The Night the Lights Died
B2 · Upper intermediate ·
A free B2 story from the ClueSip archive. Read the story, solve the crossword made from its words, then answer three questions. No account needed.
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B2 · 7 November 2026Words in this story
6 words from the story. They are the crossword answers, each with a simple English meaning.
- kindlyadverb
- in a friendly, helpful way
- anxiousadjective
- worried and nervous about something
- blackoutnoun
- a period when electricity fails over an area
- persuadeverb
- convince someone to do something by giving reasons
- reassureverb
- say something to stop someone worrying
- reluctantadjective
- not willing to do something
1 · Read
B2 · Upper intermediateto doThe Night the Lights Died
When the power went out at nine o'clock on Tuesday, Maya was in the middle of an important video call. The screen , the fridge fell silent, and the whole was suddenly dark. She was at first, because she had spent weeks preparing for that presentation. Her flatmate Tom, who was cooking pasta, simply laughed and said that nothing could be done until the electricity came back.
Tom found a few candles in a drawer, and the made the kitchen feel strangely . Maya tried to persuade him to check the box, but he explained that the whole street was dark. "If it were only our flat, I would have fixed it already," he said. Their neighbour, who had come out onto the stairs with a , told them that a had been damaged by workers nearby. She was anxious about her , since she had just bought a lot of food, and Tom tried to reassure her that it would stay cold for several hours if nobody opened the door.
In the end, the blackout lasted nearly three hours. Maya, who had been reluctant to give up on her work, finally put her laptop away and joined Tom for dinner by candlelight. They talked more than they had in months. She that, if the power had not failed, she would probably have worked until midnight. When the lights suddenly came back, they were almost disappointed. Maya sent a brief apology to her manager, who kindly agreed to the meeting. She decided that a little darkness had been refreshing after all, and the next evening she bought more candles, just in case.
Written for this page. Crossword words get underlined when you find them. Tap a word with a dotted line to see what it means.
2 · Solve
to do2 acrossnot willing to do something
From the story: Maya, who had been … to give up on her work, finally put her laptop away and joined Tom for dinner by candlelight.
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3 · Answer
to doQuestions about the story. Pick one answer for each.
Why was Maya angry at first?
What caused the power cut?
How did Maya probably feel about the evening in the end?
4 · Keep
to doWords you show, or get wrong twice, land here, so you know what to look at again.
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