A Cup of Tea for Mr Ali (A1 Reading Story)
A1 · BEGINNER Reading practice · Read one numbered part at a time
Read about Lily and a customer at her café. First, read the eight key words. Read part 1 and find the time Mr Ali arrives each morning. Then read the other numbered parts at your own pace. Answer the questions at the end and check them against the story.
Before you read — 8 key words
- café — a small place where you buy tea, coffee, and cake.
- customer — a person who buys something in a shop or café.
- regular — a customer who comes often.
- worry — to feel bad because maybe something is wrong.
- neighbour — a person who lives near you.
- knock — to hit a door softly with your hand.
- umbrella — a thing you hold over your head in the rain.
- the usual — the same thing you always ask for.
The story
1 · Every morning
Lily works in a small café. The café is on a quiet street. It has six tables and one big window. Lily likes her job. She likes the smell of coffee. She likes to talk to people.
Lily is twenty-three years old. Her family lives in another city. She does not have family here — no mother, no father, no sister. So her customers are like a family for her. She learns their names. She knows what they like.
Every morning, Lily opens the café at seven o’clock. She turns on the lights. She cleans the tables. She makes the first pot of tea. Then she waits.
At half past seven, the door opens. An old man comes in. His name is Mr Ali. He wears a grey coat and a blue hat. He always sits at the same table, near the window.
“Good morning, Lily,” he says.
“Good morning, Mr Ali,” Lily says. “The usual?”
“Yes, please,” he says. “One cup of tea. Not too hot.”
Mr Ali is a regular. A regular is a customer who comes often. Lily has other regulars too. There is a young man with a laptop. He drinks black coffee and works all morning. There is a mother with a small baby. The baby sleeps, and the mother reads. Lily knows what they all like. But Mr Ali is her favourite.
Mr Ali always says please and thank you. He always puts a coin in the box for the staff. And every morning, he asks the same kind question: “And how are you today, Lily?” He really wants to know. Not many people ask her that.
Mr Ali drinks his tea slowly. He looks out of the window. He watches the cars and the people. Sometimes he reads a small book. Sometimes he talks to Lily.
“I live in the blue house on the corner,” he tells her one day. “It has been my home for forty years. My wife lived there with me. Now she is gone, and I am alone.”
Lily feels sad for a moment. “You are not alone here,” she says. “You have your tea, and you have me.”
Mr Ali smiles. “That is true,” he says.
One morning, Mr Ali shows Lily a small photo. In the photo, there is a woman with kind eyes. “This is my wife, Fatima,” he says. “She loved this café too. We came here together for many years.” Lily looks at the photo. “She is beautiful,” she says. Mr Ali puts the photo back in his pocket, near his heart.
Every day is the same. Mr Ali comes at half past seven. He drinks his tea. He talks to Lily. Then he goes home. It is a small thing. But it makes Lily happy.
2 · A strange morning
One Monday, the weather is bad. Grey clouds cover the sky. Rain falls on the big window. Lily opens the café. She makes the tea. She waits.
Half past seven comes. The door does not open.
Lily looks at the clock. “Mr Ali is late,” she thinks. “That is strange.”
Quarter to eight comes. Still no Mr Ali. Now Lily worries. To worry means to feel bad because maybe something is wrong. Mr Ali is never late — not in two years.
Eight o’clock comes. The tea is cold now. Mr Ali’s table is empty.
“Where is he?” Lily says. “Is he ill? Is he in his house alone?”
Lily asks the young man with the laptop. “Did you see the old man this morning? The man in the blue hat?” “No,” the young man says. “Not today.” Lily looks at the door again. It stays closed. The rain gets stronger.
Lily cannot stop thinking about the old man. She remembers the blue house on the corner. She remembers his grey coat and his blue hat.
At nine o’clock, Lily makes a decision. She takes off her apron. She takes an umbrella. She puts a hot cup of tea in a paper cup.
“I am going out,” she tells the other worker. “I will be back soon.”
3 · The blue house
Lily walks in the rain. The umbrella is small. Her shoes are wet. But she does not stop. She walks to the corner.
The street is grey and wet. A dog runs past her. A car drives slowly in the rain. Lily walks fast. Her heart beats hard. “Please be all right, Mr Ali,” she thinks.
There it is — the blue house. It is old, but it is pretty. There are flowers in the window.
Lily knocks on the door. To knock means to hit a door softly with your hand. She waits. Nobody comes. She knocks again.
“Mr Ali?” she calls. “Are you there? It’s Lily, from the café.”
Slowly, the door opens. Mr Ali stands there. He is in his night clothes. His face is white, but he smiles when he sees her.
“Lily?” he says. “What are you doing here?”
“You did not come this morning,” Lily says. “I am worried. Are you all right?”
Mr Ali’s eyes are wet now. “This morning, I fell down,” he says. “It is only a small fall. But my leg hurts now, and I cannot walk to the café. I am sitting here alone. And I am thinking — nobody knows. Nobody is coming.”
“I know,” Lily says. “And I am here.”
She gives him the paper cup. “One cup of tea,” she says. “Not too hot.”
Mr Ali takes the tea. His hands shake a little. “Thank you,” he says quietly. “You are a kind neighbour, Lily.” A neighbour is a person who lives near you.
4 · A new morning
Lily helps Mr Ali to his chair. She calls the doctor. She stays with him until the doctor comes. The doctor says Mr Ali is fine. But he must rest his leg for one week.
“How do I get my tea?” Mr Ali asks.
Lily smiles. “I will bring it to you,” she says. “Every morning. Half past seven. One cup. Not too hot.”
And she does. Every morning that week, Lily walks to the blue house. She brings a hot cup of tea and a small piece of cake. She sits with Mr Ali. They talk, and they laugh.
Mr Ali tells her many stories. He tells her about his wife, Fatima. He tells her about his old job and his home town, far away. Lily listens. She makes his room warm. Day by day, his leg gets better. And day by day, Lily feels less alone too.
One week later, the door of the café opens at half past seven. Lily looks up. There is Mr Ali — in his grey coat and his blue hat.
The young man looks up from his laptop. The mother with the baby smiles. Everybody in the café is happy to see the old man again. Lily wants to run and hug him. But she does not. She just gives him a big, warm smile.
“Good morning, Lily,” he says.
“Good morning, Mr Ali,” she says, and her heart is full. “The usual?”
“Yes, please,” he says. “But today, I have a question for you.”
Lily waits. What does the old man want to ask?
Check your understanding
Read each question and say or write your answer. Then click the question to open the suggested answer and check it against the story.
Words to remember
Here are the key words again, in new sentences. Say each one out loud.
- café — We drink coffee in a small café near my home.
- customer — The shop is busy. There are ten customers today.
- regular — I go to the same shop every day. I am a regular.
- worry — My friend is late. I worry about her.
- neighbour — My neighbour lives next to my house. She is kind.
- knock — I knock on the door two times. Then I wait.
- umbrella — It rains today. I take my umbrella to work.
- the usual — “One coffee, please — the usual,” I say every morning.
Grammar in this story: the present simple
This story mainly uses the present simple for routines and for telling the story. Some dialogue uses other forms because the speakers talk about earlier events or make promises. For the routine, look at these examples:
Lily works in a café. Mr Ali comes at half past seven. He drinks his tea slowly.
See how the verb adds -s for he, she and it: work → works, come → comes, drink → drinks.
Help with the dialogue: lived, loved, came and fell refer to the past. It has been my home for forty years means it became his home forty years ago and is still his home now. I will bring it is a promise.
👉 Learn the full rule here: Present Simple for Beginners.
Talk about it · Write about it
Talk about it: Do you have a favourite café or shop? Who works there? What do you always order?
Write about it: Write 5 simple sentences about one kind neighbour or friend. What do they do? Why do you like them? Use the present simple.
🎉 Well done — you read a whole story in English! That is a big step. And did you notice? You now know the eight new words too.
But wait — Mr Ali has a question for Lily. What does he want to ask? What happens next? Write your own ending in five short sentences.
Choose Your Next Story
This is the last story in the saving and working group. Choose another A1 story from the reading collection when you are ready.
Other Story in This Group: Omar’s Bicycle Fund (A1 Reading Story)
About this story: This story is in our A1 reading collection. It uses mainly the present simple, with some other common verb forms. Read one numbered part at a time and use the word list for support. Some words may be new to you; pause and check their meaning before continuing.
I’m Khamis Maiouf. I’m studying Health and Social Care and have completed Functional Skills Level 2 in English and Level 3 Hairdressing. I have taught ESOL in my community and helped students with GCSE English. I run English Teacher Site to help people learn and practise English.