In this lesson you'll find a comprehension text taken from "Jack and the Beanstalk."
“Jack and the Beanstalk” is a traditional English fairy tell, probably originating in the 18th century. This version was adapted by John Jacobs in 1890.
Jack, a poor country boy, trades the family cow for a handful of magic beans, which grow into an enormous beanstalk reaching up into the clouds. Jack climbs the beanstalk and finds himself in the castle of an unfriendly giant.
In this short passage, Jack wakes up and sees the beanstalk for the first time.
“When he woke up, the room looked so funny. The sun was shining into part of it, and yet all the rest was quite dark and shady. So Jack jumped up and dressed himself and went to the window. And what do you think he saw? Why, the beans his mother had thrown out of the window into the garden had sprung up into a big beanstalk which went up and up and up until it reached the sky. So the man spoke truth after all!
The beanstalk grew up quite close past Jack’s window, so all he had to do was to open it and give a jump on to the beanstalk which was made like a big ladder. So Jack climbed and he climbed and he climbed and he climbed and he climbed and he climbed and he climbed until at last he reached the sky. And when he got there he found a long broad road going as straight as a dart. So he walked along and he walked along and he walked along until he came to a great big tall house, and on the doorstep there was a great big tall woman.”
Download the worksheet below!
Here's the Italian translation of some words you may not know:
Shady: All'ombra
To jump up: Balzare in piedi
To spring up: Crescere (Usato per piante)
To reach: Raggiungere
To speak truth: Dire la verità
Close: Vicino
Ladder: Scala
To climb: Arrampicarsi
Doorstep: Soglia (di casa)
Read the passage again and answer the following questions:
