In this B1-level podcast today I'll use lots of important vocabulary and expressions to talk about daily actions. I'll also discuss 10 interesting B1-level words, which you can listen for while you listen to the short story.
no going back - you cannot go to where you were earlier, or if you start something, you cannot leave it but must carry on.
warning - a notice or something spoken to tell us to be careful of a danger
damage your health - to harm (B2) or do something that can make you ill
step into / step out of - go in or out of something you get to by using your feet
fresh - can mean cool, such as a cool breeze (but not cold); it can also mean not bad when referring to fruit; or it can mean 'new' such as 'fresh ideas'
admire - to look at a picture etc. and realise you like it; or to look up to somebody (B2) when we think somebody is wonderful because of their qualities.
backwards - moving in the opposite way from forwards; or something like a word seen the other way around e.g. ENGLISH = HSILGNE
funny - amusing, it makes you laugh; also strange or peculiar
topic of discussion - a subject to talk about
can't help + verb + ing - something we do put perhaps should not do like eating too much chocolate.
When the candle stops burning in eight hours, you will die.
Nigel watched the flame as the candle burned. He had chosen to light the candle himself. There had been no need, but now it was done, and there was no going back.
When the candle stops burning in eight hours, you will die.
It said so quite clearly on the box. It came with a warning, which almost made Nigel smile – it was so silly.
This product may seriously damage your health.
There it was. Eight hours to live. When the candle died, so would he, so there was no point in blowing the candle out. Why make his life any shorter than it already was.
What was he going to do now? Nigel stood up, raised his arms and looked down at himself. He was standing in his blue, striped pyjamas. He looked around him. His bedroom. The bed not made. The curtains still closed, so it was quite dark. The wardrobe, chest-of-drawers, and two armchairs in shadow.
First action. Open the curtains. He walked towards the window and pulled the curtains to either side. Sunshine. Bright sunshine shone through the glass like a gift, an invitation. There was a world out there.
Nigel went into the bathroom, undressed, and stepped into the shower. He remembered the bathroom gel he had been given for Christmas. Opening the bathroom cupboard, he took it out, took off the lid from the gel bottle and smelled it. It smelled good – flowers, or something similar, he thought. The gel brought life back into his body, and when he stepped out of the shower to dry himself with the towel, the pain in his chest he had felt earlier that morning was much less.
He decided to clean his teeth, and brush his tongue - before breakfast. Nigel felt that he needed to get rid of the bacteria that had grown there overnight. He had never thought of that before. Why eat bacteria with your breakfast? A fresh mouth and a fresh start to the day.
He looked in the mirror and picked up the comb standing in a mug by the side of the basin. He combed the little hair he had on his head, from left to right instead of right to left. At forty-five years of age, he had been unlucky to have so little hair, he thought. Not that it mattered any more.
He admired the effect in the mirror. He then realised that this new look, this new style, was, in fact, how the world had always seen him every day until now. Nigel was looking at a mirror image of himself. He looked hard into the mirror. Even a selfie taken with his mobile phone would show himself backwards. Nigel wondered if this was important. Then he thought of the candle, and he knew he had to make a move.
He dressed in the clothes he felt were the most comfortable. He put on his old jeans and a sweatshirt. In the top drawer of the bedside table, he found a pair of Happy Socks he had never worn before. Again a Christmas present. Light red socks with silver Christmas candles. Very suitable, he thought. They would be the last pair of socks he would wear in his life – Happy Socks to die in! Funny, right?
When Nigel left the house, he left the candle burning, safely in a saucer on the bedside table.
Breakfast out was a something special. It had been a topic of discussion many times when he had left work for the local café and the essential daily breakfast. It was often not easy to name the simple pleasures of life. However, it was clear that breakfast out was definitely one of them.
‘Good morning, sir. What would you like?’ asked a smiling waitress. She was dressed in a black dress and white blouse. Her black hair done up in a bun on her head. Nigel couldn’t help thinking she looked attractive. There would be many things he would miss after his death.
‘Good morning,’ replied Nigel. ‘I’ll have toast and olive oil… No, no. Something special today. Toast with sliced tomato, ham and avocado pear, erm, freshly squeezed orange juice and expresso coffee, please.’
‘Very good, sir. I’ll be right back.’
That, Nigel, thought to himself, was the sort of breakfast you had on the last day of your life. Not an enormous meal with a huge range of ingredients, but something simple. Breakfast out - one of simple pleasures in life.
As Nigel was enjoying his breakfast, he read the news on his phone. Trump to be president of the US, the terrible floods in Spain, so many deaths in Palestine. In his mind, Nigel realised that there would be people in Gaza alive now who would die possibly before he did. He wondered if he had a right to carry this out. But was he not suffering too? He had to continue. He had to.
no going back - but now it was done, and there was no going back.
warning - It said so quite clearly on the box. It came with a warning.
damage your health - this product may seriously damage your health - the candle.
step into / step out of - he stepped into the shower and out of the shower.
fresh - A fresh mouth and a fresh start to the day.
freshly squeezed orange juice -
admire - he admired the effect in the mirror.
backwards - even a selfie taken with his mobile phone would show himself backwards
funny - Happy Socks to die in! Funny, right? (Here meaning both, probably: funny hah ha and funny peculiar.)
topic of discussion - breakfast out was a something special. It had been a topic of discussion many times when he had left work for the local café.
can't help + verb + ing - Nigel couldn’t help thinking she looked attractive.
Copyright © 2024 Practising English
All rights reserved
