Here is the B2 story for today:

A chance of a lifetime (B2)

Sophie had always led a busy life. Between her job at the hospital and her evening art classes, she hardly had a moment to relax. One Friday, after a long shift, she received a last-minute call from her boyfriend, Tom. He insisted she came to the old café by the river.

When Sophie arrived, the place was quiet, and Tom was waiting with a big smile. ‘You’ll never guess what’s happening,’ he said. 

Sophie laughed sharply. ‘You’re such a liar, Tom. You said you’d gone to Italy on business for a few days!’

Tom nodded his head. ‘I did go. That was part of the surprise. I was planning something for you.’ 

He handed her an envelope. Inside was a plane ticket to Italy and a letter inviting her to an international art exhibition — her paintings had been chosen to be displayed.

For a moment, Sophie couldn’t speak. She had always lived for her art, but never believed it would lead anywhere. ‘I can’t accept this,’ she whispered. 

‘Just enjoy it,’ Tom replied gently. ‘Don’t worry about work. You can’t live on stress forever.’

That evening, Sophie realised this was the chance of a lifetime — and she wasn’t going to miss this opportunity. Last but not least, she now knew that Tom was a guy worth holding on to.

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