Hello students. I’m proud of you for completing years 1 and 2 of our American English course. In order for you to become a strong intermediate American English learner, you need to be able to read, understand, and discuss abridged American English short stories. In this lesson, throughout Year 3 of your studies, you will read, listen to, and write about popular American English short stories. Please follow the directions below closely.
- Study the American English vocabulary below.
Words in this Story
burial – n. the act or ceremony of burying a dead person in a grave
crane – n. a type of tall bird that has a long neck and long legs and lives near water
rebel – n. a person who opposes or fights against a government
Revolutionary War – n. the war for American independence from Britain
shake – v. of your voice: to produce sound in an unsteady way because you are nervous, angry, sad, etc
- Listen to the story.
- Watch the video and read along.
- Take the short story quiz.
Take the quiz: https://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/the-legend-of-sleepy-hollow-washington-irving/2459988/p1.html?isEmbedded=True
- Write a summary of the short story you just read and listened to in the comments section below. Click here to read an article that teaches you how to summarize a story. Remember to let us know who the characters of the story are, what they do, and what the story is about.
Today’s story is called The legend of Sleepy Hollow
The Vally known as Sleepy Hollow hides from the world in the high hills of New York State. The story said the man died many years ago during the American revolutionary war. His head was shot off. Every night he rises from his burial place, jump on his horse and rides through the Vally looking for his lost head.Near Sleepy Hollow is a village called Tarry Town. The village had a small school and one teacher, named Ichabod Crane. Ichabod Crane was a good name for him because he looked like a tall bird, a crane. Although he was tall and thin, he ate like a fat man. To help him pay for his food he earned extra money teaching young people to sing. Every Sunday after church Ichabod taught singing among the ladies. Ichabod taught was one Katrina Van Tassel, the only daughter of a rich Dutch farmer. He found himself interested in Miss Van Tassel. Ichabod’s eyes opened wide when he saw the riches of Katrina’s farm: the miles of apple trees and wheat fields and hundreds of fat farm animals. He saw himself as master of the Van Tassel farm with Katrina as his wife. But there were many problems blocking the road to Katrina’s heart, one was a strong young man named Brom Van Brunt. He always won the horse races in Tarry Town and earned many prizes. Brom was never seen without the horse.He was a hero to all the young ladies. Sometimes late at night Brom and his friends would rush through town shouting loudly from the backs of theirs horses. Ichabod couldn’t fight his enemy in the open. So he did it silently and secretly. He made many visits to Katrina’s farm and made her think he was helping her to sing better.Time passed and the town people thought Ichabod was winning. Brom’s horse was never seen at Katrina’a house on Sunday night any more. One day in autumn Ichabod was asked to come to a big party at the Van Tassel home. A farmer loaned him an old horse for the long trip to the party.Brom Van Brunt rode to the party on his fastest horse called Daredevil. Soon music filled the rooms and everyone began to dance and sing.Ichabod was happy dancing with Katrina as Brom looked at them with a jealous heart.The time passed and the music stopped. The young people sat together to tell stories about the revolutionary war. One farmer told how he raced the headless man on a horse.The farmer ran his horse faster and faster.The horseman followed over bush and stone until they come to the end of the valley.There the headless horseman suddenly stopped. Gone were his clothes and his skin. All that was left was a man with white bones shinning in the moonlight. The stories ended and time came to leave the party. Ichabod seemed very happy until he said goodnight to Katrina. Ichabod began his long ride home through the hills that surround Tarry Town. He began to whistle as he came close to the tree where a man had been killed years ago by rebels. He thought he saw something and white move in the tree. He heard a noise and his body shook. He kicked his horse faster.The horse ran fast and then suddenly stopped almost throwing Ichabod forward to the ground. In the dark woods on the side of the river where the bushes grow low and stood an ugly thing, big and black. It did not move but seemed to jump like a giant monster. Ichabod’s hair stood straight up. It was too late to run and in his fear he did the only thing he could his shaking voice broke the silent valley. Ichabod kicked his old horse with all his powers.Away they rushed through bushes and trees across the valley of Sleepy Hollow because he thought the headless horseman was chasing him. Up ahead was the old church bridge where the headless horseman stops and returns to his burial place. The horse jumped on to the bridge and Ichabod saw the man picked up his head and throw it with a powerful force.The head hit Ichabod in the face and knocked him off his horse to the dirt below. They found Ichabod horse the next day peacefully eating grass but they did not find Ichabod. The only other thing they found was lying near Ichabod’s hat. It was the broken pieces of a round orange pumpkin. Finally they came to believe that the headless horseman had carried Ichabod away. An old farmer returned from a visit to New York City said he was sure he saw Ichabod there. He thought Ichabod silently left Sleepy Hollow because he had lost Katrina.As for Katrina, her mother and father gave her a big wedding when she married Brom Van Brunt. Many people went to the wedding saw that Brom smiled whenever Ichabod’s name was spoken. They wondered why Boom laughed out loud when anyone talked about the broken orange pumpkin found lying near Ichabod’s old dusty hat.
Dear teacher,
Today’s story is called “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.” It is about something strange that happened long ago in a valley called “Sleepy Hollow”. It was
written by Washington Irving.
The valley known as Sleepy Hollow hides from the world in the high hills of New York state. There are many stories told about the quiet valley. But the story that people believe most is about a man who rides a horse at night. The story says the man died many years ago during the American revolutionary war. There was a man Ichabord who was a teacher taught in his area. He was attracted to his student Ms.
Katrina Van Tassel. She was the
only daughter of a rich Dutch farmer. She was a girl in bloom…much like a round red, rosy apple. Ichabod had a soft and foolish heart for the ladies, and soon found himself interested in her. Katrina Van Tassel had not interested to Ichabord because she was attracted with other man was known Broom Van. He was a strong man and he were from other women.
Finally, Broom and Katrina Van Tessel got married. For the quiz, I got 80% correct.
Thank you for your lesson teacher.
Hello,
In the quiz my result is 5/5.
Thank you teacher