Short Stories in English for Beginners

disappeared
 into the woods.
Sylvia couldn’t speak. ‘What was that?’ George asked.
They didn’t know.
Chapter 1 Review
Summary
Sylvia and George go hiking around Lake Ullswater. They come to the lake.
Near the lake there is an old house and a boat. They go on the lake in the
boat. Then they hear a noise. They go back the house and go in. In the
kitchen, they see a strange creature. The creature runs out of the house. It
goes into the woods. Sylvia and George don’t know what the creature is.
Vocabulary
lake a large area of water with land all around it
mild weather weather that is quite warm and comfortable
hiker a person who enjoys long walks in the countryside
backpack a small bag used to carry things around on the back
wood an area where a lot of trees grow closely together
excursion a trip or outing
shout to say something very loudly or to make a loud noise with your voice
path a narrow route across a piece of ground that people walk or ride a
bicycle along
split to go in two different directions
creature any living thing that is not a plant
strange unusual
safe unlikely to be harmed or hurt
wood the hard substance that trees are made of
scared frightened
ugly not pleasant to look at

---

boat a vehicle for travelling over water
shore the area of land next to the sea or next to a lake
Are you kidding? a question asked to express disbelief or check if
someone is joking
row to pull a boat through water using long wooden sticks
explore to travel around a place and find out what it is like
dust a powder of dirt on a surface or in the air