The Radio in the Attic
Written by Studio AM.
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Nadia's family remembered Uncle Ren as a man who disliked crowds and spoke only when necessary. After he moved away, an old tabletop radio remained in the attic. Nadia decided to repair it for her mother's birthday. Behind its cracked dial, she found a newer wire that did not belong to the original set.
Her neighbor Ivo helped trace the wire to a tiny recorder. When they replaced the battery, the radio played a brief station announcement, then Ren's voice. He welcomed listeners to a neighborhood talent night. His words were lively, and laughter rose behind him. The recording ended with Ren thanking every performer by name.
Nadia first assumed the message proved her family's memories wrong. Her mother disagreed. Ren had been quiet at home, she explained, but for years he had volunteered at the community station. The recording did not uncover a false person; it uncovered another setting in which the same person behaved differently.
At the birthday dinner, they played the message once. Then Nadia tuned the repaired radio to a live station. She no longer thought of silence as an entire character. It was only one frequency on which her uncle had lived.
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Questions
Choose an answer. The explanation appears after you answer.
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Question 1 of 4
What is the main idea of the story?
The answer is A: A hidden recording shows Nadia that a quiet relative expressed a lively side of himself in a different setting.
The recording complicates rather than erases the family's memory, revealing how Ren behaved in another community role.
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Question 2 of 4
Why does Nadia's mother say the recording does not make their memories wrong?
The answer is B: A person can act differently in different settings while both versions remain genuine.
The mother contrasts Ren at home with Ren volunteering at the station and accepts both as parts of him.
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Question 3 of 4
What does “trace” mean in the second paragraph?
The answer is C: follow the path of something to its source
Ivo and Nadia follow the newer wire until it leads to the small recorder.
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Question 4 of 4
What does Ren do at the end of the recorded message?
The answer is D: He thanks every performer by name.
The second paragraph states that the recording ends with individual thanks to the performers.
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