Stories for pre-intermediate level students, equivalent to CEFR B1.
‘Hey, what are you three losers up to?’
I turned around. Bethany was standing right next to us. She was the only girl in our team, and none of the other boys liked her very much. Sure, when we were on the field, we were a team, but it was strange when you were hanging out with other boys, and then suddenly there was a girl there. And she wasn’t like the other girls in our year, either.
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One day, the Little Frog with the Big Mouth woke up and thought, ‘I don’t feel like eating flies today. I have eaten flies every day of my life. How about a change?’
But the Little Frog with the Big Mouth had never eaten anything else before. He didn’t know what other food there was. So he hopped through the forest to find other food.
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‘What’s up, Coach?’
‘Bad news, I’m afraid. Although the weather is lovely today, there’s a storm forecast for Saturday. A big one. A bit of rain might be OK, but a storm… Unless a miracle happens, I’m going to have to cancel the match.’
My stomach clenched again, and I felt like I was going to be sick.
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Jemima started hissing.
‘I agree, Jemima. He’s being a real—whoa!’
I turned around and saw why Jemima was so angry. Next to her, there was something. It was big and had lots of black hair, sharp teeth and claws. They made Jemima look like a mouse. The monster was moving slowly towards Max, and it looked hungry.
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Satisfied, he asked the third daughter, ‘How much do you love me, my dear?’
The third daughter was more creative than the other two. She often got into trouble by saying clever things.
So she said, ‘I love you like fresh meat loves salt.’
Her father frowned. ‘You don’t love me at all!’ he cried. ‘Get out of my house.’
And so he threw her out of the house.
The girl cried and cried, but she had to find a way to live. So she walked until she reached a marsh. There, she took lots of long grass and made it into a cloak. The cloak covered her whole body, and hid her expensive clothes.
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‘The Most Wanted Woman in Town has decided to have a competition,’ he announced.
The people all went quiet.
‘Lady Rae knows that you all want many things from her. But she will not give her prizes to any man or woman. You must win the key to her heart. And the key is here.’
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One day, the mysterious woman noticed Mathew. After church ended, she smiled at him, and looked at the door. He followed her, and this time she walked slowly, so that he did not lose her. However, he could still not work up the courage to walk beside her.
Finally, she came to the cliffs that overlooked the ocean. Mathew went and stood beside her, and they talked for a while.
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Life cannot continue in such a way, floating on a sea of misery. So one day, the widow cried her final tear, closed her eyes, and never woke up again.
That is, she never woke up in the human world. Of course, she went to the land of the dead, and she was filled with happiness. Now she could meet her husband again! She ran through the streets of the land of the dead, climbed hills and mountains, asked everywhere. But she could not find the man she loved.
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‘Kitty, pretty kitty!’ cried one of the trolls. ‘Does kitty want a sausage?’
The “kitty” did not want a sausage. The kitty wanted to get a good night’s sleep, after so much travelling, and had no plans of eating anyone. But when he turned over and saw the troll holding a fork with a sausage on it, his stomach started to rumble.
So the polar bear jumped out and bit the sausage, but he also bit the troll’s arm with it!
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