Lettura e ascolto intermediate in inglese: The young boy and the old man

Piccole letture in inglese in chiave umoristica e/o filosofica

The young boy and the old man

Perché non provi inizialmente ad ascoltare l’audio senza leggere il testo?

Per sapere il significato delle parole evidenziate, passaci sopra con il mouse senza cliccare.

“Sometimes I drop my spoon,” said the young boy.
“Sometimes I do that, too,” said the old man.
“Sometimes I wet my pants,” whispered the young boy.
“That happens to me, too,” laughed the old man.
“I often cry,” said the young boy.
The old man nodded, “So do I.”
“But worst of all,” said the young boy, “grown-ups never pay any attention to me.”
And he felt the warmth of a wrinkled old hand, “I know what you mean,” said the old man.

short stories

Your comments are always very welcome.

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Author: Tony

Born and raised in Malaysia between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore. Educated at Wycliffe College in Stonehouse, Gloucestershire, England. Living in the foothills of Mount Etna since 1982 and teaching English at Catania University since 1987.

13 thoughts on “Lettura e ascolto intermediate in inglese: The young boy and the old man”

  1. Thank you very much Prof. 🙏🏻
    I understand what you mean. I think I hear what you mean as well, even though it’s still not easy to do better for me. However, the fact that I hear that is good. I can hope to improve it. I hope so.

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    2. Hi Dani. I’ve just listened a few times to your recording and I think you’ve done very well. Apart from your obvious Italian accent, which is quite normal and will only ever fade with practice but never totally disappear, your pronunciation is pretty accurate and your phrasing, stress patterns and pauses are all good. There is only one word you could really improve on: “worst”. It’s one of the most difficult sounds in English!
      Well done! 🙂

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        1. Exactly. But you should say, “Perhaps touching is better than exciting, isn’t it?” Or, if you want an impersonal construct then you could say, “Perhaps it is better to use touching rather than exciting, isn’t it?” However, it is a longer construct. Your choice. 🙂

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