A2 English reading practice: a short story with a crossword
A2 means elementary English on the CEFR scale. The free sample is “A Trip to Bristol”: read the story, solve the crossword made from its words and answer three questions.
At A2, you can usually:
- read short, simple texts about everyday things
- know common words for travel, home, work and food
- follow a story told in the present and the simple past
What you'll practise
6 words from the story. They are the crossword answers, each with a simple English meaning.
- stationnoun
- a place where trains stop
- ticketnoun
- a paper that lets you travel
- magazinenoun
- a thin book with news and pictures
- seatnoun
- a place where you sit
- windownoun
- an opening with glass in a wall
- dinnernoun
- the meal in the evening
More A2 stories
- The Wrong Size7 November 2026
- All past A2 stories
Try another level
Sample · A Trip to Bristol1 · Read
A2 · Elementary · sampleto doA Trip to Bristol
On Friday, Mia takes the train to Bristol to visit her brother. At the station, she buys a ticket and a cup of tea. The train is late, so she waits for twenty minutes. She sits on a bench and reads a magazine.
On the train, Mia finds a seat next to the window. She looks at the green fields and the small villages. Her brother meets her at the station in Bristol. They walk to his flat and have dinner together.
Written for this page. Crossword words get underlined when you find them.
2 · Solve
to do2 acrossan opening with glass in a wall
From the story: Mia's seat is next to the …
Across
Down
3 · Answer
to doQuestions about the story. Pick one answer for each.
Why does Mia go to Bristol?
How long does Mia wait for the train?
Where does her brother meet her?
4 · Keep
to doWords you show, or get wrong twice, land here, so you know what to look at again.