B1 · 5 minutes · Short stories

The Outcasts of Poker Flat

A mining town in California forces four people to leave. On their way, they are caught in a snowstorm. A story by Bret Harte, adapted for learners.

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What you’ll practise

Hear the past perfect and reported speech.

Words to know

outcast: A person whom others will not accept.
companion: A person you travel or spend time with.
steal: To take something that is not yours.

Words at this lesson’s level (B1)

At B1, you probably know about 100% 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

“The Outcasts of Poker Flat” by Bret Harte, 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.