Reading ESL

Skating (simple past)

This winter I learned to skate! A friend of mine had an extra pair of skates.  He persuaded me to go skating with him one Saturday afternoon in February.  I borrowed the skates and we went skating!

It was cold outside!  We wore hats, scarves and mitts to keep warm.  He showed me how to put on the skates.  He helped me walk onto the ice.  He showed me how to start moving.  He also showed me how to stop!  I moved very slowly at first and lots of people skated past me.  When I fell nobody laughed at me.  Instead, they helped me get back up.  I kept trying! Soon I felt much better.  I liked skating!




Thanksgiving Dinner (past perfect)

Last Thanksgivng my parents had a large family dinner at their house.  Getting ready for Thanksgiving dinner takes a lot of work.

The day started well and by late afternoon we had completed most of the work.  Everyone had helped to make the meal a success.  We had put the turkey in the oven earlier that day so the house was starting to smell like roast turkey.  The grandchildren had finished setting the table for Thanksgiving dinner.   My aunt had made two pies for dessert, a pumpkin pie and an apple pie.  My brother and I had peeled the carrots and the potatoes.  We had just  turned on the stove to start cooking the vegetables when the power went out!  The oven stopped working! We couldn't cook the vegetables! The turkey wouldn't finish cooking! We waited.  We talked.  We went for a walk.

We had waited two hours by the tie the power ca,e back on.  We had almost given up hope.  Dinner was late that night but it was a Thanksgiving dinner that we won't forget.