Short Stories in English for Beginners

Comprehension Questions
Choose one answer only for each question.
6) How many Vikings are on the expedition?
a. 30
b. 60
c. 75
d. 85
7) How many ships are on the expedition?
a. 2
b. 3
c. 4
d. 5
8) Halfway through the journey the ships ___.

---

a. are attacked by other Vikings
b. cannot stay together
c. begin to fill with water
d. run into a big storm
9) Who is the first to see the birds in the sky?
a. Thoric
b. Niels
c. Chief Eskol
d. Niels’ father
10) In what order do the Vikings plan to do these things?
a. explore the land, hunt, raise food
b. raise food, hunt, explore the land
c. hunt, raise food, explore the land
d. hunt, explore the land, raise food

---

Chapter 3 – The Decision
The men rose with the sun. They ate some of the supplies left from the
journey. They also had meat from the hunt.
Thoric went to talk to Chief Eskol as soon as he finished. ‘Hello, Chief,’
he said.
‘Hello, Thoric. Do you need something?’
‘I need to talk to you.’
‘Go on.’
Thoric wanted to ask about one thing. ‘At the start of the trip,’ he began,
‘the men had 
doubts
. They asked a lot of questions. They didn’t know if
there was land in the west. But you were a good leader. We have arrived
safely at this land.’
‘Yes. What do you want to say, Thoric?’
‘The man who told you about the land. The one who gave you the proof.
Who was he?’
‘The man who told me that these lands existed?’
‘Yes, exactly.’
Chief Eskol looked around him.
‘What’s wrong?’ Thoric asked.
‘Where’s Niels?’
‘He’s eating, I think.’
‘I see. The man who told me about this place was Niels’ father.’
‘Niels’ father?’
‘Yes.’
Thoric was very surprised. Niels’ father was the mysterious man? But
Niels’ father was dead. Thoric didn’t understand. ‘I thought Niels’ father
died on a previous expedition. And that was an expedition going to the
east,’ he said. ‘He died in a fall in the mountains.’
‘No. That was a lie. I sent them westwards. It was a secret expedition. No
one knew anything.’
‘Did you send him to this land? Alone?’

---

‘No. I sent him west with 13 other men. Two men died on the way. Eight
men died here. Niels’ father and two men made it back. They died when
they arrived or shortly after. It was 
exhaustion
. We didn’t have the
resources to save them. Before Niels’ father died, he told me of this land. In
addition, he gave me this.’
Eskol threw the cloth with the images on the table. It was some sort of
writing. Thoric had never seen anything like it. Thoric looked at the Chief.
Yes, maybe Chief Eskol did have evidence. Now. But what about then?
‘How did you know?’ Thoric asks. ‘Why did you send those men west?
You said you thought there was nothing but sea.’
‘I