English Short Stories For Intermediate Learners: 8 Unconventional Short Stories to Grow Your Vocabulary and Learn English the Fun Way!

Multiple-choice questions
Select one answer for each question
11. Caprice invites Jack to:
a. her apartment
b. Zara’s Nightclub
c. her parents’ home
d. a job interview
12. Jack is nervous about:
a. meeting Caprice’s parents
b. going on another date with Caprice
c. his bad breath
d. the fact that he does not have a job
13. Caprice introduces her parents’ butler as “Jeeves.”
a. She was joking
b. The butler’s name really is Jeeves
c. The butler’s name is Bruce
d. None of the above
14. When Zara meets Jack, she:
a. shakes his hand

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b. introduces her husband
c. laughs at him
d. gives him a hug
15. The first thing Jack says about the nightclub is:
a. he would change the name of it
b. he would hire another bartender
c. he doesn’t like the reservation list
d. he wants a job there

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Answers to Chapter 3
11. c
12. a
13. a
14. d
15. c

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2. A List of Lies
Chapter 1
World War II Germany…
“Surrender now!” a German voice shouted. He was outside. His jeep’s
engine was loud, but he was louder. “Come out or we will open fire!”
Lily did not look out of the broken window. She was inside an old building.
It was surrounded by Nazi soldiers. If she did not surrender, they would shoot.
They would keep shooting until the building fell down!
“Okay!” she yelled. She was hiding in the corner of a dark room. Her brown
bag was next to her. Inside the bag was a secret, and her job was to keep it safe.
“I am coming out! I will come out from the front door!”
She waited and listened.
“Put your hands up! Put them in the air or we will shoot you,” the soldier
said. “If you are holding anything, we will shoot you!”
They really want to shoot me, Lily thought, checking her gun. I want to
shoot a few of them too. They killed my partner…
There was no time to think about the past. Lily did not have time for
emotions now.
She was a professional. She had a job to do.
Surrendering was not a part of her plan.
She tied her red hair in a ponytail. Crawling on her hands and knees, she
moved across the room. She moved down the hallway. She went toward the back
door.
“Come out! You have five seconds!”
If I come out, you will kill me, she thought. Suddenly, she turned left, away
from the back door. There was a small wooden door in front of her. It went to a
basement.

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She opened it and ran down the stairs. They know about this basement, but
they don’t know it goes to a tunnel!
Above her, she heard the sound of powerful gunfire…machine guns
shooting the building. They would tear the building apart.
Lily knew the soldiers were told not to kill her, but they were trying to kill
her. They knew she was dangerous.
Someone told them who I am. I had a secret identity, but that is gone now.
Now every Nazi in Germany wants me dead…except the ones in charge. The
bosses want me alive. They want to ask me questions…
The basement smelled bad. It was not very bright; it only had one old light
bulb. In front of her was an old carpet. The carpet hung from the ceiling. Lily
pulled it down. Behind the carpet was a large hole.
The tunnel!
She was going to escape through the tunnel…but what was on the other
side? She did not know. Perhaps someone was waiting for her?
The gunfire stopped. The sound of the jeep engine also stopped. The leader
of the soldiers was shouting. He was speaking German. Lily knew German, and
she understood what he was saying.
“Go inside! Don’t come out until you find her! Look in the basement too!”
I have to go, Lily decided. She took out the light bulb. The basement and the
tunnel were completely black. She didn’t care. Lily Z. Bernhart was America’s
greatest female spy. She had finished thirty-eight missions. She always
succeeded in her missions.
And, she was not afraid of the dark.
*
Three hours later…
Lily sat in a cafe in Berlin. She was smoking a cigarette. She watched a thin
waiter walk by her. He was ignoring her. Why was he ignoring her? She had red
hair and her face looked like a foreigner’s face.
Maybe he did not like foreigners.

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“Excuse me!” she said in German. “Do you see me?”
On most days, Lily did not bring attention to herself. She was a professional
spy. Lily did not walk around in fancy clothes. She did not drive fast cars.
She was very healthy, but she did not look like a model.
Sometimes, people asked her name. She never said, “Bernhart. Lily
Bernhart.”
The government had given her a dozen fake names. There was no reason to
use her real name.
Normally, she acted shy. But, she wanted service. She was thirsty and
needed a drink.
“Excuse me!” she repeated.
“Yes? Can I help you?” the waiter asked. There were not many customers.
The café was not busy.
“Bring me a coffee and an apple pastry.”
He turned and went behind the counter. He poured the coffee. He put the
pastry on a plate. Then, she watched him walk to the kitchen.
Why is he going to the kitchen? Everything I want is there, at the counter!
She knew why he had left. He went to use a telephone. He was going to call
the soldiers. He was going to say--the lady with red hair is here!
Lily stopped her thoughts. I’m being silly, she said to herself.
Then, she saw him. He was looking at her from the kitchen window.
His nose looks broken, she thought.
The thin waiter brought her coffee and a pastry. He put them on the table.
She noticed he was sweating.
The weather was cold. Why was he sweating? Was he nervous? He wiped
the sweat with his shirt sleeve.
“Anything else?”
“No,” she said, drinking her coffee. The coffee was cold.
“Are you a tourist? Your German is very good,” he said. He tried to smile,

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but his smile did not look real.
She shook her head and she looked at his broken nose.
“I live here. I’ve lived here many years.”
He was looking at her bag. Something is not right, she thought. First, he
ignored me. Now, he is paying too much attention to me.
“Please let me know if you need anything else, Miss…?”
“Bolan. Nellie Bolan.”
The waiter left.
I am getting paranoid, she thought. She lit a cigarette.
Smoking was a bad habit, but her job was dangerous. There were many
things to worry about. Smoking was bad, but some things were worse like other
spies, and Nazi soldiers, and people who helped the Nazis...
Lily was almost done eating her pastry. She heard a familiar sound – the
sound of a jeep engine.
The soldiers were here!
She stood up fast. The waiter was in front of the kitchen door. Lily took her
brown bag and her fork. She pushed the table away. She ran toward the waiter.
She was holding the fork in front of her.
The thin waiter jumped out of her way. Lily ran through the kitchen. She
escaped from the back door of the café.
She ran into the night, but she knew the soldiers would follow her.

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Annex to Chapter 1
Summary
Lily is hiding in a house. She is hiding from German soldiers. The soldiers
are Nazis. She escapes from the house by using a tunnel. Later, she goes to a
café. The waiter ignores her, but then he gives her a lot of attention. Too much
attention. Lily thinks he called the soldiers. She is right! The Nazis arrive and
she escapes again.