn’t become rich, but she knew that doing the right thing mattered more.

She felt proud.

Vocabolario chiave

Parola/espressione

• Wallet

• Lost and Found

• Honest

• Part-time

• Do the right thing

• Cash

• Proud

• Pay for

• Pick up

• Return

Significato (English)

• Small case for money/cards

• A place for lost things

• Telling the truth, doing right

• Working fewer hours than a full-time job

• To make the honest or correct choice

• Money (coins and notes)

• Feeling good about doing right

• To give money for something

• To take something from a place or collect it from a place

• To give something back

Traduzione Italiana

• Portafoglio

• Oggetti smarriti

• Onesto

• A tempo parziale

• Fare la cosa giusta

• Contanti

• Fiero

• Pagare

• Raccogliere/prendere; ritirare

• Restituire

Grammatica Utile

Past Simple – azioni concluse nel passato

Uso: si usa per parlare di azioni concluse nel passato.

Struttura:

• Soggetto + verbo al Past Simple

• Verbi regolari: verbo base + -ed

• Verbi irregolari: forma specifica del Past Simple, per esempio get → got

Esempi dalla storia:

• “Julia picked up the wallet.”

• “When she got off the bus, she walked to the Lost and Found office.”

Past Continuous – azioni in corso nel passato

Uso: si usa per parlare di azioni in corso in un momento del passato o per descrivere lo sfondo di una storia.

Struttura:

• Soggetto + was/were + verbo-ing

Esempi dalla storia:

• “She was going to her English class.”

• “The children were smiling.”

Modal verbs: could e should

Uso:

• Could si usa qui per parlare di una possibilità o di una scelta.

• Should si usa per chiedere quale sia la cosa migliore o giusta da fare.

Struttura:

• Soggetto + could + verbo base

• Should + soggetto + verbo base…?

Esempi dalla storia:

• “I could keep it.”

• “What should she do?”

Domande di Comprensione

Detailed Comprehension

1. How much cash does Julia find in the wallet?

2. What three other items are inside it?

3. Why does Julia think about keeping the wallet?

4. What information does the man at the Lost and Found office write down?

5. Why is the money important to Luca?

6. What does Luca give Julia at the café?

Gist (General Understanding)

1. What two choices does Julia have after finding the wallet?

2. What does she decide to do?

3. How does she feel at the end, and why?

Reader’s Reflection

1. Do you think Julia made the right choice? Why or why not?

2. What would you do in the same situation?

Soluzioni

Reflection – Possible Answers

• Possible answer: Yes, because the wallet belonged to someone else and the money was important to Luca’s family.

• Possible answer: I would take it to the Lost and Found office or give it to the police.

Detailed Answers

1. She finds over €400 in cash.

2. A bank card, a photo of a man and two small children, and an ID card.

3. She needs money, and her part-time job at the bakery does not pay much.

4. He writes down her name and phone number.

5. Luca needs it to pay for his daughter’s school.

6. He gives her a small box containing a thank-you card and a €20 note.

Gist Answers

1. She can keep the wallet or return it to its owner.

2. She takes it to the Lost and Found office.

3. She feels proud because she did the right thing and helped Luca.