✨Well done, dear friends!👏🏻👏🏻

🔻Correct answers are:

1️⃣ A, 2️⃣ A, 3️⃣ C, 4️⃣ C, 5️⃣ B

Listen to the recording on a healthy lifestyle and read along with the conversation. Review the key #vocabulary and the sample sentences.👇🏻

📚#Vocabulary and Sample Sentences


✨hon (pronoun): short for "honey"
✨اختصار لكلمة حبيبي/حبيبتي

🔻Hon. Could you wake me up early tomorrow morning?

✨Humph: a word showing disbelief
✨كلمة تستخدم للتعبير عن عدم التصديق

🔻Humph. There's no way you can lift all that weight!

✨abandon (verb): in this case, "give up" the idea
✨يتراجع عن/يلغي الفكرة

🔻They had to abandon the plan to build a house due to a financial crisis.

✨out of shape (idiom): in poor physical condition
✨غير ليِّق

🔻I have to start exercising because I'm so out of shape.

✨physical (noun): a medical examination
✨فحص طبي

🔻She had to have a physical before she joined the track team.

✨cut back on (phrasal verb): to reduce
✨يُقلِّل

🔻I have to cut back on the fatty foods I've been eating.

✨take up (phrasal verb): begin or start
✨يبدأ

🔻He has decided to take up cooking in his spare time.

✨cardiovascular system (noun): your body’s blood circulation system including your heart, veins, and arteries
✨الدورة الدموية

🔻Running at least 30 minutes a day helps improve your cardiovascular system.


🎧📖#Conversations📖🎧
@ReadAloudESL

2⃣6⃣ The Yardman 🍃🌳


The yardman comes every two weeks. He drives a gray pickup truck. The truck is a Ford. It is about 15 years old, but it runs well. It doesn't burn oil, and it gets decent gas mileage. The yardman's name is Byron.

In the back of his truck are a lawn mower, a leaf blower, a rake, and a shovel. Byron uses the leaf blower to blow leaves and dirt from the back of the building out to the front of the building. Then he rakes up the leaves into a bag. He blows the dirt out into the street. He cuts the lawn with his lawn mower. He trims the hedge. He uses the leaf blower to blow the dirt off each Welcome mat that lies in front of each apartment door.

Then he puts all the leaves, the grass trimmings, and the hedge clippings into a wheelbarrow. He pushes the wheelbarrow to the back of the building, where he uses his big shovel to empty the wheelbarrow contents into the big dumpster. It takes Byron about two hours to do this work.

When he is done, he goes half a block up the street to the house on the corner. There he does the same work again.

📚#Vocabulary:

✨burn ~~~ يحرق/يستهلك وقود
✨content ~~~ محتوى
✨decent ~~~ مناسب
✨dirt ~~~ تراب
✨dumpster ~~~ مكب النفايات
✨hedge ~~~ سياج من الشجيرات
✨lawn ~~~ مرج/عشب أخضر
✨leaf ~~~ ورقة شجر
✨mileage ~~~
المسافة بالميل/عدد الأميال
✨mower ~~~ جزّارة عشب
✨rake ~~~ جرّاف
✨shovel ~~~ جاروف/مغرفة/شبل
✨trim ~~~ يشذّب/يقلّم
✨wheelbarrow ~~~ عربة يدوية


⚠️ Click on the “blue” words to see their pics!


🎧📖#Short_stories📖🎧
@ReadAloudESL

✨Well done, dear friends!👏🏻👏🏻

🔻Correct answers are:

1️⃣ B, 2️⃣ A, 3️⃣ C, 4️⃣ C, 5️⃣ A

Listen to the recording and read along with the conversation. Review the key #vocabulary and the sample sentences.👇🏻

📚#Vocabulary and Sample Sentences

✨make something of oneself (idiom): become successful in a career 
✨يحقق إنجاز في الحياة المهنية

🔻My dad never thought I would make something of myself because I didn't graduate from a prestigious university, but I proved him wrong.

✨get ahead (phrasal verb): become successful in the business world 
✨ينجح/يتقدم

🔻If you want to get ahead in life, you have to set clear goals.

✨realize (verb): understand the importance of something 
✨يدرك/يستوعب

🔻Many young married couples don't realize how challenging raising children can be until they have children of their own.

✨recall (verb): remember something from the past
✨يسترجع/يتذكر (عادة أحداث ماضية و قديمة)

🔻I can't recall a time when my parents argued in front of me and my brothers.

✨focus on (verb): pay careful and direct attention to a particular person or thing
✨يركز على

🔻When people focus too much on their careers, they sometimes neglect their family's needs.

✨distraction (noun): something that takes your attention away from another activity
✨مشتت للانتباه

🔻Watching too much TV can be a big distraction from building a good relationship with children.

✨off the top of your head (idiom): think of something immediately without preparation
✨يستحضر بسرعة

🔻I felt really embarrassed when I couldn't remember her name off the top of my head.

🎧🗣#Conversations🗣🎧
@ReadAloudESL

2️⃣8️⃣ Pete’s sharp knife 🔪


Pete was in his kitchen. He was about to slice three green apples. He liked to eat fresh apples with cinnamon sprinkled on them. He opened the blinds so that he could get more sunlight into the kitchen. Now he could see what he was doing.

He grabbed a knife out of a drawer. It said "Surgical Stainless USA" on the side of the blade. The blade was very thin and light. It had teeth, like a saw. The handle was a brown piece of cheap hollow plastic.

He had bought this knife about 20 years ago at a county fair. It was one of those knives that were advertised on TV. It could cut through a tomato can, and then cut easily and cleanly through a fresh tomato.

"You never need to sharpen it. The sharp edge is guaranteed for life." That's how they advertised it. And Pete, for once, couldn't argue that the advertisers lied. This was a great knife.

But it was also a dangerous knife. A couple of years ago, Pete was careless. He was rapidly slicing a potato and the blade got his finger. The doctor put three stitches in Pete's finger.
"Next time, be more careful," the doctor said.
No kidding, Pete thought. He was so careful that he didn't use the knife for almost a year.

📚#Vocabulary:

✨advertise ~~~ يُعلن في وسائل الإعلام
✨almost ~~~ تقريباً
✨blade ~~~ شفرة/حد السكين
✨blind ~~~ الستارة
✨cinnamon ~~~ قرفة
✨couple ~~~ زوج (إثنان)
✨drawer ~~~ دُرج
✨fair ~~~ معرض
✨guarantee ~~~ يضمن
✨hollow ~~~ أجوف/مجوَّف
✨kid ~~~ يمزح
✨once ~~~ مرة
✨rapid ~~~ سريع
✨slice ~~~ شريحة
✨sprinkle ~~~ ينثر/يرش
✨stitch ~~~ غرزة
✨sunlight ~~~ ضوء الشمس
✨surgical ~~~ جراحي


🎧📖#Short_stories📖🎧
@ReadAloudESL

✨Well done, dear friends!👏🏻👏🏻

🔻Correct answers are:

1️⃣ A, 2️⃣ B, 3️⃣ C, 4️⃣ A, 5️⃣ B

Listen to the recording and read along with the conversation. Review the key #vocabulary and the sample sentences.👇🏻

🎧🗣#Conversations🗣🎧
@ReadAloudESL

📚#Vocabulary and Sample Sentences

🔻endure (verb): keep doing something unpleasant or difficult
✨يتحمَّل/يطيق

✨I can't endure my roommate's cooking for another day. It's terrible!

🔻switch (verb): change
 ✨يغيِّر/يبدِّل

✨Can we switch recipes for tonight's dinner? I'd rather have chicken instead of fish.

🔻entire (adjective): complete or whole
 ✨كامل/كل

✨My daughter prepared the entire meal for the family.

🔻ingredients (noun): materials for cooking
✨مكونات/مقادير الوصفة

✨These are great cookies. What ingredients do you use to make them?

🔻pinch (noun): a small amount
✨قرصة (مقدار صغير)

✨The chicken might taste better if you add a pinch of salt and pepper.

🔻preheat (verb): heat an oven or stove before you start cooking something
✨يسخِّن مسبقاً

✨First, you should preheat the oven to 325 degrees before you start preparing the meal.

🔻batch (noun): a group of similar things, used also with baking cookies
✨الكمية المُعدَّة

✨I don't think two batches of cookies will be enough to feed all of the guests at the party.

🎧🗣#Conversations🗣🎧
@ReadAloudESL

3️⃣0️⃣ Provider Overbills Customer


Simon got a monthly bill that he didn't like. His Internet service provider, Wink, automatically withdrew $15 from his checking account each month. This was called direct payment. It made things simpler for him because it meant one less check to write each month.

In fact, Simon had direct payments with his gas company, his phone company, and his electric company. So that was four fewer checks that he had to write each month.

This month, instead of $15, Wink had withdrawn $75. Simon went online and looked at his account. Part of the increase was because he had switched from a slow dial-up connection to a fast DSL connection. Wink charged him $45 just to make that switch.

Simon thought that this charge in itself was ridiculous. It probably took them about five seconds to make the switch. But any time a corporation can gouge you, they will.

In addition to the $45, Wink had charged him $15 for his dial-up account, but had also charged him $15 for his DSL account. This was a double-charge, since a computer uses dial-up or DSL, but not both.
We'll see about this, Simon thought, as he searched for Wink's 800 number.

📚#Vocabulary:

✨account ~~~ حساب مصرفي
✨automatically ~~~ آلياً/تلقائياً
✨charge ~~~ يسدد/يشحن
✨connection ~~~ شبكة اتصال
✨corporation ~~~ شركة
✨in addition to ~~~ بالاضافة الى ذلك
✨ridiculous ~~~ سخيف
✨switch ~~~ يحوّل
✨withdraw ~~~ يسحب


🎧📖#Short_stories📖🎧
@ReadAloudESL

✨Well done, dear friends!👏🏻👏🏻

🔻The correct answers are:

1️⃣ C, 2️⃣ A, 3️⃣ B, 4️⃣ B, 5️⃣ C

Listen to the recording and read along with the conversation. Review the key #vocabulary and the sample sentences.👇🏻

🎧🗣#Conversations🗣🎧
@ReadAloudESL

📚#Vocabulary and Sample Sentences

🔻so: often used when changing the topic of the conversation 
✨إذن: غالباً تستخدم لتغيير موضوع الحوار

✨So, what do you want to do after you graduate?

🔻bat around (idiom): consider different choices, including the positive and negative points of each option 
✨يجول بفكره حول (تعبير مجازي) يستخدم للنظر في الخيارات المختلفة ، بما في ذلك النقاط الإيجابية والسلبية لكل خيار

✨My daughter batted around a few ideas on where to travel over the holidays until she settled on Hawaii.

🔻you can say that again (idiom): used when completely agreeing with someone 
✨(تعبير مجازي) يستخدم عند الموافقة التامة مع الطرف الاخر

✨So, you think the teacher is too difficult? You can say that again.

🔻help out (phrasal verb): help someone who is in need, especially when they have problems 
✨(فعل مركب) يساعد شخص في مأزق، خصوصاً عند وجود مشكلات

✨Because my parents are old, I try to help them out whenever I can.

🔻see the light at the end of the tunnel (idiom): something that gives you hope for the future after a period of difficult problems or challenges 
✨(تعبير مجازي) شيء يبعث على التفاؤل بعد تحديات و عقبات صعبة

✨College life was difficult, but by my last semester, I felt more relaxed because I could see the light at the end of the tunnel: graduation was just around the corner.

🔻line up (phrasal verb): arrange 
✨يرتب/ينظم

✨I need to line up an appointment with my school advisor by the end of the week.

🔻realistic: actually possible 
✨واقعي

✨My younger brother isn't very realistic; he thinks he can get a great-paying job right out of high school without any training.

🔻bad-mouth (idiom): criticize
✨(تعبير مجازي) ينتقد أو يغتاب

✨He always bad-mouths people behind their backs. If you have anything to say about people, it's best to say it to their faces.

🔻sermon (noun): a talk with moral advice about life
✨موعظة/ خطبة

✨The minister gave an interesting sermon at church this past week about serving others in need.

🎧🗣#Conversations🗣🎧
@ReadAloudESL

3⃣2⃣ Let's buy some paint 🎨


"Let's go to Wal-Mart," Elizabeth told Kenneth. She wanted to buy some paint supplies. He suggested that they go to Home Depot instead because employees there could tell them exactly what to buy. After arriving there, Elizabeth found a friendly looking worker who was momentarily free.

"Excuse me," she said. "Could you help us?" She explained that she wanted to paint her office. "Neither me nor my husband knows how to do it, so please tell us the basics," she added. He smiled and told her that it was simple. All they needed were two gallons of white glossy paint, a roller, a tray and an insert to pour the paint in, and an extension -handle to reach the high parts of each wall.

"Don't we need primer?" Kenneth asked.

"Oh, yes, of course. I was getting to that. If you don't put primer on first, the paint won't stick to the walls. Here are two gallons of good, but inexpensive, primer. And a brush would be a good idea for use in the corners and edges. And that should take care of it. Just put the primer on first. Let it dry for a couple of hours. Then put on one coat of paint. Let it dry. Then, if you want to, put on another coat, but it shouldn't be necessary."

As they were putting the items into the trunk, Kenneth told her they should buy a ladder, too. "We're going to have to use the brush to paint up near the ceiling. The roller won't do in a corner," Kenneth said.

"We don't need a stepladder. I can sit on your shoulders," Elizabeth laughed. They went back inside and bought a stepladder.

#Vocabulary:

✨ceiling~~~سقف
✨edge~~~طرف/حافة
✨extension~~~إضافة
✨glossy~~~لمّاع
✨insert~~~مدمِج
✨item~~~مادة
✨momentarily~~~لحظي
✨pour~~~يسكب
✨primer~~~طبقة أساس/أولية
✨stepladder~~~سلم نقّال
✨stick~~~عصا


🎧📖#Short_stories📖🎧
@ReadAloudESL

3️⃣3⃣ Driver's License 💳

🔉Listen to the recording and read along with the conversation. Review the key #vocabulary and the sample sentences.👇🏻

🎧🗣#Conversations🗣🎧
@ReadAloudESL

📚#Vocabulary and Sample Sentences

🔻joyride (verb): take a car without permission and drive it around for pleasure, sometimes in a reckless way 
✨يتنزه بالسيارة من اجل المتعة (غالباً تكون السيارة مسروقة أو مأخوذة بدون إذن صاحبها)

✨If teenagers joyride and violate other laws, they will be arrested and charged.

🔻cruise (verb): drive a car around an area with no particular destination in mind
✨يطوف/ يتمشى/يتجول بالسيارة

✨A lot of youth cruise the streets downtown at night.

🔻lecture (noun): a long, serious talk often used to criticize 
✨محاضرة وعظية (عادة للتوبيخ)

✨My dad always gives me a lecture about the way I drive, and I don't like it at all.

🔻drag (noun): something that is really annoying 
✨مزعج

✨Driving with my parents is such a drag because they are back-seat drivers---always telling me what to do.

🔻duh (interjection): used to say that what someone else said is unnecessary because it is just common sense 
✨كلمة تستخدم للتعبير عن ان ما يقوله الشخص الآخر شيء غير ضروري بل هو شي عادي

✨So, you're saying she's going to lose her license if she drinks and drives? No duh. Everyone knows that.

🔻drowsy (adjective): sleepy 
✨نعسان

✨You need to pull the car over and rest if you start to feel drowsy.

🎧🗣#Conversations🗣🎧
@ReadAloudESL

3⃣4⃣ Helps Old Man at Airport


🔉Listen to the recording and read along with the story. Review the key #vocabulary.👇🏻


🎧📖#Short_stories📖🎧
@ReadAloudESL

3⃣4⃣ Helps Old Man at Airport


The crowd at the airport surged forward. The passengers had been waiting for a couple of hours for an airline employee to open the door leading to the plane outside. No one was in a good mood. An old man got trapped in the middle of the rush. He fell down without being able to break his fall. His head hit the concrete floor. Blood gushed from his forehead. He appeared to be unconscious. Everyone rushed past him, except for Dana. She called for help.

A minute later, a young airline employee showed up. Hardly looking at the old man, she told Dana to get aboard her plane. She said the old man would be okay, and walked away.

Dana screamed for help. An airport supervisor appeared. He told Dana to get on the plane. Dana said that she was not moving until an ambulance arrived. The supervisor said her plane would leave without her. Dana said that she didn't care.

An ambulance and two paramedics finally arrived. The paramedics said that the man would be okay, but he would need stitches. They put him into the ambulance and drove off.

On her way out to the plane, which was still refueling, Dana saw the employee who had initially ignored the old man. The employee said, "You're lucky the plane didn't leave without you."

"The plane?" Dana asked. "Who cares about the plane? How could you be so cold? That was an old man; he could have been your grandfather! How would you like it if everyone just stepped over your grandfather and went on their way?"

📚#Vocabulary: 

✨aboard ~~~
على متن (طائرة/سفينة..الخ)
✨ambulance ~~~ سيارة اسعاف
✨concrete ~~~ قاسي/صلب/اسمنتي
✨forehead ~~~ جبهة/مقدمة الرأس
✨gush ~~~ يتدفق/ينفجر
✨ignore ~~~ يتجاهل
✨initially ~~~ في البداية/بدايةً
✨paramedic ~~~
مُسعِف/مُضمِّد/مُساعد طبي
✨refuel ~~~ يتزود بوقود إضافي
✨stitch ~~~ غرزة جراحية
✨supervisor ~~~ مُشرِف
✨surge ~~~ يندفع بقوة/يتدافع
✨trap ~~~ ينحشر/ينحصر
✨unconscious ~~~
فاقد للوعي/مُغمى عليه


🎧📖#Short_stories📖🎧
@ReadAloudESL

3️⃣5⃣ Identity Theft 💻

🔉Listen to the recording and read along with the conversation. Review the key #vocabulary and the sample sentences.👇🏻

🎧🗣#Conversations🗣🎧
@ReadAloudESL

📚#Vocabulary and Sample Sentences

🔻improve (verb): make something better
✨يُحسِّن/يُطوِّر

✨I'm going to improve some towels through the dryer. Do you have anything you want to put in?

🔻sign up (verb): put or write your name on a list to join something
✨تسجِّل بياناتك الشخصية للاشتراك في موقع ما

✨Are you going to sign up for math class this semester?

🔻identity (noun): the name of a person, who you are
✨هوية

✨You can protect your identity better by not sharing your birthday and mailing address online.

🔻fishy (adjective): untrue or dishonest
✨أمر مشبوه/ مُريب/ مشكوك فيه

✨Be careful. This advertisement looks a little fishy. I mean, how can this company give you a free vacation to Hawaii just for testing their products?

🔻secure (adjective): safe, protected from danger
✨آمن/ مضمون

✨Please make sure the house is secure before you leave today.

🔻gullible (adjective): easily fooled, tricked, or cheated
✨ساذج/ سهل الانخداع

✨You are so gullible. I can't believe you bought on the Internet without seeing it first or getting the real name of the seller.

🔻fall for (verb): be fooled by something
✨يقع في الشراك (الفخ)/ ينخدع

✨I can't believe that you fell for that false advertisement. You are so gullible. You'll never get your money back.

🔻scam (noun): a dishonest way to make money by fooling someone
✨احتيال/ نصب

✨This Web site on getting a free education online is only a scam to get your money.

🎧🗣#Conversations🗣🎧
@ReadAloudESL

3⃣6⃣ Snakebite on Mountain Trail🐍


🔉Listen to the recording and read along with the story. Review the key #vocabulary.👇🏻


🎧📖#Short_stories📖🎧
@ReadAloudESL

3️⃣6️⃣Snakebite on Mountain Trail 🐍


Bill parked his car on the residential street. The street used to be safe, but now there were frequent reports in the weekly paper about break‐ins. He put The Club on his steering wheel and made sure that nothing of value, not even a pair of cheap sunglasses, was visible through the car windows.

He got out of the car and started the uphill walk. The mountain trail was mostly narrow for the first two miles. Only two people could walk side by side. When the trail got close to the edge of the mountainside, it was best if people walked single file. Several years ago, an experienced hiker, walking alone, slipped and fell to his death.

The trail went past a small lake created by a dam, and then broadened as it went up into the heart of the mountain, away from cliffs. When Bill got to First Camp, he stopped by the small stream to look for fish or frogs. Suddenly, he heard a sinister rattling sound. Then, he felt a sharp bite on his calf. He turned around in time to see a rattler slithering off.

There was nothing to do now but walk back down to his car. He had no cell phone with him. He would remember to bring it next time, if there was a next time. Should he walk slowly, so the poison would spread slowly? Or should he walk fast, so he could get to his car and get medical help faster? Perhaps he'd meet someone on the way down.

A simple walk, he thought. It was just going to be a simple walk up a mountain trail.

📚#Vocabulary:

✨broaden ~~~ يتسع
✨calf ~~~ عجل
✨cliff ~~~ منحدر صخري/جرف
✨dam ~~~ سد
✨edge ~~~ حافة/طرف
✨frequent ~~~ متكرر
✨frog ~~~ ضفدع
✨hiker ~~~ مُتجوِّل
✨lake ~~~ بحيرة
✨narrow ~~~ ضيِّق
✨poison ~~~ سم
✨rattle ~~~ يخشخش
✨rattler ~~~
المخشخش (نوع من الثعابين)
✨residential ~~~ سكني
✨sinister ~~~ خطير
✨slither ~~~ ينزلق
✨steering wheel ~~~ مِقوَد السيارة
✨stream ~~~ جدول/مجري نهر صغير
✨trail ~~~ طريق/ممر مشاة
✨visible ~~~ واضح/مرئي/ظاهر


🎧📖#Short_stories📖🎧
@ReadAloudESL