it's raining again outside again we've had one of the wettest winters of all time here in sunny spain but i don't mind i like the rain in england they'd be complaining they would be saying Oh, it's dull and miserable outside.
But quite honestly, well, we had sunny weather last week when I was on holiday.
And this week, back to school, and the rain has come back as well.
I don't mind at all.
Because we will have a hot summer, I'm sure, as we always do here in Seville, in the south of Spain.
Anyway, today it is treasure island day.
It's chapter eight.
We are headed for the south seas of the pacific, where it is always warm and sunny.
Come to treasure island.
This is a b1 recording for all my b1.
Learners out there, and anybody else who would like to join in.
So, here we go with the continuation of Chapter 8 of Treasure Island.
Hello and welcome to Practicing English.
My name is Mike Bilbre and these are podcasts for students of English at B1 or B2 levels.
For transcripts, please go to practicingenglish.com.
Would you like to see my books for learning B1 and B2 level English?
Then go to the show notes at your podcast app and just below today's lesson you'll see a link to Amazon and there you'll be able to read about my New B1 book and my B2 book.
Check it out today.
Right.
I'm trying to make some changes to the way that I question my students at the end.
The way I give questions on the vocabulary.
This time what I'm going to do.
I'm going to talk about the words and I'm going to talk about the example, phrase or sentence that they are used in in the story.
And then I just ask you something simple about these words or phrases at the end.
I hope that the test will be simpler than perhaps in previous tests, which sometimes some people get a bit confused about.
It's my fault, I think.
OK, so let's experiment with this method of testing on language.
Here we go.
I'm going to give you seven words and phrases from the story.
My first one is up and down.
Oh, that sounds quite easy, doesn't it?
Up and down.
It's interesting in english and in other languages that i have tried to study, that you get an order of words like two nouns together or two adjectives together and they are always said in that way.
For example, in English we say a black and white television.
And then some of my listeners say, what is a black and white television?
Well, years ago you could not see programs in color and you could only see the pictures in black and white.
And we say a black and white television and not a white and black television.
And we say up and down and not down and up.
We call these binomial pairs.
Binomial pairs.
And there are a lot in English.
And we use them mostly, I suppose, to make conversation more interesting and more colorful.
Like the television.
Other examples of binomial pairs are...
Neat and tidy, which is a B1 phrase, neat and tidy, and not tidy and neat.
So both those words really have a similar meaning, meaning clean and organized, like a, Your bedroom or the kitchen.
Is it neat and tidy?
Or are there dirty plates unwashed or tea towels left and not put away?
Or is it neat and tidy?
Another one is sick and tired.
Sick and tired.
And that expression or that phrase of binomial pairs means very annoyed or bored of something.
I'm sick and tired of the weather.
There we are.
As I said, they usually say in England after two months of solid rain, I'm sick and tired of this weather.
We never get any sunshine.
Sick and tired.
OK, so sick means ill and tired means fed up.
And we put them together and you get that nice expression, sick and tired of something.
Another one is short and sweet.
Another B1 phrase, short and sweet, which means something which is quick but pleasant.
And my example is the meeting was short and sweet, which everybody appreciated.
OK, so it's short.
Didn't last very long.
And who wants a meeting to last a long time?
And sweet.
Well, what it means by sweet here is that it was okay.
It was good.
It was nice.
It wasn't boring.
Okay.
Short and sweet.
Those words aren't actually in the story.
The binomial pair is up and down.
And the phrase in the story is the ship, the Hispaniola, was moving up and down on the sea.
OK, so anything which moves in upward direction and the downward direction goes up and down.
Children on a slide in the park, they go up and then they go down again.
Or the price of petrol.
Well, sometimes it goes up and sometimes it goes down again, depending on what Mr Trump says and does.
Prices go up and down.
Let's go on.
Number two.
Well, this is about words which are used again together.
And my two words here used together are adjectives.
Dull and miserable.
They're not binomial pairs because they don't, doesn't have to be used perhaps in that order.
You could say something is miserable and dull.
Why it's interesting is that the two words are very synonymous, really.
The meaning is very similar.
They're called paired synonyms because they're two synonyms in a pair.
And again, we use them to make conversation sound more interesting.
In the story, you'll hear this phrase, dull and miserable, in the sentence...
The island looked dull and miserable.
The hills rose above the trees with sharp rocks.
So the island looked dull and miserable.
It's a nice technique to use in your English.
It makes your English sound more interesting and more conversational.
My next one is a fairly common phrase, B1 phrase, which is I couldn't stand.
I can't stand in the present tense or I couldn't stand in the past tense.
And this means you hate something very, very much.
Or you dislike something very much.
So you could say perhaps you hate it.
In the story, the sentence is...
I was certain I couldn't stand Treasure Island.
So that's what Jim Hawkins says in the story.
He was certain he couldn't stand Treasure Island.
Listen out for it in the story.
Next one, before it's the word surrounded, and surrounded means something that goes around something else.
And in the story, it says the place where they land. was surrounded by trees.
So, the preposition we use is by, surrounded by trees, meaning trees all the way around.
Listen out for that in the story.
Number five, it's one I think I've had recently.
I'm mentioning it again today anyway.
It's a chance, which means an opportunity.
And in the story, it says, let's give the men a chance to go ashore.
I should explain to go ashore.
To go ashore means to leave the boat and go onto the land.
In this case, Treasure Island.
Let's give the men a chance to go ashore.
So let's give them an opportunity.
And you give somebody an opportunity or you give somebody a chance.
Listen out for that.
Number six is at once, which means immediately.
Immediately is an A2 word.
It's perhaps more intuitive.
Maybe, although it's a very long word, it's more intuitive, perhaps for most learners of English.
At once.
And in the story, the sentence reads, the men cheered loudly and forgot about being angry at once.
And my last one, number seven, is would rather, which is a nice way of saying, to prefer, and perhaps an alternative, instead of saying I prefer something.
In the story, the sentence reads, I would rather lose my hand than not do my duty.
I would rather lose my hand than not do my duty.
You'll see what that means when you listen to the story in a moment.
Would rather meaning prefer, That's it.
That's my language for you to listen out for.
So listen carefully for those words in those phrases.
And I'll just ask you something simple about them at the end of the story.
So here we go with chapter eight of Treasure Island.
¶¶
When I came up on deck the next morning, the island looked absolutely different.
The wind had become calm.
But we had travelled far during the night.
Our position was now about half a mile from the low eastern coast.
Grey woods covered most of the island.
There were lines of yellow sand and some tall pine trees, standing alone or in small groups.
The island looked dull and miserable.
The hills rose above the trees with sharp rocks.
The tallest hill called the Spyglass, stood high and strange rising steeply and then suddenly cut off at the top.
The ship, the Hispaniola, was moving up and down on the sea.
The wooden deck of the ship made strange noises as the ship moved.
I had to hold on tightly to a rope, and the world seemed to turn around me.
I was fine when the ship was moving forwards, but being still and moving like this made me want to be sick, especially on an empty stomach.
Maybe it was that feeling, or maybe it was the island itself.
The grey woods, the wild rocks, and the sounds of waves crashing on the shore made me feel anxious.
Although the sun was shining and the birds were flying and calling, my heart sank.
From the first moment I was certain I couldn't stand Treasure Island.
We had a long and tiring job ahead.
There was no wind. so we had to get out the boats and move the ship by hand around the island.
I joined in on one of the boats, although I wasn't really needed.
It was very hot and the men began to complain.
Even Anderson, the first officer, who was in charge, was complaining loudly.
This worried me.
Until then the men had been willing to work hard, but now they seemed different.
Long John Silver stood by the man steering the ship and gave directions.
He knew the way perfectly.
There is a strong current here, he said.
This way is being cut out by the sea.
We finally dropped anchor in a quiet place between the island and Skeleton Island.
Birds flew up into the air, crying loudly.
But soon everything became silent again.
The place was surrounded by trees, with hills in the distance.
Two small rivers flowed into the water.
The plants looked bright, but somehow dangerous.
We couldn't see any houses or buildings from the ship.
There was no wind at all, and the only sound was the open sea in the distance.
A disgusting smell at this place, like wet leaves and dying wood.
I saw the doctor smelling the air again and again.
I don't know much about treasure, he said, but I'm certain there's fever here.
The men's behaviour got worse when they went back to the ship.
They lay around the deck, talking angrily.
They followed orders slowly and with bad looks.
It was obvious something was wrong.
Long John tried to calm them down.
He moved from group to group, smiling and speaking kindly.
Aye, aye, sir, he would say cheerfully whenever he got an order.
He even started singing to keep the men cheerful.
But to me, his behaviour was the most worrying thing of all.
We had a meeting in the cabin.
Sir, said the captain, if I give another order, the men might turn against us.
If I argue, there'll be a fight.
If I stay quiet, Silver will know something is wrong.
We only have one man to trust.
Who? answered the squire.
Long John Silver, said the captain.
He wants to keep things calm.
Let's give the men a chance to go ashore.
So we agreed.
The captain went on deck.
My lads, he said, we're all exhausted.
You can go ashore this afternoon.
I'll shoot a gun before sunset so you know you can come back to the ship.
The men cheered loudly and forgot about being angry at once.
Soon the boats were ready.
Thirteen men, including Silver, got in.
Six stayed on the ship.
At that moment I had a sudden idea.
I quickly got over the side and hid in one of the boats.
When we reached the shore, I jumped out and ran into the trees.
Jim!
Jim!
I heard Silver shout.
But I didn't stop.
I kept running away, pushing through bushes until I couldn't run anymore.
Soon, I began to look around.
I had escaped silver and I felt excitement.
I saw strange plants and even a snake that lifted its head and looked at me.
I walked on and came to an open sandy area with trees.
In the distance I saw a hill with two sharp peaks.
I felt the pleasure of exploring something new.
I was alone, far from the ship.
Suddenly, birds flew up in the air.
I guessed someone was coming.
Then I heard voices.
I quickly hid under a tree and listened.
One voice was Silvers.
Mate, he said, I care about you.
That's why I'm warning you.
Things are bad.
I'm trying to save your life.
Selva, said the other man, you're older and respected.
You have money.
Are you really going to join these bad men in this mutiny?
Not me.
I would rather lose my hand than not do my duty.
Suddenly, there was an awful scream from far away.
The sound travelled across the island.
The birds flew up again.
That'll be Alan, said Silver quietly.
Alan, cried the sailor, your men have murdered him.
And you, Silver, you're no friend of mine now.
Kill me if you want.
I'll die doing my duty.
He turned and walked away.
But Silver quickly grabbed a large stick and threw it at him.
It hit the man hard in the back and he fell.
Then Silver jumped on the man, raised his knife and killed him.
I felt sick.
The world seemed to go dark.
When I came back to myself, Silver was cleaning his knife calmly.
Then he took out a whistle and blew it.
I knew more men would come.
I quickly ran off as fast as I could.
Fear took over and I didn't know where I was going.
I thought, if I go back, they will kill me.
If I stay here, I might die alone.
I kept running until I reached a higher, drier place with tall trees.
Here, there was fresher air.
I stopped and sat down.
What was I going to do now?
That's the end of Chapter 8 of Treasure Island.
Things are getting exciting.
Are they not?
Did you hear the words and phrases that I mentioned at the beginning of the story?
Did you hear them in the phrases and sentences that I read out to you?
So well, let's go through them again.
And I will just ask you a simple question about those words.
The first one was the binomial pair.
And you just have to tell me, was it down and up or up and down?
The answer is up and down.
The ship the Hispaniola was moving up and down on the sea.
Number two.
Number two was about my paired synonyms.
What was the synonym of dull used in the sentence?
The island looked dull and... miserable, dull and miserable.
Number three what was the phrase that we use when we want to say that we hate something or we dislike it very much?
In the story.
The sentence was I was certain that I couldn't.
I couldn't stand, or i can't stand in present tense.
Number four was the use of the word surrounded, which means something all around.
I want you to tell me which preposition follows surrounded.
Is it surrounded by or surrounded with?
The answer is surrounded by.
In the story, the sentence read, the place was surrounded by trees.
Number five was a chance, meaning an opportunity.
Do you Let somebody a chance or do you give somebody a chance?
You give somebody a chance.
In the story, it said, let's give the men a chance to go ashore.
Number six, there was a word which means, or two words, sorry, which mean immediately.
Were those two words in once or at once?
At once.
In the story, the sentence read, the men cheered loudly and forgot about being angry at once.
And the last one, number seven.
What was the phrase that we use to mean to prefer to do something?
Is it, I will rather or I would rather?
I would rather.
In the story, the sentence was, I would rather lose my hand than not do my duty.
Right.
That's the end then of the little test.
I hope that you've learned a little bit more language at B1 level this week with my podcast.
I'll be back next week with another B1 podcast, and I wish you all a very sunny or rainy week, whichever you prefer or whichever you would rather.
Until next time, goodbye for now.
