Author: Ariel Goodbody
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Strange Friends (Intermediate)
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Genre: Children’sSetting: FairytaleNew Vocabulary: ‘Good things come in threes’, Altar, Anticipation, Christening, Deter, Evoke memories, Fantasise, From top to bottom, Gravely, Spare (Give)Word Count: 1384Original Author: Fairy TalesBut as the weeks passed, she thought more and more about the fat, and her thoughts began to turn selfish. She fantasised about going and eating the fat. It would taste so good! So the cat came up with a plan. She came to the mouse and said, ‘Dear mouse, I have to ask you a favour. You see, my cousin has given birth to a beautiful little kitten with white and brown fur. He…
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The Shadow Club #11: Fighting Cats and Fighting Bulls
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Genre: ActionSetting: ModernNew Vocabulary: An escape, Apparently, Copy (Media), Echo, Fluent, Football academy, Foundation programme, Get the feeling, Share a look, Through gritted teethWord Count: 1929Original Author: Ariel Goodbody‘Here you go,’ I said, giving her the book. ‘Los Gatos Luchadores. You like cats, right?’ Willow looked up at the word ‘cat’, and then her eyes grew wide. ‘Fighting Cats!’ She grabbed the book out of my hands and immediately started reading it. It was a Spanish translation of a Fighting Cats book, apparently.
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The Tightrope Walker
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Genre: ActionSetting: ModernNew Vocabulary: Arrest, Beauty, Break the law, Drop by drop, Imagine, Leak, Shoot, Step by step, Suddenly, Tightrope, Worried to deathWord Count: 1147Original Author: Ariel GoodbodyThe people began to shout and cheer: ‘You can do it!’ ‘He’s three quarters of the way across!’ ‘Just a bit more!’ Everyone’s hearts were open to the tightrope walker. They did not imagine him dying now. They imagined him making it to the end. They imagined the feeling, when he would make the last step, and everything would be OK.
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The Shadow Club #10: An Easy Game
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Genre: ActionSetting: ModernNew Vocabulary: ‘The tension is so thick you could cut it with a knife’, Awkward, Bible, Catholic, French toast, Girly, Pale, Shut up, Tackle, WeirdWord Count: 2185Original Author: Ariel GoodbodySo Saturday came, and I woke up nice and early to go to the football match. Normally, I’d be excited, but today my stomach clenched and I felt tired before the game even began. ‘I just have to make it through this,’ I told myself. ‘It’s half term afterwards and then I can have a proper rest.’
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Misty the Snake
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Genre: ComedySetting: ModernNew Vocabulary: Bubble wrap, Ex, Lick, Marmite, Owner, Parcel, Prison bars, Put a bounty on someone’s head, Queue, Sneak, TongueWord Count: 1457Original Author: Ariel GoodbodyWhy could nobody understand it? I loved Marmite, and so did my pet snake, Misty. Well, she wasn’t my pet. She was my ex-boyfriend’s. But I loved her more than him. And she loved me, too. As soon as that letter had come through the door, I knew it. I was her real owner. Not my ex.
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The Shadow Club #9: Now We Know
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Genre: ActionSetting: ModernNew Vocabulary: Bitter, Chew, Focus on something, Incredibly, Paperwork, Struggle, Tense your muscles, Unconscious, Vision swims, WhisperWord Count: 2271Original Author: Ariel GoodbodyA scream came from the school, interrupting her. I jumped off the wall. ‘That was Max!’ We ran inside and up the stairs to the library. I threw my bag off my shoulder, pulling out my golf club. I saw Larry taking out his boxing gloves and Bethany getting her boots on as well. We all knew what was coming.
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Big Peter and Little Peter
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Genre: PhilosophicalSetting: FairytaleNew Vocabulary: Basket, Chop off, Heaven, Let someone out, Priest, Scared, Shove, Stupid, Tell the future, WoollenWord Count: 2016Original Author: Norwegian MythsAs Little Peter rode his horse, he held the basket so that the priest could not get out. ‘Help! Help!’ shouted the priest. ‘Shh!’ said Little Peter. ‘Do you hear that?’ They were by a river, and the priest listened to the water. ‘Most baskets do not talk, so if you can talk, you must be a magic basket. And I don’t like magic. I think I’ll throw you in the river!’
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The Shadow Club #8: Ready to Fight
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Genre: ActionSetting: ModernNew Vocabulary: Drag, Ease something, Evil, Fantasy novel, For once, Golf club, Punching bag, Scribble, Slingshot, SweatWord Count: 2225Original Author: Ariel GoodbodyThe door to the classroom opened, and we all turned around. Mr Burne stood there. Then he saw Bethany, who was still holding his notebook in the air like, well, like a weapon. She gasped, but it was like she couldn’t move. None of us could move. For a moment, I wondered if Mr Burne’s hair was going to fall out, or if he would shout at us. But he just walked over, took the…
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The King’s New Clothes
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Genre: PhilosophicalSetting: FairytaleNew Vocabulary: Adviser, Knight (verb), Loom, Moth, Outfit, Rule, Thread, Train (clothes), Trickster, Unfit for office, WeaveWord Count: 1772Original Author: Hans Christian Andersen‘My dear king,’ said the first brother. ‘We have travelled through the whole country, and we have heard all sorts of stories about your fantastic outfits.’ ‘You have?’ said the King, satisfied that his efforts were being seen. ‘How wonderful.’ ‘We have a proposal,’ said the second brother. ‘We wish to weave you a beautiful outfit, so that your fame might spread not only to our kingdom, but to the whole world.’
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The Shadow Club #7: A Group Project
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Genre: ActionSetting: ModernNew Vocabulary: Caveman, Lean, Librarian, Lying around, Middle Ages, Negative, Swear (bad language), Sword, Traumatised, WeaponWord Count: 1855Original Author: Ariel GoodbodyLater on, in history class, Mr Pearson announced we were going to do a group project, to prepare for our coursework. These teachers just wouldn’t give us a break, would they? I knew that we were in year 10, but it wasn’t like our exams were tomorrow! ‘You’ll be working in groups of four. Each group will choose a period of British history, and you’ll have to give a presentation describing the lives of ordinary…