داستان کوتاه

Roll The Dice – Mini-Story Lesson

Hi, I’m Joe Weiss and I’m one of the teachers and directors of Learn Real English and I’d like to welcome you to this mini-story lesson. Okay, I want to start the lesson by telling you about some of the idioms that you will hear me use in the story, so let’s start there.

Alright, first is the idiom “to dress up,” to dress up. So if you dress up, it means that you wear nice clothes, but it’s not just any type of nice clothing. It’s a formal type of clothing, so nice formal clothes, you could say. Let me give you an example. Peter did not like to dress up but he wore a suit for his wedding because his family wanted him to. Okay, so what I’m saying is Peter did not like to wear nice formal clothes, but he wore a suit for his wedding because his family wanted him to.

Okay, so next is to “rack up a lot of debt,” or you could even say to “rack up debt.” Anyway, if you rack up a lot of debt that means that you borrow a lot of money, so you owe a lot of money, okay? Let me give you an example. When Harry had a gambling problem, he racked up a lot of debt. Okay, so what I’m saying is when Harry had a gambling problem, he borrowed a lot of money, or you could say he owed a lot of money as a result of it, okay? He borrowed a lot of money.

Okay, so next is to be “pickpocketed.” So if you get pickpocketed, it means that someone steals something from you and the person steals that thing when you have it with you. So if, say, you weren’t at your house and someone stole something from your house, you wouldn’t say that you got pickpocketed. But if something was in your pants pocket and someone stole it from there, then that would be an example of being pickpocketed. Let me give you an example. When George was on the train, his wallet got pickpocketed. Okay, so what I’m saying is when George was on the train, someone stole George’s wallet. His wallet was stolen from him and he had it with him, okay? His wallet was pickpocketed. His wallet was stolen from him.

Okay, so next is to be “down on your luck.” So if you’re down on your luck, it means that you’re having a difficult time because some bad or unlucky or even unfortunate things have happened to you recently. Let me give you an example. John was down on his luck because his wife divorced him and he didn’t have a place to live. Okay, so John was going through a difficult time because some unlucky or bad things recently happened to him. His wife divorced him and he didn’t have a place to live. He was down on his luck. He was having a difficult time because some bad or unlucky or unfortunate things recently happened to him.

Alright, I have one more for you and this is one I really like. It’s “to roll the dice,” to roll the dice. So if you roll the dice, it means you do something that’s risky, okay? Something that you don’t know what the outcome is for, okay? If you do something and you don’t know what the outcome is going to be and there

is some risk, then you say you roll the dice. Let me give you an example, okay? Pierre was hungry and he looked in his refrigerator and he saw some cheese. And he smelled the cheese and it, it didn’t smell good. It smelled bad. But he was very hungry so he rolled the dice. He ate the cheese. Okay? Alright, so what I’m saying is Pierre was really hungry. He looked in his refrigerator and he saw some cheese but the cheese smelled bad. But he was very hungry so he did something that was risky. He ate the cheese, okay? It wasn’t the safe thing to eat the cheese. It was risky. He rolled the dice.

Alright, well now I’m going to tell you a story but I’m going to ask you a lot of questions as I tell you the story. So when I ask you a question, I just want you to answer that question by telling me the first thing that you think of, okay? The first answer that comes into your mind. And don’t worry about making mistakes.

Always remember that mistakes are okay as long as you learn from them. So if you make a mistake, just try and learn from it. Don’t make the same mistake the next time you listen to this lesson. And when you answer these questions, I want you to speak loudly and confidently. Alright, well it’s time for our story so let’s begin.

There was a penguin and his name was Jeff. And Jeff was a lawyer and Jeff did not like to dress up. No, Jeff did not like to dress up. He liked to dress casually.

Okay, time for some questions. Was there a penguin or was there a cat?

There was a penguin, right? There was a penguin.

And what was the penguin’s name?

Jeff, the penguin’s name was Jeff.

And was Jeff a doctor?

No, no, Jeff wasn’t a doctor.

What was Jeff?

He was a lawyer, right? Jeff was a lawyer.

And tell me this. Who was a lawyer?

Well, Jeff was, Jeff was a lawyer.

And did Jeff like to dress up?

No, no, Jeff did not like to dress up.

Who didn’t like to dress up?

Jeff didn’t, Jeff didn’t like to dress up.

So tell me this. Did Jeff like to wear nice formal clothes?

No, no, Jeff didn’t like to dress up so that means he didn’t like to wear nice formal clothes. Okay, when you dress up you wear nice formal clothes. He did not like to do that.

So one more question before we continue. How did Jeff like to dress?

Casually, Jeff liked to dress casually, he liked to wear clothes that were casual. He didn’t like to wear nice formal clothes. He liked to wear casual clothes.

Well, while Jeff was in law school, he racked up a lot of debt. So after he finished law school, he needed to find a job. And Jeff did not worry about finding a job, no. Jeff didn’t worry about finding a job because he was the best student in his school.

Okay, time for some more questions. While Jeff was in law school, did he rack up a lot of debt?

Yes, yes, he did, Jeff racked up a lot of debt while he was in law school.

Who racked up a lot of debt? Did AJ rack up a lot of debt?

No, no, not AJ.

Who racked up a lot of debt?

Jeff did, right? Jeff racked up a lot of debt.

And tell me this. When did Jeff rack up a lot of debt?

When he was in law school, Jeff racked up a lot of debt while he was in law school.

So did Jeff borrow a lot of money while he was in law school?

He did, yes, Jeff racked up a lot of debt while he was in law school so that means he borrowed a lot of money so after law school he owed a lot of money. He racked up a lot of debt.

So tell me this. Did Jeff need to find a job after he finished law school?

Yes, yes, he did, Jeff needed to find a job after he finished law school.

Who needed to find a job?

Well, Jeff did, Jeff needed to find a job.

And what did Jeff need to find? Did he need to find his car keys?

No, no, Jeff didn’t need to find his car keys.

What did Jeff need to find?

A job, Jeff needed to find a job.

And when did Jeff need to find a job?

After law school, after he finished law school, Jeff needed to find a job after he finished law school.

So tell me this. Did Jeff need to find a job before he finished law school?

No, no, Jeff did not need to find a job before he finished law school. He needed to find a job after he finished law school.

Okay, but why? Why did he need to find a job after he finished law school?

Because he racked up a lot of debt while he was in law school.

So tell me this. Did Jeff worry about finding a job?

No, no, he didn’t, Jeff did not worry about finding a job.

Who didn’t worry about finding a job? Jeff or Kristin?

Jeff didn’t, Jeff didn’t worry about finding a job.

And tell me this. Who was the best student in Jeff’s law school?

Jeff was, right? Jeff was the best student in his law school.

So why didn’t Jeff worry about finding a job?

Because he was the best student in his law school, Jeff didn’t worry about finding a job because he was the best student in his law school.

Well, just three weeks after Jeff finished law school, he had his first job interview. Yes, he had a job interview with the Texas Law Group and Jeff was the best lawyer to interview for that job. But he didn’t get the job, no. Jeff didn’t get the job because he didn’t wear a suit for the job interview.

Okay, so tell me this. Did Jeff have a job interview three weeks after he finished law school?

He did, yes, Jeff had a job interview three weeks after he finished law school.

So tell me this. Who had a job interview?

Jeff did, Jeff had a job interview.

And what type of interview did Jeff have?

He had a job interview, Jeff had a job interview.

And when did he have the job interview?

Three weeks after he finished law school.

Did Jeff have the job interview three weeks before he finished law school or three weeks after he finished law school?

After, Jeff had the job interview three weeks after he finished law school.

And who did he have the job interview with?

The Texas Law Group, he had a job interview with the Texas Law Group.

So tell me this, who was the best lawyer to interview for the job?

Jeff was, Jeff was the best lawyer to interview for the job.

So did he get the job?

No, no, he didn’t.

Who didn’t get the job?

Jeff didn’t, Jeff didn’t get the job.

So tell me this. Did Jeff wear a suit for the job interview?

No, Jeff did not wear a suit for the job interview.

So why didn’t Jeff get the job that he interviewed for? Why didn’t Jeff get the job?

Because he didn’t wear a suit for the job interview, poor Jeff.

Yeah, poor Jeff. Jeff was upset because he didn’t get the job but he had other job interviews. In fact, just one week later, he had four more job interviews. But guess what? He didn’t get any of

those jobs either. Jeff didn’t get any of those jobs because he dressed casually for the job interviews. He did not dress up for those job interviews. And after his last job interview of the four, his wallet was pickpocketed. Poor Jeff.

Okay, tell me this. After Jeff had his first interview, how many more interviews did he have the following week?

Four, Jeff had four more job interviews.

Who had four more job interviews?

Jeff did, Jeff had four more job interviews.

And tell me this. Did Jeff get any of those jobs?

No, he did not get any of those four jobs.

How did Jeff dress for those job interviews? Did he dress casually or did he dress up?

He did not dress up, he dressed casually for those job interviews.

So why didn’t Jeff get any of those jobs?

Because he didn’t dress up for the job interview.

Did Jeff wear nice formal clothes for those job interviews?

No, no, he didn’t, he did not dress up. He did not wear nice formal clothes for the job interviews. He wore casual clothes and that’s why he didn’t get the job.

So tell me one other thing. Did Jeff have his wallet pickpocketed after his last job interview?

He did, yes, Jeff had his wallet pickpocketed after his last job interview.

And tell me this. What was pickpocketed? Jeff’s keys or Jeff’s wallet?

His wallet, Jeff’s wallet was pickpocketed, not his keys. His wallet was pickpocketed.

And so when was his wallet pickpocketed?

After his last job interview, his wallet was pickpocketed after his last job interview.

So was Jeff’s wallet stolen?

Yes, yes, his wallet was pickpocketed so that means it was stolen.

And where was his wallet when it was stolen? Was it at his house or was it with him?

It was with him, he got pickpocketed so that means the wallet was stolen while it was with him, poor Jeff.

Poor Jeff. Jeff was down on his luck, wasn’t he? He was down on his luck but he remained positive. He remained positive because he still had one more job interview and before that job interview, Jeff’s mother told Jeff that he needed to wear a suit for the job interview. And Jeff knew his mother was right but Jeff didn’t listen to his mother. Jeff rolled the dice. He did not wear a suit for the job interview. He dressed casually.

Okay, so tell me this. Who was down on his luck?

Jeff was, of course, right? Jeff was down on his luck.

So was Jeff going through a difficult time because some bad or unfortunate things had recently happened to him?

Yes, yes, of course, he was down on his luck so that means he was going through a difficult time because something bad or some unfortunately things had recently happened to him. For example, his wallet was pickpocketed and he didn’t get any of the jobs he interviewed with so he was down on his luck.

So tell me this. Was Jeff finished with his job interviews or did he have another job interview?

Oh, he had another job interview, yes, Jeff had another job interview.

And tell me this. Did Jeff’s mother tell Jeff that he needed to wear a suit for the job interview?

Yes, she did, Jeff’s mother told Jeff that he needed to wear a suit for the job interview.

Who told Jeff he needed to wear a suit for the job interview?

His mother did, right? Jeff’s mother told Jeff that he needed to wear a suit for the job interview.

And what did Jeff’s mother tell Jeff that he needed to do?

Well, she told him he needed to wear a suit for the job interview.

So tell me this. Did Jeff wear a suit to the job interview or did he dress casually?

He dressed casually, he did not wear a suit for the job interview.

So did Jeff roll the dice?

Yes, he did, Jeff rolled the dice.

Did Jeff do something that was safe or did he do something that was risky?

He did something that was risky, he rolled the dice. To wear a suit for the job interview would have been the safe thing to do but he didn’t do that. He dressed casually. He did something that was risky. He rolled the dice.

Well, I have something else to tell you about Jeff. Jeff had that last job interview and after the job interview, Jeff was offered the job. And the person who offered Jeff the job told Jeff that she did not care what type of clothes Jeff wore as long as Jeff was a good lawyer and he was also a good person.

Okay, so that’s the end of our story. And I hope you enjoyed the story because now I want you to tell the story and I want you to use all of the idioms that I taught you at the beginning of this lesson, okay? And I think it’s important for you to learn this material deeply. Okay, you want to be able to understand these

idioms if anyone uses them while they’re talking to. You may even want to use these idioms while you’re talking to someone in English.

So I want you to learn the material deeply and in order to do that, I want you to listen to this lesson every day for at least one week. You may find that you need to listen to the material for even a little longer than one week, okay? Maybe you need a little more time in order to learn it deeply. If that’s the case, I encourage you to listen to it even more. Okay, more is better in this case.

Alright then, well that’s all for this mini-story lesson. I’ll see you next time.