Welcome back to part two of my story that I started last week. a story called Dad, D-A-D, Dad meaning father.
I'm reading part two today. It gets quite exciting.
I think it's more of a human story, perhaps, rather than a thriller or something really that exciting.
But there's more action in the story today.
I'm going to introduce B1 verbs to you. for you to listen out for during the podcast so here we go Hello and welcome to Practicing English.
My name is Mike Bilbre and these are podcasts. for students of English at B1 or B2 levels and if you are a B1 level student Trying to reach B2 level?
Then I recommend my book The Tudor Conspiracy.
Come over to practicingenglish.com and you'll see a picture of the front cover.
Click on that and it will take you to the page where you can buy the book.
Hello. Right. So this is a continuation then from podcast 166. which was the story Dad, which I read last week, and this is part two of that story.
So I'm just going to bring out some verbs, B1 verbs, and I'd like you to...
Listen for them as you're listening to the story and listen to what context they are used in.
If you are sitting down at a table with a pen or pencil, you could write down the phrase that they're used in.
Okay, the first be one verb is to realize, R-E-A-L-I-Z-E or S-E, S-E at the end of being the British spelling.
If you realise something... you suddenly know it.
So if you are thinking about a problem, or thinking about something which you can't find the answer to and then it comes to you And you say, yes, I know that now.
I realize that now. I understand that. to realize the next verb is drop d-r-o-p And to drop something is if you hold it in your hand, an object in your hand and you open your hand that thing will fall to the floor and that action is to drop something you can do it on purpose meaning you do it intentionally or it can be by accident to drop a cup of coffee for example on the floor the next one is to cool or cool out you probably know this verb more by the usage when we talk about somebody's name My name is Mike or I am called Mike.
But in this use, to call out is to shout, to say something loudly so other people hear. can hear, to cool or cool out.
The next verb is to raise, R-A-I-S-E, and to raise something is to lift it up.
So you put your hands under something. For example, what could it be?
It could be a child. Hold the child under his arms and you lift him or her up.
You raise the child up. I suppose raise is a more formal word than lift, but the meaning is the same.
The next one is to weigh, and that is spelled W-E-I-G-H.
And when you weigh something, you want to know how many grams or kilos it is.
So you can weigh yourself and say, hey, I weigh 50, 60, 80 kilos, for example.
So that is to weigh. Listen in the story.
What do they weigh in the story? and the next one is to admire and to admire spelled A-D-M-I-R-E, if you admire something you say that it's very nice. or you just look at it and you appreciate it very much because it's beautiful, it's attractive,
There's something that you like about it and you admire it.
My next verb is to encourage. Be one verb.
Encourage. E-N-C-O-U-R-A-G-E to encourage.
And if you encourage somebody, you say, come on, you can do it.
Yeah, you can do it. Come on. You encourage somebody.
Maybe running a race or something. Encourage somebody to study English more, whatever.
Yeah, you can do it. Okay, my next verb is to dive.
And as you know, we're talking about the water, talking about the sea in this story.
And to dive is D-I-V-E. and that is to jump into the water to jump into the water usually with your head first to dive into the water.
And verb number eight is to appear. A, double P, E, A, R. And if something appears, you see it suddenly.
Okay, so perhaps you're waiting for somebody, there's a lot of people, a crowd of people in the street, and then...
That person suddenly appears. You suddenly see them to appear.
Verb number nine is to breathe. This is another B1 verb, B-R-E-A-T-H-E.
And to breathe is to take air into your body. and then let the air out again.
Right, to breathe. To breathe. OK, and my final verb for you to listen to is a nice positive verb, something perhaps we should do more often.
And it's to hug. H-U-G And when you hug somebody, you put your arms around them.
Because, usually, because you like them or you love that person, so you hug them.
There you have 10 B1 verbs. Listen for them.
If you can, write down the phrase they used in the story.
So, I'll just tell you briefly again that the story is about a fishing trip in the south of Spain family go out fishing?
The story is told by the boy, who's 12 years old, and he's talking about his dad, really.
He's worried about his dad because compared to Uncle Tom, His dad is really not as good as Uncle Tom at sport, in a lot of things.
And he feels a little ashamed of his dad.
And we had that word... last week with podcast 166 and part one of the story to be ashamed. meaning that you feel sad that somebody is the way they are and you don't really like it.
Part two of my story, Dad. For B1 students, here we go.
Dad by M. A. Bilbrer. This story is copyright.
The breeze was stronger now and the sound of the air mixed with the sleepy noise of the engine.
And I felt happy. I looked at my dad. He was looking out to sea, holding a salad sandwich in one hand and holding his hat on with the other.
He didn't want his head to burn in the strong sunshine.
Everybody was busy eating and drinking tea.
Even Stephen had a hot mug of PG tips because he had realised.
His dozen beer bottles weren't at all popular.
Conversation had stopped, and Aunt Mary had even closed her eyes, her half-eaten pork pie on her knee.
Only Uncle Tom looked fully awake, sitting in the cabin, looking ahead for boats or other dangers.
A noise. Everybody looked around, surprised.
What was that? Boit! shouted Stephen, and he dropped his mug of tea and picked up the rod.
Stop the engine, Tom! Stephen pressed a button on the reel and pulled hard.
"'Big one, I think!' he shouted. Here, Tom.
It's all yours. With the engine now stopped, Uncle Tom climbed out of the cabin and Stephen handed him the rod.
Uncle Tom started to turn the reel as fast as he could.
Take it easy, Tom, said Stephen. Here she comes now.
You're doing fine. Everybody looked ahead.
I saw how the rod bent into a C shape. The line went straight into the dark sea.
What exactly was on the other end was a mystery to me.
Suddenly, a long silver fish jumped into the air not far from the back of the boat.
Ooh, we children called out. A couple more minutes later, and Uncle Tom said in a calm voice, Get that net, Stephen.
She's close. Stephen was already at the back of the boat.
He pushed the net under the water and then raised it carefully.
The large, shining creature wet and jumping with great energy, fell out of the net into the boat.
Wow! What type of fish is it, Uncle Tom?
I shouted excitedly. A bluefish, Stephen.
Yep, he said. And it's a beauty. Here, let's weigh it.
He took out some scales from his box of fishing equipment and hung the fish on them.
One angry fish-eye seemed to look hard at me as it hung there, its body as long as Stephen's arm. now beaten and waiting for certain death.
Before I could begin to feel sorry for it, Stephen announced, looking very proud, that it weighed eight kilos.
Uncle Tom switched on the engine and soon we were moving over the waves again.
My brother, cousin Cindy and I went over to look at it.
We touched its cold body with our fingers and admired its bright blue and green colours.
Are we going to put it back in the sea now?
My little brother Ben said Um, I thought we could take it home for dinner this evening, said Uncle Tom.
Well... We can put it back in the sea when it's had some dinner with us, suggested Ben.
Everybody laughed. Except Ben and Cindy.
The noise again. Everybody looked up. The end of another rod was moving backwards and forwards quickly.
Stephen jumped across the boat and picked up the rod.
Stop the engine, Tom. He looked at my dad.
It's your turn, Harry, he said. Perhaps Aunt Mary or Angela would like to try, Dad said, looking confused.
Oh, come on, Dad! I shouted. You can do it!
I really wanted to see Dad catch a fish, like Uncle Tom's.
Why could Dad never do anything better than my uncle?
Stephen pushed the rod into Dad's hand and Dad started turning the reel.
He looked worried and nervous. He looked at me.
He knew what I was thinking. I tried to encourage him Come on, Dad!
You can do it! I shouted. Then his hat blew off his head and flew out to sea.
My hat! he shouted, and put the rod down.
I must have my hat! Can we get it back, Tom?
Please, Dad, forget the hat. Get the fish.
Dad paused and then picked up the rod again and pulled.
There's nothing there, he said. Stephen took the rod from him.
Yeah, it's gone, he said quietly. A pity.
It seemed like a big one. You've got to keep pulling, though.
If you stop pulling, it'll get away. Sorry, said Dad, and he looked upset.
I was worried about losing my hat. I put my head down.
I couldn't hide my disappointment. Don't worry, said Uncle Tom with a big smile.
We'll go back for your hat. Then you can catch another one.
Yes, we'll catch another one, laughed Ben and Cindy together, jumping up and down.
Jumping in a small boat isn't a good idea, Uncle Tom told me afterwards.
And what happened next? happened very quickly.
The box of beer on the roof fell off. Uncle Tom was sitting under it and the heavy bottles fell on his head.
Uncle Tom's eyes closed and he fell backwards into the sea.
Aunt Mary screamed, and stood up. she shouted.
Stephen was looking around, confused. Where's the life ring?
He was saying to himself. There should be a life ring.
But Dad was on his feet. He quickly took off his sandals and shirt and dived into the water.
Harry no screamed mum but it was too late we ran to the side of the boat and looked down there was nobody there We were silent.
The whole world for us stopped, except for the dark waves that struck the side of the boat. one after the other.
Plop, plop, plop. I felt a pain inside my chest and tears came to my eyes.
Dad! Dad! Please come back! I shouted into the cold water below.
Suddenly, there was something under the water.
Dad's head appeared above the waves, right next to the side of the boat.
Another body shape. Uncle Tom! Dad was holding him by the shoulders.
Uncle Tom's head now out of the water. Help me! called Dad, exhausted.
"'Help me get Tom onto the boat!' We all pulled at Uncle Tom's jacket and soon he was in the boat.
Dad followed, breathing heavily. But Uncle Tom wasn't moving.
We all looked terrified at him. His eyes closed.
Was he dead? But Dad moved quickly. He got down on his knees and he put his ear near Uncle Tom's nose.
Then he held his wrist for a few seconds.
Then he put his hands flat on Uncle Tom's chest and began to push down hard.
Once, twice, three times, Again and again, we all waited and hoped.
Suddenly, Uncle Tom was coughing. and water was shooting out from his mouth.
Dad lifted Uncle Tom to a sitting position, and now Uncle Tom was breathing.
He looked up at our faces and after a few seconds he smiled.
We all cried out in happiness and hugged each other.
My mum was crying and she hugged dad. We were a family again and the danger had passed.
I looked at my dad, who was smiling. Then I noticed there was blood coming from his ear.
Stephen was able to get the boat back to the harbour.
He also spoke some Spanish and managed to call for help on the boat's radio.
So when we arrived, there was an ambulance waiting for us.
And Dad and Uncle Tom were taken to hospital in Cadiz.
Uncle Tom was fine, and Dad's ear injury wasn't serious, fortunately.
Family life continued like before. Uncle Tom was the way he'd always been, full of fun, joking and smiling, good at everything.
Dad was the same too. Quiet, a little shy, not sure of himself.
And I still beat him when we played shooting at the goal.
But all that didn't bother me anymore. Although we rarely spoke about it, nobody forgot those terrible moments on Uncle Tom's boat. on that summer fishing trip in the south of Spain.
There was a hero in our family, a real hero, who had saved us all.
That hero was my dad. And that's the end of the story.
I hope you enjoyed it. Did you hear the ten verbs that I mentioned at the beginning?
Bye for now.
