Level B2 General English

Lesson 55

Fears And Phobias
恐れと恐怖症

When you were a child, were you afraid of the dark? Did you ask your parents to leave alight on at night? Did you see strange creatures in the darkness or hear strange noises in the garden? Which is scarier, seeing a snake in the grass or imagining one in your room at night?

When I was a child, while I was sleeping in my bed one night, I was woken up by a strange noise coming from the garden. It was a kind of horrible screaming sound. It lasted for many hours and I was so scared that I couldn’t even move. I just stayed awake and listened. I was scared to sleep for weeks after. Many years later when I was an adult I heard the same sound again. But this time I realized what the sound was. It was the sound of fighting cats.

I love swimming in the sea but sometimes when I look down into the dark water my imagination goes wild and I imagine sharks and strange sea monsters rising to get me. I can’t imagine how I would feel if I saw a real shark. Maybe my imagination is the scariest thing in the world. Sometimes I still hear the screaming of the cats.