In this lesson, you will read The Man in Hyde Park, a short story about a man who suddenly finds himself in London in 1905—with no idea how or why he got there.
As he tries to understand his situation, he meets people who do not believe him and struggles to survive in a world that feels completely unfamiliar. But when he sees an opportunity to speak to a crowd, he decides to tell them the truth—about the future.
This lesson will help you improve your reading, listening, and speaking skills through a structured story, comprehension questions, vocabulary practice, and discussion activities.
You can also download the full lesson plan at the end of the page to use in your class.
He knew something was wrong the moment he saw the street.
No cars.
No buses.
No hum of engines, no glow of traffic lights. Only the clatter of hooves on stone and the distant creak of wooden wheels.
At first, he thought it was a film set.
London did that sometimes. Period dramas. Costumes. Extras.
But there were no cameras. No cables. No crew shouting instructions.
Just people, hundreds of them, moving with purpose, dressed in dark coats, long skirts, stiff collars.
And none of them were looking at their phones.
Ben turned slowly, his heart beginning to hammer. The buildings were right. Familiar shapes, London shapes, but older and dirtier.
No glass towers. No signage he recognised.
He grabbed a man by the sleeve.
“Excuse me, what’s going on? Is this… what is this?”
The man recoiled slightly, looking him up and down.
“What are you wearing?”
“Just—just tell me the date.”
The man frowned.
“March. Nineteen-oh-five.”
The words landed like a blow.
He laughed at first. A short, sharp, disbelieving sound. But the man didn’t laugh with him.
✧ ✧ ✧
The police station smelled of tobacco and damp wool.
“I’m telling you, I don’t know how I got here,” Ben said, his voice rising despite himself. “I was just walking. Near the river. And then—this.”
The officer behind the desk leaned back, unimpressed.
“And where exactly is ‘here’?”
“London,” Ben said. “But not… not my London.”
A pause.
The officer exchanged a glance with another constable.
“You been drinking, son?”
“No!”
“Because you sound like you’ve had a skinful.”
“I’m not drunk! I’m telling you the truth!”
The officer stood.
“That’ll do. Out. Now.”
“But you don’t understand—”
A firm hand on his arm.
“We’ve got no time for this nonsense.”
They pushed him out into the street. The door shut behind him with a final, hollow thud.
✧ ✧ ✧
By evening, the panic had drained into something heavier.
Hunger.
Ben hadn’t eaten all day. His head throbbed. His legs ached from walking nowhere, searching for something that made sense.
Nothing did.
He ended up in a park. Wide, open spaces and scattered with bare trees. Hyde Park, he realised dimly. At least that hadn’t changed.
He found a bench. Sat. Then lay down.
The last thing he saw before sleep took him was the sky. And it was full of stars.
More than he had ever seen in his life.
✧ ✧ ✧
Morning came with cold.
And hunger, sharper now.
Ben wandered the streets again, slower this time. Watching. Listening. Trying to understand the rhythm of this place.
At a bakery window, he stopped.
The smell alone nearly broke him.
He hovered there too long.
A woman inside noticed. Opened the door.
“You going to stand there all day?”
“I—sorry. I just…”
He swallowed.
“I don’t have any money.”
She studied him. His odd clothes. His face.
Then, with a sigh, she handed him some bread.
“Go on now. Don’t make a habit of it.”
“Thank you,” he said, and meant it more than anything.
✧ ✧ ✧
Later, drawn by noise, he found himself back in Hyde Park.
A crowd had gathered—thick, shifting, alive with murmurs.
At the centre, a man stood on a small wooden crate, speaking loudly, passionately.
“…and I tell you, the working man cannot survive under such conditions!”
A ripple of agreement moved through the crowd. A smattering of applause.
The speaker gestured wildly, his voice rising and falling, pulling the people with him.
No microphones. No screens. Just a voice—and attention.
The man listened, transfixed.
Anyone could do this.
Anyone could stand up and speak—and be heard.
He stayed for a long time, watching different speakers take their turns. Some shouted. Some joked. Some argued.
And then, slowly, a thought formed.
He could tell them.
He knew things.
Things no one here could possibly know.
He stepped forward.
At first, no one noticed him.
Then a few turned.
He climbed onto the crate.
The crowd quietened slightly, curious about this man’s odd attire.
He took a breath.
“My name doesn’t matter,” he began. His voice sounded strange to his own ears. “But I need you to listen to me.”
A few chuckles.
“I’m not from here,” he said. “Not from this time.”
More laughter now. Nudges. Smirks.
“Aye, and I’m the King,” someone called out. The crowd laughed.
Ben pressed on.
“I’m serious. I’m from the future.”
Now the laughter spread. More people joined the growing crowd to look at this strange man.
But he kept going.
“In nine years—1914—there will be a war. A great war. Bigger than anything you’ve ever seen.”
The laughter faded, just slightly.
“Millions will die. Men will go to fight thinking it will all be over by Christmas. It won’t be. It will last years. Trenches. Mud. Gas. Whole generations lost.”
The crowd shifted.
“Then—twenty years later—another war. Even worse. Bombs dropped from the sky. Cities destroyed. Millions more dead.”
Now they were listening.
Faces changed. Tightened.
“That’s nonsense,” someone muttered—but not loudly.
He saw it. The doubt. The unease.
So he pushed further.
“You have the telephone now, yes? But it will change. You will speak into a small device, and your voice will travel across the world in an instant.
And then—pictures. Not still images, but moving pictures, sent through the air into people’s homes.
You will sit in your living room and watch stories, news, and events as they happen. They will call it television.”
Silence.
“And later—much later—something called the internet. A network that connects the entire world. Every piece of information, every message, shared instantly.
You will not need books or newspapers. You will search for what you want, and it will appear in front of you in seconds.
And these machines—small enough to fit in your pocket. You will carry them everywhere.
You will speak to anyone, anywhere, at any time. You will even see their face as you talk.”
No one laughed now.
They stared.
“How…?” someone whispered. “How could you know this?”
He smiled, just slightly.
“Because I’ve seen it.”
A murmur spread through the crowd, low and uneasy.
And then—
A voice.
Cold. Sharp.
“Have you, now?”
The crowd parted.
A man stepped forward.
Not a policeman. Not quite. Well-dressed. Clean. Watching him carefully.
“And what else have you seen?” the man asked.
Ben hesitated.
Something about this man felt wrong.
“I’ve seen progress,” he said. “Great change.”
The man nodded slowly.
“Yes,” he said. “I think you have.”
He turned to the others.
“This man is either a lunatic, and has escaped from Bedlam,” he said calmly, “or something far more interesting.”
A pause.
“Either way, he should not be speaking freely.”
Hands grabbed him.
Ben tried to release himself from their strong grip.
“Wait—what are you doing?”
“You’ll come with us now,” said the man.
“I was just telling the truth!”
“Yes,” the man said softly. “That’s the problem.”
They took him away.
The crowd watched in silence.
No one laughed now.
✧ ✧ ✧
Years later, a photograph would surface.
Faded. Sepia-toned.
A crowd in Hyde Park. A man standing on a crate.
Historians would study it, puzzled.
Because the man’s clothes—
His face—
His expression—
None of it matched the time.
And more strangely still—
In the records of that day, there was a note.
The note was brief and official.
A man was detained for making disturbing predictions about future conflicts and technologies.
Deemed dangerous.
Sentence carried out.
No name.
No further detail.
But in the margins of the document, in a different hand, a single line had been added:
His predictions began to come true within nine years.
Video for Listening
Use the audio track below to listen to the story. Now you can practice listening too!
Reading Comprehension Questions
Read the story carefully and answer the reading comprehension questions. Some questions focus on specific parts of the story, so make sure you follow the order of the text as you read. Take your time, look back at the story if needed, and try to answer in full sentences.
You can find the model answers at the back of the lesson plan. Your answers may be different, and that is fine, as long as they are correct. If you are unsure, check your answers with your teacher.
Who is the main character in the story?
What unusual things does the man see?
What things are missing from the street?
How are the people dressed?
What city does the story take place in?
How does the story describe the buildings?
What question does the main character ask the man?
How does the man react to Ben?
Where does the next scene take place?
How is Ben feeling at this point in the story?
What does the police officer believe about Ben?
How does Ben protest?
What do the police do with him?
How does Ben feel at this point in the story?
Where is he?
Where does he lie down?
What does he notice about the sky?
What kind of shop does Ben see?
What does the woman ask him?
How does Ben answer the woman?
What act of kindness does the woman perform for Ben?
How does Ben react to her kindness?
Where does Ben go?
What does he see there?
What are the people doing?
What realisation does Ben come to?
What does he believe he can do?
What action does he take?
How does the crowd respond to seeing Ben?
Does Ben introduce himself?
What does Ben tell them?
Does the crowd respond positively to him?
What comment does one person shout out?
What event in the future does Ben warn the crowd about?
When do people think the war will end?
How long does Ben say the war will actually last?
What is the second event that Ben warns them about?
What does Ben say will be dropped from the sky?
How many people does he say will die?
How does the crowd respond to him now?
What comment does someone from the crowd say at this point?
What current technology of 1905 does Ben mention?
How does Ben describe communication in the future?
What very popular technology does Ben tell them about?
In this part of the story, what technology does Ben tell the people about?
How does he describe it?
What does he say people can put in their pockets?
What is the crowd’s response to this?
What question does someone ask Ben?
And how does he reply?
Who comes forward to question Ben?
Does Ben feel comfortable with this man?
How does the man explain to the crowd Ben’s predictions?
What does the man say Ben should not be allowed to do?
What happens to Ben?
How do the crowd react?
Are they laughing?
What visual image does the story introduce now?
How is it described?
What is unusual about Ben’s clothing?
What does the official note say?
What was later added in the margin?
Essential Vocabulary
recoiled | faded | calmly |
unimpressed | trenches | freely |
constable | generations | release |
skinful | shifted | grip |
nonsense | tightened | surface |
hollow | muttered | sepia-toned |
drained | unease | historians |
throbbed | network | puzzled |
ached | instantly | matched |
dimly | devices | records |
hovered | appeared | detained |
murmurs | murmur | disturbing |
gestured | uneasy | predictions |
transfixed | parted | conflicts |
curious | hesitated | technologies |
attire | progress | margins |
chuckles | nodded | |
nudges | lunatic | |
smirks | escaped | |
pressed on | Bedlam |
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 a dictionary and write a clear, simple definition.
Write your own sentence using the word or phrase correctly. Try to make your sentence meaningful and connected to your own life or experiences.
Examples
Generations – all the people born and living at about the same time, especially when considered as a group over time.
Example sentence: Traditions are often passed down through several generations of a family.
Nonsense – ideas, statements, or behaviour that have no meaning or seem foolish or untrue.
Example sentence: He said the story was complete nonsense and refused to believe it.
Why do this?
Doing this regularly will help you improve all areas of your English—reading, writing, speaking, and listening. By writing definitions and creating your own examples, you actively use the language, which helps it stay in your memory.
Discussion Questions
Discuss the questions below with a partner or in small groups.
Share your ideas, give reasons for your answers, and listen to different opinions.
How do you think you would feel if you suddenly found yourself in a different time like Ben?
Do you think Ben reacted in a sensible way at the beginning of the story? Why or why not?
If you were in Ben’s situation, what would you do first?
Why do you think the police did not believe Ben?
Do you think the police treated him fairly? Why or why not?
If you were hungry like Ben, would you beg for food? Why or why not?
How would you feel if a stranger gave you food like the woman in the bakery?
Why do you think people were willing to listen to speakers in Hyde Park?
Do you think it was a good idea for Ben to speak to the crowd? Why or why not?
If you were Ben, what would you tell people from the past?
Do you think the crowd’s reaction to Ben was realistic? Why or why not?
At what point do you think the crowd started to take Ben seriously?
Which part of Ben’s speech do you think was the most shocking for people in 1905?
Do you think people today would react differently if someone made similar predictions? Why?
Do you think it is dangerous to tell people too much about the future? Why or why not?
Why do you think the well-dressed man wanted to stop Ben from speaking?
Do you think Ben was right to tell the truth, even though it caused trouble?
If you could travel back in time, would you try to change history? Why or why not?
Do you think knowing the future is a good thing or a bad thing? Explain your answer.
What do you think is the main message or theme of the story?
I hope you enjoyed this lesson and the story.
If you have any thoughts, questions, or ideas, please leave a comment below—I’d love to hear from you.
You can download the full lesson plan using the link below. It includes everything you need for your class, with additional activities and teaching support.
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