Category: L2 – Pre-Intermediate
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Stalking is For Girls, Too
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Genre: ComedySetting: ModernNew Vocabulary: Fate, Get down on one knee, Hold your breath, Impatient, Lean, Make something up, Might as well, Sneak, Stalk, Trapped, Twist, Vent (complain)Word Count: 730Original Author: Ariel GoodbodyCLANG! The gate to the car park closed behind Bella. She was trapped. Uh-oh. She had gone past the apartment building on her day off work. She had had one date with the man, but she was impatient. She just wanted to look at him through the window, because she couldn’t stop thinking about him. But his curtains had been closed, so she decided to sneak into the car park so she could do… something?…
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The Adventures of Lucky the Elephant
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Genre: Children’sSetting: AfricanNew Vocabulary: Bathe, Buzz, Herd, Nod, Pat, Rhino(ceros), Savannah, Separate (verb), Smile bitterly, Swamp, TrunkWord Count: 1898One sunny day Lucky the Elephant was born. He was a beautiful little elephant, and he quickly became the favourite of the herd. He was cute and funny, and he could even make the saddest elephant laugh. His mother, Madeleine, always gave him what he wanted, and his grandmother, Sophia, was the proud and strong leader of the elephants.
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Luck and Reason
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Genre: PhilosophicalSetting: FairytaleNew Vocabulary: Carver, Chop off, Commoner, Execute, Gardener, Get down on your knees, Reason, Royal, Sword, TailorWord Count: 1120Original Author: Katherine from the Czech RepublicOnce upon a time, Luck met with Reason. ‘Get down on your knees!’ said Luck. ‘Why?’ ‘Because you must respect me!’ Reason was still young, and didn’t understand what Luck was saying. ‘Why should I get on my knees? You aren’t any better than me.’
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The Mirror of Misurina
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Genre: Myths & LegendsSetting: FairytaleNew Vocabulary: “I don’t have a clue”, Curiosity, Fairy, Giant, Humble, NHS, Play a joke on someone, Smack, Spoiled, State (country), Tell off, Throughout, Throw a tantrumWord Count: 1613Original Author: Beatrice ValleferroOnce upon a time there was a father and his daughter. The father was called Sorapis, while his daughter’s name was Misurina. Misurina’s parents were the King and Queen of the land, and they were both giants. Misurina, however, was a tiny little girl. She could comfortably sit in her father’s jacket pocket and ride around. She often did this, and she made many jokes about her father, who was slow and heavy.
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Rumplestiltskin
Molly had always been a clever girl. As a child, whenever her mother asked her to do work, she always found some way to get out of it. Either she got someone else to do the work for her, or she made it look like she had done it when really she hadn’t. And whenever her mother found out what she had done, Molly was nowhere to be found.
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The Singing Bone
Once there were two brothers. The older brother, Brian, was very clever, but also very proud. The younger brother, Frederick, was not so clever, but he was kind, and everyone liked him. The brothers lived in peace in the countryside, but one day, a villager ran into town. He was covered with blood.
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One-Eyed, Two-Eyed, Three-Eyed (Pre-Intermediate)
There was once an old woman, who had three daughters. The eldest daughter had three eyes, so she was called Three-Eyed. The youngest daughter had one eye, so she was called One-Eyed. The middle daughter had two eyes, so she was called Two-Eyed. Three-Eyed was beautiful, and One-Eyed was very clever, but Two-Eyed was ugly, and not very clever at all. She was, however, very hard-working. Her sisters hated her, because she had two eyes,…
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Steal from the Rich and Give to the Poor
Juraj Jánošík was a young man. He grew up in a small villege in Slovakia. His mother died giving birth to him, so his father looked after him. When Juraj turned eighteen, he went to war. ‘Do not worry, Father,’ he said, ‘I will not be gone long.’ But he was at war for three years, and during that time there were three cold winters and three hot summers. Juraj’s father was old and alone,…
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The Brave Little Tailor
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Genre: ComedySetting: FairytaleNew Vocabulary: Animals, Clothes, Competition, Fighting, Food, Kings and Queens, Magic, Making Clothes, SewingWord Count: 2862Original Author: Fairy TalesOnce there was a tailor, who was very brave but quite stupid. He lived alone in a small town, and made and sold clothes all by himself. His business never did quite well, but he was happy, although sometimes he thought about leaving the town.
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The Legend of Lake Toba
A long time ago, in North Sumatra, there lived a poor young man in a valley. He had no parents, but the valley was beautiful, and anything he planted there grew wonderfully. He lived by farming and fishing in the river near his home. The food he made was not special, but he never went hungry.