Improve Your English Fluency FAST | Reading and Listening Method

Today you're going to learn English with the news.

We're going to read a news article together.

Welcome back to JForrest English, Of course.

I'm Jennifer.

Now let's get started.

First, I'll read the headline.

How were the pyramids built?

So our headline is actually a question.

Questions are definitely something  I see a lot of mistakes with.

So notice the sentence structure, How?

And then we have our verb  to be conjugated in what?

The Past.

The past Plural, Because it's being  conjugated with pyramids, which is plural.

How were the pyramids?

This is the subject.

How were the pyramids built?

Now, let's say you wanted to take this question  and you wanted to complete this sentence.

I wonder, do you know how  to complete the sentence?

I wonder how the pyramids.

This is the subject.

And then we have our auxiliary  verb and our main verb.

I wonder how the pyramids were built, and  notice it ends with a period, because this  

is not a question, this is a statement, which  is why we have the subject and then the verb.

So what about you?

Have you ever wondered how  the pyramids were built?

Let's review this question.

What verb tense is it in the present perfect?

Have you ever wondered how  the pyramids were built?

And to answer this you can say yes I have.

Yes, I have wondered how the  pyramids were built or no I haven't.

So here's the short form of the question.

So put your answer in the comments.

Yes I have.

No, I haven't.

Put that in the comments.

And now let's continue and find out one of  history's most ancient and unsolved puzzles.

Notice the pronunciation here.

Ancient.

Ancient.

One of history's most ancient  and unsolved puzzles is the  

construction of the pyramids again  and again over the course of history.

So here again and again.

This is very useful to have  in your vocabulary again and  

again is a very natural way to say repeatedly.

Native speakers use this a lot.

For example, I asked her again  and again to clean her room.

So you can use this with a  little frustration or annoyance,  

or you can use this in a more positive way.

I practice again and again for my  IELTS, so a very natural expression.

Again and again, over the course of history,  

many scholars and scientists asked and wondered  the same question of how the pyramids were built.

So notice here this is written as a statement.

They're stating what the question is,  but they're not asking it as a question.

And you know that because the subject comes first.

How the pyramids were built.

The Great Pyramids of Giza and the other  pyramids over 100 Egyptian pyramids are  

considered the greatest pieces of  human engineering and architecture.

Notice the pronunciation.

I hear a lot of mistakes with this.

Even students who have this  job title, I hear mistakes.

Archa Architecture, Architecture, Architecture.

The job title is Architect and the  field area of study is Architecture.

I'm an Architect.

I studied architecture.

Now let's go back because I want you to notice  here are considered the greatest pieces.

If you used regarded, you would need regarded  as are regarded as the greatest pieces.

But you don't need the  preposition as with considered.

So the structure is to be.

Here's our verb, to be to be considered  something or to be regarded as something.

Now let's continue.

These monuments are still standing after  

over 4500 years and are still  a mystery unsolved to this day.

To this day is a useful phrase.

It means until now we use it  in more of a poetic sense or  

when we want to emphasize something specific.

For example, to this day,  I don't know why she quit.

So let's say she quit five months ago.

Five months ago you could have  said I don't know why she quit.

And from five months ago until now, to  this day, I don't know why she quit.

She had an amazing job.

So This is why you don't  understand her reason for quitting.

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You can choose an existing article  from the categories such as business,  

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And now my article's ready to review.

Case AI has an audio feature, so you can  hear the content read by a native speaker.

This will help you improve both your listening  skills and pronunciation at the same time.

Plus, you can look up the definition  of any word as you're reading,  

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Now let's continue with our lesson.

So the pyramids are still a  mystery unsolved to this day.

It sounds more dramatic.

Some scriptures found from ancient  Egyptians can help us to understand  

a bit better how the construction  of such monuments has come about.

So notice here come about to come about.

But this is conjugated in the  present perfect has come about.

This simply means happen.

You could say to this day.

So using this expression again, to this day,  I don't know how the problem came about.

I don't know how the problem happened or started.

And in the past you weren't  sure how it came about.

And still today, now, so from the past until now,  

you don't know how the  problem came about happened.

Let's continue.

These huge structures of limestone or mud  

brick are the oldest known man  made structures on our planet.

Known in this sentence is  important because without it,  

it sounds like a fact that the pyramids are  the oldest man made structures on our planet.

But by including known, it's suggesting that  perhaps there are older man made structures,  

but we don't know about them  because we haven't discovered them.

So it's adding some doubt to it.

The oldest known man made structures.

You can also say the oldest man made structures  

on our planet that we know of  it means the exact same thing.

So you can just summarize that by putting  known The general theory is based on the  

belief that the huge stones were carved  from the quarries using copper chisels.

A chisel is simply a tool then these blocks.

So the blocks being the huge  stones that were carved,  

the blocks that were used to form the pyramids.

Then these blocks were dragged  and lifted into position.

Let's look at the verb to drag.

When you drag something, you move it by pulling  it on the ground rather than lifting it.

So in this case, they weren't able to lift  the stones because they were too heavy,  

so they had to drag them on the ground.

But this is something that children  commonly do with their items,  

or adults do with items that  are also too heavy to lift.

But for kids, you hear parents say a lot,  don't drag your school bag, it will get dirty.

So the kid has their school bag and they're just  dragging it behind them rather than lifting it up.

However, this is very important  this transition word however,  

because now we know there's  going to be a contrasting point.

So this is 1 theory.

So now it sounds like there's going to be  another theory because they used however,  

which is always used to  introduce a contrasting point.

Transition words are an easy way to  instantly sound more fluent and advanced,  

so I highly recommend you use them.

However, the method regarding the movement and  placing of these stones is under great dispute.

Our expression is to be under dispute, and then  great just modifies it to be under dispute.

This means there isn't agreement.

So some people believe this.

Other people believe this.

There isn't agreement.

The techniques that were used in the  process of constructing the Egyptian  

pyramids have baffled many historians  and scientists for countless years.

Let's take a look at baffled.

This is used to say that you don't  understand or that you're confused.

So take a look at this example.

The fact that she quit her job baffles me.

This baffles me.

So the something is this entire clause here.

The fact that she quit her job baffles me.

Another way of saying this is I don't understand  why she quit her job, but when you use baffle it  

emphasizes your lack of understanding or  that you find something very confusing.

So it's a great way to emphasize this,  

and it's very commonly used, so I  suggest you add it to your speech.

So the Egyptian pyramids have baffled many  historians and scientists for countless years.

When you don't want to specify a number,  

but you want it to sound like a  big number, you can say countless.

I've been learning English for countless years.

It sounds like a big number, maybe  10, maybe 15 countless years.

Here's another example using countless  I've asked her countless times to  

stop dragging her school bag, so  again, it emphasizes many times.

Remember, you could also use.

I've asked her again and again, which also  sounds like many times many controversial  

hypotheses were introduced regarding  the construction of the pyramids.

Let's talk about controversial.

If something is controversial, it  means it causes disagreement or debate.

So by saying that the pyramids were built  this way, well remember it's under dispute,  

so some people don't agree with that.

So that theory is controversial.

It causes other people to become upset  because they don't agree with it.

Many controversial hypothesis Hypothesis.

This is the plural of hypothesis  1, Hypothesis 2 or more hypothesis.

So notice the pronunciation changes at the end  to identify the singular versus the plural.

And a hypothesis is a theory  as to the reason for something.

So the hypothesis for how the pyramids were built.

It's a theory.

Many controversial hypothesis were introduced  regarding the construction of the pyramids.

The form of the workforce is also under debate.

Before we saw to be under dispute, now we have  to be under debate, which is the same thing.

It's the fact that people don't agree.

Some people say this is the reason,  

Other people say this is the reason  and they don't agree with each other.

But notice that sentence structure  to be under is our preposition.

And then before dispute and hear  debate, one theory suggests that  

the pyramids were constructed using slave  labor, and another theory suggests they  

were built by 10s of thousands of free  skilled workers that worked for a salary.

If they work for a salary, it  means they're paid for their work.

So they're not slaves  because slaves were not paid.

So these are two theories that  are under dispute or under debate.

Let's continue.

What is certain is that the workforce  was highly organized and managed to  

the highest level by following an organized and  planned process that consisted of three phases.

So here, notice what is certain  is and then the statement.

This is useful if you want to introduce a  statement but you want to suggest is 100% true.

Is not under debate.

Is not under dispute.

It's accepted as the truth.

Here's a sentence in an everyday context.

What is certain is that I'm not  going to buy her a new school bag.

So you could say I'm not going  to buy her a new school bag.

But when you add, what is  certain is that it emphasizes it.

It makes it sound like a strong statement.

Now, you could also say it in a shorter  way by saying I'm certainly not going  

to buy her a new school bag, and  that still emphasizes that point.

So here is a longer form so you can see the  sentence structure and then you can also just  

add the verb certainly, I'm certainly  not going to buy her a new school bag.

And why?

Because you asked her again and  again not to drag her school bag,  

but she didn't listen and the fact  she didn't listen baffles you.

So what is certain is that the workforce.

The workforce.

This is a useful term because it summarizes all  

the people working at a specific  time or for a specific company.

So you could talk about the workforce  of a country, which means all the people  

available to work in the country or the  workforce of a certain company as well.

So you see this a lot in  economic or business news.

So in this case, the workforce represents the  total number of people who built the pyramids.

The workforce was highly organized.

In this case, highly means very, very or  extremely highly organized and managed to  

the highest level by following an organized and  planned process that consisted of three phases.

And that's the end of our article.

So what I'll do now is I'll read  the article from start to finish,  

and this time you can focus on my pronunciation.

So let's do that now, how were the pyramids built?

One of history's most ancient and unsolved  puzzles is the construction of the pyramids.

Again and again, over the course of history,  

many scholars and scientists asked and wondered  the same question of how the pyramids were built.

The Great Pyramids of Giza and the other  pyramids over 100 Egyptian pyramids are  

considered the greatest pieces of  human engineering and architecture.

These monuments are still standing after  

over 4500 years and are still  a mystery unsolved to this day.

Some scriptures found from ancient  Egyptians can help us to understand  

a bit better how the construction  of such monuments has come about.

These huge structures of limestone or mud  

brick are the oldest known man  made structures on our planet.

The general theory is based on the belief that the  

huge stones were carved from the  quarries using copper chisels.

Then these blocks were dragged  and lifted into position.

However, the method regarding the movement and  placement of these stones is under great dispute.

The techniques that were used in the  process of constructing the Egyptian  

pyramids have baffled many historians  and scientists for countless years.

Many controversial hypothesis were introduced  regarding the construction of the pyramids.

The form of the workforce is also under debate.

One theory suggests that the pyramids were  constructed using slave labor and another theory  

suggests they were built by 10s of thousands of  free skilled workers that worked for a salary.

What is certain is that the workforce  was highly organized and managed to  

the highest level by following an organized and  planned process that consisted of three phases.

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