Sat 4 Aug 2007
The Grasshopper on the Glass Shelf
Posted by Kevin under CATEC, Kyrgyzstan Little StoriesNo Comments
A new little story, from July 1st, 2007, in Kyrgyzstan. Listen to the audio. Text coming soon.
Little Stories
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Fri 25 May 2007
My friend Steve tells about a strange incident. But before trying the gap-fill listening activity, make sure you kn
ow these 6 vocab items:
honk, horn, paws, pesky, run across, steering wheel
When we go (1) __________ every year, we (2) __________ a lot of (3) __________ animals. There’re a lot of (4) __________ and raccoons and (5) __________ . So what I do is I hide the dog food–we take our dog there–in the (6) __________ . So one year I put the dog food in the truck and I went to sleep, and in the middle of the night I (7) __________ the horn of the truck going on and off, and I finally (8) __________ , and I (9) __________ my flashlight in the truck. And there’s a raccoon with his (10) __________ on the (11) __________, eating the dog food and honking the (12) __________ , and I … I would’ve been (13) __________ but I was (14) __________ so I just went back to sleep. Yeah, he was (15) __________ the horn, he was honking the horn, standing up, with his hands on the steering wheel, honking the horn. Yeah.Answers: (1) camping, (2) run across, (3) pesky, (4) bears, (5) squirrels, (6) truck, (7) heard, (8) wake up (9) shine, (10) paws, (11) steering wheel, (12) horn, (13) mad, (14) entertained, (15) honking
Steve's Raccoon Story, natural speed [1:00m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (98) Steve's Raccoon Story, slower [1:25m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (95)Thu 8 Mar 2007
How Long is International Woman’s Day?
Posted by Kevin under Little Stories Regional EFL stuffNo Comments
Listen for the 15 missing vocabulary items in this text. They are all short, but even so, you may need to listen several times to be able to write them all.
Yeah, (1) ________ a little story about my first International Woman’s Day or (2) ________ Day–I’m not sure which (3) ________ it is—in Russia. It was a Thursday that (4) ________ , like it was in 2007, and I (5) ________ trying to get some teachers to (6) ________ and do some work—a class or workshops—on Friday. They said, “No, we (7) ________ do that because (8) ________ a holiday on Thursday.” “Yeah,” I said, “it’s International Woman’s Day. It’s (9) ________ one day, right?” And (10) ________ said, “Yes, but Friday (11) ________ also be a holiday. And (12) ________ I said, “Okay, (13) ________ . Well, what about Wednesday?” And they said, “No, that’s the day (14) ________ International Woman’s Day. And I said… “Okay.” So, really, International Woman’s Day is in Russia (15) ________ three days long. One day is three days long.
Answers: (1) here’s, (2) Women’s, (3) one, (4) year, (5) was, (6) come, (7) can’t, (8) it’s, (9) just, (10) they, (11) will, (12) so, (13) fine, (14) before, (15) at least
Sun 26 Nov 2006
My father, Mac McCaughey, will tell a tale from when he was very small–far younger than he is in this photo to the right, which was probably snapped around 1953.
key words to learn before listening: covers, furry, snuggle, stray.
pedicting: Taking into account the four words above, what do you thing this story will be about?
Fifteen words have been removed from the written text. Listen and write them.
The Kitten
Okay when I was (1) __________ probably — and up til I was about twelve years old, I (2) __________ take a cat — any cat — to bed with me because they were nice and warm and (3) __________. And… I (4) __________ that when I was about twelve when I got a (5) __________ cat and got ringworms all over my (6) __________. But earlier, when I was probably five, six, seven, I had a — one of (7) __________ pet cats in bed with me, and (8) __________ night long it (9) __________ going down to the (10) __________ of the bed, and I kept (11) __________ down and bringing it back up to (12) __________ with. And when I (13) __________ in the morning and (14) __________ the (15) __________ back there was a baby kitten at the foot of the bed, so…
ANSWERS: (1) young (2) used to (3) furry (4) quit (5) stray (6) chest, (7) our (8) all (9) kept (10) foot (11) reaching, (12) snuggle (13) woke up (14) turned (15) covers
The Kitten, natural speed [0:57m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (75) The Kitten, slower [1:09m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (72)Mon 20 Nov 2006
Here Kevin tells a story about a couple meeting on a blind date–meaning they had arranged a date without ever having actually seen each other before. Listen to the story.
Not too long ago I was working at the coffee shop where I work every day. Had my computer in front of me. And I noticed that a man and a woman met for the first time at the table near the window. I could that that they were introducing themselves and it seemed to me that they had met on — from one of those Internet dates.
And… so I sort of went back to work, and they talked and got to know each other. And then I heard the woman say, “So you’re married?”
And he said, “Yeah, I’m married.”
She said, “You’re not separated?”
He said, “No.”
She said, “Well, what’re you doing meeting a woman like this?”
He said, “I just want to see what’s out there.”
And the woman sat there for a moment, and then she got up, and she came right over to me and she said, “Oh, hi, how are you? What are you doing?”
And the man got up and left, just walked right out of the cafe. And she asked me a few nice questions, but I could tell that she was near tears. She was shaking in fact. That this man had asked her out and the whole time he was married and he didn’t try to hide it at all.
And then she left, and I forgot to tell her that I wasn’t married.
Mon 30 Oct 2006
Here is a Little Story written and recorded by Albina Krasnova of Samara, Russia.
Before engaging students in the listening task below, you might want to involve them in some pair discussions on the subject of pizza.
1. Do you like pizza? When was the last time you had a pizza?
2. What kinds of fish do you like?
3. What kind of fish or seafood is good on pizza?
4. Have you ever been surprised by an ingredient that appeared on your pizza? Describe.
4. Take a moment to think of your ideal pizza. What ingredients would it have?
Twelve words have been blanked out in the text below. Listen and write them.
Albina’s Anchovy Adventure
The word anchovy (анчоус in Russian) has always (1) __________ magic to my ear but I never had a chance to (2) __________ them. I would associate the word with something really special that no (2) __________ people could have access to. It (4) __________ be something (5) __________ by people belonging to (6) __________ society or the Tsar’s family in Russia, but not people like me. It (7) __________ until I tried my first (and last!) anchovy pizza (8) __________ my first days in America that I realized it was (9) __________ more than килька – a (10) __________that normal Russian families would (11) __________ for their cats! All the (13) __________ was gone!
(1) sounded, (2) taste, (3) ordinary, (4) would, (5) consumed, (6) royal, (7) wasn’t, (8) first, (9) nothing, (10) fish, (11) buy, (12) magic