323. Coming Home (complete version) B1 - B2 Story

This story is the complete version of the B1, B2-level, Coming Home, first published here in 2024. Now you can enjoy the full story with vocabulary exercises below and at my website: https://www.practisingenglish.com/podcast-323.htm

Words to explain:

to strengthen = to make stronger

a property = a house (usually for sale)

keep clear = stay away, do not come near

B2 phrases to listen for. What is the context of each phrase?

1, more or less (finished etc.) = nearly

2, obliged to = you have to

3, not have the slightest intention = (used in the neagative) not want or will not do something

4, neither (inversion = e.g. neither do I like...) / neither... nor... e.g. I don't want to do neither one thing or the other

5, drop in = an informal visit

6) turn up = arrive without an appointment

The vowels (a, e, i, o, u) have been taken out (unless the word begins with a vowel). Read the definition and guess the word in bold.

B1-level

1) ow - when you must pay somebody money because it is theirs

2) unbl - you cannot do it

3) brng up - the care and protection that parents give their children until they are adults

4) sgntr - your written name

5) lttry - tickets you buy to try to win a money prize

B2-level

1) dbt - the money you owe to somebody

2) dstrb - by making noise etc. other people get annoyed

3) incm - the money you earn in your job

4) py off - pay the money that you have borrowed

5) shbby - untidy clothes

Answers to listening to the context of the B2 phrases:

1, more or less (finished etc.)
What amazed Jonathon was that his house was more or less standing. For most, it would have proved to be a painful experience. His charming two-storey country house was in ruins. 

2, obliged to
Jonathon had been unable to pay the debts he owed on it in the taxes that he was obliged to pay after the house had been left to him on his mother’s death.

3, the slightest intention
For some unexplained reason, nobody in his family had had the slightest intention of strengthening the bottom floor, and neither did Jonathon do anything about it after his mother passed away. 

4, a) neither... nor... / b) neither (inversion)
a) However, the fact that it had been abandoned, and had neither been rebuilt nor pulled down completely, gave Jonathon a certain sense of satisfaction.
b) For some unexplained reason, nobody in his family had had the slightest intention of strengthening the bottom floor, and neither did Jonathon do anything about it after his mother passed away. 

5, drop in
To claim your prize, please drop in at any local branch of your bank.

6) turn up
Jonathon felt he could not turn up at the bank looking like a vagabond. 

Answers to vocabulary test.

B1-level

1) owe

2) unable

3) bring up

4) signature

5) lottery

B2-level

1) debt

2) disturb

3) income

4) pay off

5) shabby

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