← All listening lessons B2 · 5 minutes · Short stories
An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge During the American Civil War, a man stands on a railroad bridge, waiting to be punished. What happens next is not what it seems. A famous story by Ambrose Bierce, adapted for learners.
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What you’ll practise Follow intense past narration with time clauses.
Words to know occurrence Something that happens. rope A thick, strong string. prisoner A person who is held by force, for example in prison. Words at this lesson’s level (B2) At B2, you probably know about 100% of the words in this lesson.
The other words of this lesson are at B2 or below.
Word levels from the CEFR-J Wordlist 1.5 (Yukio Tono, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies); words not in it count as above B2. Your level is the one you chose in the level guide, otherwise the lesson’s.
Source “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” by Ambrose Bierce, adapted for VOA Learning English American Stories. Public domain.
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Five sentences selected from the opening and cut into clips. Explanations and vocabulary are original.
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