Podcast 148 - B1 Generosity

A Christmas story at B1-level English

Story starts at 7:27

Christmas time

We're coming up to Christmas, so today I'm going to talk about being generous. Generous.

I'm going to tell you a story about being generous. And also some sayings from famous people about what being generous is for them. This is a B1-podcast. I hope you enjoy it.

Here we go!

Hello, and welcome to Practicing English. My name is Mike Bilbrough and these are podcasts for students of English at B1 and 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 will see a picture of the front cover. Click on that and it will take you to the page where you can buy the book.

So the word generous is an adjective, of course, as I've said it's a B1-level word. The noun of generous is generosity. So we talk about somebody's generosity.

And then another word which is, well, connected to Christmas is being kind. Being nice to people friendly, helpful, kind, and the noun of kind is kindness. Kindness with the suffix NESS - kindness.

Here are some sayings. What people have said about being generous - generosity.

Here's one from Simone de Beauvoir.

'That's what I consider generosity. You give everything. However, you always feel as if it costs you nothing.'

And here's one from John Bunyan, who was the author of a Pilgrims Progress.

'You have not lived until you have done something for someone who can never pay you back.'

Interesting. And here's another one from Alan Cohen.

'Money is but one type of generosity. Kindness is an even more valuable currency.'

An even more valuable currency - kindness is more valuable than money.

And then this one from Hilary Mackay talking about generosity at Christmas time to somebody who says they don't want a Christmas present. They don't want anything at Christmas.

'How can I give you nothing? Do you seriously expect me to buy nothing? Wrap up nothing. put a label on nothing. Send a card saying I really hope you like your nothing, and lie awake worrying that the nothing I got you was the right colour.'

That one's quite funny, isn't it?

Okay, I'm going to read you a story then. A short story which I wrote, which is based on a joke that I heard a few years ago, but I've adapted it and also the language is totally adapted as well for a B1-level English. I think I should explain a few words. Some key words of the story, which are B1 words to help you.

The first one is pavement. Pavement, which is the side of the street where people walk. That's the pavement.

The next one is lighter. Now, a lighter or a cigarette lighter is a little device that we use to light a cigarette, so that we can smoke. A cigarette lighter or lighter.

The next one is a regular salary. So a salary is the money that we get at the end of the month for working and regular meaning that every month we get the same amount - a regular salary.

Another word is unemployed. If you are unemployed, it means that you don't have a job.

There's the word disabled. And a disabled person is a person who has problems of mobility. They can't move very well. Physical problems, or perhaps even mental problems as well. We call these people, disabled people.

And another word is to suffer - the verb to suffer, which means to go through a very difficult time.

Another word I have is grateful, and the suffix FUL. Grateful, which means thankful. It means that you thank somebody and you say that you are very happy with what somebody has done for you. You are grateful.

The next one is sort of a Christmas word. To wrap up is when you put paper around a box or a present that you're going to give someone. You wrap it up, usually in paper, which is colourful and attractive to make the present attractive - to wrap up.

And you also may use a ribbon, which is a colourful piece of string, if you like, which you used to tie around the present - a ribbon.

The last one is to be annoyed. If you're annoyed with somebody you feel angry at them - to be annoyed.

So here we go. The story is called generosity...

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