This is a B1 and B2 story with phrasal verbs. Here is the audioscripy for the story:

https://www.practisingenglish.com/podcast-284.htm

A Christmas Surprise

Christmas didn't turn out very well for Flora. She lived in the north of Scotland, where the weather can be a problem in the winter months. She lived in Keiss, a fishing village at the northern end of Sinclair's Bay on the east coast of Caithness in Scotland's Highland area.

She wanted to spend Christmas with her ageing mother who lived in Lairg - not far away but higher up in the mountains. A heavy snowstorm had cut off the town, so travel there was impossible. She had to give up that idea. Feeling disappointed, she decided to stay in and wait for the weather to change.

On Christmas Eve, Flora woke up early and put on her warmest coat to check outside. The streets were quiet, and most shops were closed. While she was looking around, she noticed an elderly neighbour, Mr. Armstrong, trying to clear away the snow in front of his house. Flora went over to help him, even though she didn't know him very well.

As they worked together, Mr. Armstrong opened up about his life. He told Flora that his family lived far away and that he usually ended up spending Christmas alone. Hearing this, Flora didn't want to walk away and forget about him. Instead, she came up with an idea.

Later that day, Flora set up a small Christmas dinner in her apartment. She invited Mr. Armstrong over, and he happily turned up just before sunset. They shared stories, laughed a lot, and slowly got to know each other better. Flora realized that even though her original plans had fallen through, something special had worked out in the end.

Contact Mike Bilbrough with a question or enquiry about advertising on Practising English Podcasts: https://www.practisingenglish.com/contact.htm

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 lear...