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Practising EnglishAuthor: M. A. Bilbrough
Listening practice for learners of B1 intermediate and B2 upper-intermediate levels of British English. Learn British English by listening to stories. Original and exciting stories written for learners and students of British English. Practise and prepare for Cambridge: B1 PET Preliminary and FCE First Certificate exams. IELTS: level 4, level 5 and level 6. Includes English grammar explanations and practice exercises, examples of vocabulary use, phrasal verbs and collocations help, British English pronunciation practice, advice and help for passing B1 and B2 English examinations: Cambridge, IELTS and Trinity. Start practising and improving your British English listening, vocabulary and speaking levels today! Language: en-gb Genres: Education, Language Learning Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it |
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286. The Hole (B2 Story) Part 2
Episode 286
Monday, 5 January, 2026
This is the audioscript for this B2 story (part 2) of The Hole:https://www.practisingenglish.com/podcast-286.htmThe Hole (Part 2)I hurriedly set up the equipment from out of my bags.'Can I help, señor?' Pedro stepped forwards.'Please. Undo these two ropes. One has a harness and the other is fixed to this small sack, while I set up the laptop and monitor.'I then had to think fast. After I had the computer equipment ready, I knelt down at the side of the borehole and felt the walls. Cement.'Pedro. Are the walls cement all the way down to the bottom? I imagine they're not.''These holes are dug with a machine and lower down the walls are just earth.'So as the child fell, his body brushed against the sides of the hole bringing the earth down on top of him, I thought to myself. Not good.I turned to Heidi. I had already typed in the programme for her to follow.'Go, Heidi!'She almost jumped into the hole head first. Even her small body would find it difficult to descend, but she disappeared rapidly into the darkness. Unlike the slow and clumsy articulated robots we usually see, those constructed at my company had the ability to react and move with lively and precise movements.I looked into the borehole, as did Pedro and the father. I could see Heidi's multiple phosphorescent bulbs on her titanium frame had now lit up. The brightness descended as her feet dug expertly but carefully into the walls of the borehole so as not to disturb the soft soil.I then turned to the laptop screen and monitor, and Pedro and the father followed. I examined the screen. There was now a crowd of people behind us, silent but impatient. The camera and microphone on Heidi's tail showed her metal frame moving mechanically down metre after metre.'There's the bag of sweets,' said Pedro pointing at the screen. 'And there's the earth. The tunnel stops there.'Heidi did not pause. She began digging with great care into the floor. We could hear the sounds over the speakers.I then picked up the rope with the sack and dropped it into the hole, ensurContact Mike Bilbrough with a question or enquiry about advertising on Practising English Podcasts: https://www.practisingenglish.com/contact.htm My NEW book: "B1 English Vocabulary Builder - 22 Short Stories for Learning the Words and Phrases Students Need to Pass the B1 Exam" is now available! This book gives the learner enough vocabulary to pass any B1 exam (special help for Cambridge exams).To read more about my book, click here (you can access it from any Amazon platform):https://amzn.to/46AVFe9 Learners studying towards B2 level will be interested in my B1 to B2 reader: The Tudor Conspiracy (includes audio version) https://amzn.to/4gPsj0i For very young learners (from 8-10), I recommend my picture reader book for children learning A1 to A2 English. It comes with a fully dramatised audio version: https://amzn.to/46TCWvv Oxford Bookworm Graded Readers: Read stories at your level to improve your English. I recommend Oxford Bookworms as the best series of books for learners: https://amzn.to/4r7YVHg At https://www.practisingenglish.com/ I offer learners of intermediate-level English, free grammar help and exercises and other English learning pages.https://www....
