Learn ENGLISH with a SHORT STORY - Frank's Last Case (B2/C1 Level)

hey everybody how's it going Chiago here and welcome to another episode of the podcast happy Sunday how have you been hope you're doing well in case you're new here I've created this podcast and this YouTube channel to help intermediate and advanced Learners of English communicate with more confidence more accuracy more clarity and of course more awareness if this sounds like something you want for yourself and your English subscribe to the channel and if you are on Spotify or apple podcasts follow the show so you don't miss a single new episode today we are learning English with another story yes we have another story to read together today and I have some cool vocabulary to point out before I start though let me remind you that my newest pronunciation course is already available it's out on pre-sale this is a course that I created with the intent of helping you understand the main connected speech patterns of the English language that native speakers use in media and in real life and also to help you speak English with better pronunciation better Clarity better flow okay the course is available on pre-sale at a very special discounted price the link for you to learn more about the course is in the description of the video if you are on Apple or Spotify is in the show notes and also on YouTube I'm going to leave a pinned comment in the comment section with the link to the page you can go there read more information about the course how it works how how it is structured and if it make sense to you you can buy it at a very special price to improve your English pronunciation okay so guys the story that I have for us to read today on this fine Sunday is about a Cop it's about a police officer and the story is called Frank's last case the vocabulary level in the story mostly is B2 level I would say with some C1 words so this story has slightly more advanced vocabulary so I'm sure that you will get to learn at least a few more advanced words today okay I'm going to read the story for you first so just chill relax excuse me relax close your eyes if you want to just enjoy and then after reading the story I'm going to point out here some nice vocabulary that I found from the story again I took this story from the British Council website it's a wonderful website they have a lot of free stories there for English Learners and I'm going to leave the link to the story also in the description of the video in the show notes in case you want to go there and have the PDF available for you to download okay let me read the um the little let's say synopsis for the story check it out Sergeant Frank spike is not a successful police officer but he has a nose for Crime will his last case change his look interesting let's get started here so now it's Story Time listen and enjoy I'm going to do my best to perform the story again and let's get started ready okay Sergeant Frank Spike sat behind his desk and stared out of the window outside a steady stream of traffic passed by each car moving slowly in the cold gray rain Frank looked down at the gray hairs on his arms and his round stomach which pushed against the desk this was his final month before he retired from the police and for Frank retirement couldn't come soon enough Frank frowned as he considered the terrible retirement package he had been given it was barely enough money to take a short holiday on the cold and rainy east coast of England where he lived there was no way he could afford the around the world luxury Cruise he had always dreamed of just as Frank was sighing heavily inspector Spencer came up to his his desk with his perfect white teeth and enthusiastic smile 3 years earlier Spencer had been promoted now he had the position of Inspector at the young age of 40 Frank in comparison had worked for the police for 40 years and been passed over for promotion three times it was true he had neither the looks nor charm of Spencer sorry inspector Spencer but the younger man didn't have Frank's nose for Crime that nose meant Frank could get inside the mind of the criminal and solve the trickiest of cases as a result the younger man often asked for Frank's help in fact it was pretty much the only time Spencer spoke to him hey Frank do you mind if I ask your advice about something unsurprised Frank nodded have you heard of the babingtons everyone had heard of the babingtons Ronald babington was the millionaire owner of babington oil and his wife Tabitha was a model together they enjoyed nothing more than showing off how rich they were they often appeared in magazines like hello with their gorgeous house and collection of sports cars most recently they had invited the press to take photographs of the enormous Diamond Ronald had bought for his bride under the protection of a sophisticated alarm system the diamond sat in a large gold and glass case the case stood at the end of a long red carpet Spencer paused for a dramatic effect then explained we've had some secret information about a plan to steal the badminton Diamond Frank raised his eyebrows in an attempt to look suitably impressed baggie the owner of the Dog and Duck Pub heard a couple of local criminals talking about it she's asked that we keep her identity secret of course but our officers have made some discret inquiries that seem to confirm what Peggy says Frank nodded again and waited for the inevitable question so Spencer asked what do you think is the best thing to do after all it's only a rumor we've got nothing conrete to arrest them on Frank looked thoughtfully out of the window he remembered his retirement money he didn't want to be alone in his retirement but the money wouldn't even be enough to buy a cat to keep him company the sound of a car horn brought him back to the case he put his fingers together under his chin to look as if he was thinking deeply which he was but not quite in the direction inspector Spencer expected listen do this the clav way said Frank leaning towards the younger officer what you need to do is let them commit the crime if you catch them right-handed you've got all the evidence to need no problem but Frank said Spencer we need the approval of the babington family and there are laws about tricking criminals like that you know that's why you let them commit the crime then apparently by chance stop them for speeding as they escape the crime scene you search the car to to find the diamond and you've caught them red-handed plus the owner of the pub is protected and you have all the evidence you need hm okay Spencer was UN comfortable with the methods Frank was suggesting but he couldn't deny the plan would work Frank continued of course you need to ensure the arresting officer is someone you know is reliable Spencer understood immediately are you you sure you want to do it Frank it could be dangerous I'll make sure I'm with a couple of tough young officers but yes of course I want to do it why asked Spencer you're just about to retire don't you want to take it easy that's exactly why I want to do it Frank replied my last case will be my final chance for Glory a few days later Frank went into the Dog and Duck Pub after work did you get it he asked as she handed him his drink yes I am now the proud owner of a perfect replica badmington Diamond she said I told the glass maker I was a huge fan of the babingtons and that my mean boyfriend wouldn't buy me a diamond of my own you need a new boyfriend said Frank if I weree your boyfriend I buy you a diamond ring and take you on a long luxury Cruise if I had the chance oh really she said and smiled Frank was sitting in the backseat of the police car which was hidden on the road through the woods to the babington mansion in the front seats were two young officers who were strong and reliable at 11:30 a message had come in on the police radio the burglar had met outside the Dog and Duck Pub at 11:37 the young man started the car and left the pub in the passenger seat was a tall athletic woman at midnight the pair passed the hidden police car on their way to the Mansion at 12:13 the woman threw heavy ropes over one of the mansion's garden walls a second hidden police team watched her climb over while the men waited in the car at 12:20 the woman reappeared at the top of the wall with an excited smile on her face she climbed quickly down the Rope before pulling it down with her and running back to the car smiling in Triumph the men waited for her to jump in and then spat off in the car at 12:23 the thief passed Frank's Car the young police officer in the driver's seat immediately switched on the flashing blue lights and followed them inside the car the thieves panicked what are they doing here the man shouted about it I thought you said you turned off the alarms relax I did she replied they couldn't have got here this fast anyway they're just traffic police just keep calm and act normally and we can walk away from this with a diamond the man slowed down their car to a stop and press the button that lowered his window is there a problem officer he asked his face shiny with nervous sweat you were speeding we'll need to give you a ticket can you both get out of the car please the man still looked nervous while one officer wrote out the speeding ticket and the others stood by ready to get involved if things turn nasty Frank began thoroughly searching the car hey what's he searching the car for the woman said but she knew the game was over Frank breathed heavily as he nailed down and started lifting up the rubber mats underneath the seats his hand found something smooth hard and cold under the front passenger car seat the babington diamond he took the diamond and put it in his Jack pocket at the same time with his other hand he took a very similar object out of his trouser pocket he held it up okay you two he said you are under arrest for robbery while the young police officers arrested and hand CED the criminals Frank held the evidence up for everyone to admire it shown rainbow collar as he CAU the light from the Moon the two officers sighed in appreciation I've never seen a real diamond up close said one imagine someone giving you that as a present said the other just imagine Frank agreed he carefully put it into an Evidence bag half an hour later back at the station he handed it over to Spencer Spencer took it from him carefully as if he was a newborn baby 5 Weeks Later Frank was sitting his new luxury massage chair and drinking a glass of the finest champagne his expensive new cat rubbed her tail around his legs and he reached down to stroke her with a satisfied side he leaned over and picked up the local newspaper the two burglars had got six years in prison the accompanying photo was of the badmington happily showing off the diamond inside its new extra thick glass case Frank looked closely at the photo of the diamond only a jewelry expert would spot anything strange about the badmington diamond and even then only if they saw the stone up close Frank put the newspaper down and picked up one of the travel magazines on his beautiful new coffee table baggie he said would you like to go to the Bahamas or the Mal Dives put down her own champagne glass a small diamond ring on her finger shining in the light why not both she smiled I did promise you aone Cruise he said you did she replied I'm so glad I called you first when I heard them talking about that robbery me too Peggy he said me too retirement was turning out to be a wonderful thing after all the end you see what happened here so in the end Frank the police officer who was about to retire actually stole the diamond himself so he could have the retirement he wanted guys this is just a story okay hopefully this doesn't happen in real life but you see what happened here look at that interesting right so um I want to point out here before closing the video some nice vocabulary okay look at this phrase Frank frowned as he considered the terrible retirement package he had been given when you frown you do this with your face you see my eyebrows I look angry or I look upset okay so I'm frowning right now so when Frank considered how much money he was going to get out of retirement he frown like H that's just too little okay check this out it was barely enough money to take a short holiday barely something bar barely is like almost doesn't work out so it was barely enough money like you know it was just enough money to take a short holiday in his own City where he had lived for the past 40 years so it wasn't a lot of money just as Frank was sighing heavily sighing heavily when you sigh you do this you know this movement with air it's like you see I'm sighing now usually we sigh because we are disappointed because we are tired we go you know this is sighing it was true he had neither the looks nor charm of Spencer this is a really nice Construction in other the words here Frank didn't have the looks and he didn't have the charm of Spencer but you see how we are using the structure here he had neither the looks nor charm of Spencer so when you talk about two possibilities or two options and both are negative you can use this construction neither this one nor that one this is a more Advanced formal structure okay together they enjoyed nothing more than showing off how rich they were when you show off you display uh how cool you are you show how cool you are how much money you have the cars you have in your own garage you show off to people you know you want people to see how amazing and you are this is usually a bad thing okay nobody likes people who show off okay so if you show off it's like you are showing yourself believing that you are superior in any way all right so it's not a good thing to do that but our officers have made some discret inquiries that seem to confirm what Peggy says something discret is something lowkey is discret it's not so evident okay it's kind of behind the scenes not so obvious and inquiries questions okay so when you make inquiries about something you ask questions about it okay if you catch them right-handed you've got all the evidence you need nice expression when you catch someone red-handed you catch the person writing the ACT you catch the person doing something wrong or illegal okay so if you see the person robbing or stealing something this is an example of catching that person red-handed because ah gotcha I saw what you're doing here okay the burglars had met outside the Dog and Duck Pub this is a nice Past Perfect Construction because the story happens in the past right so the burglars had match outside the Dog and Duck Pub before an initial point in the past they met outside the pub the past perfect is often called the past of the past or the super past first something happened but then something else had happened before that first thing that happened so past perfect is often used in combination with past simple okay smiling in Triumph the man waited for her to jump in and then spat off in the car I love this phrase smiling in Triumph Triumph Victory when you are triumphant you are victorious you are a winner okay so the robber one of the robbers who was in the car when he saw the woman coming back with the diamond he smiled in Triumph like yes we got the diamond okay but it's a very nice word triumph or to be triumphant to be Victorious and then the woman got into the car and the man spat off in the car sped is the past of speed okay so to speed off is to run away by car usually in a fast manner right so the man spat off in the car with a diamond and the woman and finally while one officer rote out the speeding ticket and the others stood by ready to get involved if things turn nasty Frank began thoroughly searching the car we have some nice words here yeah so first of all a speding ticket is a ticket you get from the police officer if you are driving too fast fast if you're driving too fast especially in the US for example or in other countries the police ask you to stop on the side of the road and then if you really were um driving too fast you got a speeding ticket okay the other man stood by ready to get involved stood by is the past of standby when you stand by you are there just in case you know you are they are still kind of prepared in case something happens so there was one police officer riding out the ticket and the other standing by just in case so he was ready to get involved if things turned nasty when when things turn nasty things become worse okay the situation gets really bad real quickly for example imagine maybe the a couple of robbers trying to escape that could be an example of things turning nasty and then the other police officer would have to intervene okay and then Frank began thoroughly searching the car I love this word thoroughly or thorough excuse me thoroughly okay the word is thorough th th when you are thorough about something you are very meticulous very detailed you pay attention to the Minor Details okay so Frank was thoroughly searching the car he was searching the car for the diamond with extra care in attention looking everywhere so when you do something thoroughly you do it paying attention to the minimum details all right guys that's it I hope you enjoyed listening to the story about this corrupt cop yeah and I hope you enjoyed learning some vocabulary with it again I'm going to leave the link to the story in the description of the video and in the show notes so that you know you can download the PDF there on the website for free and maybe you can look up the meaning of other words from the story that I didn't explain here okay don't forget to check out my new pronunciation course available on pre-sale it's going to Revolution ize the way you think about English listening and English speaking I guarantee that okay it's available at a very special discounted price so check it out Link in the description in the pin comments and also in the show notes if you are on Spotify or apple podcasts finally keep supporting the channel by subscribing first if you're not a subscriber subscribe and share the Channel with people you know who might be interested in taking their English to the next level all right if you are on Spotify or apple podcasts leave me a f star review on those platforms because that helps me a lot on those platforms as well guys I'm signing off thank you so much and have a great day I'll be talking to you very soon in the upcoming video see you

Channel: English with Thiago

Views: 13,026

Keywords: english, english learning, speak english, how to speak english, english fluency, how to learn english, advanced english, intermediate english, grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, connected speech, esl, listening, writing, reading, learn english with stories, english with stories, english short stories, short story in english

Id: DV1p7UsQ-yY

Length: 24min 47sec (1487 seconds)

Published: Sun May 26 2024