Hello and welcome to Practicing English.
My name is Mike Bilbre and these are podcasts for students of English at B1 or B2 levels practisingenglishcom.
Today's story has an interesting title.
It's called Every Dog Has His Day.
Every Dog Has His Day.
Yes, dog.
Woof, woof.
What does it mean?
Well, it means that...
Many people feel, perhaps, that they have not achieved very much perhaps in their lives.
You know, we compare ourselves perhaps with all those wonderful people on YouTube and film stars and politicians.
I don't know.
And we think...
Our lives are rather normal, perhaps even boring.
I've never done anything particularly special in my life.
Well, the expression every dog As his day means that those of us who feel that we have not done anything particularly wonderful, one day our day will come and we'll show the world what we are made of and do something spectacular.
And that's what the story is about.
So I'm going to introduce you first of all to the vocabulary.
This is a strong B1 story or a B2 story, mostly B2.
There are two separate activities for you to do.
One is in the podcast notes.
I've put some B1 and B2 words there for you to practice read.
What you'll see are only the consonants.
The vowels have been taken out, unless the first letter is a vowel.
You have to guess the word from the definition.
Then listen to the story and check your answers.
And I'll give you the answers also at the end of the story.
Also.
Now I'm going to give you some phrases B2 phrases for you to listen to in the story and find out the context.
And then I'll tell you in which context the phrases were used at the end of the story.
So there are six phrases in total to listen out for.
Phrase one.
And it's to talk things over with somebody.
Talk things over.
So it's like a phrasal verb.
And if you talk something over with somebody, it's usually when there's something we don't really understand ourselves or we need to share it with somebody for some reason, and so we talk it over with them, We share what we know with them and perhaps they might give us some advice.
Yeah, that's it.
To talk something over with somebody.
Phrase number two is to keep in good shape.
In the story, it's the past tense, so that's kept in good shape.
And if you keep yourself In good shape, it means that you go to the gymnasium quite a lot, or you go out jogging or swimming or something like that.
So you stay quite fit and you keep yourself in good shape.
Phrase number three.
B2 phrase number three.
Is to push yourself.
To push.
P-U-S-H.
So if you push yourself.
You are in a situation where you need to do something more than what you're doing.
It could be physical.
So, for example, if you're training for something training for football, training for tennis and you need to push yourself, that means you need to train more and work harder so that you are a better player.
Or it could be in your exams.
If, for example, you have an exam coming up and you need to study more, for example, then you push yourself.
Put in more hours.
You study longer and harder and more intensely as to push yourself.
And the next one is a lovely one.
It's to be or to feel over the moon.
The moon, yeah, the moon up in the sky at night.
And when you feel over the moon, It means you are very excited about something or you feel very pleased about something and you are very happy.
You are enormously happy.
You are over the moon.
And expression number five is to take a deep breath.
Take a deep breath.
Now, that is literally just to go...
You take air into your lungs.
But it has a figurative meaning as well.
And that figurative meaning is when you are about to do something which is perhaps difficult.
You're a little bit nervous about doing it.
And just before, you take a deep breath to prepare yourself for the thing that you have to do.
Maybe it's a speech you have to make in front of other people and you have to stand in front of them and you're a bit nervous about it, worried about it.
So you take a deep breath, you stand up and you begin your speech.
And my last one, number six is to take something for granted.
Take something for granted.
What does that mean?
Well, if you take something for granted, you assume it is true.
I mean, we take a lot of things for granted, don't we?
In the Western world, we take it for granted that tomorrow we'll have breakfast on the table and tomorrow we'll have three square meals.
Tomorrow the sun will come up.
We take those things for granted.
All those six phrases, what is the context?
So if you're listening and you have a pen to hand, or if you have a very good memory, well then better, with a pen, write down what context are these phrases used in?
And I'll give you the answers at the end of the story.
And this is the question that I would like you to answer by sending me a text.
At the podcast notes it says send me a text.
You need a mobile phone.
Click on there and write the answer.
I will read out the answer in the next podcast and I'll also say who sent me the answer.
So, if you can leave your name and the country you're from.
And the question is how long is the swimming pool?
How long is the swimming pool?
And really there's a second question.
How do you know?
How do you know how long it is?
I'll give that answer to you next week in the next podcast.
And I hope somebody will write to me and tell me how they knew the length of the swimming pool and what length it is.
Right, okay, so here we go.
This is a B2 level story for B2 students studying for Cambridge or other exams, or you just want to improve your English.
Here we go.
Every dog has his day.
By M.A.
Bilborough.
A B2 level story, all for strong B1 students.
Copyright M.A.
Bilborough.
The fact of the matter was Norman Newbery had never really stood out in anything.
Coming fifth at the cross-country running at his secondary school sports day could hardly be called an outstanding achievement.
Neither could he claim to show greatness in football from his university days, when he was the team's goalkeeper and only let in eight goals in the entire season.
He did not even finish his studies at university, but dropped out after the first year.
Nothing impressive about that stage of his life.
Norman did not take much pride in his career at the local supermarket either.
Despite reaching the distinguished position of deputy manager after nearly 40 years.
Or was distinguished the right word?
Probably not.
One way or another, Norman imagined that other people regarded him as an underachiever.
He became obsessed by what his colleagues at the supermarket might call him when he was not listening.
What about Norman Nobody, Norman Nothing in particular?
Norman was a man of the opinion that life had not treated him fairly.
Norman lived with the disadvantage of having nobody to talk things over with.
His wife had left him ten years earlier, and their childless marriage left a lonely, tragic silence in his home, where only the sound of the television provided a little comfort.
Furthermore, the absence of what you could call real friends meant he was cut off almost completely from the world.
Human contact was limited to his work colleagues and irritating discussions on the most profitable ways of filling shelves with food and toiletries.
There was one thing in his favour, however.
Norman kept in fairly good shape.
It probably went back to his cross-country running days at school.
He went jogging about three times a week around his local park and when a new sport centre opened just up the road from where he lived, he decided to join for the swimming.
Swimming was not jogging, of course, a very different sport indeed, but similar in that you did not need to be part of a team.
Owing to Norman's lack of friends, he knew it would be difficult to take up a sport with somebody else.
Norman definitely did not wish to be associated with his colleagues' outside work.
Swimming suited him fine.
Norman soon got into swimming at his local pool and he went there whenever possible, sometimes nearly every day.
He learned the four types of stroke breaststroke, where your arms moved to the sides.
Backstroke, which was when you swam with your face looking upwards.
Butterfly, which was the most difficult stroke.
And then Norman's favourite, the cruel, the fastest stroke.
He soon bought himself the most expensive equipment goggles that looked really cool over his eyes, trendy swimming trunks, bathing cap and other pieces of equipment like flippers for your feet to strengthen his legs.
Norman hired a trainer at the sports centre and although his technique was rather poor at first, he wasn't discouraged.
He was not sure why, but he began to push himself.
In an attempt to improve his length times, he began to train more regularly.
When he was at work, he found that his mind was elsewhere, thinking about that evening's training session and by how much he would be able to break his previous record.
The hobby was becoming an obsession.
On one evening, after several months of hard training, he was just getting out of the pool when one of the lifeguards came up to him.
"'Good evening, sir,' he said.
"'Good evening,' answered Norman."
My name's Steve.
Norman.
Norman Newbury.
I was watching you.
You're swimming.
You're pretty quick.
Norman, feeling quite over the moon that somebody had actually praised him for something, forgot his usual, rather rude tone of voice and answered ''Oh, thank you.
I've been training hard recently.''
I would say so.
You're swimming 20 second lengths.
That's quite fast.
I mean, for your age.
Sorry, don't mean to be offensive.
I mean your age category.
I'm a swimming trainer, you see.
Could i ask how old you are?
Norman was now in high spirits as a person who had always under-achieved.
He appreciated the praise.
I'm sixty-one, he answered, taking off his goggles and bathing cap.
There's a swimming competition coming up next month, said the lifeguard.
Norman began to panic.
Wait a minute.
I'm not that good.
I'm over 60.
I could never... No, no, you don't understand, sir. said the lifeguard politely.
There's a category for the over-sixties.
There's a 200 metre race.
You'd do really well.
Would you like to sign up?
There's a trophy for the winner.
Not only that, it's for charity too.
You know, to raise money for Save the Children.
The local paper will be featuring the event.
What do you think?
Two hundred metres.
That's eight lengths of the pool.
I like that distance.
A trophy.
The idea struck Norman as something quite wonderful.
He who had never won anything.
The loser, Norman Nobody.
He would get his name in the local newspaper if he did well.
Norman smiled to himself.
Every dog has his day, he thought.
Norman began to spend more time in the swimming pool.
He worked on his strokes and began to practice his pool end turns to improve his time.
By the time of the competition, Norman had managed to reduce his length time by a couple of seconds.
He was fitter and stronger than ever.
He felt ready to be a winner.
A stubborn determination to win.
Convinced he could.
Norman somebody.
The day of the swing competition arrived.
It was on a Saturday and Norman was astonished at the large numbers of people who turned up to support the charity event.
He even recognised one or two of his colleagues among the spectators.
There was a wide variety of races and contests, including synchronized swimming and highboard and springboard diving.
Norman refused to watch any of it.
He sat in the changing rooms, preparing his mind mentally.
Every dog has his day.
He had to win at all costs.
Eventually, he heard the announcement for the over-60s 200m swimming race.
Norman's time had come.
Dressed only in his stylish slim-fit swimming trunks and matching bathing cap and the coolest goggles money could buy, Norman Newbery took a deep breath and walked out into the swimming pool area.
He was eager and determined to win.
Norman was shocked at what he saw.
He had taken it for granted that this was going to be a serious event.
However, none of the other competitors had turned out like him.
He was irritated to see that they were mostly wearing ridiculous costumes.
One was dressed as a shark with a large fin on his back.
Another wore a large round orange hat with long pieces of plastic hanging down, presumably trying to look like some sort of jellyfish.
There was even somebody in a chicken costume with bright yellow feathers and a red comb.
Norman wondered why some people enjoyed making fools of themselves.
The swimmers climbed onto the starting platform, ready to begin the race.
The crowd was in high spirits, cheering and shouting.
They had obviously come to have a good time.
But the start of the race was held up.
A man next to Norman could not get onto the starting platform.
He was very short and thin and must have been about 80 years old.
His bright pink swimming trunks came down over his knees.
Could you give me a hand up? he asked, smiling at Norman.
Norman, now feeling bad-tempered and annoyed, got off his platform and helped the old man up.
Where was the competitive spirit he had been expecting?
All the other competitors looked like idiots.
A referee sounded the starting pistol and all the swimmers dived in.
Norman set off, ignoring the other swimmers.
With steady nerves he swam, as he had trained, not too fast for the first two or three lengths and then slightly increasing speed over the final ones.
Norman was at his best.
His slim, strong body cruised through the water like a dolphin's.
Norman won the race with ease.
With one expert movement, Norman raised his body up out of the pool and stood at the pool's edge.
He raised his arms in triumph.
Norman was the winner.
However, the crowd did not seem to be paying much attention to Norman.
Instead they were cheering the battle between the chicken and the jellyfish.
The chicken madly beating his wings in the water seemed to be winning, because the jellyfish kept going back for his orange hat.
When the chicken pulled himself out of the pool, the crowd screamed like mad with delight.
One of the judges laughing, ran up to the chicken, the trophy in one hand and a microphone in the other.
Ladies and gentlemen!
The spectators were still laughing and shouting.
Ladies and gentlemen!
And the crowd gradually began to calm down.
Excuse me, sir, he said, talking to the chicken.
Would you tell everybody your name?
Geoffrey Biggles.
Well, Geoffrey, I wasn't aware chickens could swim.
The crowd laughed.
Actually, I wanted to make a flying fish costume, but it went wrong, said Geoffrey.
Ho, ho, laughed the judge.
Well, on behalf of all the judges, we are awarding you this trophy.
Not perhaps for the fastest time, but definitely for the most entertaining performance.
Congratulations, Geoffrey.
Norman silently returned to the changing room.
It was raining on the way home from the sports centre, and Norman had not brought an umbrella.
Still, it was not far, and he remembered that there was a good film on the television that evening.
I hope you enjoyed the story.
I'm going to go over the questions then, the vocabulary first of all, which is in the podcast notes.
The words were, these are the B1 words.
One, achievement.
Number two, discussion.
Number three, rude.
Number four, recognized.
Number five, competitor.
Number six, and these are the B2 words, outstanding.
Number seven, tragic.
Number eight, profitable.
And number nine, goggles.
10.
Astonished.
If you want to see those words written well, then you can go to practicingenglishcom podcast 205.
The B2 level phrases with the context are the following the first one to talk things over with somebody.
The context was that Norman lived with the disadvantage of having nobody to talk things over with.
His wife had left him ten years earlier. kept in good shape.
The context was that Norman kept in fairly good shape.
It probably went back to his cross-country running days at school.
He went jogging about three times a week.
Number three, to push himself.
He was not sure why, but he began to push himself in an attempt to improve his length times.
He began to train more regularly.
Be or feel over the moon.
The swimming trainer came up to him and said I was watching you, you're swimming, you're pretty quick.
And Norman, feeling quite over the moon that somebody had actually praised him for something.
And number five took a deep breath, dressed only in his stylish, slim fit swimming trunks with matching bathing cap and the coolest goggles money could buy.
Norman Newbery took a deep breath and walked out into the swimming pool area.
So he took a deep breath to prepare himself to start the race.
And take something for granted.
He had taken it for granted.
As number six take something for granted.
He had taken it for granted that this was to be a serious event.
However, none of the other competitors had turned out like him.
He was irritated to see they were mostly wearing ridiculous costumes.
So he took it for granted.
He thought that it was going to be serious and it wasn't.
That's the end of my story.
Hope you've enjoyed listening to it.
And I hope you've learned something from the phrases.
We'll be back next week with another podcast.
Until next time, goodbye for now.
