The Young Adventurer (ESL/EFL Version with Audio)

By Qiliang Feng and Horatio Alger, Jr.

This is Book 4, Collection III, of the Million-Word Reading Project (MWRP) readers. It is suitable for learners with a basic vocabulary of 1,500 words.
Million-Word Reading Project (MWRP) is a reading project for ESL/EFL learners at the elementary level (with a basic vocabulary of 1,500 words). In two years, for about fifteen minutes each day, an ESL/EFL learner can read one million words, and reach the upper-intermediate level, gaining a vocabulary of about 3,500 words and a large number of expressions.

[Text Information]
Readability | 82.9
Total word count | 21514
Words beyond 1500 | 790
Unknown word percentage (%) | 3.67
Unknown headword occurrence | 2.58
Unknown words that occur 5 times or more | 33
Unknown words that occur 2 times or more | 145

[Synopsis]
Mark Nelson’s farm is mortgaged to Squire Hudson for two thousand dollars. The farm is not making enough money to support the family, so his son Tom shows his wish to go to California to raise money in the gold mines. Fortunately, he finds the Squire’s wallet and returns it at once. So the Squire offers to lend Tom the money to get to California, and the debt is added to the mortgage. His parents agree, and they borrow the money from Hudson. Then Tom heads for Pittsburgh.
On the train, Tom meets a young man who calls himself Milton Graham. They stay in the same room in a hotel in Pittsburgh that evening. When Tom wakes up at night, he finds Milton standing with his back turned to him, searching his pockets....
This book is rewritten from “The Young Adventurer, Or, Tom’s Trip Across The Plains” by Horatio Alger, Jr. (1832 – 1899), a 19th-century American author, most famous for his novels about the adventures of poor boys who succeed through hard work.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Qiliang Feng
• Release date: Dec 25, 2015
• ISBN: 9781311169204

Qiliang Feng

Qiliang Feng has been a teacher of English in senior high schools since 1983. He is a keen supporter of reading in TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) and is expert at rewriting graded/simplified ESL(English as a Second Language) and EFL (English as a Foreign Language) readers. He has published several series of English reading course books and is promoting a reading project called Million-Word Reading Project (MWRP), in which ESL/EFL learners at the elementary level (with a basic vocabulary of 1,500 words) are expected to read one million words within two or three years, and reach the upper-intermediate level easily.

Book preview

The Young Adventurer

(ESL/EFL Version with Audio)

Original by: Horatio Alger, Jr.

Rewritten by: Qiliang Feng

Million-Word Reading Project Workshop

Copyright 2022 Qiliang Feng

License Notes

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About This Book

This is Book 4, Collection III, of the Million-Word Reading Project (MWRP) readers. It is suitable for learners with a basic vocabulary of 1,500 words.

Million-Word Reading Project (MWRP) is a reading project for ESL/EFL learners at the elementary level (with a basic vocabulary of 1,500 words). In two years, for about fifteen minutes each day, an ESL/EFL learner can read one million words, and reach the upper-intermediate level, gaining a vocabulary of about 3,500 words and a large number of expressions.

Text Information

Readability | 82.9

Total word count | 21514

Words beyond 1500 | 790

Unknown word percentage (%) | 3.67

Unknown headword occurrence | 2.58

Unknown words that occur 5 times or more | 33

Unknown words that occur 2 times or more | 145

Notes:

1. About readability: This is Flesch Reading Ease Readability calculated with MS WORD. The higher the score, the easier the text is to read.

Score | Level

0-29 | Very difficult

30-49 | Difficult

50-59 | Fairly difficult

60-69 | Standard

70-79 | Fairly easy

80-89 | Easy

90-100 | Very easy

2. This e-version does not give the meanings of unknown words. You can look them up with the dictionary on your e-reader. For words with different meanings and some expressions, we give their meanings at the end of the passages. We also provide some necessary background information.

3. To get the audio or video of this book, GO>>>

Synopsis

Mark Nelson’s farm is mortgaged to Squire Hudson for two thousand dollars. The farm is not making enough money to support the family, so his son Tom shows his wish to go to California to raise money in the gold mines. Fortunately, he finds the Squire’s wallet and returns it at once. So the Squire offers to lend Tom the money to get to California, and the debt is added to the mortgage. His parents agree, and they borrow the money from Hudson. Then Tom heads for Pittsburgh.

On the train, Tom meets a young man who calls himself Milton Graham. They stay in the same room in a hotel in Pittsburgh that evening. When Tom wakes up at night, he finds Milton standing with his back turned to him, searching his pockets….

This book is rewritten from "The Young Adventurer, Or, Tom’s Trip Across The Plains" by Horatio Alger, Jr. (1832 – 1899), a 19th-century American author, most famous for his novels about the adventures of poor boys who succeed through hard work.

Chapter 1. Mark Nelson’s Family

I wish I could pay off the mortgage on my farm, said Mark Nelson, sitting down near the fireplace. After paying the interest, I have less than five dollars to buy you and the children clothes for the winter.

Never mind me, said his wife cheerfully.

Why, mother, said Sarah, the oldest daughter, a girl of fourteen, you never buy anything for yourself.

You are right, Sarah, said Mark Nelson. Your mother never seems to think of herself. She might have been much better off if she had not married me.

The children did not know that their mother had been the prettiest girl in the village. She received an offer from Squire Hudson, the richest man in the village. But she had chosen to marry Mark Nelson, who had only a small farm, mortgaged for half its value.

Mary had never regretted her decision. She knew the squire was selfish. Her husband, though poor, was generally respected and liked, while the squire had no close friends.

Mark Nelson’s farm was mortgaged to Squire Hudson for two thousand dollars. The interest was a hundred and twenty dollars a year, and Mark Nelson always found it hard to pay it.

Tom, the oldest boy, looked up from a book he was reading. He was a bright-looking boy, with brown hair, and dark-blue eyes. He looked, and was, frank and manly. And his sixteenth birthday was coming soon.

What is the amount of your interest? he asked.

Sixty dollars every half-year, Tom. That is what I paid to Squire Hudson this afternoon. It would have made us very comfortable, if I only could have kept it.

Money is not happiness, said Mrs. Nelson quietly.

No; but it helps to buy happiness.

I don’t think Squire Hudson is as happy as you, Mark.

That’s true. I am happy at home, said Mark Nelson, and I don’t think the squire is.

I am sure he isn’t, said Tom. Mrs. Hudson is ill-tempered, and Sinclair - the only child - is exactly like his mother. Nobody likes him in the village.

Still, said the farmer, money is important for happiness, and it is difficult for a farmer to get it. Tom, I advise you not to be a farmer.

I don’t mean to be if I can help it, said Tom. I hope some day to pay off the mortgage on the farm, and make you a free man, father.

Thank you, Tom; but two thousand dollars is a lot of money.

I know it, father; but I read in a daily paper, not long ago, of a boy, as poor as myself, who was worth twenty-five thousand dollars by the time he was thirty. Why shouldn’t this happen to me?

Don’t build castles in the air, Tom, said his mother.

At least, mother, I may hope for good luck. I shall be sixteen next week, and it is time I did something. I think I am able to go into the world and earn more money. There is Walter, who likes the country, to stay with you.

Walter was the third child. He was now twelve years of age.

I would like to be a farmer, said Walter. I like the fresh air. I shouldn’t like to live in the city. Let Tom go if he likes.

I agree, said Mr. Nelson; but I can’t help him. He will have to make his own way.

I am not afraid to try, said Tom bravely. If gold pieces grew on trees, it wouldn’t be necessary for me to leave home to make a living.

I wish they did, said Harry, a boy nine years of age.

What would you do then, Harry? asked his brother, smiling.