BECOME FLUENT IN 2 HOURS! Learn English Through Story (Beginner to Advanced Reading Lesson)

Hello, my wonderful students.

Today you're going to learn  English through stories.

We're going to review four  different short stories,  

and these stories are going to progress  from more beginner to more advanced.

Welcome back to JForrest English.

Of course, I'm Jennifer.

Now let's get started.

1st I'll read the.

Headline Fred the Pig caught  after mischief rampage.

So in this picture it looks like this is Fred  the pig and he was caught after mischief rampage.

First I want you to notice my pronunciation here.

Mischief.

Jeff, Jeff, Mischief.

So here you don't hear this E sound  because we do have a word that you  

may be familiar were with which is chief chief.

Same spelling at this end, but this  here is a long E sound EFF chief.

But here you don't hear that long E and it's.

Just like if you were.

Saying if mischief, mischief.

So notice that pronunciation.

And what exactly is mischief?

Mischief essentially means  bad behavior, bad behavior.

We use this a lot with children.

Of course the children got into  mischief while I was working.

Now let's talk about Rampage.

Rampage.

What is this?

This is OK.

This is when you go through an area and you do  that making a lot of noise and causing damage.

So this pig went through an area and as  he was going around he was either making  

noise or causing damage or doing  both of those at the same time.

That would describe a rampage, A mischief rampage.

Now notice the sentence structure.

Fred, the pig caught after mischief rampage.

Now what do you notice about  this part of the sentence?

Is this an active sentence or a passive sentence?

It might be difficult for you to identify this  because in headlines of newspaper articles or  

short stories, they often omit certain  words that are only there grammatically.

So in this case, to identify the passive,  you would normally see the verb to be,  

because that's the correct grammatical structure.

Now correct grammar would be Fred the  pig was caught after mischief rampage.

But native speakers understand the sentence  structure without the auxiliary verb,  

And headlines and short story titles  always try to be as short as possible.

And they do that by omitting these  words that are there for grammar  

but not essential to understand the  meaning but the sentence structure.

If you were writing this in any other context,  you in need was caught the past simple.

Of the verb to be.

Now that's our passive sentence.

If you wanted to turn this into an  active sentence, what could you say?

Think about that.

Fred the pig was caught.

Well, we don't know who caught Fred the Pig,  

but we could just say people, because  I don't know who the subject is.

People or maybe officials caught Fred the pig.

Now this is our active sentence because  the subject is doing the action,  

where in this case Fred the  pig is receiving the action.

So this is our active sentence  and this is our passive sentence.

I wrote that there for you.

And don't worry about writing all  these notes down because I summarize  

everything in a free lesson PDF so you  can look in the description for the link.

Now let's continue and learn about Fred's  mischief rampage after numerous complaints.

Numerous is another way of saying  many after numerous complaints.

After many complaints and a complaint  is when you see something negative.

So if you went to a restaurant and you  didn't like the food and then you told the.

The server, The waiter.

This isn't very good.

You are making a complaint, making a complaint.

So that's the verb that goes  with the noun complaint.

I made a complaint.

About the food.

Now complain is the verb  form, and this I'll complain.

That's a noun.

As a noun.

Notice it has an article in our sentence  here, after numerous complaints.

There's no article because you don't  use an article when it's a plural noun.

But if you were to use the verb.

Form, I complained.

About the food.

So when you dislike something or you  have a negative experience and you  

make that known to someone,  you are making a complaint.

Or you are.

Complaining the noun form or the verb form.

After numerous complaints of mischief, we  know what this means and the pronunciation.

Remember, mischief is simply bad behavior.

Mischief.

Jeff.

Mischief in the city of Aurora, a £400 LB.

This is the short form to  identify pound a 400 LB Culprit.

Culprit.

Well what or who is a culprit?

Well, Fred the pig is the culprit.

And a culprit is someone,  

or in this case something a pig who  has done something wrong, a £400.

Culprit Fred the Pig.

Has finally been caught loitering  outside a shopping center.

Now in this case, it is still the passive  voice because the culprit who is Fred the Pig,  

is receiving the action and they're not.

The story isn't focusing  on who caught Fred the Pig,  

which is why we don't even  know who caught Fred the Pig.

And that's why I had to just  write people or officials,  

because that's not the purpose of the story.

The purpose of the story is learning  about how Fred the Pig was caught.

A £400 culprit has finally been caught  loitering outside a shopping center.

Let's talk about.

This verb to loiter.

Loiter is the verb.

Notice that pronunciation oy  oy loy loiter loiter loiter.

Now when you.

Loiter you stay.

In a public place, this could be a mall,  

a restaurant, a school without  an obvious reason to be there.

Well, what's the obvious?

Reason to be at a mall?

To.

Purchase something, but oftentimes younger  people and maybe older people as well.

Will go to the.

Mall as a form of an activity, but they  have no intention of buying something.

They don't even have any money, but they're  in the mall and they're just staying there.

So they're taking up space.

Maybe they're making noise,  disturbing people and they're  

not actually customers because  they are not buying anything.

So in that case, those people are loitering.

And a lot of public places like malls, schools,  will have a sign that says no loitering, which is  

telling you unless you're here to buy something,  I don't want you here and you shouldn't be here.

Which makes sense because you shouldn't go to  a location unless you plan to buy something,  

right from the mall's perspective.

Personally, I also go to the mall sometimes with  friends without the intent of buying something.

So in that case, I am loitering.

But this pig, Fred the Pig, has finally been  caught loitering outside a shopping center.

So this looks like perhaps  it's the shopping center.

And obviously he has no reason  to be there, so he's loitering.

Fred the Pig was loitering.

All right, let's continue.

Officials say Fred, who  dodged them for several days.

Let's talk about the verb dodge.

This is a great verb to have in your vocabulary.

When you dodge dodge odge.

When you dodge something or someone  you avoid, you avoid that something.

I'll add.

Or someone, because it's  very common to dodge someone.

And why do you avoid that something or someone?

Usually because if you get that something or  that someone, it will be unpleasant in some way.

So Fred the pig dodged them.

So in this case, it's officials, the  officials who were trying to catch him.

Fred the pig dodged.

Officials avoided officials.

Why?

Because if the officials caught him,  he would be in danger, potentially.

Of course, that's what the pig would think.

Now, this is a very common word  that you can use in your speech.

For example, I've been  dodging my boss's phone calls.

So this is the exact same thing as saying I've  been avoiding avoiding my boss's phone calls.

So my phone rings.

I look at it, it's my boss and I press  silence or decline, or I just let it ring.

That's how I dodge my boss's phone calls.

Why would I do that?

Because if I talk to my boss, something  unpleasant is going to happen.

Maybe I did a bad job with the report and  I know my boss is mad about the report,  

so if I pick up that call, he's just going to say  Jennifer, why did you do that report like that?

And is going to be unpleasant for me,  so obviously I want to avoid that.

I want to dodge that.

Officials say Fred, who  dodged them for several days,  

is always hungry and loves his belly scratches.

So this is scratch and then his belly.

I don't know if you have any pets.

Do you have any pets?

So notice, that's how you would ask that.

Do you have any pets?

I'll write this for you.

Do you have any pets?

A very common question to ask and to answer.

You can say I have and then  whatever your pets are.

I have two cats, a dog, a bird  and a £400 pig for example.

Or you can simply say no I don't.

Or you might talk about a pet you had in the past.

I had a dog, but now I don't have any pets.

Technically, you don't even need  to say this because if you said  

I had a dog because this verb is in the past.

I know now you don't, but I'm just showing  you if you wanted to expand on your answer.

So share your answer to this  question in the comments below.

Do.

You have any pets?

And this is true for me.

I have two cats.

I have two cats.

What about you?

What about you?

Share that in the comments below.

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Now let's continue with our lesson.

It took about 8 people and  five hours to capture him.

Capture is another way of  saying catch, capture, catch.

And you can use capture specifically with animals.

They now hope to find his  forever home, his forever home.

So in this case, forever is being used as  an adjective to describe the type of home.

And you see this a lot now when animal shelters  are trying to to find homes for their animals.

They might have these really adorable pictures of  a cat, or a puppy, or a pig, apparently, and say  

Fred is looking for his forever home, which means  that they want someone to adopt Fred permanently.

Notice how adopt is used with animals.

You're probably familiar with  the verb adopt for children.

You can adopt A child if you're unable to  

have children of your own or  simply because you want to.

You can adopt A child, but  you can also adopt A pet.

And obviously when you adopt A  child is a permanent situation.

So that's why they're using this verb  as well, 'cause they want you to know  

that when you take his dog home with  you, that's a permanent situation.

That dog now has his forever home.

Let's continue.

City officials first became aware  of Fred on September 24th when they  

received a call about a pig that  was tearing up a person's yard.

All right, let's talk about  the phrasal verb to tear.

Up.

In this context, tear up means cause damage to  because they're talking about a person's yard.

A yard is the area in front  of one's house or behind  

one's house where there's grass, trees, flowers.

That's your yard.

You can have your front yard or your  backyard, or you can simply say yard.

So yard, grass, flowers, trees, bushes.

And then if he was tearing it  up, maybe he was digging a.

Hole he was.

Eating the flower so he was causing  damage to that person's yard.

Now a tear up can also be used.

With a piece of paper.

Right now I'm tearing up this piece of paper.

I'm taking a whole piece of paper  and it's going into smaller pieces,  

so that's to tear up in the  sense of a piece of paper.

Now look at this sentence  and notice my pronunciation.

First, notice is the exact same spelling  as we just saw here for tear up a person's.

Yard or tear up a piece of.

Paper, but listen to the pronunciation I.

Teared up.

Ear.

So I wrote it out phonetically for you.

Ear so that long E sound, I tear it up.

When I watch the sad movie, I tear it up.

Oh, so when you tear up you.

Get.

Tears in your eyes.

I tear it up when I watch the sad movie.

I always tear up when I watch sad movies.

You don't want to watch a sad movie  with me because I always tear up.

OK, so notice that same exact same phrasal verb,  

but different pronunciation  and different meanings.

But the context will make it  obvious it's not possible that.

Tears were produced.

In this person's yard, so it  doesn't make sense that this.

Would be tear.

Up.

So it's always the context  that will make it obvious.

So a pig that was tearing up  causing damage to a person's yard,  

the area in front of their house or behind  their house with grass, trees, flowers.

Bushes, Shrubs.

A.

Fence, but when animal officers arrived on  the scene they were not able to find him.

More calls came in the next day.

Notice you need the for next day, the next day.

Sometimes I see students forget the and they just  

say Next day more calls came in the  next day, this time about a pig in.

Traffic, so traffic of course with all the.

Cars on the road in traffic.

Then another call about a pig that  was ruining someone's landscaping.

Landscaping.

Is what you do to a yard.

To make it beautiful.

So landscaping is when you add flowers,  a garden, trees in specific areas,  

some decorative rocks and other  decor to make your yard beautiful.

That is called landscaping.

Now, this pig, Fred the pig.

Oh, that Fred the pig.

He was ruining to ruin.

Ruin is also when you cause damage too.

But if you describe something as ruined,  

it means that the damage was permanent and  you can't save it, so it's no longer useful.

So permanent damage to something so  tear up to me sounds less severe.

The amount of damage is about here,  but ruin the amount of damage is here.

So to cause permanent damage to  something, I'll write that for you.

Let's continue.

He was then spotted again.

When you spot something or someone,  it means you identify them.

You identify them by seeing that  person or that something visibly.

So let's say you're at a conference  and there are many, many people,  

but then all of a sudden you spot your colleague.

Oh, I.

Spotted.

Joan, my colleague Joan.

I spotted Joan.

So you were able to identify Joan in  this large area of many other people.

Here's another example with SPOT.

Can you spot the mistake in this report?

So again, can you identify the mistake?

Can you see it?

Can you notice it?

But the important part is, and I wrote it here  for it for you, it's because you're trying to.

So I was trying to identify Joan in the crowd.

I was trying to spot Joan.

And you're reading a report carefully because  you're trying to identify to spot the mistake.

So you're trying to do this.

It's not just things you see  because they're around you.

You have to be trying to identify it to use Spot.

He was then spotted again three  days later on September 27th.

So this makes sense because they're trying to see  

Notice identify Fred the Pig  in the early morning hours.

This time Fred was in a position where  he could be captured, captured again.

Remember, we can use caught, which this  article has used quite a lot as well,  

where he could be captured,  caught, Miss Allen said.

Still, it was no easy task.

Notice the sentence structure here,  because to make this negative,  

generally we don't just add no  before something in English.

Generally you need an auxiliary verb.

Still, it's wasn't an easy task.

This is the standard way  to make something negative.

Was not was not an easy task.

And then the contraction of was not  which native speakers very commonly used.

Is wasn't.

It wasn't an easy task.

This to say, it was no easy task.

This is an alternative structure that  we use mainly to emphasize the negative,  

so I wanna make it sound stronger.

If I just say oh it.

Wasn't an easy task.

It was no easy task.

It's more forceful to emphasize  that no, it wasn't an easy task.

It was no easy task.

So you could say maybe learning English was  no easy task until I found Jennifer's videos.

Learning English was no easy task  until I found Jennifer's videos.

And now hopefully it is an easy task.

Was no easy task, was not an easy thing to do.

So feel free to put.

This in the comments.

If you agree that now it's easier because you have  my lessons to help you, and by putting this in  

the comments, you're practicing this alternative  sentence structure, so put that in the comments.

Learning English was no easy  task until I found Jennifer.

'S videos, all right.

Let's continue.

He he just wasn't ready to give up  his holiday of running around the  

city and eating what he wanted to eat, she said.

So of course the he is Fred the Pig  and this is talking about the fact  

how he didn't want to be captured,  caught and it was no easy task.

Well, and remember, before the  pig, Fred, the Pig was dodging,  

was dodging them, which made  it no easy task to capture him.

Dodge is a void now.

Why?

Because he wasn't ready to give up his holiday.

This is a useful phrasal  verb to give something up.

In this case, the something is his holiday,  

and when you give something  up, you simply stop doing it.

You stop doing the something or  you stop using the something.

So a lot of people use this  when they quit smoking.

Oh, I need to give up smoking.

I need to stop smoking, stop doing  the activity or using the activity.

So in this case, stop his holiday.

He wasn't ready to give up his holiday of running  around the city and eating what he wanted to eat.

She.

Said Of course he wasn't ready to give it up.

After he was captured, staff  affectionately gave him the name Fred.

So when you do something affectionately,  you do it with love, love, friendliness,  

admiration and affectionately.

This is an adverb, and it modifies the verb Gave  him the name because at the beginning the story  

sounded like, oh, this pig is causing damage,  this pig is ruining yards, this pig is loitering.

So these negative things about the pig.

But.

The staff feel affection towards the pig,  

so they affectionately gave him the name  Fred to show that they're not mad at the pig.

They are, they feel.

Friendliness or love towards the pig.

So the staff affectionately gave  him the name Fred and he has been  

staying at the Aurora Animal Shelter ever since.

So because this isn't in the present perfect  

continuous Burton's, I know  the pig is still there now.

The pig, Fred, the pig is still at the  Aurora Animal Shelter now, Miss Allen said.

He is an unusual addition to  the shelter animal shelter.

This is an area where they they care for  abandoned pets or pets without homes.

They call that a shelter to the shelter,  which more commonly houses cats and dogs.

Of course, they don't get many  pigs at animal shelters in cities.

Of course, staff are not sure how he  ended up on the streets of Aurora.

When you end up to use the phrasal verb,  

it talks about your your final  state or your final decision.

So he's on the streets of Aurora, but they have  no idea how that became his final location.

How did he get there?

How did he end up there?

So you can use that.

This is a very common phrasal verb.

For example, I might say I ended  ended up staying home last night.

This implies that my final decision or action  was to stay home, but because I used ended up.

It implies that I was considering other  options, but I ended up staying home.

So this was out of all the  option options I was considering.

This is my final option.

I ended up staying home last night.

I ended up adopting a pig named Fred, which I  don't think I'll end up doing, but I guess it's  

a possibility, 'cause I do love animals, but I  don't think I can take Fred home for his forever.

Home staff are not sure how he  ended up on the streets of Aurora,  

how that became his final position.

They have speculated that he  may have been a backyard pet.

Remember I explained backyard already a backyard  

pet that grew to be a much  bigger size than expected.

You're probably wondering  about the verb speculate.

It has the same meaning as the verb guess.

When you guess an answer, for  example, it means you're not  

100% certain what the correct answer  is, but you're just going to guess.

So when you speculate, you  don't know 100% what the answer?

Is, but you're just, you're.

Guessing you're using the information  that you have to provide an explanation,  

but you're not 100% certain.

So they're.

Guessing that he was a backyard pet that  grew to be much bigger than expected,  

but they're not 100% sure if this is correct.

They probably got him as a little piglet.

So a baby pig is called a piglet, Baby pig.

Just like a baby cat is a  kitten, a baby dog is a puppy.

So this is a baby pig is a piglet, little piglet,  and he just continued to grow, Miss Allen said.

Nobody has claimed Fred, so this  means nobody has said Fred is my pig.

If someone said Fred is my pig,  then that person claimed Fred.

But unfortunately nobody has said that  and he seems to like his new home for now.

But staff are hoping to find a farm for him where  he can play and be at ease, at ease, At ease.

You need the preposition at.

This would be another way of  saying be relaxed, relaxed.

If you're at ease it means you're relaxed.

There's no tension and they're  looking for a farm that can be.

Remember the expression we we learned as well.

That can be his forever home.

His forever home.

I don't know.

About you, But I love animal stories.

I love animals.

I always tear up when I hear about animals.

So let's all say in the comments,  good luck Fred, Good luck Fred.

And hopefully Fred will find his forever home.

So put Good luck Fred in the comments.

And that was the end of the 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.

Fred.

The pig caught after mischief rampage After  numerous complaints of mischief in the city  

of Aurora, a £400 culprit has finally been  caught loitering outside a shopping center.

Officials say Fred.

Who dodged them for several days, is always  hungry and loves his belly scratches.

It took about 8:00.

People and five hours to capture him.

They now hope to find his forever home.

City officials first became aware  of Fred on September 24th when they  

received a call about a pig that  was tearing up a person's yard.

But when animal officers arrived on the  scene, they were not able to find him.

More calls came in the next day,  this time about a pig in traffic.

Then another call about a pig that  was ruining someone's landscaping.

He was then spotted again three days later  on September 27th in the early morning hours.

This time Fred was in a position where  he could be captured, Miss Allen said.

Still, it was no easy task.

He just wasn't ready to give up  his holiday of running around the  

city and eating what he wanted to eat, she said.

After he was captured, staff  affectionately gave him the  

name Fred, and he has been staying at  the Aurora Animal Shelter ever since.

Miss Allen said he is an unusual addition to the  shelter, which more commonly houses cats and dogs.

Staff are not sure how he ended  up on the streets of Aurora.

They have speculated that he  may have been a backyard pet  

that grew to be a much bigger size than expected.

They probably got him as a little piglet and  he just continued to grow, Miss Allen said.

Nobody has claimed Fred yet and he  seems to like his new home for now,  

but staff are hoping to find a farm for  him where he can play and be at ease.

Amazing job.

Now let's make it a little more difficult.

Let's review AB1 short story.

Our story is called Stella the Star by Siri.

Siri is the digital assistant  if you use an Apple device.

Now I came across this story the other  day and I thought it was so cute.

It was so touching.

I wanted to share it with you and you will  learn lots of great vocabulary along the way.

Notice I said I came across this  story When you come across something.

I came across this story.

You find it by chance, which  means I wasn't specifically  

looking for a story that I could share with you.

I was just doing something totally different.

And then I came across this story.

Now, it's possible that  you came across this video.

So if this video was shown to you and you  weren't planning on watching a video to  

help you learn English through stories,  but you thought it sounded interesting,  

so you clicked on it, You came across  this video and I am so happy you did.

And if you're happy as well and you're excited to  

learn this story and improve your English  along the way, then put in the comments.

I'm so happy I came across this video.

Of course came is the past simple  of the verb to come across.

And you came across this video.

So put it in the comments.

Now let's talk about this story.

Stella, the star.

Of course you see many, many  stars in this picture here.

And notice how some of the  stars are drawn into pictures.

A picture of a boat.

Do you know what this is called?

It's called a constellation,  which is a group of stars.

And generally we try to form an image of them  

and we have a name for them like the  Big Dipper you may be familiar with.

We call that a constellation.

And do you notice that Stella is  right here in the name Stella?

So that's probably where the name Stella the star  came from, the fact that this is a constellation.

So that was actually very clever of  Siri or whoever wrote this story.

Now let's get started with the story up above.

In outer space, among all the stars watching over  us, there was a lonely little star named Stella.

Let's talk about among, because  this is a great preposition.

Among means part of a group.

So we have Stella.

One star among all the stars.

So you can understand the meaning here.

One star part of the group of stars.

That's the easier way to use among.

We do use this in more advanced ways  which you can feel comfortable with.

There was a lot of celebrating  among the students, so this is a  

more advanced way of saying the students were  celebrating, the students were celebrating.

Not only is it slightly more advanced,  but it also changes the focus.

Because notice here the sentence started  starts with there was a lot of celebrating.

So in this case, it focuses  more on the celebrating the  

event or the activity or the emotion.

And then this is telling you who,  and it's the group of students.

There was a lot of celebrating among the students.

The students were celebrating.

There was a lot of confusion among the students.

The students were confused.

Again, it just focuses on the confusion more.

So that's a more advanced way that  you can use the preposition among.

No one had ever made a wish upon her.

Her of course being Stella remembers.

Stella's a Star.

And in North America culture, at least you can  let me know if this is the same in your culture.

It probably is, but maybe  it's not, so let me know.

It's very common to look up at the  stars and make a wish on a star.

So that's something that we  do, especially as children.

You'll look up, you'll find a star and  you'll wish upon it you wish upon the star.

Let's talk about a pawn.

This is a more formal way of saying on,  but we use it in very specific situations.

We use it in a more poetic sense, and that's why  it's being used in this poem, this short story.

You could say wish on a star  and that would be correct.

Or you could say wish.

Upon a star, and that's correct.

It sounds more formal and it sounds more poetic.

So in most cases for you,  for everyday use, use on.

Because I wouldn't say I have a meeting  upon Monday that sounds awkward.

You would say I have a meeting on Monday.

But there is one time that we  commonly use a pawn and that  

is to mean as or shortly after something happened.

For example, upon talking to the students, I  realized there was a lot of confusion among them.

Now I didn't have to say among them.

I could have just ended.

I realized there was a lot of confusion  because it's obvious the confusion belongs  

to the students because that's  the only subject I have here.

But you can use among them and then you're  practicing what we've already learned.

So here in this case upon represents  as I talked to the students.

Or after I talked to the students,  

and I'll add shortly after shortly  after I talked to the students.

But notice here upon talking, you need that  verb in ING because upon is a preposition here.

If you said as I as I talked  because you have a subject,  

so you're just going to conjugate your verb as  I talked shortly after I talked to the students.

So this is 1 area where you can use  a pawn and it does sound natural,  

but it sounds slightly more more formal.

I would say let's continue, No  one had ever made a wish upon her.

Oh poor Stella.

In fact, no one on Earth had even looked at  Stella because she was so small and far away.

Let's talk about, in fact, because adding  

transition words to your vocabulary can  really help you sound more advanced.

In fact, this is only used to  emphasize what was previously said.

So previously the story said no  one had ever made a wish upon her.

OK, so now I'm going to emphasize this and make it  

even stronger by saying no  one had even looked at her.

So it makes it even.

Stronger.

The fact that Stella the star is  neglected or lonely is emphasized in fact.

In fact, as a transition where you could  remove it and the sentence would still be  

grammatically correct, no one on earth had even  looked at Stella, but it just is there to show  

emphasis because she was so small and far away  compared to the other stars sparkling in the sky.

So notice this preposition compared to so compared  to the other stars, Stella was barely a speck.

So we're comparing Stella to the other stars.

Compared to learning Japanese,  learning English is easier or harder.

I have no idea, because I haven't learned English.

It's my native language, and I  haven't learned Japanese either.

You can let me know which one's easier or harder.

So that's how you could use that structure.

Stella was barely a speck,  so let's talk about a speck.

When you describe something as a speck,  it means extremely, extremely small.

So you could say, oh, you have  a speck of dirt on your shirt.

So I know it's just a tiny  amount of dirt on my shirt.

So I might not be too concerned if it's  just a speck because it's very, very small.

Here's another example.

The painters left specks of paint.

Very, very small amounts of  paint all over the floor,  

so you might not even notice them  unless you're looking directly at them.

So, but notice here this is the noun paint.

And then Spec describes the paint.

And it's plural because there's  more than one specs of paint.

But in this case it's  describing Stella as a speck.

Barely a speck.

Barely Here makes it even sound  smaller, because barely represents.

Not even, not even a speck.

Barely a speck.

But Stella had just as much  luck to give as any other star.

Because remember, we wish upon stars  because we consider them to be lucky.

Let's talk about luck and lucky.

Because they're both commonly used.

You can say, oh, you're so  lucky you won the prize.

When you're lucky, it means  good things happen to you.

But by chance, there's nothing  you did to win the prize.

It was completely random.

By chance, you're so lucky, you could  also say you have the best luck.

When someone has the best  luck, it means they're lucky.

So they basically mean the same thing.

But this is the adjective form to be lucky.

And this is the noun form.

And you have luck.

You have great luck.

You have bad luck, which means you're unlucky.

If you tell someone oh, you have  bad luck, it means you're unlucky.

I'll write that for you.

You have the worst luck,  which means you're unlucky.

So bad things happen to you.

But there's nothing you did  to attract those bad things.

It was random.

It was by chance.

Hopefully you don't think that at all.

You're so lucky.

That's the one you want to remember.

Let's continue being there for someone.

Is what gives.

Stars their inner glow.

So notice here being there for someone.

This is a gerund sentence.

We're starting the sentence with a gerund verb.

Now, all of this in the gerund sentence,  all of this part being there for someone.

This is technically the subject of the  sentence, and the verb is conjugated  

with all of this and it all of this as  the gerund is conjugated as it or this.

So that's why you need your third person singular.

This is what gives stars their  inner glow, being there for someone.

That's the subject, and we  use gerund expressions when  

you're making a general statement  that applies in most situations.

Most of the time, she wished she  could be the brightest, like Sirius.

Now Sirius is a constellation.

Do you remember what a constellation is?

A constellation is a group  of stars that has a name,  

and generally you can make  some sort of shape out of them.

So to be honest, I don't know  what the constellation Sirius is.

I don't know what shape it forms.

If you do, please share in the comments because  

it probably has a shape and  I'm not sure what that is.

So she wished she could be  the brightest, like Sirius.

So I guess Sirius is the brightest star.

Or perhaps Sirius is a constellation or  maybe Sirius is just one individual star.

That's actually possible too.

So maybe Sirius isn't a  constellation, it's just one star.

So let me know in the comments.

Is Sirius a constellation or just one single star?

OK, you can share that with me.

She wished she could be the brightest, like  Sirius, whom people always turn to for advice.

So notice here, when you  turn to someone for advice,  

it means you you seek advice from that person.

So let's say I always turn  to my father for advice.

It means whenever I need advice, I call my  dad and I say, hey dad, what should I do?

I turn to my dad for advice.

I wrote that here for you.

I always turn to my dad for advice.

Now you can also turn to someone for specific  advice when it comes to learning English.

I hope you turn to me for advice.

You come to me, but specifically  advice for learning English.

So if you do put this in the  comments, Jennifer, I turn to you.

I turn to you, which means you seek advice  from me specific to learning English.

Clearly I can't give you advice about the  

stars or constellations 'cause I  don't even know what Sirius is.

So maybe I turn to you for other advice as well.

OK, so that is to turn to someone for advice.

And remember, turn to you for advice  if you included the word advice.

Now let's talk about whom.

I know this confuses students a lot, but  also just know it confuses native speakers.

Native speakers generally replace whom with  

who because they're not overly  confident with using whom so.

You'll you will.

Hear that a lot from native speakers.

If you're wondering why, it's just  because we're more confident using  

who you need to use whom when  it's the object of the sentence.

Who is the subject and whom is the object.

So in this sentence, she wished  she could be the brightest.

Like serious whom people  always turn to for advice.

So this sentence is saying people  always turn to serious for advice.

I'll write that for you.

So here you can see that people  that's the subject and serious is  

the object receiving the action  and that's why we use whom here.

Outside of a formal language exam, just use who,  it's totally fine, native speakers use it as well.

But if you are taking a formal language exam, you.

Should know the.

Difference between the two?

Let's continue.

Or in an important spot like Polaris.

So she's still wishing.

Stella is wishing she could be in an  important spot like Polaris, the North Star.

OK, so now I know Polaris, that's the north.

* So it's not a constellation is just one star,  

and that star is in an  important spot, the North Star.

Ah again, whom?

Because Polaris is not doing the action.

Polaris is receiving the action.

Whom people looked to for direction.

You could also say turn to for direction  because people are seeking the direction  

from Polaris, so you could use turn to as well.

Now I wrote the same thing here.

Whom is the object?

And the same difference applies.

People look to Polaris for direction, People  subject Polaris object which represents whom.

In the way that this is written,  

sometimes Stella even wished she could be  the star that the world revolved around.

Ah, which star does the world revolve around?

I know this one even before I read it.

The Sun.

The sun is the star that  the world revolves around.

Then everyone could see her.

Let's continue.

Stella wished and wished and wished  these things, but her wishes never.

Worked.

You can also say never came true because  that's what we commonly use for a wish.

Her wishes never came because  that's the past simple of come.

Her wishes never came true.

I wish something but it didn't come true.

I wish something but it didn't work.

Although they use work in the story, it is more  common to use come true, specific with wish.

For example, I hope all your wishes come true.

I wrote this here for you and you could  also say I hope all your dreams come true.

Same thing I wouldn't say I  hope all your dreams work,  

all your wishes come true, your dreams come true.

So I personally prefer that instead of work.

But obviously I understand what that means.

In fact, we already know what this is used for.

It's used to emphasize.

So the next sentence without me reading it I know  

is going to emphasize something  about her wishes not coming true.

So let's read this.

In fact, the more Stella wished,  the more unlucky she felt.

So remember, if someone is unlucky, you can  say that person has what she has bad luck.

Luck is the noun and the verb is have, and  we have to conjugate it with our subject.

The more unlucky she felt, the more  bad luck she had written another way.

Then one night Stella got an idea, Got an  idea is very common in American English.

You could also say had an idea.

It's also very common in American  English, so you could use either one.

Got an idea, Had an idea, What  if she wished upon a person?

Now remember this is a star.

So generally people wish upon stars  because we want our dreams to come true.

So now the story is saying this  star is going to wish upon a person.

That's pretty cute, isn't it?

What if she wished upon a person?

After All Stars and people  are made of the same stuff.

Stuff is another way of saying things.

Things so you can say, oh, I  have a lot of stuff to do today.

I have a lot of.

Things to do.

Today.

But do you notice a difference between them?

I wrote it here so it would be  easier to see the difference.

Stuff is considered uncountable, so we don't  

add an S to it, whereas things is  countable, so you add an S to it.

So stuff represents many different  things, but it is uncountable.

So don't make that mistake.

But both of them are very commonly used.

Oh, another in fact.

So what are we going to emphasize now?

Stars and people are made of the same stuff.

So now something is going, The next  sentence is going to emphasize this.

In fact, some people were  rock stars and film stars.

Oh, that's cute.

Because Stella the star is saying, oh, this  person is just like me because they're called  

a rock star or a film star because some  people have the title star in their name.

We call celebrities.

Stars, right?

Oh, she's a film star, a celebrity.

And a rock star is a musician.

So a rock star is a musician.

But we also have a common expression in English.

You're a rock star.

I say this a lot in the comment section,  

so maybe I've replied to one of your  comments and I said you're a rock star.

This means you're amazing, you're  amazing, you're a rock star.

It can also mean you're doing a great job as well.

You're doing a great job.

So.

If you did.

A lot of stuff at work, a lot of different things.

And your boss sees how much you've accomplished.

Your boss could say you're a rock  star, You're doing a great job.

But also that means you're amazing.

So I want you to put in the comments.

We're all rock stars.

We're all rock stars because we are.

You're a rock star.

I'm a rock star.

We're all rock stars.

We're all amazing.

Put it in the comments.

Let's spread some positivity.

That's what Stella's doing with  this story, spreading positivity.

So let's do the same and put We're  all rock stars in the comments.

So some people were rock stars and film stars.

Surely they would be able to help her, because  remember, they're made of the same stuff.

They're both stars.

This is such a cute story.

But as Stella looked down at all  the billions of people on Earth,  

she realized that maybe there were  people out there just like her.

Finally, Stella knew what to do.

Just one thing here, all the  billions of people you can say.

All the billions or all of the?

Billions.

Both of them are grammatically correct.

It is more common to leave out the of and just say  

all the billions of people instead  of all of the billions of people.

When we're talking in more of a general sense,  you can use of, but when you're talking about a  

more specific group, so for example the people  on earth, then you can just get rid of of.

So ultimately, either one is correct.

Let's continue our last paragraph.

Now, every night, Stella wishes upon  anyone who feels small and unseen, unseen.

This is another word for invisible.

Invisible.

A lot of people in this world  feel like they're invisible.

So Stella is going to wish upon you and remind  you that you're not, that you are a rock star.

So remember, Stella's wishing on you  because she feels small and unseen.

So she wants to wish upon someone who feels the  same, who feels small and unseen, invisible,  

hoping they'll look up and find her and feel the  inner glow of knowing that they're not alone.

So the inner glow of knowing if  you feel like you're not alone,  

that will make you feel warm on the inside.

And sometimes when someone is very happy or  positive, we say, oh wow, they're glowing.

We describe someone who looks extremely happy,  

for example a bride on her  wedding day, as a compliment.

Someone would say you're glowing, you're glowing,  

which is another way of just  saying you look so happy.

And that is what Stella is hoping will  happen for people when she wishes upon them.

And that's the end of the story.

It's hard to really hear the whole story when  we stop every sentence to review the grammar.

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

now that you understand the individual  words and you can focus on my pronunciation,  

but you can also focus on the story because  it truly is a very heartwarming story.

Before I read that, let me  teach you one last thing.

I chose the story because I  thought it was very heartwarming.

Heartwarming is an adjective.

It's just formed from the word  heart and the word warming.

But we say them together.

That was a heartwarming story.

You could also say that was a touching story.

Both of these are adjectives  and they mean the same thing.

When a story is heartwarming or touching, it means  it's a positive story and it makes you feel good.

And that's why I wanted to share it with you.

So now I'll read the story from start to finish.

Stella the star by Siri.

Up above, in outer space, among  all the stars watching over us,  

there was a lonely little star named Stella.

No one had ever made a wish upon her.

In fact, no one on Earth had even looked at  Stella because she was so small and far away.

Compared to the other stars sparkling  in the sky, Stella was barely a speck.

But Stella had just as much  luck to give as any other star.

Being there for someone is what  gives stars their inner glow.

She wished she could be the brightest, like  Sirius, whom people always turn to for advice,  

or in an important spot, like Polaris, the  North Star who people look to for direction.

Sometimes Stella even wished she could be the  star that the world revolved around the sun.

Then everyone could see her.

Stella wished and wished and wished these  things, but her wishes never worked.

In fact, the more Stella wished,  the more unlucky she felt.

Then one night Stella got an idea.

What if she wished upon a person?

After All, Stars and people  are made of the same stuff.

In fact, some people were  rock stars and film stars.

Surely they would be able to help her.

But as Stella looked down at all  the billions of people on Earth,  

she realized that maybe there were  people out there just like her.

Finally, Stella knew what to do.

Now, every night, Stella wishes upon  anyone who feels small and unseen,  

hoping they'll look up and find her and feel the  inner glow of knowing that they're not alone.

You're doing such a great job.

Are you ready for an upper intermediate B2?

Short.

Story.

Let's review it together right now.

1st I'll read the headline.

Japanese firm unveils a vertical  pod that lets you nap upright.

So in this picture here you  can see the vertical pod.

So POD is the name for this unit and then  vertical is the fact that it's upright,  

so vertical and then horizontal is across.

So it's not a horizontal POD  like your bed is horizontal.

This is a vertical pod and  it lets you nap upright.

So just like I said horizontal,  you would be sleeping in your bed,  

you would not be upright, you would be lying down.

So in this case, for napping for sleeping,  

the opposite of upright would be lying  down because that's how we normally sleep.

Except if you were in Japan  using one of these vertical pods,  

you'll be napping upright just  like this woman in the photo.

So what do you think?

Before we even read this article?

Do you think you could nap in this pod upright?

Share your thoughts, Yes or no?

Put that in the comments.

Certainly an interesting concept.

I wrote that information for you and  I also wrote the definition of nap.

I think it should be well known, but a nap is  of course a short sleep, usually during the day.

Now in this example, nap is a verb, which of  course you can do to nap, just like to sleep.

So I could ask you, oh, do you nap?

Do you nap?

I'm asking you do you sleep for a  short period of time during the day?

Do you nap?

Now, it's very common to use nap as a noun.

If you use nap as a noun, you have two choices of  verbs and it does not matter which one you use.

Both are very common and natural.

Do you take naps?

Do you have naps?

So you can use either one equally?

So what about you?

Do you nap?

Do you take naps?

Do you have naps?

Share that.

In the comments as well.

Now maybe you'll start taking more  naps if you had this vertical pod.

Now, don't worry.

About writing all these notes, because I  summarize everything in a free lesson pedia,  

so you can look for the link in the description  before we continue with the article.

I also wrote the definition for unveil.

This is a verb to unveil.

When you unveil something, you show it for the  first time or you introduce it for the first time.

So when this vertical pod was  unveiled, it means the public.

You and I were able to see it for the first time.

So the Japanese firm Firm  is another word for company.

Japanese firm.

Japanese company unveils a vertical  pod that lets you nap upright.

All right, let's find out more about this.

It's interesting that it's also in a public place.

I don't know if I could nap in a public  place with people just walking around.

Interesting concept though.

Let's find out.

Experts have long argued that  having a power nap at work.

OK, let's look at this because you could  say experts have argued that having a  

power nap at work and then whatever  it is, we'll get to that in a second.

But notice how they added have long argued this is  

another way of saying experts  have argued for a long time.

So instead of saying for a long time,  experts have argued for a long time,  

you can simply take the word  long and use it before the.

Verb.

Experts have long argued, so maybe you could say  

I have long said that improving your  English is important for your career.

So I've said for a long time.

So I haven't just said this once or twice.

I've long said experts have long  argued that having a power nap,  

let's take a look at power nap.

A power nap is a nap, but when I hear a power nap,  

I picture a nap that is  for a short period of time.

So you're really this just there  to have a very short nap for the  

sole purpose of waking up and  being able to perform better.

Whereas you could have a nap  on a Sunday afternoon just  

for the purpose of relaxing and pure enjoyment.

But a power nap.

You just want to have a very short nap  so you can wake up and be more energized,  

more productive, work better, work smarter.

Have you ever had a power nap?

Do you think the idea of power  naps is a good idea or a bad idea?

Share that in the comments as well.

OK, have long argued that having a  power nap can at work, so not on a  

Sunday afternoon at home, on the couch at  work can increase alertness, Alertness.

This is your adjective, an adjective  to just say that you are very awake.

Your alertness is you're very you're very awake.

So you should never drive if  you're not alert because if  

you're not very awake that can be very dangerous.

So your your amount of mentally being very awake.

Alertness boost, productivity boost is a  very common way of saying increase increase.

We use this a lot especially  in a business context.

For example, we need to boost our sales.

We need to increase our sales.

I wrote that example here for you.

Now of course, boost is a verb,  so you have to conjugate it.

In this example that nap,  that should say nap not help.

That nap really boosted my alertness.

OK, so here boost is in the past simple  because it's a completed past action.

That nap really boosted my alertness.

Now previously I think I said  alertness is an adjective.

If I said that it is not, that's incorrect.

Alertness is the noun form is  speaking about alert being alert,  

alert is the adjective, and  alertness is the noun form.

So it's just speaking about  it as a thing, as a concept.

So my alertness, because we often have articles or  possessives before nouns, so alertness is a noun.

I put it here for you.

And alert is an adjective.

I'm sorry if previously I said the wrong thing.

Now again, your alertness is  your feeling of being awake,  

and we often talk about it with mentally awake.

So you could also say that nap  helped me become more alert.

So in this case, alert is our adjective.

I am alert.

I feel alert.

I've become more alert.

That nap helped me become more alert.

So this is what the article or the  company who created this vertical pod  

for upright napping is suggesting  as the importance of having naps.

Let's continue boost productivity  and even make you more creative.

Now a Japanese firm remember  firm company has revealed before.

Do you remember the verb that  they used in the headline?

It was unveiled, unveiled.

When you reveal something, you also introduce  it or make it known, show it for the first time.

So in this context, is exactly the same.

Has unveiled has revealed.

Now they've revealed A bizarre pod.

By using the adjective bizarre, they're saying  it's strange, strange, bizarre, unusual.

And it is right the fact that it's an upright  and you nap upright instead of lying down,  

so you're in a vertical position  rather than a horizontal position.

That is bizarre.

Most people don't sleep.

Like that.

At least in North America, we don't.

If you're in Japan, you can let us know.

Is this a common practice in Japan?

Have you ever seen this pod in Japan?

So if you're watching from Japan or you've been to  Japan, please share your thoughts on this as well.

So that's what they mean  by bizarre as an adjective.

So we can say strange or unusual strange, unusual,  

bizarre pod that makes it easier than ever  before for workers to grab some shut eye.

So to grab some shut eye, well,  right now I'm closing my eyes.

But you can also say I'm shutting my eyes  is not very common to say shut your eyes,  

but you can say that is more common to  say close your eyes, close your eyes.

But this is where the expression  shut eye comes from, shut eye.

So if you want to grab some shut eye is  another way of saying grab some sleep.

Sleep OK.

And remember a nap is just a short  sleep, usually during the day.

And American English speakers, we  commonly replace the verb get with grab.

It's very common for us to do this.

It's more informal, it's more casual,  but it's very frequently done.

It would be very common for  an American to text a friend,  

or call a friend, or just say to  a friend, a Co worker, anyone.

Hey, do you want to grab a coffee?

Do you want to grab a coffee after work?

Extremely common.

I use it all the time myself  and it's just a replacement to.

Do you want to get a coffee, which  I guess is also a replacement to  

do you want to have a coffee after  work, but very common to use grab.

You don't have to use it if  you're not comfortable with it,  

because it does depend on the specific  context if it's appropriate or not,  

but it is important that you understand  what it means in the context.

Even if you choose not to use it,  you don't want to use it yourself.

That's fine, you can just use get or have.

But again, important to understand this is  how native speakers speak in the real world.

So for it makes it easier than ever before for  

workers to grab some shut eye,  get some sleep, Giraffe nap.

So this is the name of the pod, giraffe nap.

Giraffe nap is a vertical pod that  lets office employees sleep upright.

Upright.

So again, very interesting.

Of course they're not targeting this for your  home, because why would you get this in your home?

You have your couch, you have your bed.

That's where you would have a nap, right?

But this is for the office, so  they're targeting office employees.

So it lets office employees sleep  upright, much like the long necked mammal.

The long necked mammal, Of course,  they're talking about a giraffe,  

and that's where the name came from.

Because a giraffe sleeps upright,  many animals sleep upright.

Not really a trait of humans,  but many animals sleep upright,  

about the size as a small public phone booth.

It contains a series of platforms.

So notice here the sentence structure,  because we're not starting with a subject,  

this is just additional information about the pod.

But the sentence really starts  here 'cause this is our subject it.

Otherwise you would say it is about  the size as a small public phone booth.

It contains and then you can continue on.

It contains a series of platforms.

This would be a separate sentence.

This alone cannot be a separate  sentence because there is no subject.

But you can turn it into a separate sentence  by having your subject and then if you have a  

subject, you of course need a verb, and then the  rest of the sentence which describes the subject.

It is about the size as a small  public phone booth it contains,  

but here this is just additional  information about the size.

So this is a more casual way of  saying approximately about I slept  

for about 20 minutes, approximately 20 minutes.

You could also say around 20 minutes.

All three of those are very commonly used.

Approximately is the most formal and then around  about our more casual ways of saying it, It  

contains a series of platforms that support body  weight while blocking out noise from the outside.

OK, if you block something  out, you're blocking out noise.

It means you're preventing it from from entering.

We specifically use the phrasal verb  to block out with light and noise.

So in this case it's noise.

So if you're in this public place, you don't  

have to worry about wearing earplugs  because the pod itself is soundproof.

It blocks out the noise.

But I wonder if it blocks out the light, because  the room is very light and when you're napping  

it's probably easier if it's dark, but it looks  like it does have a cover, and maybe when you  

close the cover it becomes completely dark as  well, so it could also block out the light.

Otherwise, you might want to wear  an eye mask to block out the light,  

and I wrote that example here.

This eye mask really blocks out the light.

Let's continue.

However, at just 8.4 feet high and four feet wide,  

claustrophobes might want  to opt for the office sofa.

OK, claustrophobes.

The more common expression is claustrophobics.

Listen to the pronunciation claustrophobic,  claustrophobic, and then you add an S to it to  

mean all claustrophobic people, claustrophobics,  claustrophobics, people who are claustrophobic.

And then if you just say claustrophobics,  it means people who are claustrophobic.

So claustrophobics don't like small  spaces, it makes them very uncomfortable.

So maybe even being in an elevator would be  uncomfortable because it's a small enclosed space.

And of course our vertical  pod is a small enclosed space.

Especially if you put the cover over it to block  out the light, it would feel even more enclosed.

So if you're claustrophobic, you  wouldn't like this claustrophobes.

Claustrophobics wouldn't like this.

Claustrophobes might want  to opt for the office sofa.

If you opt for something, it means  you choose that as an option.

So let's say you're going mattress shopping and  

there are so many different types  of mattresses to choose from.

You could say we opted for a firm  mattress to mean that you chose A.

Firm mattress and There were  many, many other options.

Now to use this expression, there could  just be two options, firm and soft,  

and you opted for the firm mattress.

We use the preposition for  if it's followed by a noun.

If it's a verb, then you just use the infinitive.

We opted to buy a firm mattress and opt is a verb,  

so you need to conjugate it and  that's why it's in the past simple.

With the Ed, we opted to buy a firm mattress,  

which is just another way of saying  we chose to buy a firm mattress.

So claustrophobes might want  to opt for the office sofa,  

so they have the vertical pod, which  might make them feel claustrophobic.

Or they have the office  sofa, so if they opt for it,  

they choose the office sofa and  they don't choose the vertical pod.

What about you?

Which one would you opt for?

Would you opt for the pod or the sofa?

I think I would personally give the pod a try.

I'm not claustrophobic so that wouldn't  bother me at all and it looks interesting.

I would definitely like to try a  power nap in the pod, the giraffe pod.

OK, let's continue.

The firm said it's working towards a society  where everyone can easily take a nap.

So remember, here we have our verb take a nap.

But you can also use.

Which?

Verb have.

You can also use have a nap or you  could also just say where everyone  

can easily nap and you can just use nap as a verb.

So instead of take a nap, have a  nap, You can just say easily nap.

So I'll put this one under here.

Can easily nap.

Can easily have a nap.

Can easily take a nap and ultimately  improve business and healthcare.

So the company believes in naps.

They they think that they're very beneficial,  

so they want everyone in  society to regularly have naps.

Do you think that would be a good idea?

Feel free to share.

There are probably many people who have been  unable to get rid of their physical fatigue.

Fatigue is another way of saying tiredness,  sleepiness, that feeling of being tired.

But fatigue, it sounds stronger.

It affects your whole health.

Fatigue.

So I wrote Extreme tiredness  for fatigue and to get rid of.

This is another way of saying to eliminate, to  permanently remove, to get rid of, to get rid of  

their physical fatigue and stress and have endured  sleepiness and continued to work, The firm says.

The verb endure simply means to experience, but  we only use it for difficult, negative things.

So I wouldn't say, oh, I endured  a beautiful day at the park it  

because a beautiful day at the  park is not a difficult thing.

I endured a night of terrible  sleep, so I experienced it,  

but I experienced it in a very negative way.

I endured a night of difficult,  restless sleep, so now I'm fatigued.

I'm extremely tired, so have endured  sleepiness and continue to work, the firm says.

Now we are approaching an era where  we're breaking down such stereotypes.

So if you break down a stereotype,  it means you try to eliminate it.

So you could use the get rid of.

We're trying to get rid of, eliminate such  stereotypes, eliminate and I'll write down,  

get rid of and the stereotype, although  they don't specifically say it here,  

I guess the stereotype would be that it's  normal to be fatigued and continue to work.

So it's normal to to just go through your 8  hours even though you're very tired, rather than  

have a nap, a power nap, and try to boost your  alertness, your productivity, your creativity.

I think that's the stereotype because I don't know  about in your country or your part of the world,  

but in North America, I would say naps  aren't really something that most adults do.

And I guess it's probably viewed more  as as like why do you need a nap?

You shouldn't take a nap, you  should just work through it.

You need to work through the day.

That's more the attitude, I would say in North  America, naps are generally for children and the  

elderly, but not really adults and certainly  not in the middle of the day at work.

It it's it's not a common practice.

It's certainly not viewed as a positive thing.

So that's probably the stereotype.

What about in in your country,  in your part of the world?

Is.

Our naps viewed more  positively as being productive.

Is it appropriate for an adult to have  a nap in the middle of the day at work?

So share that because I would be really  interested to know because in North America,  

I would say currently it isn't a common  practice, It wouldn't be viewed very positively.

And I think that's the stereotype they're  trying to break down, eliminate, get rid of.

Let's continue.

The company recommends a nap time of 20 minutes.

So a nap time of 20 minutes.

That's the total length of the nap.

I'm laughing a little because when you say, oh,  it's nap time, this is what we say to children.

And remember I said, oh, in North America,  it's not common for adults to have a nap.

I have only ever heard of nap  time in the context of a child.

Oh, it's nap time.

Oh, it's my kids nap time.

Sorry, I can't.

I can't grab a coffee.

It's my kids nap time.

But in this context, that's  not how they're using it.

They're just saying a nap duration of 20 minutes  is just funny seeing nap time because as I said,  

that's what parents use with their children.

So a nap duration of 20 minutes as anything longer  than 30 minutes can affect your sleep at night.

So again, that's the concept of a power nap.

A power nap.

There's really that emphasis  on the nap not being very long,  

and the sole purpose of it is so you can wake  up more alert, more productive, more creative.

Not because you want to have this relaxing,  

enjoyable, lazy sleep on the  couch on a Sunday afternoon.

That's not the purpose.

So a power nap.

And that's the end of our article.

So I'm interested to hear your thoughts  about naps and how your culture,  

your society, your country views naps in general.

Because I shared at least how  it's viewed in North America.

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

and this time you can focus on my pronunciation.

Japanese firm unveils a vertical  pod that lets you nap upright.

Experts have long argued that having a  power nap at work can increase alertness,  

boost productivity, and  even make you more creative.

Now a Japanese firm has revealed A bizarre pod  

that makes it easier than ever  before for workers to grab some.

Giraffe Nap is a vertical pot that  lets office employees sleep upright,  

much like the long necked mammal.

About the size as a small public  phone booth, it contains a series  

of platforms that support body weight  while blocking out noise from the outside.

However, at just 8.4 feet high and four feet wide,  

claustrophobes might want  to opt for the office sofa.

The firm said it is working towards a  society where everyone can easily take  

a nap and ultimately improve  business and health care.

There are probably many people who have been  unable to get rid of their physical fatigue  

and stress and have endured sleepiness  and continue to work, the firm says.

Now we are approaching an era where  we're breaking down such stereotypes.

The company recommends a nap time of 20 minutes,  

as anything longer than 30 minutes  can affect your sleep at night.

You're doing so great.

Our last story is the most advanced C1.

Let's review it together.

Our headline Nice and short, Life on Mars.

A very interesting topic.

A new study published in the journal Science shows  

definitive evidence of organic  matter on the surface of Mars.

Organic matter simply means living matter.

Matter that is living for example in this.

Picture It looks like there's.

Some green.

When you see green, you think plants.

So it looks like living matter, organic matter.

Now let's take a look at this.

Shows evidence shows definitive evidence.

When I see this, I say, wow, definitive evidence.

Definitive is an adjective that  means firm, final, or complete.

So this evidence is firm.

It's final.

You can think of it as not to be questioned.

So you can't question this evidence.

It's firm and final.

So.

Real.

Evidence.

It makes it a lot stronger of organic  matter on the surface of Mars.

Now notice here we have the journal  Science, and you see that Science  

has a capital S This is because it's a  proper noun and you need to capitalize.

The 1st letter of a.

Proper noun, Proper noun.

And it's a proper noun because the  name of the journal is Science.

That's why it has a capital S But if you were  

just talking about the subject  Science, I love Science class.

You don't need to capitalize it because  in this case it's not a proper Noun.

The data was collected by NASA's  nuclear powered Rover Curiosity.

Again, this is a great example Curiosity,  which you probably know as a Noun.

Curiosity is a good thing when you're a  student, but in this case it's the name of.

The.

Rover.

The name of the Rover is Curiosity, and  that's why we have a capital first letter.

It's a proper noun.

It confirms the Rover.

Curiosity confirms earlier findings that the Red  Planet once contained carbon based compounds.

I'll be honest with you, I'm not exactly  sure what a carbon based compound is.

It's a compound that contains carbon.

That's all I know about that.

Red Planet is another name for  the planet Mars because it is red.

So when you see Red Planet, you  know they're talking about Mars,  

These compounds, they're talking  about the carbon based compounds,  

also called organic molecules, are essential  ingredients for life as scientists understand it.

Now notice how they explain what these  compounds are or why they're important.

Because the average person like me, who  doesn't have a scientific background,  

has no idea what a carbon based compound is.

So they explain what this is.

So now I know, OK, essential meaning  very important, extremely important.

Important and not just important, very important,  

essential ingredients for life  as scientists understand it.

So now I know you can't have life without  these carbon based compounds and they have  

found definitive evidence that  these compounds exist on Mars,  

the Red Planet, essentially saying  that life on Mars is possible.

The organic molecules were  found in Mars's Gale Crater,  

a large area that may have been a  watery lake over 3 billion years ago.

The Rover encountered traces of the  molecule in rocks extracted from the area.

When you extract something, it  means you remove it or take it out.

So they have a rock, and within  this rock there are molecules.

So they took those molecules out, they extracted.

It this is also.

The terminology you use.

If you need to get a tooth removed, you can  extract a tooth, which means simply to remove it.

So to remove or take out, to remove or take out.

And you remove something,  generally from something else.

So you extract the molecules from the rock.

The rocks also contain sulfur, which scientists  speculate helped preserve the organics even  

when the rocks were exposed to the harsh  radiation on the surface of the planet.

Remember, we're talking about the planet Mars.

Now let's take a look at.

This verb speculate a.

Very common verb.

When you speculate on something, it means  you essentially guess what the answer is,  

and you do that because you don't  have enough information to be certain.

If you're certain, it means you 100% know, so  you can present that information as a fact.

But if.

You're just.

Guessing you use the verb speculate.

So when your audience here speculate,  

they know that you are not 100%  certain you are in fact guessing.

So scientists speculate.

So they don't actually know  that this is 100% correct.

It's their best guessed based  on the information they have.

Scientists speculate helped preserve the organics  

even that when the rocks were  exposed to the harsh radiation.

Let's take a look at harsh.

Harsh is an adjective.

So I could say exposed to the radiation,  which means the radiation affected it.

It was in the same area as the radiation,  so it was exposed to the radiation to.

The.

Harsh Radiation.

So harsh is an adjective that modifies radiation,  

and harsh means unpleasant, unkind,  cruel, or more severe than necessary.

So radiation is very strong, and they're  saying that this radiation was very severe,  

perhaps more severe than it usually is.

The harsh radiation on the surface of the planet.

Let's move on.

Scientists are quick to state that the presence  of these organic molecules is not sufficient  

evidence for ancient life on Mars as the molecules  could have been formed by non living processes.

So here they're casting some  doubt ancient life on Mars.

So they're saying right now we don't have  enough evidence to say that previously  

in ancient times there was life on  Mars, so that would be ancient life.

So not sufficient is saying we don't  have enough evidence, not sufficient,  

so not enough, not enough to  be convincing, not enough.

And in this case to convince, you  could say I don't have sufficient time,  

so in that case it's not enough time.

To do.

Something I don't have sufficient  time to complete this article.

I don't have enough time to do it,  so the scientists are suggesting  

there could be another reason  why these molecules are there.

But it's still one of the  most astonishing discoveries  

which could lead to future revelations.

Let's take a look at astonishing as an adjective.

This means surprising, or it can be amazing.

That was astonishing.

That was amazing.

But maybe it was that was astonishing.

It was surprising at the same time.

So it depends on how it's being used.

In this case, it could be really either the  

most astonishing discoveries which  could lead to future revelations.

Let's look at revelation.

In this case, it's a noun.

It comes from the verb reveal.

So when you reveal something,  you make that information known.

It's the same case as a revelation.

A revelation is when a fact becomes known.

Now it can be when a unknown fact becomes known.

So before we didn't know it and now we know it.

It's a revelation.

Or it can be when a secret fact becomes known,  

so certain people knew it,  but the general public didn't.

Not so when the general public found out.

What a revelation.

Remember this comes from the verb  to reveal and you reveal a secret,  

which means you share a secret that you  previously had not shared, especially when  

one considers the other startling fine that  Curiosity uncovered around five years ago.

Remember, Curiosity is the name of NASA's.

Rover.

Which is the machine that operates  on the surface of the planet Mars.

Now let's look at.

Startling as an adjective, A startling find.

When something is startling, it's surprising but.

Usually.

In a worrisome way.

So you could say, I went to the doctor and I got  some startling news that doesn't sound very good,  

because it's news that surprised you, but  generally in a negative way, in a worrisome way.

So, especially when one considers the other  

startling find that curiosity  uncovered around five years ago.

So we'll find out what that startling find is that  

surprising find, but somehow in some sort  of a negative way, perhaps a worrisome way.

The.

Rover analyzes the air around it periodically.

Periodically is an adverb that means from  time to time, periodically from time to time.

So consistently means all the time,  

but periodically means perhaps  once a week or once a day.

So on a schedule, but not all the  time, which would be consistently.

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Now let's continue on.

And in 2014 it Rover.

It found the air contained another  of the most basic organic molecules  

and a key ingredient of natural gas, methane.

So, the Rover.

Found another molecule on  the planet Mars, methane.

One of the characteristics of methane  is that it only survives a few 100.

Years, so a few.

100 to me that sounds like 300, maybe  400, maybe 500 because a few is more than.

Two because two is a couple.

A couple 100 years is 2, and few is generally more  than two, but less than definitely less than 10.

Three to five, I would say a few 100 years.

This means that something somewhere  on Mars is replenishing the supply.

When something is replenish,  it means it's filled up again.

So for example, if a lake had  water and then there was a drought,  

very dry conditions and all the water evaporated.

So if you.

Put more water in that lake.

You're replenishing the lake,  You're filling the lake again.

So they're saying that  something on the planet Mars.

Is.

Replenishing the supply of  methane, which could be.

The.

Startling find.

It's surprising, and maybe  there's reason to be concerned.

What is this that's replenishing the supply?

How is it doing this?

What does it mean for us on Earth?

That could be the startling part.

According to NASA, Mars emits  thousands of tons of methane at a time.

The verb emit simply means to to produce  or to send out, to produce or send out.

But we use this in very specific cases.

We use it with gases.

In this case we also use this with sounds.

Sounds so the the truck emits.

A lot of gas for.

One and a lot of noise.

Oh, the sound that that truck is emitting or the  building is emitting, it's really hurting my ears.

We also use this for light, so the airport emits.

A lot of.

Light.

It's blinding.

Mars emits thousands of tons of methane at a time.

The level of methane rises and falls  as seasonal intervals in the year,  

almost as if the planet is breathing.

It sounds a little strange.

Perhaps that's the startling information here.

NASA suspects the methane comes from  deep under the surface of the planet.

The variations in temperature on the surface  of Mars caused the molecule, which is methane.

To.

Flow upwards at higher or lower levels.

OK, so this is the scientists  are speculating because if you  

suspect something, you don't know for sure.

Otherwise you would say NASA knows  the methane comes, but they suspect,  

which means they're about  80% sure they're guessing.

So again, you could also.

Use the verb.

Speculate.

NASA speculates the methane comes from deep  under the surface, so they don't know 100%.

For example, in the winter the gas could  get trapped in underground icy crystals.

OK, so this is what's happening to the methane.

These crystals called.

Class rates melt in the  summer and release the gas,  

so this is their theory on how this gas is  being released at different times of the year.

In winter, it's frozen.

The gas is frozen in these icy crystals.

But in summer, when these crystals  melt, they release the methane.

Again, This is not a fact.

Because they're speculating.

They suspect this is what is happening.

They don't know it to be.

True.

However, the source.

Of the methane is still a complete mystery.

Complete is an adjective, and it means  very great, or the highest possible.

So we're saying it's a mystery,  but not just a mystery.

Imagine the greatest mystery  you've ever thought of.

That's a complete mystery.

It's a very great mystery.

The highest mystery possible.

It's a complete mystery.

So the.

Source meaning how the  methane is there originally.

Where does the methane come from?

That is a complete mystery.

The.

World of Astrobiology considers both of  these studies a historical milestone.

A milestone is an important event,  

and it's an important event in  history or in your life as well.

An important event in history  or one's life, For example,  

one of the big milestones is when you  graduate from school, That's a milestone.

That's an important event in your life.

When you graduate, when you get married, when  you get your first job, when you have a baby.

You buy your first car, buy your first house.

These are all milestones, but of course  there are also historical milestones,  

and this, the information found in these  studies is one of those milestones.

According to this information,  Mars is not a dead planet.

So of course, a dead.

Planet would be a planet that cannot sustain life.

On the contrary, we use this as a transition word  when we want to introduce a contrasting point.

So dead planet is the one point.

Now the contrasting point would have to  show something with life and we can use.

On the contrary, Mars is not a dead planet.

On the contrary, it is quite active with  life, with molecules, with organic matter,  

and maybe changing and becoming more habitable.

If you describe something as  habitable, it means you're.

Able to live.

There because the conditions are.

Appropriate so able to live there.

For example, a very, very old  house that has a lot of damage,  

might not be habitable is  not suitable to live there.

You're not.

Able to live.

There, or after a flood or natural disaster,  maybe your home is no longer habitable.

Of course, this means further  research is necessary.

Scientists say they need to  send new equipment to Mars.

Equipment that can measure the  air and soil with more precision.

More precision is another way of  saying more accuracy, accuracy.

They need to be more accurate.

There are already missions underway.

Underway means they're in progress  now, in progress, now in progress now.

The European Space Agency's Exo  Mars ship lands in 2020 and will  

be able to drill into the ground  on Mars to analyze what it finds.

Additionally, NASA is sending another Mars Rover  

in the same year to collect samples of  Martian soil and return them to Earth.

So Martian.

This comes from the word Mars.

Just like if you live in Italy, you're an Italian.

If you live on Mars, you're a Martian.

That can be something you  can maybe look forward to.

So live on Mars equals Martian Martian soil,  Italian wine, pizza, tomatoes, for example.

Martian soil.

And notice how Mars.

Martian Earth also have that capital  first letter because they are.

Proper nouns.

Remember we talked about  proper nouns at the beginning?

Proper nouns.

So you need capital, first letter.

And here NASA is in all capitals  because we also capitalize acronyms.

So each letter stands for something.

To be honest, I don't know what NASA stands for.

I think the SA is space agency, National.

What's the A association Space agency.

That doesn't sound right.

What is the acronym for NASA?

Do you know?

Put it in the comments  because honestly I'm not sure.

I'm pretty sure SA is space agency,  

but I don't know what the N and the A  stand for because nobody ever says it.

Everybody says NASA.

Let's continue.

Again, let me know in the comments.

The possibility of life on Mars has  fascinated humans for generations.

It has been the subject of endless  science fiction novels and films.

If you describe something as endless,  it means again and again and again.

So as you know, there are always  movies and books about aliens,  

Martians, life on other planets, right?

So again and again and again.

Non ending.

Again and again.

Non ending.

Endless.

Are we alone in the universe?

Oh, or have there been other life forms within  our solar system if the current missions?

To the red.

Planet.

Which again means Mars.

Mars.

If the current missions to  the Red Planet continue, it  

looks as if we may discover the answer very soon.

Wow, isn't that a interesting  way to end an article?

So that's our article on Mars now.

I will go back.

And I'll read the article from start to finish,  and this time you can focus on my pronunciation.

Life on Mars, a new study  published in the journal Science.

Shows definitive evidence of organic  matter on the surface of Mars.

The data was collected by NASA's  nuclear powered Rover Curiosity.

It confirms earlier findings that the red.

Planet once contained carbon based compounds.

These compounds, also called organic molecules,  

are essential ingredients for  life as scientists understand it.

The organic molecules were  found in Mars Gale Cater,  

a large area that may have been a watery link.

Over 3 billion years ago, the  Rover encountered traces of  

the molecule in rocks extracted from the area.

The rocks also contains sulphur, which  scientists speculate helped preserve the  

organics even when the rocks were exposed to the  harsh radiation on the surface of the planet.

Scientists are quick to state that the presence  of these organic molecules is not sufficient  

evidence for ancient life on Mars as the molecules  could have been formed by non living processes.

But it's still one of the most  astonishing discoveries which could  

lead to future revelations, especially  when one considers the other startling.

Find that Curiosity uncovered  around five years ago.

The Rover analysis the air around it periodically,  and in 2014 it found the air contained another of  

the most basic organic molecules and a  key ingredient of natural gas, methane.

One of the characteristics of methane is  that it only survives a few 100 years.

This means that something somewhere  on Mars is replenishing the supply.

According to NASA, Mars emits  thousands of tons of methane at a time.

This level of methane rises and falls  at seasonal intervals in the year,  

almost as if the planet is breathing it.

NASA suspects the methane comes from  deep under the surface of the planet.

The variations in temperature on the  surface of Mars cause the molecule.

To.

Flow upwards at higher and higher levels.

For example, in the winter, the gas could  get trapped in underground icy crystals.

These crystals, called clathrates,  melt in the summer and release the gas.

However, the source of the methane  is still a complete mystery.

The world of astrobiology considers both  of these studies as historical milestones.

According to this information,  Mars is not a dead planet.

On the contrary, it is quite active and may  be changing and becoming more habitable.

Of course, this means further  research is necessary.

Scientists say they need to  send new equipment to Mars,  

equipment that can measure the  air and soil with more precision.

There are already missions underway.

The European Space Agency's Exomars ship lands in  

2020 and will be able to drill into the  ground on Mars to analyze what it finds.

Additionally, NASA is sending another Mars Rover  

in the same year to collect samples of  Martian soil and return them to Earth.

The possibility of life on Mars has  fascinated humans for generations.

It has been the subject of endless  science fiction novels and films.

Are we alone in the universe, or have there  been other life forms within our solar system?

If the current missions to  the Red Planet continue, it  

looks as if we may discover the answer very soon.

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