technique, carefully, birthday, shiny, yourself, sneakers, Today, gloves, problem, wonder, tomorrow, complete, However, pair, plan, laugh, subject, matter, in law, receive, wife, scheme,
Trang 11 | English Short Stories for Beginners, www-really-learn-english.com
Trang 2English Short Stories Workbook
Table of Contents
Story 1—Surprise! Exercises 1
Vocabulary 1
Grammar—Sentence Structure 3
Grammar—Questions, Negative Sentences and Positive Sentences 4
Comprehension 6
Essay Writing 7
Story 2—Oh, the Horror Exercises 8
Vocabulary 8
Grammar—Sentence Structure 10
Grammar—Questions, Negative Sentences and Positive Sentences 11
Comprehension 13
Essay Writing 14
Story 3—Tomorrow, My Dear Exercises 15
Vocabulary 15
Grammar—Sentence Structure 17
Grammar—Questions, Negative Sentences and Positive Sentences 18
Comprehension 20
Essay Writing 21
Story 4—An Unexpected Hitchhiker Exercises 22
Vocabulary 22
Grammar—Sentence Structure 24
Grammar—Questions, Negative Sentences and Positive Sentences 25
Comprehension 27
Essay Writing 28
Story 5—The Free Gift Exercises 29
Vocabulary 29
Grammar—Sentence Structure 31
Grammar—Questions, Negative Sentences and Positive Sentences 32
Comprehension 34
Essay Writing 35
Trang 3Story 6—Royalty Food Exercises 36
Vocabulary 36
Grammar—Sentence Structure 38
Grammar—Questions, Negative Sentences and Positive Sentences 39
Comprehension 41
Essay Writing 42
Story 7—A Very Special Gift Card Exercises 43
Vocabulary 43
Grammar—Sentence Structure 45
Grammar—Questions, Negative Sentences and Positive Sentences 46
Comprehension 48
Essay Writing 49
Story 8—The Wedding Exercises 50
Vocabulary 50
Grammar—Sentence Structure 52
Grammar—Questions, Negative Sentences and Positive Sentences 53
Comprehension 55
Essay Writing 56
Story 9—The (Dead) Washing Machine Exercises 57
Vocabulary 57
Grammar—Sentence Structure 59
Grammar—Questions, Negative Sentences and Positive Sentences 60
Comprehension 62
Essay Writing 63
Story 10—A Special Family Meeting Exercises 64
Vocabulary 64
Grammar—Sentence Structure 66
Grammar—Questions, Negative Sentences and Positive Sentences 67
Comprehension 69
Essay Writing 70
Trang 5technique, carefully, birthday, shiny, yourself, sneakers, Today, gloves,
problem, wonder, tomorrow, complete, However, pair, plan, laugh, subject, matter, in law, receive, wife, scheme, thinks, clues, present, wrapped, until, tears, conversation, secret, notices, what, wanted, Finally, each, pretends, excitement
Jerry and Emma are husband and _ It’s summer, and Jerry’s
_ is approaching Emma wants to give him a _ for his
birthday, but she wants it to be a surprise, so she must keep everything a
_
But she has a big _ If Jerry cannot know about her plan, how does she
find out _ to get him for his birthday?
She decides to use a secret _ For a whole week, while she _
to be doing other things, she actually keeps her ears wide open for _ _, Jerry doesn’t really talk about this _ A whole week
passes with no mention of something he actually wants or needs!
“That’s it!” Emma thinks to herself “Jerry’s birthday is _! I’m taking off the _!”
She calls her sister- _ Mary, and they make a secret _
Mary will call Jerry, ask him what he would like to _ for his birthday, and Emma will listen to the _ (without Jerry knowing it)
Trang 6The _ starts out as planned Mary calls Jerry, and they have a nice chat about his upcoming birthday Emma listens _ from the other room Finally, she hears what he wants—a _ of sneakers!
“All right!” she _ to herself
Full of _, she storms out of the room She was not so quiet, but who can blame her?
She rushes off to the shop and buys a pair of _sneakers, exactly Jerry’s size She’s very happy She will get him the present he wants, and it will be a
_ surprise!
_ is Jerry’s birthday Emma waits _ their special dinner at night
_, the moment arrives It’s time for Jerry’s present!
Emma brings in the box of sneakers, _ in colorful paper
“Wow!” Jerry says with a big smile “I _ what it can be.”
“Open it and see for _!” Emma replies happily
He _ off the colorful paper and takes out the box He opens the box
“Oh, it’s a pair of _! What a lovely surprise ”
Emma _ that something is wrong “What’s the _? You don’t
seem so happy Don’t you need a pair of sneakers?”
“Hmm.” Jerry takes a look at _ shoe
“Well, didn’t you tell Mary that you _ a pair of sneakers?” Emma asks him
“A pair of sneakers?” Jerry starts to _ “I said a pair of speakers!
You seem surprised Well, I guess I could use a pair of sneakers too.”
Trang 8Grammar—Questions, Negative Sentences,
and Positive Sentences
Remember:
A positive sentence: Jerry and Emma are husband and wife
A negative sentence: Jerry and Emma are not husband and wife
A question: Are Jerry and Emma husband and wife?
A positive sentence: Emma listens carefully
A negative sentence: Emma does not listen carefully
A question: Does Emma listen carefully?
A positive sentence: She should keep it a secret
A negative sentence: She should not keep it a secret
A question: Should she keep it a secret?
Turn the following sentences into questions
1 Jerry has a birthday
Trang 9Turn the following sentences into negative sentences
1 Mary has a birthday
Turn the following sentences into positive sentences
1 Emma doesn’t have a birthday
Trang 10Comprehension
Answer the following questions
1 Why doesn’t Emma ask Jerry what he wants for his birthday?
2 Who is Mary?
3 What secret plan do Emma and Mary make?
4 Does Jerry really need a pair of sneakers?
Trang 11
Essay Writing
Answer the following questions Write a short essay for each
1 How do you decide what birthday present to buy for someone?
2 Have you ever received a gift you did not want or need? What did you do about it?
Trang 12
Story 2—Oh, the Horror
Exercises
Vocabulary
This is a copy of the original story Go over it and fill in the blanks with the right words from the box below
again, looks, Of course, couples, There, laughs, amazing, later, god,
throw up, agrees, stiff, terror, so, meant, never, can, wait, know,
seems, guess, together, fantastic, theater, tastes, fear, going, weird, silly, Ax, movies, a bit, horror
Emma and Jerry like to watch _ No, actually, Emma and Jerry love to watch movies They have only one tiny problem They _ like the same
movies
Emma likes _ movies She likes the fear and the blood
Jerry, on the other hand, hates horror movies He hates the _ and the blood He likes love stories He likes romantic _ and happy endings Emma hates romantic movies She thinks they are _ and boring
At first, they don’t know they have such different _ in movies
Emma comes home “Oh, my _!” She calls out, “Jerry! You have to come with me to the movies There is this _ new movie! I must watch it.”
“Which one is it?”
“The Bloody _.”
Jerry thinks about it for a second, “Hmm doesn’t it sound a bit _?”
“Of course not, silly! It _ like an amazing movie We must watch it.”
Trang 13“Well, if you say _ Let’s go for it.”
Two hours later Jerry is sitting in the movie _, screaming Five minutes later he is running to the bathroom to _
“Oh, my god, Emma I didn’t know this is what you _ when you said
’amazing!’ I don’t think I can watch a movie like this _.”
“It’s OK, Jerry,” she says “I _ you don’t like horror movies as much as I do.”
A few days _, Jerry comes home
“Emma!” he calls out “Listen! You have to come with me to the movies _ is this _ new movie! We must watch it.”
“Which one is it?”
“Sun, Love, and Hope.”
Emma thinks about it for a second, “Hmm doesn’t it sound _ silly?”
“ _ not, Emma! It seems like a fantastic movie We must watch it.” Jerry laughs at her
“Well, if you say so Let’s go for it,” Emma _
Two hours later Emma is sitting in the movie theater, completely _ Five minutes later she is running away in _
“Oh, my god, Jerry I didn’t _ this is what you meant when you said
’fantastic!’ I don’t think I _ watch a movie like this again.”
Jerry _ at her and says, “Well, I guess you don’t like romantic movies as much as I do.”
“That’s right,” Emma agrees “What are we _ to do? Will we ever go to the movies _ again?”
Jerry thinks about it for a moment and then answers, “I guess we would have to _ for a horror love story You know, a boy meets a girl, they fall in love,
and then she eats him.”
Trang 15Grammar—Questions, Negative Sentences
and Positive Sentences
Remember:
A positive sentence: Jerry and Emma were husband and wife
A negative sentence: Jerry and Emma were not husband and wife
A question: Were Jerry and Emma husband and wife?
A positive sentence: She was happy to see him
A negative sentence: She was not happy to see him
A question: Was she happy to see him?
A positive sentence: Emma listened carefully
A negative sentence: Emma did not listen carefully
A question: Did Emma listen carefully?
Turn the following sentences into questions
1 Emma liked horror movies
Trang 16Turn the following sentences into negative sentences
1 Emma was very bored
Turn the following sentences into positive sentences
1 Jerry didn’t want to go
Trang 17Comprehension
Answer the following questions
1 What kinds of movies does Emma like? Why?
2 What kinds of movies does Jerry like? Why?
3 What happens to Jerry when he watches the horror movie?
4 What is the solution Jerry suggests?
Trang 18
Essay Writing
Answer the following questions Write a short essay for each
1 What kinds of movies do you like? How do you feel about watching movies you don’t like?
2 How do you decide what movies to watch if you and your partner/friend don't like the same kinds of movies?
Trang 19
Story 3—Tomorrow, My Dear
Exercises
Vocabulary
This is a copy of the original story Go over it and fill in the blanks with the right words from the box below
still, speechless, garage, house, deal, floor, then, walks, Nothing,
helping, each, stuff, dear, around, mean, my, right, annoyed, ask,
tomorrow, simply, When, place, dishes, live, park, boxes, move,
fair, neighborhood, car, crowded, suggest, doing, next
Emma and Jerry move into a new _ It has two floors There are three rooms on the second _, and the kitchen and the living room are on the first floor They also have their own _ The house is nice and big They are very happy to _ there There is only one problem
Just after they moved in, Jerry put much of his _ in the garage Now the garage is very _ It is so crowded that there is no room for a car!
Emma has a car, and she needs to _ it She needs the garage without all those boxes
“Jerry,” she says, “when are you going to _ all these boxes out of the garage?”
And Jerry simply replies, “Tomorrow, my dear, _.”
The _ day Emma asks, “ _ are you going to move all these boxes out of the garage?”
And Jerry _ replies, “Tomorrow, my dear, tomorrow.”
After a week Emma asks, “When are you going to move all these _ out
of the garage?”
Trang 20And Jerry simply replies, “Tomorrow, my _, tomorrow.”
So after a while Emma is pretty _ (Can you blame her?)
“What can I do?” she thinks to herself “It doesn’t help when I _ him It doesn’t help when I talk with him _ seems to help—the boxes are still there, and I can’t park my _ in the garage!”
She _ over to the garage to take a look and sees that nothing has
changed
“Well,” she thinks, “maybe I can do it myself I _, it’s Jerry’s stuff, but still ”
She starts moving things _ when Jerry suddenly arrives
“Emma! What are you _?”
“I am _ you with these boxes We need to free the garage!”
Jerry looks at her and says, “Yeah, but this is _ stuff You have to let me
do it myself Only I know exactly what to do with _ thing.”
“But, Jerry, I don’t have a _ to park my car! I have to drive around the _ to find parking!”
“Well, I’ll just have to do it tomorrow _,” he replies
Emma looks at Jerry She is _ “Jerry,” she says finally, “it’s not
_ You know that.”
Jerry looks at Emma “Hmm You are right It is not fair What do you _?”
Emma thinks about it for a minute and then starts smiling
It is a month later now The boxes are _ in the garage Emma is sitting in the living room She is smiling She made a _ with Jerry: as long as he
doesn’t free the garage from his stuff he has to do all the _, for both of
them So now Emma is happy She never does the dishes!
Trang 22Grammar—Questions, Negative Sentences
and Positive Sentences
Remember:
A positive sentence: Jerry and Emma will be husband and wife
A negative sentence: Jerry and Emma will not be husband and wife
A question: Will Jerry and Emma be husband and wife?
A positive sentence: Emma will listen carefully
A negative sentence: Emma will not listen carefully
A question: Will Emma listen carefully?
Turn the following sentences into questions
1 Emma will have a place to park her car
Trang 23Turn the following sentences into negative sentences
1 Will Emma be happy?
Turn the following sentences into positive sentences
1 She will not help Jerry
Trang 24Comprehension
Answer the following questions
1 Why does Emma need the garage?
2 Why can’t she use the garage now?
3 Why doesn’t Jerry let her help with the boxes?
4 Why is Emma happy in the end?
Trang 25
Essay Writing
Answer the following questions Write a short essay for each
1 What do you think about the deal Emma made with Jerry? Is it fair?
2 How do you solve a problem between you and your partner/friend if they don't do something you want them to do?
Trang 26
Story 4—An Unexpected Hitchhiker
One day Jerry is out on a _ meeting He finishes his meeting and returns
to his car He starts the engine and _ off At first, everything seems normal, until he starts _ up
The minute he _ his speed he gets the feeling that something is just not right “What is that _ sound?” he thinks to himself “Well, I guess I have
to check it out Luckily, it’s quiet this time of the day, and the _ is pretty empty.”
He stops the engine and gets out of the car He opens the car’s _ and looks inside Suddenly, he notices a paw with _!
“What on earth! Oh my, it must be a _!” Jerry connects the dots “What
am I going to do? I can’t drive on with a kitten under the hood I’ll _ to get it out, somehow.”
For the next half hour, Jerry tries every _ in the book to get the kitten out from behind the _—food, sticks, shoelaces, funny voices, scary
voices, cat voices, you name it But nothing seems to help The kitten is
_, and it hides even further behind the engine
Trang 27In the _, a row of cars gathers behind him Some of the drivers get out
of the car and stare at Jerry They don’t _ what he is doing
Finally, a man _ to him He is fat, and his face is red “What do you think
you are doing, stopping _ like this?”
The man is angry, but Jerry remains _ “Well, I have an unexpected
hitchhiker that I’m trying to _.”
“An unexpected hitchhiker? Where? I can’t see _,” the man angrily
replies “I think you are _!”
Jerry smiles and says, “Tell that to Mr Kitten!” He turns away and _
trying to get the kitten out from behind the engine
“Mr Kitten, huh? Elizabeth! Come and _ There is a Mr Kitten over here
that refuses to get out of the car and _ the road.”
A thin and tall lady with a _ little nose gets out of the car and
approaches them She has a white little poodle on a _ “Mr Kitten?
What do you mean? I don’t see anyone _ that car!”
Suddenly, the little poodle starts _ Before anyone notices, the kitten
jumps out of the car and into the lady’s _!
The lady is _ The man is screaming The poodle is barking, and the
kitten is squeaking Jerry is trying not to _!
A moment later the kitten runs off to a _ next to a nearby street
Jerry looks at the angry dog, the angry lady, and the angry man He puts on his best
smile and says, “Well, please forgive Mr Kitten’s _ He had to run off
Anyhow, you guys really helped us out here _ a lot!”
Jerry takes _ of the fact that the dog, the lady, and the man are too
surprised to move He _ into his car and speeds away
“Boy, what a _ day,” Jerry thinks to himself “Well, at least I
_ that in the future Mr Kitten will find safer ways to hitchhike!”
Trang 29Grammar—Questions, Negative Sentences
and Positive Sentences
Remember:
A positive sentence: Jerry and Emma are husband and wife
A negative sentence: Jerry and Emma are not husband and wife
A question: Are Jerry and Emma husband and wife?
A positive sentence: Emma listens carefully
A negative sentence: Emma does not listen carefully
A question: Does Emma listen carefully?
A positive sentence: She should keep it a secret
A negative sentence: She should not keep it a secret
A question: Should she keep it a secret?
Turn the following sentences into questions
1 Jerry has a business meeting
Trang 30Turn the following sentences into negative sentences
1 The poodle starts barking
Turn the following sentences into positive sentences
1 The kitten doesn’t want to go out
Trang 31Comprehension
Answer the following questions
1 What does Jerry find under the car’s hood?
2 Why is the man angry with Jerry?
3 How does the kitten get out of the car?
4 Why does Jerry run away in the end?
Trang 32
Essay Writing
Answer the following questions Write a short essay for each
1 How do you think the kitten got under the car's hood?
2 Have you ever had an animal hiding in your car/house? How did you handle the situation?
Trang 33
Story 5—The Free Gift
Exercises
Vocabulary
This is a part of the original story Go over it and fill in the blanks with the right words from the box below
Deluxe, disagree, surprises, free, suspiciously, extra, telephone,
by, decide, happily, practically, crazy, expensive, coughs, button, handset, store, ridiculous, Super, included, hawks, sneezes, next, essential, too, dollars, credit, saleslady, about
They drive to the _, all excited Then, inside the store, Jerry shows the letter to the saleslady
“That’s right You can get the _ Phone Deluxe 2000, free of charge,” she confirms She goes to the back of the store and returns with the Super Phone Deluxe
2000 in a box
“It is yours now.” She smiles politely
Emma and Jerry are happy Jerry is about to take the box and leave when the
saleslady _ lightly
“Yes?” Jerry looks at her _
“Well, of course, it does not include the _ That would be an extra eight _.”
Now Jerry is _ surprised to reply Emma speaks out “What do you mean
it does not include the handset? What kind of a _ comes without a
handset?”
“Regularly, the Super Phone _ 2000 does include a handset It is just not
part of your special gift.”
Trang 34Emma looks at Jerry and says, “Well, as _ as it sounds, it is still worth it
Let’s pay the extra eight bucks and take this baby home.”
Jerry agrees and they pay the _ eight dollars The saleslady puts the
handset into the box They are about to leave when the saleslady coughs once more
Jerry is really annoyed now He thought it was a _ gift! “Now what?” he
asks
“Well, your special gift does not include the redial _.”
This time Jerry really had enough “What do you mean the redial button is not
_? How can you not include a phone button? The _ thing
you are going to tell me is that the button is not included! Do I need to buy them
one _ one?”
The saleslady backs off “I’m sorry, sir But it is not up to me to _ This is
the special gift from your _ company You can read about it in your
letter over here ” She shows him a passage in small, _ invisible
letters, where it says: “This does not include some possibly _ parts.”
Emma and Jerry look at each other, speechless
Finally, Emma says, “This is _.”
Jerry says, “It is crazy.”
Then he turns to the _ “How much is it for the redial button? And are
there any more _ down the road?”
“No, sir!” the saleslady _ replies “This is the last thing, and it would be
$19.50, please.”
Jerry is too amazed to _ He pays her the money, and she adds the redial
button
“This is the most _ free gift I have ever received!” he says to Emma
“Tell me about it!” she agrees
They are _ to leave when the saleslady _
Trang 36Grammar—Questions, Negative Sentences
and Positive Sentences
Remember:
A positive sentence: Jerry and Emma were husband and wife
A negative sentence: Jerry and Emma were not husband and wife
A question: Were Jerry and Emma husband and wife?
A positive sentence: She was happy to see him
A negative sentence: She was not happy to see him
A question: Was she happy to see him?
A positive sentence: Emma listened carefully
A negative sentence: Emma did not listen carefully
A question: Did Emma listen carefully?
Turn the following sentences into questions
1 Jerry received a free gift
Trang 37Turn the following sentences into negative sentences
1 Was the saleslady polite?
Turn the following sentences into positive sentences
1 Jerry didn’t receive a television