Joy English · Level C2 · Short storiesjoy-english.com
The bridge that nobody crossed
Name:Date:
Follow a story with a long result clause and a gentle turn.
Listen to each sentence and write what you hear.
Audio and answer checking: https://joy-english.com/listening-lessons/the-bridge-that-nobody-crossed
Words to know
- ribbon
- A long thin strip of cloth.
- anthem
- A solemn song for a group or country.
- stick
- A long thin piece of wood that helps you walk.
- hum
- To sing with the lips closed.
Answer key
- The village had waited so long for its bridge that, when it finally opened, nobody quite knew how to behave.“So long that” shows degree and result, with an inserted clause after “that”. “Quite” means fully.
- A ribbon was cut, a band struggled through its anthem, and then an awkward silence settled over the crowd.“Anthem” is AN-them, with the th of “think”. The three events build to the silence.
- It was an old woman, leaning on a stick, who stepped forward and crossed it without a word.This cleft sentence delays the subject, “an old woman”. “Without a word” means silently.
- Halfway over, she stopped, glanced down at the river she had feared all her life, and began, quietly, to hum.“Halfway over” is a short opening phrase. “She had feared” is past perfect: the fear came earlier.
- Within minutes the whole village had followed her, as though the bridge had been waiting for a single brave footstep.“Within minutes” means after only a few minutes. “As though” is followed by the past perfect for an imagined situation.