Skip to content 
“The Lottery Ticket” is a short story by the famous Russian writer Anton Chekhov, one of the most influential figures in world literature. Chekhov was particularly admired for his ability to find drama, humour, and psychological complexity in ordinary situations. Instead of relying on spectacular events, he often focused on everyday people and revealed the hidden emotions, desires, and weaknesses beneath their apparently ordinary lives.
First published in 1887, The Lottery Ticket is a short but remarkably insightful story about money, imagination, marriage, and human nature. The story begins with Ivan Dmitritch, a middle-class man who is spending an ordinary evening at home with his wife, Masha. When Masha asks him to check the newspaper for the lottery results, Ivan discovers that their ticket’s series matches one of the winning series. Before they have even confirmed the final number, the couple begin to imagine what they might do with a large fortune.
At first, their thoughts are filled with excitement. They imagine a comfortable country estate, financial security, travel, freedom from work, and a completely different way of life. However, as their dreams become more detailed, their attitudes towards one another begin to change. The possibility of sudden wealth gradually brings hidden suspicions, selfish desires, and resentment to the surface. What begins as a pleasant shared fantasy slowly becomes an uncomfortable examination of their relationship and their own character.
This C1-level adaptation has been carefully rewritten for learners who already have a strong command of English and want to develop more advanced reading skills. The original plot, characters, psychological development, central conflict, irony, and ending have been preserved, while the language has been shaped into natural, sophisticated English appropriate for advanced learners.
Why Should You Read This Story?
There are several reasons why The Lottery Ticket is particularly valuable for C1 English learners. First, it provides rich vocabulary for discussing emotions, relationships, money, ambition, disappointment, social life, and human behaviour. Second, the story contains a wide range of advanced grammatical structures, including complex sentences, subordinate clauses, conditionals, reported thoughts, modal expressions, participle constructions, and sophisticated descriptive language.
More importantly, the story encourages you to read between the lines. Chekhov does not simply tell you what his characters are thinking. Their thoughts, expressions, conversations, and changing attitudes allow you to discover their personalities for yourself. This makes the story excellent practice for inference, interpretation, character analysis, and understanding irony.
As you read, pay close attention to how Ivan’s feelings change. Notice how a simple lottery ticket gradually transforms the way he sees his wife, his relatives, his home, and his own life. The money itself is never actually won, yet the possibility of winning it is powerful enough to change everything in his imagination.
That is what makes The Lottery Ticket more than a story about money. It is a subtle exploration of desire, dissatisfaction, imagination, and human nature. For an advanced English learner, it offers not only an engaging literary experience but also an opportunity to encounter authentic, nuanced English in a meaningful context.
Read carefully, notice the language, and consider what the characters’ thoughts reveal about them. The story may be short, but its ideas are much larger than the lottery ticket itself.
“The Lottery Ticket” has been carefully adapted and rewritten by LearnEnglish-new.com for advanced English learners. The original work by Anton Chekhov is in the public domain. This learner-friendly adaptation uses clear, natural, and sophisticated English while preserving the main characters, events, psychological depth, irony, and themes of the original story. It is designed to help C1–C2 learners develop their reading comprehension, advanced vocabulary, and understanding of literary English. Enjoy reading “The Lottery Ticket” and improve your English skills!
The Lottery Ticket
By Anton Chekhov
Contents
Chapter One: An Ordinary Evening
Chapter Two: The Winning Series
Chapter Three: Dreams of a New Life
Chapter Four: What Wealth Reveals
Chapter Five: Suspicion and Resentment
Chapter One
An Ordinary Evening
Ivan Dmitritch was a middle-class man who lived with his family on an income of twelve hundred roubles a year. He was not rich, but neither did he consider himself unfortunate. He had become accustomed to his circumstances, and, for the most part, he was satisfied with the modest life he had built.
After supper one evening, he settled comfortably on the sofa and unfolded the newspaper.
His wife, Masha, was clearing the table.
“I forgot to look at the newspaper today,” she said. “See whether the lottery results are there.”
Ivan glanced at her.
“Yes, they are. But hasn’t your ticket expired?”
“No. I paid the interest on Tuesday.”
“What’s the number?”
“Series 9,499, number 26.”
Ivan nodded and looked at the newspaper.
“All right. Let’s see. Series 9,499 and number 26.”
Ivan Dmitritch had never had much faith in lotteries. Under ordinary circumstances, he would not have wasted his time searching through a list of winning numbers. He regarded the whole business with mild scepticism and had no particular reason to believe that fortune would suddenly choose him.
Still, the newspaper was already in his hands.
He ran his finger slowly down the column of numbers.
Then, quite unexpectedly, he stopped.
Near the top of the list was the number 9,499.
For a moment, Ivan could scarcely believe his eyes.
He lowered the newspaper onto his knees without looking at the second number. A strange sensation ran through him. It was almost like the shock of cold water, except that beneath the shock was a delicious, unsettling excitement.
“Masha,” he said in a strangely hollow voice, “9,499 is here.”
His wife looked up.
She saw the expression on his face and immediately understood that he was not joking.
“9,499?”
“Yes. Yes, it really is there.”
Masha turned pale.
“And the ticket number?”
Ivan looked down at the newspaper.
“Oh yes. The number is there too. But wait.”
He hesitated.
“No, let’s wait.”
“What do you mean?”
“We know the series is correct.”
“But what about the number?”
“I’ll look in a moment.”
They stared at each other.
Neither of them seemed willing to destroy the possibility too quickly.
The series was theirs.
That meant there was a chance.
A small chance, perhaps, but a real one.
Ivan smiled broadly, almost foolishly. Masha smiled too.
For the moment, neither of them needed to know the truth.
It was enough to imagine that they had won.
And there was something strangely pleasurable about the uncertainty.
They had not yet received the money, yet in their minds it had already begun to exist.
Chapter Two
The Winning Series
“It’s our series,” Ivan said after a long silence.
“Yes.”
“So there is a possibility that we have won.”
“A possibility?”
“Yes. Only a possibility.”
He glanced at the newspaper again.
“Wait. We have plenty of time to be disappointed.”
Masha said nothing.
Ivan studied the list.
“It’s near the top. That means the prize is seventy-five thousand.”
Seventy-five thousand.
The words seemed to change the atmosphere in the room.
Ivan repeated them silently.
Seventy-five thousand.
It was not merely money.
It was freedom.
It was security.
It was a different kind of existence.
“It’s not just money,” he said. “It’s capital. Power. With seventy-five thousand, you could change your entire life.”
Masha sat down.
Neither of them yet knew exactly what they would do with such a fortune.
That was part of its attraction.
They began to imagine.
At first their dreams were vague: a house, travel, freedom from financial worries. Then their thoughts became more detailed.
Ivan stood up and began walking around the room.
“If we really have won,” he said, “everything would change.”
He paused.
“The ticket is yours, of course. But if it were mine, I already know what I would do.”
Masha looked at him with interest.
“I would spend twenty-five thousand on property. An estate, perhaps. Somewhere in the provinces.”
“An estate?”
“Yes. Why not?”
He became increasingly absorbed in the picture he was creating.
“Then I would need perhaps ten thousand for immediate expenses. Furniture. Travelling. Paying off debts. Things like that.”
“And the rest?”
“I would put forty thousand in the bank. We could live on the interest.”
Masha’s expression softened.
“Yes,” she said. “An estate would be pleasant.”
Ivan could see it clearly now.
He imagined a peaceful country estate surrounded by fields and trees. There would be a garden, a river, perhaps a small forest nearby.
There would be no need to hurry to work.
No need to worry about tomorrow.
No need to calculate every expense.
He imagined himself lying beneath a lime tree on a warm summer afternoon after a good meal. His children would be playing nearby, digging in the sand or chasing insects through the grass.
He would be able to sleep whenever he wanted.
If he became bored, he could walk to the river, visit the forest, gather mushrooms, or watch the peasants fishing.
Later, he might bathe in the river.
Afterwards, there would be tea with cream and fresh rolls.
The evening would be slow and peaceful.
Perhaps he would visit the neighbours for a game of cards.
The more Ivan imagined this life, the more real it seemed.
He could almost feel the heat of the summer.
He could almost smell the fresh earth.
He could almost hear the water.
Masha was dreaming too.
Her face had become calm and radiant.
For a few minutes, they were united by the same impossible future.
They were no longer an ordinary couple sitting in a modest room after supper.
They were wealthy.
Or at least they could imagine themselves wealthy.
Chapter Three
Dreams of a New Life
Ivan’s imagination carried him beyond summer. He began thinking about autumn.
He pictured the estate after the warm days had passed: wet paths, cool evenings, yellow leaves, and the quiet beauty of the countryside.
He would take long walks.
He would return home cold and tired, drink something strong, eat salted mushrooms or pickled cucumbers, and then stretch out comfortably on the sofa.
His children would come in from the garden carrying carrots and radishes that still smelled of fresh earth.
Then he would read an illustrated magazine, perhaps with no intention of finishing it, until sleep gradually overcame him.
He could see every detail.
What astonished him was how easily his mind accepted this imaginary life.
He would no longer have to go to the office. Not tomorrow. Not the day after tomorrow. Not ever.
Then his thoughts changed. The countryside was attractive, but what about winter?
Ivan imagined the dark months when rain and cold weather would make the roads unpleasant. He pictured the grey sky, the bare trees, the damp wind, and the animals standing miserably in the wet.
There would be days when nobody wanted to go outside.
He would have to remain indoors, pacing from room to room and staring through the windows.
The thought made him restless.
Then another idea occurred to him.
“I would go abroad,” he said.
Masha looked at him.
“Abroad?”
“Yes. Somewhere warm. The south of France, perhaps. Italy. India.”
“I would go too,” she replied.
Ivan smiled.
For a moment, the idea of travelling together seemed perfectly natural.
But then another thought entered his mind.
What if Masha really did go abroad with him?
He imagined the journey.
She would bring too many bags.
She would worry about money.
She would complain about the food and the cost of everything.
At every station, she would be concerned about buying something unnecessary. She would calculate every expense and remind him that they must not spend too much.
Ivan’s imagination became increasingly unpleasant.
Why should he have to travel like that?
Why should he have to worry about every little thing?
He looked at his wife.
And suddenly he noticed things he had never thought about so sharply before.
She seemed older to him.
Her face looked plain.
He noticed the smell of cooking that clung to her clothes.
A moment earlier, she had been his companion in a beautiful dream.
Now she seemed to him almost like an obstacle.
Ivan was disturbed by the thought.
Of course, he told himself, such ideas were foolish.
But once the thought had appeared, it refused to disappear.
The ticket belonged to Masha.
That fact suddenly seemed important.
If they won, she would control the money.
And what would she do with it?
She might put it away.
She might refuse to let him spend it.
She might give some of it to her relatives.
The more he thought about it, the more irritated he became.
“She would lock it away,” he thought.
“She would give money to her family.”
And then another unpleasant thought followed.
What if her relatives came asking for money?
Ivan pictured them one by one. Her brothers.
Her sisters. Her aunts.
Her uncles. All of them, in his imagination, suddenly became greedy and shameless.
They would appear with flattering smiles. They would complain about their difficulties.
They would ask for money. If he gave them something, they would want more. If he refused, they would become offended and speak badly about him.
Ivan’s own relatives were no better. He thought of them too.
Strangely, faces that had once seemed ordinary now appeared ugly and unpleasant.
“They’re all parasites,” he thought.
He felt ashamed of the bitterness of his thoughts. But instead of stopping, he continued.
Chapter Four
What Wealth Reveals
Ivan looked at Masha. She was still sitting quietly, lost in her own thoughts. He wondered what she was imagining.
Perhaps she was already deciding how much money she would keep for herself.
Perhaps she was thinking about her relatives.
Perhaps she was planning a life in which he would have little control over anything. The lottery ticket was hers.
That fact now seemed unbearable.
“What would she give me?” he wondered.
“Perhaps a few hundred roubles.”
He looked at her face. A strange hostility was beginning to grow inside him. Masha looked back. She, too, had been thinking.
She knew what her husband was doing. She knew that he was spending the money in his imagination.
And she knew that, if the ticket proved to be worth seventy-five thousand roubles, he would immediately begin deciding how much of it he should receive.
Her expression changed. The warmth that had been there earlier disappeared. There was now suspicion in her eyes.
Perhaps she was thinking the same thing about him that he had been thinking about her.
He wants my money.
Ivan noticed her expression. His irritation deepened. Masha noticed his irritation. Her own anger rose. Neither of them said what they were thinking.
They did not need to. Their faces said enough. Only a short time earlier, they had been smiling at each other.
Now they were studying each other as if they were strangers.
The lottery ticket had changed nothing about their material circumstances. They were still sitting in the same room.
The same newspaper lay on the table. The same supper remained unfinished.
Yet the room suddenly felt different. The possibility of wealth had created a distance between them.
Ivan felt increasingly resentful. He imagined Masha controlling the money. She would be stingy, he thought.
She would count every rouble. She would refuse him what he wanted. She would give money to her relatives.
She would become completely different. He knew, of course, that none of this had happened.
There was no evidence that she would behave in such a way. But imagination did not require evidence. The more he imagined it, the more certain it seemed.
Masha, meanwhile, was having thoughts of her own. She suspected that Ivan had already begun calculating what he could take from her. Perhaps he wanted the money for himself.
Perhaps he would spend it on his own pleasures. Perhaps he would leave her with little more than promises. Their shared dream had become a silent argument.
Then Ivan suddenly looked at another part of the newspaper. His expression changed. A cruel impulse passed through him. He wanted to hurt her.
He wanted, for a moment, to destroy the dream. He glanced at the list and read aloud:
“Series 9,499, number 46.”
Masha looked at him.
Ivan smiled.
“Not 26.”
For a second, neither moved.
Then the truth became clear.
The winning ticket was not theirs.
Their number was 26.
The newspaper said 46.
The fortune had never belonged to them.
Chapter Five
Suspicion and Resentment
The change was immediate. The excitement disappeared.
The imagined future collapsed. The estate vanished.
The journeys vanished. The warm summers, the peaceful evenings, the freedom from work—all of them disappeared as quickly as they had appeared.
Ivan looked around the room.
Suddenly it seemed dark.
Small.
Low.
Oppressive.
The walls appeared closer than before.
The ordinary room that had seemed full of possibilities now seemed painfully dull.
The supper on the table no longer looked pleasant.
It seemed heavy and unappetizing.
A few moments earlier, seventy-five thousand roubles had transformed everything in their minds.
Now the absence of that money had transformed everything again.
Ivan sat in silence.
Masha did not speak.
Neither of them knew quite what to say.
The strange thing was that their life had not actually changed.
Nothing had been taken away from them.
They had not lost seventy-five thousand roubles.
They had never possessed it.
They were exactly as wealthy—or as poor—as they had been before Ivan opened the newspaper.
Yet the ordinary life they had been satisfied with only minutes earlier now seemed unbearable.
Ivan became irritated.
He looked around the room with growing disgust.
“What’s the meaning of this?” he muttered.
He noticed scraps of paper on the floor.
Crumbs.
Bits of rubbish.
The room was untidy.
It suddenly seemed to him that the whole place was neglected.
“Wherever I step, there are bits of paper under my feet,” he complained. “Crumbs everywhere. The rooms are never properly cleaned.”
Masha said nothing.
Ivan’s temper continued to rise.
“One is simply forced to go out.”
He felt trapped.
The room seemed too small.
The evening seemed too long.
His ordinary existence, which had been perfectly acceptable before the lottery dream, now seemed almost insulting.
He had briefly imagined another life.
Once a person has seen such a life in his imagination, perhaps it becomes difficult to return peacefully to the old one.
But there was something else.
Ivan had discovered something about himself.
He had discovered how quickly he could become suspicious of the woman beside him.
He had discovered how easily money could turn affection into resentment.
And Masha had discovered something too.
For a few minutes, the possibility of wealth had exposed thoughts that neither of them would normally have expressed.
They sat together in the same room, but the intimacy of the evening had disappeared.
The lottery had not made them rich. It had not even given them a single rouble.
Yet for a brief time, it had made them strangers.
Chapter Six
Number 46
Ivan looked at the newspaper again. There it was.
9,499 — 46.
Not 26.
The number that had promised them seventy-five thousand had belonged to somebody else.
Someone, somewhere, had perhaps just discovered that number 46 was the winning ticket.
Perhaps another family was celebrating.
Perhaps another husband and wife were already imagining estates, foreign travel, new furniture, freedom, and a completely different future.
Perhaps they, too, were sitting together and dreaming.
Perhaps they, too, would discover what wealth could reveal about them.
Ivan folded the newspaper.
He looked at Masha.
She looked back at him.
Neither smiled.
The room was quiet.
A few minutes earlier, they had been filled with excitement. Their minds had been racing with possibilities. They had seen themselves transformed by money.
Now all of it was gone.
The ordinary room remained.
The same furniture.
The same newspaper.
The same supper.
The same marriage.
The same life.
Yet it no longer felt the same.
Ivan felt cheated, although no one had cheated him.
He had lost nothing, yet he felt that something had been taken away.
He had not been poor before.
But now poverty seemed to him more oppressive than it had ever seemed.
He had not hated his wife before.
Yet now he could hardly look at her without remembering the thoughts that had passed through his mind.
The seventy-five thousand roubles had existed only as a possibility.
Nevertheless, that possibility had been powerful enough to expose dissatisfaction that had been hidden beneath the surface of ordinary life.
Ivan pushed the newspaper aside.
The evening stretched before them.
Long.
Grey.
Wearisome.
The dream had lasted only a short time. But it had changed the way they saw everything.
The lottery ticket had promised them a new life. In the end, it had given them nothing.
And yet, for a few moments, it had shown them precisely how much they wanted one.
The End
Read the original story: americanliterature.com
Vocabulary
1. Circumstances — the conditions and facts that affect a person or situation.
Example: Ivan had become accustomed to his circumstances and was generally satisfied with his modest life.
2. Scepticism — a tendency to doubt that something is true, possible, or likely.
Example: Ivan regarded lotteries with mild scepticism and normally paid little attention to winning numbers.
3. Anticipation — a feeling of excitement about something that is expected to happen.
Example: Ivan felt a strange sense of anticipation when he saw his series in the newspaper.
4. Bewildered — confused and unable to understand what is happening.
Example: The possibility of winning bewildered Ivan and his wife, and neither knew what they would do with the money.
5. Transformation — a complete or significant change in someone or something.
Example: Ivan imagined that the lottery prize would bring about a complete transformation of his life.
6. Absorbed — completely interested in or focused on something.
Example: Ivan became increasingly absorbed in the imaginary life he was creating in his mind.
7. Financial security — a situation in which a person has enough money to live without serious financial worries.
Example: The imagined prize seemed to offer Ivan and Masha financial security for the rest of their lives.
8. Resentment — a feeling of anger or bitterness caused by unfair treatment or disappointment.
Example: Resentment gradually replaced the excitement Ivan had felt earlier.
9. Suspicion — a feeling that someone may have dishonest or selfish intentions.
Example: Suspicion began to grow when Ivan imagined that his wife might control the money.
10. Hostility — unfriendly or aggressive feelings towards someone.
Example: The possibility of wealth slowly created hostility between Ivan and his wife.
11. Dissatisfaction — a feeling of being unhappy because something is not as good as you want it to be.
Example: The lottery dream revealed Ivan’s growing dissatisfaction with his ordinary life.
12. Irritation — a feeling of annoyance or anger caused by someone or something.
Example: Ivan’s irritation grew as he imagined that his wife would control the money.
13. Neglected — not given enough care, attention, or maintenance.
Example: After the disappointment, Ivan suddenly noticed how neglected the rooms seemed.
14. Oppressive — unpleasantly heavy, restrictive, or difficult to endure.
Example: The familiar room suddenly seemed dark, small, and oppressive.
15. Resentful — feeling bitter or angry because of something you believe is unfair or disappointing.
Example: Ivan became increasingly resentful when he imagined that Masha might keep the money for herself.
16. Reveal — to make something previously hidden or unknown become known.
Example: The lottery ticket revealed feelings that neither Ivan nor Masha had openly expressed before.
17. Intoxicating — extremely exciting or pleasurable in a way that strongly affects your emotions.
Example: The possibility of sudden wealth produced an almost intoxicating feeling of excitement.
18. Uncertainty — a state of not knowing what will happen or whether something is true.
Example: For a few moments, the uncertainty was almost as pleasurable as the possibility of winning.
19. Restrain — to prevent yourself or someone else from expressing or doing something.
Example: Ivan tried to restrain his thoughts, but his imagination continued to create unpleasant possibilities.
20. Disappointment — a feeling of sadness because something expected or hoped for did not happen.
Example: When Ivan discovered that the number was 46 rather than 26, his excitement turned into bitter disappointment.
Comprehension Questions
1. How is Ivan Dmitritch’s life described at the beginning of the story, and what does this suggest about his attitude toward his circumstances?
2. Why does Ivan initially have little interest in checking the lottery results, and what causes him to look at the list on this particular evening?
3. What is Ivan’s immediate physical and emotional reaction when he notices that series 9,499 has appeared in the newspaper?
4. Why does the discovery of the correct series create such intense excitement even though Ivan has not yet confirmed the ticket number?
5. How do Ivan and his wife react to the possibility of winning 75,000, and what does their reaction reveal about the power of anticipation?
6. What does Ivan mean when he describes 75,000 as “power” and “capital” rather than simply as money?
7. How does Ivan imagine dividing the potential prize money, and what does his plan reveal about his priorities and ambitions?
8. What kind of life does Ivan imagine living on an estate, and why does this imagined lifestyle appeal to him so strongly?
9. How does Ivan’s fantasy of rural life change as he imagines different seasons, activities, food, travel, and leisure?
10. Why does Ivan suddenly become interested in travelling abroad, and how does this desire contribute to the development of his imagination?
11. At what point does Ivan’s attitude toward his wife begin to change, and what thoughts trigger this change?
12. Why does Ivan begin to see his wife as an obstacle rather than as a companion with whom he could share his imagined fortune?
13. How does the possibility of winning the lottery affect the way Ivan views his wife’s appearance, age, habits, and relationship with money?
14. Why does Ivan begin thinking negatively about both his wife’s relatives and his own relatives, even though nothing has actually happened to him?
15. How does the lottery ticket expose feelings and tensions within Ivan’s marriage that had previously remained hidden?
16. Why does Ivan’s wife also become suspicious and hostile toward him, and what does she understand about his dreams?
17. How does the emotional atmosphere between Ivan and his wife change from the beginning of the story to the moment before the winning number is revealed?
18. Why is the revelation that the ticket number is 46 rather than 26 so important to the story’s irony and psychological effect?
19. How does Ivan’s perception of his home and ordinary life change immediately after he discovers that they have not won?
20. What does the final scene suggest about Ivan’s dissatisfaction with his life, and how does Chekhov leave the reader to interpret the relationship between the lottery dream and his ordinary reality?
Grammar Exercises
1. If Ivan ______ the newspaper more carefully, he would have discovered the correct number immediately.
A) reads
B) had read
C) would read
D) has read
2. Ivan had no faith in lotteries, ______ he still decided to check the list that evening.
A) whereas
B) nevertheless
C) although
D) despite
3. ______ the correct series in the newspaper, Ivan immediately became excited.
A) Having noticed
B) Noticed
C) To noticing
D) Having been notice
4. “We have plenty of time to be disappointed,” Ivan said, ______ that the possibility of winning was still uncertain.
A) acknowledge
B) acknowledging
C) acknowledged
D) having acknowledge
5. If the ticket had actually been number 26, Ivan ______ a completely different attitude toward his life.
A) would have developed
B) would develop
C) developed
D) had developed
6. Ivan imagined that, if they won the money, they ______ an estate somewhere in the Tula or Oryol provinces.
A) bought
B) would buy
C) had bought
D) would have bought
7. The possibility of winning was so powerful that Ivan and his wife began imagining a new life before they ______ the winning number.
A) had confirmed
B) have confirmed
C) would confirm
D) were confirming
8. ______ by the possibility of sudden wealth, Ivan became increasingly absorbed in his fantasies.
A) Fascinating
B) Fascinated
C) Having fascinate
D) To fascinate
9. Not until Ivan began thinking about his wife’s relatives ______ how strongly his feelings had changed.
A) he realized
B) did he realize
C) he had realized
D) had he realized
10. Ivan’s wife looked at him as though she ______ exactly what was going through his mind.
A) knows
B) had known
C) knew
D) would know
11. If Ivan had not imagined spending the money abroad, he might never ______ his wife as an obstacle to his freedom.
A) have regarded
B) regard
C) have been regarding
D) had regarded
12. Ivan began to imagine his wife travelling with numerous parcels, ______ about the cost of everything.
A) complained
B) complaining
C) having complained
D) to complaining
13. The lottery ticket, which ______ to be a source of happiness, gradually became a source of resentment.
A) was expected
B) expected
C) had expecting
D) expecting
14. By the time Ivan discovered that the number was 46, his imagination ______ almost every aspect of his future.
A) transformed
B) had transformed
C) has transformed
D) would transform
15. “The ticket is yours,” Ivan said to his wife, ______ that she would probably control the money if they won.
A) even though he suspected
B) despite he suspected
C) although suspecting
D) because of he suspected
16. Had Ivan known from the beginning that the number was 46, he ______ all those dreams of wealth and freedom.
A) would not have developed
B) would not develop
C) did not develop
D) had not developed
17. Ivan’s relatives, whom he had previously regarded impartially, suddenly seemed repulsive to him, ______?
A) didn’t they
B) hadn’t they
C) weren’t they
D) wouldn’t they
18. The moment Ivan read “number 46,” both hope and hatred ______.
A) disappeared
B) had disappeared
C) were disappearing
D) have disappeared
19. No sooner ______ the correct number than the entire atmosphere of the room seemed to change.
A) Ivan had read
B) had Ivan read
C) Ivan read
D) did Ivan read
20. If the possibility of winning had not revealed Ivan’s hidden dissatisfaction, he ______ his ordinary life in such a negative way.
A) might not have viewed
B) might not view
C) would not have viewed
D) had not viewed
Answer Key
1-B, 2-C, 3-A, 4-B, 5-A, 6-B, 7-A, 8-B, 9-B, 10-C, 11-A, 12-B, 13-A, 14-B, 15-A, 16-A, 17-A, 18-A, 19-B, 20-A
More Short Story in English Language to Read
01. The Garden Party (for Advanced Levels C1-C2)
The Garden-Party is a celebrated short story by Katherine Mansfield, one of the most influential short-story writers of the early twentieth century. The story was first published in 1922 and is known for its vivid descriptions, subtle social criticism, and exploration of life, death, class, and human sympathy.
Katherine Mansfield was a New Zealand-born writer who became an important figure in modernist literature. Her stories often focus on ordinary moments that lead characters to unexpected emotional or psychological discoveries. Rather than relying on dramatic action, Mansfield was particularly interested in people’s thoughts, feelings, relationships, and changing perceptions.
02. The Lady, or the Tiger? (for Advanced Levels C1-C2)
The Lady, or the Tiger? is one of the most memorable short stories by the American writer Frank R. Stockton. First published in 1882, the story combines romance, suspense, irony, and psychological conflict in a way that continues to challenge readers more than a century later.
Frank R. Stockton was an American writer best known for his imaginative and often humorous stories. He became particularly famous for creating unusual situations in which characters must make difficult choices. His writing often explores human nature, especially the conflict between emotion, reason, love, jealousy, and pride.
03. The Open Boat (for Advanced Levels C1-C2)
The Open Boat is a powerful short story by the American writer Stephen Crane, first published in 1897. The story was inspired by Crane’s own experience of surviving a shipwreck while travelling to Cuba as a war correspondent. After the steamer Commodore sank off the coast of Florida, Crane and three other men spent many hours struggling to survive in a small open boat. This real-life experience became the foundation of one of Crane’s most memorable works.
The story follows four men — the Captain, the Correspondent, the Cook, and the Oiler — who are stranded at sea after their ship sinks. They have only a small boat between themselves and the powerful ocean. Exhausted, hungry, and uncertain whether anyone will rescue them, they take turns rowing, removing water from the boat, and watching the waves. As they approach the coast, their hope of reaching safety repeatedly rises and falls.