The Mystery of the Lake

Day after day, Lily walked past the old lake near her village. The elderly people of the village said it was dangerously deep, and that in its depths lived an enormous monster. In all her life, Lily had never seen anything, although she often wondered why there were never ducks or swans on the lake. 

One summer morning, she decided to take her small boat and explore the lake herself.

As her tiny boat moved further from the lake’s edge, dark clouds began to form. The wind grew stronger, and waves started to crash against the side of her boat. She tried to turn back, but something sharp cut into the wood and made a huge hole. Lily thought she saw something just under the water – something powerful and dark that moved under the boat. It was huge like a whale. But no whale lives in lakes. 

Water started to pour into the boat fast. Lily knew she had to deal with the situation quickly. She jumped into the cold water, swimming hard towards the shore. Her arms felt heavy, and her energy began to run out. Just when she thought she wouldn’t make it, a fisherman’s voice shouted from behind her. She knew him. He was a friend of her father’s. He grabbed her arms and pulled her on board. Lily was delighted to be rescued but shaking from cold and fear. 

The fisherman smiled and said, “You were lucky! The last person who went out so far out into the lake never returned. You should stay near the shore.”

Now safe, Lilly sat in the back of the large, metal fishing boat. She thought about what she had seen under the water, and realised that perhaps what the elderly people of the village said might be true. 

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https://www.practisingenglish.com/pdf/Inchcape-rock-sample.pdf

My NEW book: "B1 English Vocabulary Builder - 22 Short Stories for Learning the Words and Phrases Students Need to Pass the B1 Exam" is now available! This book gives the learner enough vocabulary to pass any B1 exam (special help for Cambridge exams).
To read more about my book, click here (you can access it from any Amazon platform):
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Learners studying towards B2 level will be interested in my B1 to B2 reader: The Tudor Conspiracy (includes audio version) https://amzn.to/4gPsj0i

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At https://www.practisingenglish.com/ I offer learners of intermediate-level English, free grammar help and exercises and other English learning pages.
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Be back soon with another podcast!
Mike Bilbrough (Secondary school English teacher and...