Great American Stories, Book 1: An ESL/EFL Reader, Second Edition

Rating:
Summary: Interesting adapted short stories.
Review: This is an ESL/EFL reader at the beginning-intermediate to intermediate levels. There are eight adapted American short stories, one for each chapter. The stories include "The Gift of the Magi" by O. Henry, "The Tell-Tale Heart" by Edgar Allan Poe, and "The Story of an Hour" by Kate Chopin.

Each chapter begins with a page of pre-reading exercises, then a paragraph about the author. The story itself is interspersed with black and white drawings to help illustrate the story. At the end of the story are many excercises including "understanding main ideas", "discussion", "vocabulary practice", and "writing".

I would highly recomend this either as a class book or as a self study book for learners of English at the pre-intermediate reading level. My intermediate students find it a little easy.