B2 · 5 minutes · Short stories

Feathertop

A witch named Mother Rigby makes a scarecrow for her corn field, and then she gives it life. A story by Nathaniel Hawthorne, adapted for learners.

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What you’ll practise

Hear descriptions and “began to” for changes.

Words to know

witch: A woman in stories who has magic powers.
corn: A tall plant with yellow seeds that people eat.
scarecrow: A figure like a person, put in a field to frighten birds.

Words at this lesson’s level (B2)

At B2, you probably know about 97% 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

“Feathertop” by Nathaniel Hawthorne, 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.

Levels are suggestions. Found a mistake? Tell us through the Contact page.