Norman Newbury has never won anything in his life, and then when a swimming competition comes up, Norman thinks he could, at last, win the trophy.

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)

To see the answers: https://www.practisingenglish.com/podcast-205.htm

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