A great wooden sailing ship appears in a small fishing harbour. Nobody sees it arrive, and nobody can see a crew. As the townspeople gather, the mayor and the police must decide how to investigate this unexpected visitor.
The Ghost Ship is a mystery story for English language learners and teachers. Read the story, explore useful vocabulary and practise your understanding with reading comprehension and discussion questions. The complete lesson plan also includes vocabulary exercises, role play, debate, creative writing and answer keys for classroom teaching or independent study.
1. Look at the title “The Ghost Ship”. What do you think the story might be about?
2. Have you ever visited a harbour? What could you see and hear?
3. What do you know about old sailing ships?
4. Why do you think people enjoy stories about pirates?
5. Would you want to explore an abandoned ship? Why or why not?
6. What would you do if something mysterious appeared near your home?
7. How can a drone help people investigate a dangerous place?
8. Do you think there is usually an ordinary explanation for a mystery?
Video for Listening
Use this video to practise your English listening skills. Listen to the story on its own first, then listen again while reading the story below. Reading and listening together can help you connect written words with their pronunciation and develop your reading and listening comprehension.
For extra speaking practice, pause the video and repeat short passages aloud. Try to follow the rhythm, stress and intonation of the narration.
The Ghost Ship
It arrived on a Tuesday morning.
Nobody had seen it come into the harbour. Yet there it was, towering above the fishing boats: a great wooden ship with a black hull and enormous sails that moved gently in the wind.
By nine o’clock, half the town had gathered along the pebble beach.
‘Looks like something from two hundred years ago,’ someone said.
‘Where’s the crew?’ asked someone else.
There was no one on deck. No voices, no movement. Only the ropes creaking against the masts.
The police cleared the beach and stopped the fishing boats from leaving the harbour. The fishermen were furious. They had a living to earn, and an old ship, however mysterious, wasn't going to pay their bills.
At the town hall, the mayor called an emergency meeting. The chief of police was there, along with the head of sea rescue and a local historian who had written a book about pirates.
The historian studied a photograph of the vessel.
‘Remarkable,’ he said. ‘It looks exactly like an eighteenth-century sailing ship. The sort that pirates might have used.’
‘Pirates?’ The mayor stared at him. ‘Are you telling me we've got pirates in our harbour?’
‘I'm telling you the ship looks authentic. That doesn't mean it's full of pirates.’
‘Then who owns it? And how did it get here?’
Nobody had an answer.
The sea rescue captain offered to take a boat out and climb aboard, but the police chief shook his head.
‘We don't know whether it's safe. There could be someone hiding on it.’
‘Meanwhile,’ said the mayor, ‘the whole town is standing on the beach, waiting for us to do something.’
His assistant, who had been taking notes, raised her hand.
‘Why don't we send a drone over?’
The room fell silent.
‘A drone?’ repeated the mayor.
‘We could look at the deck without putting anyone in danger.’
The mayor brightened. ‘Excellent. Do we have one?’
The police chief and the rescue captain exchanged embarrassed glances. Neither department owned a drone.
‘My nephew does,’ the assistant said. ‘He films the coastline for his YouTube channel.’
‘Can he operate it properly?’
‘Very well. He's been doing it for years.’
‘How old is he?’ asked the chief.
‘Fourteen.’
The mayor gave a short laugh. ‘Wonderful. We have a police force and a sea rescue team, but we need a schoolboy to investigate a pirate ship.’
By late afternoon, the story had spread. People crowded the harbour again. An ice cream van had arrived, and several spectators were filming with their phones.
Harry, the assistant's nephew, set his drone on the ground. He was delighted to have been asked, although the sight of the enormous ship made him feel strangely nervous.
‘Can everyone see the screen?’ he asked.
The mayor, the police chief and the historian leaned closer.
Harry lifted the drone into the air and guided it across the water. As it approached the ship, the old wooden hull filled the screen. There were dark marks along its sides and thick ropes hanging from the rails.
‘Take it higher,’ said the historian. ‘Let us see the deck.’
Harry rose above the masts and turned the camera downwards.
Nothing.
There were barrels, coils of rope and a small rowing boat secured to the deck. But not a single person.
‘Go closer,’ whispered the mayor.
Harry lowered the drone until it was hovering a few feet above the boards. The camera passed over a closed hatch, then turned towards a dark opening beneath the raised deck.
For a second, Harry thought he saw something move in the shadows.
‘Wait,’ he said.
‘What is it?’ asked the chief.
Harry moved the drone back. The opening was empty.
‘Nothing. I thought I saw someone.’
The historian was almost trembling with excitement.
‘Look at the workmanship,’ he said. ‘It's like looking straight into the past.’
Harry made another circuit, checking every corner he could reach. There was still no sign of life. At last, with the battery running low, he brought the drone back to shore.
‘So it's empty,’ said the mayor.
‘As far as we can tell,’ said Harry.
The mayor looked towards the ship. ‘But somebody must have sailed it here.’
Nobody replied.
By early evening, the crowd had begun to lose interest. The ice cream van drove away. Families went home for dinner, and the police promised to keep watch from the harbour wall.
‘We'll decide what to do in the morning,’ the mayor said.
Soon the beach was deserted. Lights appeared in the windows of the houses overlooking the water. Beyond them, the great ship stood motionless in the gathering darkness.
For a long time, nothing happened.
Then a hatch on the deck creaked open.
One man climbed out, followed by another, and then three more. Their clothes were ragged, their boots worn. Curved swords hung at their sides.
They lowered the small rowing boat into the water and climbed aboard. Without a word, they began pulling towards the shore.
As they approached the sleeping town, one of the men started to sing. The others joined him, softly at first, in an old sea shanty that had not been heard in that harbour for hundreds of years.
Reading Comprehension Questions
1. On which day does the ship arrive?
2. What is unusual about the way the ship arrives?
3. What does the ship look like?
4. How many townspeople have gathered by nine o’clock?
5. What signs of life can people see or hear on deck?
6. What do the police stop the fishermen from doing?
7. Why are the fishermen furious?
8. Who attends the emergency meeting with the mayor?
9. Which period does the historian think the ship resembles?
10. Does the historian say that pirates are definitely aboard?
11. What does the sea rescue captain offer to do?
12. Why does the police chief reject his offer?
13. What does the mayor’s assistant suggest?
14. Why does she think her idea will be safer?
15. Who owns the drone, and what does he use it for?
16. How old is the drone’s owner?
17. What are some spectators doing by late afternoon?
18. How does Harry feel about being asked to help?
19. Who leans closer to look at Harry’s screen?
20. What objects does the drone reveal on the deck?
21. What does Harry think he sees in the shadows?
22. What happens when Harry moves the drone back?
23. What particularly excites the historian?
24. Why does Harry bring the drone back to shore?
25. What does Harry say when the mayor declares that the ship is empty?
26. What do the police promise to do that evening?
27. How many men climb out of the hatch, and what do they look like?
28. How do the men travel towards the town, and what do they sing?
Essential Vocabulary
| harbour | towering | hull |
| sails | deck | creaking |
| masts | furious | emergency |
| historian | vessel | remarkable |
| eighteenth-century | authentic | aboard |
| assistant | drone | coastline |
| operate | embarrassed | investigate |
| spectators | delighted | guided |
| rails | barrels | coils |
| secured | hovering | hatch |
| shadows | trembling | workmanship |
| circuit | shore | deserted |
| motionless | ragged | worn |
| curved | swords | rowing boat |
| pulling | sea shanty | gathering darkness |
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 its meaning in your dictionary and write a clear, simple definition.
Create your own sentence using the word or phrase correctly. Connect it to your own life or experiences.
Examples
Harbour — an area of water where boats can shelter.
Example sentence: We watched the fishing boats return to the harbour.
Authentic — genuine, rather than a copy or imitation.
Example sentence: The museum displays an authentic eighteenth-century sword.
Why do this?
Writing definitions and making your own examples helps you use and remember new language. This supports your reading, writing, speaking and listening.
Discussion Questions
1. Why do you think nobody sees the ship arrive?
2. How does the opening create a sense of mystery?
3. Are the fishermen right to be angry with the police?
4. Would you support the decision to close the harbour? Why?
5. Why does the mayor react so strongly to the word “pirates”?
6. Does the historian help the investigation, or distract from it?
7. Why might the officials feel embarrassed about needing Harry’s help?
8. Should someone’s age affect whether adults listen to their ideas?
9. How does Harry’s nervousness affect the atmosphere of the story?
10. Why does the writer include an ice cream van?
11. Why do people enjoy watching unusual events?
12. Would you film the ship or put your phone away and watch?
13. What can the drone show, and what can it fail to show?
14. Why is “As far as we can tell” an important reply?
15. Do you think the officials give up too soon?
16. What other explanations could there be for the old ship and its crew?
17. Does the ending prove that the men are ghosts? Explain your view.
18. How does the sea shanty make the ending more unsettling?
19. What do you think will happen when the men reach the town?
20. Would you prefer the mystery to be explained? Why or why not?
Download the Free Lesson Plan
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