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One way or another, Norman imagined that other people regarded him as an underachiever. He became obsessed by what his colleagues at the supermarket might call him when he was not listening. What about Norman Nobody or Norman Nothing in Particular. Norman was a man who was of the opinion that life had not treated him fairly...

This is a strong B1 to B2-level story.

B2 phrases to listen for. What is the context of each phrase?

1) talk things over with

2) kept in good shape

3) push himself

4) (feel) over the moon 

5) took a deep breath

6) taken it for granted

The vowels (a, e, i, o, u) have been taken out (unless the word begins with a vowel). Read the definition and guess the word in bold.

B1-level

1) achvmnt n. (something difficult you managed to de)

2) dscssn n. (talking among people)

3) rd v. (opposite of polite)

4) rcgnsd (saw somebody and knew who they were)

5) cmpttr n. (somebody in a competition)

B2-level

6) otstnding adj. (exceptional, very good)

7) trgc adj. (very sad)

8) prftbl adj. (a way that earns you money)

9) gggls n. (worn over the eyes when swimming)

10) astnshd adj. (very surprised)

For answers, listen to the podcast, and go to: https://www.practisingenglish.com/podcast-205.htm

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

My latest novel for learners of B2 English is called The Tudor Conspiracy. You can see it on Amazon here: https://amzn.to/33Axu2N
https://amzn.to/33Axu2N

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