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High Elementary (A2 High) General Reading CEFR A2

The Dragon Who Warmed the City

Duration

5 min read

Length

295 words

Story

4 paragraphs

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Story Excerpt

Sample preview reading passage

Paragraphs 1–2 of 4

In the busy city of Newhaven, people rushed past a small bronze dragon who sat quietly on a bench. The dragon, whose name was Ember, had tiny wings and a warm heart, but nobody noticed him. He watched the children play and wished he could join them. One cold morning, he saw a sign for the City Winter Festival. The sign said, "Win the Grand Prize and help your neighborhood!" Ember wanted to help, so he decided to enter the competition.

Ember's talent was making beautiful ice sculptures with his gentle, warm breath. He practiced every day in the park, and slowly his sculptures became amazing. A little girl named Mia saw him and clapped her hands. "You are wonderful!" she said. Ember felt happy because someone finally saw him. Mia told her friends, and soon a small crowd watched Ember work. The other competitors, who were much bigger, laughed at the little dragon. But Ember did not stop.

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Educational Objectives

Story Details

Grammar focus and learning objectives covered in this story.

Grammar Level

A2 · Past Simple, relative clauses, adverbs of manner

Learning Outcomes

Read a short story and understand the main events and characters.
Recognise and use past simple verbs to talk about past actions.
Identify relative clauses with 'who' and 'whose' in sentences.
Use adverbs of manner to describe how actions are done.
Answer comprehension questions about a story's plot and moral.

Grammar Focus

Relative clauses with 'who' or 'whose'

We use 'who' to give more information about a person or animal, and 'whose' to show possession. The clause comes right after the noun it describes.

“ The dragon, whose name was Ember, had tiny wings and a warm heart.

Tip: Put a comma before and after the relative clause when it gives extra, non-essential information.

Past Simple: regular and irregular verbs

We use the past simple to talk about finished actions in the past. Regular verbs add -ed, and irregular verbs change form (e.g., see → saw).

“ He watched the children play and wished he could join them.

Tip: Learn common irregular past forms like 'saw', 'made', and 'ran' because they don't follow the -ed rule.

Adverbs of manner (quickly, slowly, quietly)

Adverbs of manner describe how an action happens. They often end in -ly and come after the verb or object.

“ Ember quickly warmed the ice with his breath to save the cat.

Tip: Place the adverb after the verb or object, not between the verb and its object.

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