The Visitors

This is the full version of my story The Visitors recorded in October of last year. The level is B2, but my B1 students are also invited, of course! ;-)

These are the comprehension questions: (the answers are further down - but don't look at those yet!!

1) Who said he didn't want to be rescued and why?

2) What is the bridge of a ship, and why did the scientists and naval officers all go there?

3) Where was the alien ship when the ship's crew first detected it?

4) Why did Pierre Lafayette say "Merde!" at the end of the story?

Answers:

1) Who said he didn't want to be rescued and why?

‘Rescue mission!’ the admiral suddenly shouted and he looked irritated. ‘Who are they gonna rescue? I don’t need rescuing, thank you very much! I have a nice home and beautiful family right here on Honolulu Island.

2) What is the bridge of a ship, and why did the scientists and naval officers all go there?

They hurried along the deck and in through a door that led to the bridge* - the highest part of the ship and the best place to get an all-round view of the surrounding darkening sea and sky.

3) Where was the alien ship when the ship's crew first detected it?

‘Sonar?’ interrupted Pierre. ‘Do you mean it’s under the water?’ The captain ignored him.

‘Estimated time of arrival?’

‘Four minutes, Captain! It’s incredible! There’s nothing that can travel that speed under water! I… I don’t get it!’

4) Why did Pierre Lafayette say "Merde!" at the end of the story?

‘Merde!’ said Pierre ('merde' is a swaer word in French) to anyone who might be listening to him. ‘They want nothing to do with us!’

(The alien spaceship had come to rescue the dolphins and whales of the ocean, and was not interested in making contact with the humans!)

Hope you enjoyed the story and learned some new language from it!

Mike.

Support the show

My NEW book: "B1 English Vocabulary Builder - 22 Short Stories for Learning the Words and Phrases Students Need to Pass the B1 Exam" is now available! This book gives the learner enough vocabulary to pass any B1 exam (special help for Cambridge exams).
To read more about my book, click here (you can access it from any Amazon platform):
https://amzn.to/46AVFe9

Learners studying towards B2 level will be interested in my B1 to B2 reader: The Tudor Conspiracy (includes audio version) https://amzn.to/4gPsj0i

For very young learners (from 8-10), I recommend my picture reader book for children learning A1 to A2 English. It comes with a fully dramatised audio version: https://amzn.to/46TCWvv

Oxford Bookworm Graded Readers: Read stories at your level to improve your English. I recommend Oxford Bookworms as the best series of books for learners: https://amzn.to/4r7YVHg

At https://www.practisingenglish.com/ I offer learners of intermediate-level English, free grammar help and exercises and other English learning pages.
https://www.practisingenglish.com/

Be back soon with another podcast!
Mike Bilbrough (Secondary school English teacher and Doctor in English philology)

Episode C10 – These Are Not Foolish Trav...