B2 · 5 minutes · Short stories

Paul's Case

Paul is a teenager in Pittsburgh who hates school and dreams of a more beautiful life. A story by Willa Cather, adapted for learners.

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What you’ll practise

Hear descriptions of appearance and manners.

Words to know

gracefully: In a smooth and attractive way.
eyebrow: The line of hair above your eye.
program: A paper that tells you about a concert or a play.

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

“Paul's Case” by Willa Cather, 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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