Learning English

Mariam
Hello, my name's Mariam and I've got an exciting story about pirates, treasure and murder, set on a tropical island far out at sea.

The story begins a long time ago, in London, where a skinny-looking young boy called Jim Hawkins lives. He finds a dusty old sea chest hidden in the cellar of his house. Using all his strength, he manages to lift open the heavy lid. He peers inside and finds a rolled-up piece of tattered old paper. In no time he's unrolling the piece of paper, revealing a map showing an island with a cross on it. "Surely this must mean there's treasure buried there?" he says to himself.

Knowing that it will only be a matter of time before someone else finds the treasure, he rushes off to find a ship that will take him across the sea to this distant island. The journey is long and at times the sea is rough and stormy. As time goes by, Jim realises the crew are not the honest and helpful bunch of men he believed them to be – they're pirates! As they can't be trusted, he doesn't tell them about the treasure map – but the crew are suspicious.

At one time or another, an old pirate captain had hidden a horde of treasure on a secret island, and the pirates know this is where Jim is heading. One night he overhears them hatching a plan...

"This must be the island where Captain Flint left all that gold and silver" says one of them.

"We'll let Jim lead us to the treasure and then kill him" says another.

We'll leave the story there for now. Join me again soon to find out what happens when Jim reaches the island. Bye for now.