B1 · 5 minutes · Short stories

Mammon and the Archer

A rich man believes money can buy anything, even love for his son. A story by O. Henry, adapted for learners.

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What you’ll practise

Hear comparisons with “as … as” and the past perfect.

Words to know

servant: A person who works in someone's house.
manners: Polite ways of behaving.
archer: A person who shoots arrows; here, the god of love.

Words at this lesson’s level (B1)

At B1, you probably know about 97% of the words in this lesson.

The other words of this lesson are at B1 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

“Mammon and the Archer” by O. Henry, adapted for VOA Learning English American Stories. Public domain.

View the source · Licence terms

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.