English for Everybody - Advanced reading comprehension

Dracula

Page 15

A pleasant view

 

This is to my mind the nicest spot in Whitby, for it lies right over the town, and has a full view of the harbour and all up the bay to where the headland called Kettleness stretches out into the sea. It descends so steeply over the harbour that part of the bank has fallen away, and some of the graves have been destroyed.

In one place part of the stonework of the graves stretches out over the sandy pathway far below. There are walks, with seats beside them, through the churchyard, and people go and sit there all day long looking at the beautiful view and enjoying the breeze.I shall come and sit here often myself and work. Indeed, I am writing now, with my book on my knee

The harbour lies below me, with, on the far side, one long granite wall stretching out into the sea, with a curve outwards at the end of it, in the middle of which is a lighthouse. A heavy seawall runs along outside of it. On the near side, the seawall makes an elbow crooked inversely, and its end too has a lighthouse. Between the two piers there is a narrow opening into the harbour, which then suddenly widens.

Vocabulary:

Headland: Where a raised stretch of land pushes out to sea
Stonework: Something carved or made out of stone
Granite: A type of hard stone often used in building
Seawall: A wall designed to keep rough seas from a harbour
Inversely:In the opposite to the usual direction

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