B1 · Fiction
Following clues and reasoning in a story with a twist
Read for meaning first. Then return to the text for vocabulary, language choices, and evidence.
Before you read
Build the context out loud.
- Do people at your workplace or school share a kitchen or a refrigerator?
- What small problems can happen when people share a space?
- Have you ever been completely sure about something and then discovered you were wrong?
First pass: keep moving when one word is unfamiliar. Dotted words open optional help; every word also appears in the vocabulary bank below.
Sam Becker opened the office refrigerator at twelve fifteen and looked at the top shelf. It was empty.
“Gone again,” he said. “That’s the third time this week.”
Jo Whitfield looked up from her desk by the window and brushed a few crumbsVery small pieces that fall off bread, cake, or cookies.Useful chunks: bread crumbs · brush off the crumbs off her keyboard. “Your lunch?”
“A turkey sandwich. I put it there at nine o’clock this morning.” He closed the door harder than necessary. “Someone in this office is a thiefA person who takes something that belongs to someone else.Useful chunks: catch a thief · a lunch thief.”
Jo came over and looked inside. “It could be someone from the fourth floor. They sometimes use our kitchen.”
“Their kitchen opened again last week.”
“Then it might be one of the cleaners.”
“It can’t be the cleaners. They work at night, and my lunch disappears in the morning.”
Jo lowered her voice. “Then it must be someone on our team. What about Martin?”
They both looked at Martin, who was eating a large green salad.
“It can’t be Martin,” Sam said. “He’s a vegetarian.”
“True.” Jo frowned. “You didn’t leave it at home, did you?”
“Three times? No.”
That evening, Sam made a plan, and he didn’t tell anyone, not even Jo. The next morning, he made a sandwich that looked exactly like the others: turkey, cheese, lettuce, and a thick layerAn amount of something that covers a surface or lies between two other things.Useful chunks: a thick layer · a layer of sauce of the hottest chili sauce he could find. At nine o’clock, he put it on the top shelf.
At twelve, he checked. The sandwich was gone.
Sam walked back into the office, ready to study every face. Martin was on the phone. Priya was typing. And Jo was standing by the water cooler, drinking her third cup of water. Her face was bright red, and her eyes were full of tears.
“Are you okay?” Sam asked.
“AllergiesA medical condition that makes you sneeze, itch, or feel sick after contact with something.Useful chunks: seasonal allergies · have allergies,” Jo said. She drank another cup. “Do we have any milk?”
Sam staredTo look at someone or something for a long time without moving your eyes.Useful chunks: stare at someone · stare in surprise at her. “You ate my sandwich, didn’t you?”
“Your sandwich?” Jo put down the cup. “Sam, the top shelf is for free food. LeftoversFood that is not eaten at a meal and is kept for later.Useful chunks: meeting leftovers · eat the leftovers from meetings. Everybody knows that. There’s a sign.”
“What sign? I’ve only worked here for a week.”
She opened the refrigerator and pointed to a small card on the inside of the door, half hidden behind a bottle of ketchup. It said: TOP SHELF: FREE FOOD. PLEASE HELP YOURSELF.
Sam read it twice.
“So all week,” he said slowly, “I’ve been bringing lunch for you.”
“And very good lunches,” Jo said, wiping her eyes. “Until today.”
The next morning, Sam’s lunch was on the bottom shelf, with his name on it in large letters. At twelve, Jo appeared at his desk with a paper bag. Inside was a turkey sandwich. A note on it said: NO CHILI. SORRY.
Original text written for Thomas’s Classroom Reading Lab.
Words in context
Useful vocabulary and chunks
Learn the word with the partners it naturally keeps.
crumbs
Very small pieces that fall off bread, cake, or cookies.
bread crumbs · brush off the crumbsthief
A person who takes something that belongs to someone else.
catch a thief · a lunch thiefstare
To look at someone or something for a long time without moving your eyes.
stare at someone · stare in surpriselayer
An amount of something that covers a surface or lies between two other things.
a thick layer · a layer of sauceallergies
A medical condition that makes you sneeze, itch, or feel sick after contact with something.
seasonal allergies · have allergiesleftovers
Food that is not eaten at a meal and is kept for later.
meeting leftovers · eat the leftoversCheck your reading
Comprehension check
Choose the answer best supported by the text. Check your choices when you finish the whole set.
01What problem does Sam have at the start of the story?
02Why does Sam decide that the thief can’t be one of the cleaners?
03What is special about the sandwich in Sam’s plan?
04Why did Jo eat the sandwiches from the top shelf?
05Which early detail is a clue that Jo had just eaten?
Language in the text
Reach a conclusion from evidence
We use must when the evidence makes us almost sure something is true, and can’t when the evidence makes us almost sure it is not true. We use might or could when something is only possible. The evidence often comes in the next sentence.
Jo has no real evidence yet, so she uses could for a possibility.
Might shows another possible answer, not a certain one.
Sam has evidence against the idea, so he uses can’t.
Jo thinks there are no other possibilities, so she uses must.
The second sentence gives the evidence for the strong negative conclusion.
Check your reading
Language focus check
Use the surrounding meaning, not only the shape of one sentence.
01Martin is a vegetarian. The missing lunch was a turkey sandwich. Choose the best conclusion.
02Jo has an idea but no evidence. Which sentence fits?
03There is a sign on the refrigerator door, but Sam has never seen it. Choose the best conclusion.
Read like a writer
How a short story prepares a surprise
The writer lets the characters investigate, hides one clue in plain sight, and then turns the story so that the helper becomes the answer, without making her a villain.
A clue in plain sight
The detail seems unimportant on first reading, but it makes the ending fair when the reader looks back.
Jo looked up from her desk by the window and brushed a few crumbs off her keyboard.
Confident but wrong reasoning
The careful deductions make the reader trust the investigation and look in the wrong direction.
Then it must be someone on our team.
A twist in two steps
First the reader learns who ate the lunch, then learns that nobody was really stealing.
Sam, the top shelf is for free food.
A closing image
The short note ends the story with humor and shows that the friendship is repaired.
A note on it said: NO CHILI. SORRY.
From reading to speaking
Build your response
Work through the stages in order. Answer before opening the model.
01GistWhat happens to Sam’s lunch, and who is responsible?
Useful ways to begin
Compare with a model response
Sam’s lunch keeps disappearing, so he sets a trap with a very spicy sandwich. In the end, he learns that Jo ate it because she thought the top shelf was for free food.
02Main pointsWho do Sam and Jo consider, and why do they reject each person?
Useful ways to begin
Compare with a model response
They think it could be people from the fourth floor or the cleaners, but the fourth floor has its own kitchen again and the cleaners work at night. It can’t be Martin because he is a vegetarian.
03AnalyzeIs the ending fair to the reader? Which clues prepare it?
Useful ways to begin
Compare with a model response
The ending is fair because the writer gives clues. An early clue is that Jo brushes crumbs off her keyboard. On first reading, it seems unimportant, but it shows she has just eaten.
04ReactWas Sam’s plan a good idea? What would you have done?
Useful ways to begin
Compare with a model response
I think his plan was funny but risky, because someone with a health problem could have eaten the sandwich. I would have put my name on the lunch first.
Speak
Take a position
Retell the story from Jo’s point of view. Include two deductions she makes with might, could, must, or can’t, and one question with a tag.
Write
Make the reading useful
Write a 150-word scene in which two people try to solve a small mystery at work, at home, or in class. Use must, might, and can’t with evidence, and end with a small surprise.