Once upon a time, a mermaid named Marina swam too far from the sea. She found a strange town called Dusty Gulch. The people there were very surprised. They had never seen a mermaid before.Marina liked...
Duration
5 min read
Length
162 words
Story
4 paragraphs
Sample preview reading passage
Once upon a time, a mermaid named Marina swam too far from the sea. She found a strange town called Dusty Gulch. The people there were very surprised. They had never seen a mermaid before.
Marina liked the town, but she did not like the hot sun. She wanted to find the river, but it was dry. A man named Bart said, "I can help you find water." But Bart was a trickster. He made a big trap with a net and a rope.
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Grammar focus and learning objectives covered in this story.
Grammar Level
A2 · Past Simple (regular & irregular), Past Simple Negative
Use the past simple to talk about completed actions in the past. Regular verbs add -ed, but many common verbs are irregular (e.g., swim → swam, find → found, make → made).
Use 'did not' (didn't) + the base form of the verb to make negative sentences in the past simple. The main verb does not change.
Many common verbs have irregular past forms. You need to memorise them because they don't end in -ed.
Read 10–15 minutes every day. Short daily sessions build vocabulary faster than one long session a week — consistency beats intensity.
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English
中国人
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