¶ Intro / Opening
Good evening, Maharis. Long John Silver here. I'm going up to the fork with the I'm gonna talk to those land lovers and make sure they give in and give up their guns and tell us where the treasure is, and if they don't Then they've got another thing coming, said Right so Sounds exciting. Long John Silver is threatening the captain and the squire and the doctor and the few other men who have stayed with them in the fort. And they're going to talk and see if they can come to an agreement
Okay, so this is a B one level recording of Treasure Island chapter eleven. I'm going to give you a few words before we start the story. So let's get started.
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Hello and welcome to Practicing English. My name is Mike Bilber, and these are podcasts. For students of English. at B one or B two levels. For transcripts please go to practising English dot com Would you like to see my books for learning B one and B two level English? Then go to the show notes at your podcast app, and just below today's lesson you'll see a link to Amazon, And there you'll be able to read about my new B one book and my B two book Check It Out Today.
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Right, the words that I would like you to listen out for during the story are the following So these are all B one expressions. First of all I have just in case that And that means to be prepared if something happens. Just in case. Here is an example sentence. Take an umbrella just in case it rains. Okay, so you can just say just in case or you can say in case it rains. My next one is Get Ready. Now to get ready is to prepare yourself, to prepare for something.
And my example sentence is we need to get ready for school. Now it's interesting the verb get it's a very common verb in English. and possibly the most common verb in English after the verb to be. It can be used for lots of different meanings and uses. Here, get ready is get plus an adjective. Now what that does is to make an action like a verb of adjective.
Now sometimes there may be a verb instead which you could use also. Let me give you some examples of If you are becoming tired, okay, so you're working hard and little by little you become more tired. Now we would say I'm getting tired. I'm getting tired. So to get tired then is that process of becoming more tired. That's what get does. It is an action. It does an action of the adjective. To get angry is a way of saying that somebody is becoming more and more angry.
Now, we do have a verb for that one. It's not a B1 verb. It is in fact possibly i it's probably C one, because it's not very common, but there is a verb which is to anger. To anger, and that is to get angry. In less formal speech, talking with friends or in an email to somebody you know very well, we're more likely to use these get plus adjective constructions. So, if it's cold outside and you don't have a warm coat on, then you are going to get cold.
Now I can't really think of an a verb to substitute that to get cold. So it's very useful to have this structure to talk about the action. To get nervous. Is something which happens to us perhaps before an exam, or something which is very important to us, and we get nervous before. Then my last one that I've got here, but there are many, many more, and you can invent them yourselves, of course, to get better.
So if you get better, well then you improve. So there is another verb you could use which has the same meaning to improve, to get better. So if those are the actions, the states or the way you are when you have done these actions is with the verb to be. You get tired, so you are tired. You get angry, so you are angry. You get cold, so you are cold, etc, etc. So the verb to be says how things are, and the verb get says how things are becoming, the change that is happening to us.
Okay Interesting, I thought I'd point that out because there are lots and lots of structures that you can use yourselves just by putting get before an adjective. Okay, so the one you're going to hear in the story is to get ready. The next one, to come to an agreement. So this is to agree on something? To decide something together after talking. So as we heard from Long John Silver, that's what's going to happen today. They're going to try to come to an agreement.
Here's my example. Sentence After two hours, they finally came to an agreement. My next phrase is I must admit So we say that when we want to say something honestly, even if it is difficult or surprising. My example sentence is Well, I I I must admit uh the film was very good, really. So we say I must admit there because perhaps we have beforehand we didn't think it was going to be very good.
We thought the film was perhaps very poor, but then afterwards we changed our mind. But it's not easy, is it, to change your mind and tell somebody you th when you said something is terrible. And then you have to say what actually was very good. I must admit, the film was very good. My next one is to raise your voice. Now, if you raise your voice, you speak louder.
Usually because you are angry. To raise your voice means that you speak louder and louder and louder, usually because you're going to have an argument. Here is an example sentence. The teacher raised his voice to stop the noise in the classroom. Yeah, that sounds familiar. I think I'd do that every day. In fact, I know I do. I have to raise my voice, because I'm teaching teenagers. And teenagers well I don't know if you need to shout at them. But I do, often, I must admit,
Perhaps it doesn't sound very professional. I must admit, I raise my voice sometimes when talking to my wonderful student. And my last one is to regret a decision. So to regret means to feel sorry about a choice that you made. So a choice comes from choose, a choice is the noun of choose, and you feel sorry for it to regret that decision. Mary regretted buying that car. Well, it is too expensive to run.
So she regretted buying. Notice the ing, the verb ing that follows regret. She regretted buying that car. Okay, that's it for you to listen out for. Those are six phrases there. Listen for the context they're used in during the story. I'll give you a little test on them at the end. So here we go with Chapter eleven of Treasure Island.
¶ Story starts here...
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Two men were standing outside the wooden fence. One man was holding up a white flag. And the other was Long John Silver himself, standing calmly beside him. It was very early and extremely cold. The cold seemed to go right into my bones. Above us the sky was bright and clear, and the tops of the trees were shining in the sunlight. But where silver stood the ground was still dark, and covered with thick white mist. The island looked wet, unhealthy and dangerous and
'Stay inside, men, said Captain Smollett.'This could be a trick. Then he shouted to the pirates.'Who goes there? Stop or we shoot 'Flag of peace Silver shouted back. The captain stayed safely behind the wall, just in case someone tried to shoot him. Then he turned to the others. Doctor, watch the north side. Jim, take the east. Grey to the west. Everyone else get ready and be ready with your guns. Then he called again. What do you want?
the other pirate answered. Captain Silver Wan's the talk? Captain Silver? said Smollett. I don't know any Captain Silver Long John smiled. Me, sir. My men chose me after you ran away from us, said He spoke politely, but his voice sounded dangerous. We're ready to come to an agreement, he continued. All I ask is that you let me leave safely after we talk. I don't want to talk to you, Captain Smollett replied coldly. But if you wanna talk
Come here yourself, and if there's any trick, it will be your fault. That's good enough for me, Captain, Silver answered cheerfully. The pirate, carrying the white flag, tried to stop Silver, but Silver only laughed. Then he climbed over the fence with great effort and dropped down inside. I must admit I forgot my duty as a lookout because I was too interested in watching them. I quietly moved over behind the captain.
Silver slowly climbed the sandy hill, which lay between the fort wall and the fort building, with his crutch. It was hard work, but he did not give up. And finally he reached the captain and greeted him politely, with He wore his best clothes, a long blue coat with buttons, and a large hat. Here you are, said the captain, in the You should sit down. You won't invite me inside, Silva asked. It's freezing out here.
Well, Silver, the captain answered, if you had stayed honest, you could be sitting in your ship's kitchen now, but you became a pirate. And that's your own fault. Silver sat down on the sand. Good morning, Jim, he said. Doctor Nice to see everyone together like a happy family. If you have something to say, say it, said the captain. Silverer nodded. You surprised us last night. I admit that.
My men had been drinking. Not me, of course. Some of them got hurt, and many were frightened. But it won't happen again. Captain Smollett stayed calm. Go on. Silver leaned forward. We want the treasure and we're going to get it. You want to save your lives? So let's talk about this. You have the treasure map, don't you? Maybe, said the captain. Oh, I know you have it, replied Silva. Now listen. Give us the map and stop attacking us. If you do that, we'll give you a choice.
He lit his pipe and continued speaking. You can come with us after we find the treasure, and I promise to leave you safely somewhere. Or you can stay here. We'll leave you food and send help when we see another ship. Then he raised his voice so everyone could hear. That's a fair offer. I hope all of you are listening carefully. Captain Smollett stood up and emptied his pipe. Finished? he asked. Yes, said Silver. If you refuse, next time you're only going to hear the sound of guns in your ears.
Good, replied the captain. Now listen to me. If your men come here one by one without their guns, I'll put you in chains and take you back to England for a fair trial. Silver looked at Captain Smollett angrily. But if you refuse, the captain continued, I will fight you to the death. You can't sail the ship properly, you can't find the treasure, and you can't beat us. Silva shouted. Help me up Not me, said the captain. Well nobody help me Silva almost screamed. Not one man moved.
Silver swore angrily and slowly pulled himself up with his crutch. Then he spat into the water and 'Fine he shouted,'before an hour is over we'll destroy this place. Laugh now if you want. Soon you'll regret that decision. He turned and walked away angrily through the sand. The man with a white flag helped him over the fence, and moments later they disappeared into the trees.
🔇 Silence
Okay, so that is the end of chapter eleven. Did you hear the phrases I mentioned before the story? Did you hear the context they were used in? So the first one, just in case, in the story, it was used in the sentence The Captain stayed safely behind the wall just in case someone tried to shoot him. The expression Get ready the captain says to everybody He said Get ready and be ready with your guns.
And then come to an agreement was used by Long John Silver. He says we're ready to come to an agreement. and I must admit was the narrator of the story, who is in fact Jack Hawkins, and he said I must admit I forgot my duty as a lookout because I was too interested in watching them. And then the expression raised his voice. This was used by Long John Silver when he was trying to come to an agreement
He wanted everybody to hear what terrible things could happen to them if they did not give in. Then he raised his voice so everyone could hear and And the last one regret that decision. Long John Silver says at the end Laugh now if you want. Soon you'll regret that decision. Okay, so those are the expressions used in the context of the story. What I'll do now, I just read through some sentences, and I would like you to substitute the words that I use.
For the six phrases. So I just run over them again. They are just in case get ready come to an agreement. I must admit raised his voice and regret that decision. So here we go with the test.
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Number one My mum and dad were arguing about where to go on holiday. My mum wanted to go to Italy and my dad wanted to go to Greece. But in the end, they decided to go to France. So we're going to France for a holiday. Which expression could we use to say what happened in that situation?
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Come to an agreement. They came to an agreement about the holiday. Number two. Oh darling, I I'm so sorry I look I have to tell you I didn't buy your present for your birthday because I forgot quite honestly. Well there you are, now you know. I simply forgot. What expression could she have used to say that she forgot his birthday? I must admit I must admit I forgot to buy you a present for your birthday. Number three. Well, last night downstairs, my dad was well talking to the neighbour.
you know, arguing about something, I I'm not sure what it was. At first they were talking quite quietly, and then suddenly my dad starts to shout. How could we express that idea of starting to shout at somebody? He raised his voice He raised his voice during the argument with the neighbour. Number four You know I really wish I hadn't studied history. I mean I'm not really interested in it. I wanted to be a nuclear scientist. Anyway, too late now.
What could we say is the way he feels, because he studied history instead of nuclear science? He regretted that decision. Five. Take your umbrella, darling, it might rain. It's not gonna rain. I looked at the app last night. It's gonna be a beautiful sunny day. Well, you never know, do you? Here, take the umbrella. All right then.
🔊 Frying (food)
What expression could we use when she said you never know? Take the umbrella. Just in case take the umbrella just in case it rains. Okay, those are the expressions I'm going to test you on today. I hope you've learnt a little bit more B one English and you enjoyed the story. Until next time, goodbye for now.
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