Look at the short story and do the exercises to practice and improve your writing skills.

Preparation
Match the part of the story to what usually happens in it and write a – c next to the numbers 1 – 3.

1…….. beginning a. a problem or difficulty is introduced
2…….. middle b. the problem or difficulty is resolved
3…….. ending c. the characters and the situation are introduced





1. Check your understanding: multiple choice – choose a title
Circle the best title for the story.

a. The accident
b. The surprise
c. My lucky day



2. Check your understanding: true or false
Circle True or False for these sentences.

1. Katia didn`t want to celebrate her birthday. True False
2. Katia was the first person to arrive at the Italian restaurant. True False
3. Katia waited outside the restaurant for 30 minutes. True False
4. Jonty is Katia`s closest friend. True False
5. Katia went home after waiting for her friends for an hour. True False
6. Katia`s friends hadn`t forgotten her birthday. True False


3. Check your writing: matching – story structure

Match the parts of the story with the examples and write a – d next to the number 1 – 4.

1…….. beginning a. ‘So they hadn’t forgotten and in the end it was the best birthday ever.’
2…….. middle b. ‘Then she called Jonty, Alex and Yoko, but they didn’t answer either.
“What’s going on?” she said to herself.’
3…….. ending c. ‘They were meeting at Mamma Mia’s, her favourite Italian restaurant,
for a special birthday dinner.’
4…….. final line d. ‘Suddenly the lights went on and all her friends jumped up and
shouted “Surprise!”.’

4. Check your writing: grouping – adjectives and adverbs
Write the words in the correct group.

unexpected freezing quickly nervously
sadly exciting huge quietly
slowly enjoyable unexpectedly happily
strange patiently awful fantastic




adjectives
adverbs













5. Check your writing: error correction – punctuation
Rewrite the sentences with the correct punctuation.

1. Where does he live she asked
………………………………………………………………………………………………….
2. I can’t believe what’s happened he said
………………………………………………………………………………………………….
3. Follow that car she shouted
………………………………………………………………………………………………….
4. Why doesn`t he call me back she asked herself
………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Discussion

Have you ever had a special birthday celebration?
Do you like writing stories?

Answers to A short story – exercises

Preparation
1. c
2. a
3. b

1. Check your understanding: multiple choice – choose a title
b. The surprise

2. Check your understanding: true or false
1. False
2. True
3. False
4. False
5. True
6. True

3. Check your writing: matching – story structure
1. c
2. b
3. d
4. a

4. Check your writing: grouping – adjectives and adverbs

adjectives
adverbs


unexpected, strange, freezing, exciting, enjoyable,
huge, awful, fantastic

sadly, slowly, patiently, quickly, unexpectedly,
nervously, quietly, happily



5. Check your writing: error correction – punctuation
1. `Where does he live?` she asked.
2. `I can’t believe what’s happened,` he said.
3. `Follow that car!` she shouted.
4. `Why doesn`t he call me back?` she asked herself.