Today I have joined the two halves of The Quiet Man together so you can enjoy this story in one complete story. 

I briefly discuss intonation and give you a task to listen to while enjoying the story.

For more podcasts on intonation at Practising English, go to podcasts: 126, 109, 43, 103. See the podcast numbers at my website...
https://www.practisingenglish.com/podcast-content.htm

The Quiet Man

First part of story. If you can't see the words in red on your app (the stressed words), you can visit my website at https://www.practisingenglish.com/podcast-196.htm:

‘Come on, you’ll like them! They really are super people!’

Simon Willoughby wasn’t convinced. He had never been keen on theatres and actors.

On the only occasion Simon had actually been to the theatre, he had felt terrified. On this visit, he was sitting just two rows back from the front, when, during the play, one of the performers had come down from the stage. She asked if someone would like to come up and take part in the play. As nobody raised their hand, the actress came among the audience to look for someone. 

For one terrible moment, Simon thought it was going to be him. He closed his eyes, and his heartbeat raced while sweat poured off his face and hands. Fortunately, for Simon, the actress chose another person, who had been sitting right next to him. Simon could breathe normally again. In fact, feeling worried that the same thing might happen later on in the performance, Simon got up and quietly walked out of the theatre. He’d never been back.

How he had become friends with his department’s manageress, Simon couldn’t even guess. She seemed to like him. Her name was Phillipa, and she had asked Simon to come into her office to talk about his work in the company. He couldn’t really understand why he deserved the a

Here is a link to a Pdf extract from my new book: "B1 English Vocabulary Builder" so you can see how it works and how it can help you reach a B1 English level.

https://www.practisingenglish.com/pdf/Inchcape-rock-sample.pdf

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

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

Be back soon with another podcast!
Mike Bilbrough (Secondary school English teacher and...