Our best things Reading practice

Level 3
Is there something that you’re really good at? Practise your reading
in English with this story.

Preparation
Match the words with the definitions.

to daydream a factual TV programme or film about a subject

a documentary a picture of a person

to tap to have nice thoughts, not connected with what you’re doing

to sigh a long seat for two or more people

a championship to hit something lightly

a portrait to breathe out, making a noise

chess a competition to find the best player or team in a sport or game

a bench a game for two people, using a board with black and white squares

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Reading text
Read the story.

Our best things

Tom’s got a big smile on his face. He’s thinking
about swimming again. Tom’s an excellent
swimmer. It’s his best thing, something he’s really
good at. Right now he’s daydreaming about
swimming in the sea, with dolphins and whales. He
saw a documentary about that once. Tom feels
the water on his back and on his legs and just then
he feels a dolphin rubbing its fin against his right arm. ‘Ahhhh,’ he says. ‘That’s nice.
What’s your name? Can you speak?’

Tom hears children’s laughter first, then, ‘My name is Mrs Potter! As you know! Tom,
wake up. You’re daydreaming again!’

Tom opens his eyes and looks up. Mrs Potter, his
teacher, is tapping his arm to get his attention.
She doesn’t look very happy. He gives her his best
smile but she turns her back to him and walks
away, saying, ‘No play time for you today, Tom.
You can help me clean the classroom instead.’

Tom sighs and looks across the classroom at

May. They’ve got plans for play time. Yesterday he
promised to play table tennis with her. May’s very
good at table tennis. It’s her best thing. She wants
to practise for the school championship. ‘Isn’t it
nice?’ he thinks. ‘Everybody’s got a best thing –
something that they’re good at.’

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© British Council 2022 The United Kingdom’s international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations. We are registered in England as a charity.
Tom looks around at his classmates. Fatima’s sitting next to him. She’s good at
singing. Tom thinks she’ll be a famous pop singer one day. Charlie’s in front of him. His
best thing is painting. Last year he won a prize for a portrait of his pet fish, Goldie. It
was amazing! ‘There’s Ollie,’ he thinks. ‘Ollie’s the town’s chess champion. Nobody at
school can beat Ollie at chess.’ He moves his thoughts around the classroom, stopping
at each child to name their best thing. Dora’s good at horse riding, and Huang’s brilliant
at languages. He can speak Chinese, English, German and French. He wants to be a
translator when he grows up.

‘It’s strange,’ thinks Tom. ‘We’re all very different

but we’re all friends. And we’ve all got a best thing.’
Then he looks at Mrs Potter and thinks, ‘She’s very
patient. She’s the best teacher ever!’
Tom looks at May again. He can’t see her face but
he knows she’s sad. ‘I need a plan,’ he thinks. ‘Mrs
Potter always tells us it’s important to help each
other.’ Tom remembers the shiny, red apple in his
school bag and he smiles … just as the bell rings and all the children shout ‘Play
time!’ and move towards the door.

A few minutes later Mrs Potter smiles to herself as she looks out of the window, into the
playground. Huang and Fatima are in the corner, sharing an orange. The wheels on
Fatima’s chair are shining in the sun. Charlie and Dora are sitting together on a bench.
Charlie’s not looking at Dora, but Mrs Potter can see he’s talking to her. ‘I bet he’s telling
her all the amazing new animal facts he’s memorised this week,’ she thinks. Ollie’s
having a conversation with Mr Domingo, the
school caretaker. He’s moving his hands quickly to
make the words. ‘What are they talking
about?’ she wonders. She takes another bite from
her shiny, red apple and watches May and Tom as
they play table tennis. ‘Tom’s right,’ she thinks.
‘Table tennis is May’s best thing.’ She smiles. ‘Every
one of my pupils has got a best thing,’ she thinks.
www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglishkids
© British Council 2022 The United Kingdom’s international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations. We are registered in England as a charity.
1. Fill it in!
Complete the sentences.

table tennis swimming languages painting

teaching singing chess horse riding

a. Tom’s good at swimming .

b. May’s good at .

c. Fatima’s good at .

d. Charlie’s good at .

e. Ollie’s good at .

f. Dora’s good at .

g. Huang’s good at .

h. Mrs Potter’s good at .

2. True or false?
Circle true or false for these sentences.

a. At the beginning of the story Tom’s daydreaming in class. true false

b. Mrs Potter’s happy with Tom. true false

c. Tom doesn’t want to miss play time because he has plans. true false

d. All the children are good at something. true false

e. Tom’s friend is called Goldie. true false

f. Tom doesn’t like his teacher. true false

g. Tom gives his teacher an apple. true false

h. Tom doesn’t go outside at play time. true false

www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglishkids
© British Council 2022 The United Kingdom’s international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations. We are registered in England as a charity.
Write and draw!
What’s your best thing? What are you good at? Draw a picture and write
about it!

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www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglishkids
© British Council 2022 The United Kingdom’s international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations. We are registered in England as a charity.