Practice Expression: “The Clever Magistrate”

Expression in reading is how you use your voice to express feeling. Use this passage to practice reading with proper expression. Print a copy of this passage from InsideNG.com to help you monitor your progress.

One cold winter day, a farmer was carrying two buckets of spoiled food from a restaurant to his pigsty. As he was passing a coat shop, he accidentally spilled some of the slop on the ground. Sour cabbage, rotten eggs, and fish bones scattered all over the ground. Ugh! Ugh! What a smell!

The shopkeeper, who happened to be standing inside the door, saw this and was furious. He rushed out, grabbed the man, and shouted, “You dirty beggar! Look what you’ve done in front of my shop! It will be impossible to get rid of the smell! How are you going to pay for the damage?”

“I am so sorry,” said the farmer. “I will clean it up right away. As for the damage, all I have is this coin.”