An Army of Moles is a humorous and slightly surreal B1–B2 ESL reading lesson for English learners. The story follows Craig, a teenager who reluctantly agrees to mow the lawn after another argument with his father. But when he steps into the garden, he discovers something impossible — hundreds of moles have turned the garden into a disaster overnight.
This lesson is designed to help students develop their reading comprehension, vocabulary, speaking, and critical thinking skills through an engaging story with memorable characters and a surprising ending.
On this page you’ll find:
Introductory discussion questions
The complete short story
Reading comprehension questions
Essential vocabulary
Discussion questions for speaking practice
If you’d like the complete classroom lesson, you can also download the printable PDF, which includes vocabulary exercises, true/false activities, synonym and antonym practice, gap-fill exercises, role plays, debate activities, a creative writing task, and answer keys—everything you need for a ready-to-teach ESL lesson.
Whether you’re teaching in the classroom, online, or one-to-one, An Army of Moles is designed to get students reading, thinking, and talking in English.
Do you have to do chores at home? What kind of chores do you usually do?
Do your parents (or did your parents, when you were younger) let you choose when and how you do your chores, or do they set strict rules?
Have you ever put off doing something you knew you had to do eventually? What happened in the end?
Do you or your family have a garden? What kinds of problems can gardens sometimes have — weather, pests, animals?
Do you think it’s possible to fully protect something you care about from unexpected problems, or do things sometimes go wrong no matter how well you prepare?
Listen to the Story
Watch the video below and listen as the story is read aloud. Pause after each section to answer the reading comprehension questions or discuss the story with your class.
An Army of Moles
Craig lay on his bed.
He could hear his father raising his voice downstairs. He clenched his teeth and waited for his father to come up to his room.
His feet stomping up the stairs. The token knock on the door.
Then his father barging in his room.
‘Craig.’ He stood in the doorway. ‘The garden. Are you going to do it?’
Craig folded the comic shut, slow, like it cost him something.
‘Yes, Dad,’ he said. ‘I said I will do it. And I will.’
His father didn’t move. Craig knew from experience that that was not the end of it.
He would need an exact time and full details of when Craig would do it. He would ask for a signature on a contract if he could get away with it.
‘When?’ asked his father.
Craig rubbed a hand over his face. No use in putting this off.
‘Alright,’ he said. ‘I’m doing it.’
And he swung his legs to the floor and got to his feet.
Craig gave his father a tight smile.
‘You win.’
Of course, that would not go down well with the old man.
‘It’s not about winning. You said you’d do it. Now do it.’
Craig loped downstairs. He tried to block the constant moaning from his father out of his ears.
Actually, Craig didn’t mind mowing the lawn. He liked to be outside.
But it was just the way these chores and tasks were arranged for him by his father. There was no negotiation.
At least three big jobs like this a week. Plus all the smaller little tasks like washing up or dusting the shelves.
He had no choice in the matter.
Craig went to the garage and pulled out the mower.
This was his father’s pride and joy. Like it was a vintage car or something.
He dragged it out into the back garden and when he raised his head he stopped in his tracks.
The garden was filled with holes.
Little piles of earth placed next to each hole.
Craig let go of the mower’s handle and slowly walked out onto the lawn.
Dozens and dozens of holes.
They just filled every part of the lawn.
Just as he was taking it all in, he saw the head of a mole staring back at him. Then disappear back underground.
Then another head popped up. And another, a few feet away. Then one more, closer to the house.
Craig understood, all at once, that he wasn’t looking at one mole, but a hundred of them.
All, in turn, looking back at him.
He crouched down at the edge of one of the holes. Underneath, faintly, he could hear something — a scratching, shifting sound, like the whole garden was breathing.
Craig straightened up. Just moles, he told himself. A bad infestation, that’s all. Dad would go mad, but it was nothing that couldn’t be fixed.
He nudged one of the earth piles with his shoe. It gave way more than he expected, like the ground underneath wasn’t solid at all.
He called out to his father.
‘Dad…’ he shouted. ‘You might want to see this.’
He heard the inevitable moaning, then quick footsteps to the back door.
Craig didn’t even look behind to see his father’s face. He would just wait to hear what he said.
‘What? What the…’
After that, there followed a few sounds that were not actual words. Just attempts to say something that ended in small chokes or like his father had lost the ability to speak.
He turned to face him.
‘I saw a mole just over there,’ said Craig. He pointed to one of the many holes in the garden. ‘I think he’s been pretty busy.’
His father didn’t even look at him.
His mouth fell open and his eyes blinked at the scene that lay before him.
‘What happened?’ he finally managed to say.
‘A mole, Dad,’ said Craig. ‘A very busy mole.’
His father went to the edge of the lawn, shaking his head.
‘But I placed some mole deterrent. I protected it. I did all the right things.’
Craig couldn’t help himself.
‘You can’t stop the force of nature, Dad.’
His father turned to him.
‘You. You could have helped with this. If you had cut the lawn when I said to do it. Maybe it would have stopped… all this.’
And he waved his hands at the full range of tiny earth mountains on the lawn.
‘I have worked so hard…’ his father began to wail. ‘I’ve done all the right things.’
His father stepped out onto the lawn.
Craig watched as the weight of his steps seemed to make an indent in the grass. Like it was soft.
Like there was little support beneath the lawn itself.
His father took two more steps out into the middle of the lawn and then there was a low rumbling sound.
Then a loud whooooofff.
And his father descended into a giant hole amid a cloud of soil and dust.
The entire lawn collapsed into a great big hole. There was no lawn at all now.
His father standing inside the hole, his head just about where the lawn had once been.
He stared up at Craig, waiting for an answer Craig didn’t have.
Craig stared on in disbelief. This was not the work of just one mole.
It was an entire army of them.
They had just dug the entire garden away.
All gone overnight.
‘My garden,’ said his father. ‘My beautiful garden.’
Then there came another sound of a slight earthquake and all the flowerbeds collapsed.
Then the rock garden at the back.
It all disappeared into the big gaping hole in the middle.
‘No,’ said Craig’s father, quietly to himself. ‘This can’t be happening.’
Craig stared on in total astonishment.
‘Dad, do you still need me to do the mowing?’ he asked. ‘Or should I just get the hose and fill it with water? We could make a duck pond.’
Then a louder sound as the two cherry trees at the back collapsed in the hole.
‘My garden,’ said his father. ‘My pride and joy.’
Reading Comprehension Questions
1. Who is the main character in this story?
2. Who is the second character that appears?
3. What does Craig’s father want Craig to do?
4. What is Craig holding in his hands?
5. What information does Craig’s father want to know from Craig?
6. Does Craig agree to cut the lawn?
7. Where does Craig go in this section of the story?
8. Does Craig like or dislike cutting the lawn?
9. What aspect does he dislike about it?
10. How many big chores does Craig usually have to do each week?
11. What kind of smaller tasks does he have to do?
12. What does he get from the garage?
13. How is this machine described in the story?
14. What does Craig see in the garden?
15. What is next to each hole in the ground?
16. How many holes can Craig see?
17. What else does he see?
18. Are there more of these creatures in the garden? How many?
19. What sound can Craig hear under the grass?
20. How does Craig justify this?
21. How does he think his father will react?
22. What does Craig notice when he nudges the earth with his shoe?
23. Who does Craig call out to?
24. What response does his father give?
25. Does Craig look at his father when he comes outside?
26. How does his father respond upon seeing the garden?
27. What explanation does Craig give him?
28. Does his father look at Craig?
29. What two physical expressions does he make in this section of the story?
30. What does his father say he did to prevent moles coming into the garden?
31. How does Craig respond to this?
32. Who does Craig’s father blame for the state of the garden?
33. Where does his father go?
34. What does his father’s voice do as he speaks? What does this tell us about how he’s feeling?
35. What clue does the text give us that something is wrong with the ground, before the collapse happens?
36. What three sounds happen in order as his father falls?
37. What happens to Craig’s father as he goes to the middle of the garden?
38. What happens to all the garden?
39. How long does Craig believe it took the moles to dig up all the garden?
40. What are the next two things to collapse into the big hole?
41. What question does Craig ask his father?
42. Do you think he is being serious with this question?
43. What collapses at the end of the story?
Essential Vocabulary
clenched | stomping | barging |
token knock | loped | moaning |
negotiation | vintage | dragged |
piles | dozens | infestation |
deterrent | wail | indent |
rumbling | descended | collapsed |
gaping | astonishment | inevitable |
chokes | disbelief | scratching |
shifting | straightened | nudged |
solid | scene | earthquake |
flowerbeds | duck pond | force of nature |
pride and joy | tight smile | blinked |
constant | breathing | old man |
mouth fell open |
Vocabulary Practice Exercise
Follow the steps below to help you learn and remember new words and phrases more effectively:
Write each new word or phrase in your vocabulary notebook.
Look up the meaning of each word in your dictionary. Write a clear and simple definition next to the word.
Create your own sentence using the word or phrase correctly. Try to make the sentence meaningful and connected to your own life or experiences.
Examples
Clenched – squeezed tightly together, often because of anger, fear, or tension.
Example sentence: My hands clenched into fists as I waited nervously for the exam results.
Stomping – walking with loud, heavy steps, often because you are angry or frustrated.
Example sentence: My little brother went stomping up the stairs after losing the video game.
Why do this?
Doing this regularly will help you improve all areas of your English — reading, writing, speaking, and listening. By writing definitions and making your own examples, you are actively using the language, which helps it stick in your memory.
Discussion Questions
Do you think Craig’s father is too strict, or is he right to expect Craig to do his chores without argument?
If you discovered a garden full of mysterious holes one morning, what’s the first thing you would do?
Why do you think Craig doesn’t openly refuse his father, even though he clearly resents having no choice in the matter?
Craig says he doesn’t actually mind mowing the lawn — it’s the lack of choice that bothers him. Do you think that’s a common feeling among teenagers?
The father says, “I placed some mole deterrent. I protected it. I did all the right things,” but it doesn’t help. What do you think the story is saying about our ability to control nature?
Do you think Craig’s father is more upset about the garden itself, or about losing control over something he was proud of?
Craig tells himself “it’s nothing that couldn’t be fixed” even as things get worse. Have you ever convinced yourself a problem was smaller than it really was, only to be proven wrong?
How do you think the relationship between Craig and his father might change after this event?
Do you think the story’s ending is meant to feel funny, sad, or a mix of both? What makes you think that?
Can you think of any real-life examples where people prepare carefully for something, only for chance or nature to defeat their efforts anyway?
Craig gives his father a “tight smile” and says “You win” near the start of the story. What does this tell us about how he usually deals with conflict?
Do you think it’s fair for Craig’s father to blame him for not cutting the lawn sooner?
The father describes the garden as his “pride and joy.” Have you or someone you know ever put a lot of time and effort into something that was later ruined or lost unexpectedly?
What do you think this story is really about, beneath the surface — is it just about moles, or something bigger?
Do you think Craig feels any sympathy for his father as the garden collapses, or is he secretly enjoying the chaos?
Should parents involve their children more in decisions about chores and responsibilities, or is a stricter approach sometimes necessary?
What other stories, films, or shows do you know that use dark humor to deal with a disaster, loss, or misfortune?
Do you think the moles in the story represent something else, such as the consequences of neglect, or forces beyond our control?
If you were in Craig’s position at the very end, would you have asked your father the same question about the mowing, or handled it differently?
What do you think Craig will remember most about this day when he’s older?
Enjoyed this lesson?
I hope you and your students enjoy An Army of Moles.
If you’d like the complete printable lesson plan, including vocabulary exercises, speaking activities, role play, debate, creative writing, answer keys, and more, you can download it below.
Click the link below.
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