B1 · 5 minutes · Short stories

The Ransom of Red Chief

Two men plan to kidnap a boy for money. It does not go as they expect. A comic story by O. Henry, adapted for learners.

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What you’ll practise

Understand humorous storytelling and descriptive phrases.

Words to know

supplies: Food and other things you need for a trip or a job.
cave: A large hole in the side of a hill or mountain.
opposite: On the other side, facing something.

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 Ransom of Red Chief” by O. Henry, adapted by Shelley Gollust for VOA Learning English, read by Shep O'Neal. Public domain.

View the source · Licence terms

Five sentences selected from the opening and cut into clips. Explanations and vocabulary are original.

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