A short story extract

A short story extract

Read a section from a short story to practise and improve your reading skills.

Do the preparation task first. Then read the text and do the exercises.

Preparation

Reading text

Sam squinted against the sun at the distant dust trail raked up by the car on its way up to the Big House. The horses kicked and flicked their tails at flies, not caring about their owner's first visit in ten months. Sam waited. Mr Carter didn't come out here unless he had to, which was just fine by Sam. The more he kept out of his boss's way, the longer he'd have a job.

Carter came by later while Sam was chopping wood. Carter lifted his hat as if he were waiting for an appointment with the town priest, and then removed it completely as if he were talking to his mother. He pulled out a pile of paper from his back pocket and held it out.

'Don't pick up your mail often, do you?'

Sam took it without a glance and dropped the envelopes onto the bench.

'Never,' he replied and waited for Carter to say why he was here. The fact it was Carter's house was no explanation and they both knew it. Carter twisted his hat round and round, licking his lips and clearing his throat.

'Nice work fixing those fences,' he said finally.

'I'll be back to the beginning soon,' Sam said. It wasn't a complaint. A fence that took a year to repair meant another year's work to the man who did it well.

'Don't you ever want to take a holiday?'

'And go where?' A holiday meant being back out in the real world, a place even people like Carter travelled to escape from. Sam's escape was his reality and he wasn't going back.

Mr Carter wiped the sweat from the back of his neck. The damp patches on his shirt drew together like shapes in an atlas. His skin was already turning ruddy in the June sun. Otherwise he had the indoor tan of a man that made money while other people did the work.

'I've brought my son with me on this trip. He's had some trouble at school.' Mr Carter's eyes flicked up, blinked rapidly and then shifted back to the hat occupying his hands. 'Not much trouble out here for a young boy.' He attempted a laugh but it came out like a dog's bark.

The two men looked towards the northern end of the property. It stretched as far as the eye could see. Even the fences were barely visible from where they stood. However bored and rebellious a teenage boy might get, it wasn't possible to escape on foot. Sam looked at the biggest of the horses, kicking at the ground with its heavy hooves. Could the boy ride? he wondered. There was a whole load of trouble a good rider could get into out here, miles away from anyone. But maybe there was even more trouble for someone who knew nothing about horses and wanted to get away from his father.

Task 1

Task 2

Discussion

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Submitted by kawa on Sun, 16/02/2020 - 09:58

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it is a little bit hard to figure out the real purpose of Mr. Carter in bringing his son to the farm; however, one may only conjecture and say that the son seems to have no fruitful future at school, and thus Sam can teach him many things in the farm. Consequently, he will take responsibility for the farm one day.

Submitted by armando on Wed, 12/02/2020 - 07:28

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I think Mr Carter's takes his son to the Farm because Sam can make him works, this young boy can get disciplined with work, Sam is a tough person with strong character thats why Mr Carter have confidence on him.

Submitted by DOUDOU on Sun, 02/02/2020 - 21:15

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I think that mr Carter has brought his son to the farm because he thinks that Sam could help his child. Maybe Sam is a dropout and he can show the cons of not doing well at school to mr Carter's son and guide him to a better future .

Submitted by DOUDOU on Fri, 31/01/2020 - 15:21

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what does "he had the indoor tan of" means ? thank you for helping .

Hello DOUDOU,

The phrase 'indoor tan' is used ironically. It means Mr Carter does not work outdoors and so is pale. We can see this because the author tells us his skin quickly begins to burn (turning ruddy) in the June sun.

 

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Submitted by Oussema3ahmed on Fri, 24/01/2020 - 07:11

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Mr Carter's son had some problems in the school that's why he brings his son to the farmer .

Submitted by Sanja on Thu, 23/01/2020 - 08:12

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Mr. Carter's son has had some problems at school. Maybe he thought that taking boy from his enviroment and company, and leaving him to live on a farm for a while, could be a good way to change his behaviour. Probably he thought that his son would become less rebellious.
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Submitted by Smiley1 on Tue, 14/01/2020 - 13:50

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Because he’s had some troubles at school.

Submitted by Crystal-20 on Tue, 14/01/2020 - 02:01

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What does the writer mean by telling “ A fence that took a year to repair meant another year's work to the man who did it well. ” Thanks

Hello Crystal-20,

Sam has spent a year repairing the fences and soon he will be back at the beginning. Once he reaches there, he'll begin to repair them again (as a year will have passed and they'll be in need of more repairs). If it was a smaller fence then he would finish in a short time and then have to do something else or have no work; as this fence takes so long by the time he reaches the end he can start again.

 

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team