Speaker 1: This English short story is called The Last Seat. Now,
Speaker 1: learning English through story is one of the most powerful
Speaker 1: things that you can do. Here is how to do this. First,
Speaker 1: listen to the story and read the story if you
Speaker 1: are on YouTube, and then stay around because you can
Speaker 1: learn ten different words and phrases all from the story
Speaker 1: and get more examples to Let's get started. Ella hurried
Speaker 1: through the crowded train station, her suitcase rolling noisily behind her.
Speaker 1: The overhead speaker crackled. The two thirty train to Edinburgh
Speaker 1: is now boarding at platform nine. She picked up her pace,
Speaker 1: weaving between passengers, dodging suitcases, and people standing in the
Speaker 1: middle of the walkway. She booked a ticket, but not
Speaker 1: a seat, and now she was cutting it close. If
Speaker 1: she didn't find a spot soon, she'd be standing for
Speaker 1: the next four hours. Reaching the train just in time,
Speaker 1: she stepped inside. Scanning the carriage. Every seat was taken.
Speaker 1: People were settling in with their coffees, pulling out laptops,
Speaker 1: or staring at their phones. Ella sighed great. Then she
Speaker 1: spotted it, a single empty seat next to a guy
Speaker 1: who was looking out the window headphones in. She hesitated
Speaker 1: for a moment, then walked over excuse me, is this
Speaker 1: seat taken? The guy pulled out one ear bud and
Speaker 1: turned to look at her. He had dark blonde hair,
Speaker 1: a slight stubble, and eyes that took a second to focus,
Speaker 1: like he had been lost in thought. Oh, he said,
Speaker 1: sitting up straighter, No go ahead. Ella smiled politely, shoved
Speaker 1: her bag onto the overhead rack and sat down. The
Speaker 1: train pulled away from the station, the movement making Ella
Speaker 1: relax slightly. She pulled out a book and tried to read,
Speaker 1: but after a few minutes she found herself staring out
Speaker 1: the window instead. The countryside flashed by green fields stretching
Speaker 1: far into the distance. The guy next to her took
Speaker 1: out his earbuds and leaned back in his seat. He
Speaker 1: glanced at her book. Any good, he asked. Ella turned
Speaker 1: the cover towards him. It's all right, bit slow, though,
Speaker 1: he smiled. That's the worst, isn't it. You keep reading
Speaker 1: hoping it gets better, but it never does, she laughed. Exactly.
Speaker 1: A few moments passed before he spoke again. You heading
Speaker 1: to Edinburgh for a work of fun, Just visiting my sister,
Speaker 1: she said, She lives there. You work trip, he replied,
Speaker 1: But I lived there for a few years. Ella nodded, nice,
Speaker 1: do you still like it? Yeah, it's a great city,
Speaker 1: but I don't go back as often as I should.
Speaker 1: She noticed the way his smile faded slightly, like there's
Speaker 1: something more to the story. The conversation drifted from books
Speaker 1: to travel, then to childhood memories. It was easy, like
Speaker 1: they weren't complete strangers sitting next to each other on
Speaker 1: a train, but two old friends catching up after years apart. Jake,
Speaker 1: she learned his name, half way through the trip, told
Speaker 1: her about his years living in Edinburgh, how he used
Speaker 1: to work at a cafe near the university, how he
Speaker 1: once got lost on a hike and ended up in
Speaker 1: the wrong town. Ella told him about her job, her
Speaker 1: sister's habit of collecting no teacups, and how she once
Speaker 1: broke in her ankle trying to roll a skate in
Speaker 1: a shopping center. Seriously, Jake laughed, a shopping center, Ella grinned.
Speaker 1: In my defense, I was twelve and my best friend
Speaker 1: dared me to do it. Let me guess you lost balance,
Speaker 1: knocked over a display of biscuits and caused chaos. She gasped,
Speaker 1: how did you know? He shook his head, smiling, I've
Speaker 1: met enough people like you. By the time the train
Speaker 1: reached Edinburgh, the sky had started to turn pink. Ella
Speaker 1: looked at her phone. Four hours had passed faster than
Speaker 1: she expected. As the train slowed, people stood up, pulling
Speaker 1: down bags and stretching their legs. Ella reached for her suitcase,
Speaker 1: but Jake had already grabbed it for her. Thanks, she said,
Speaker 1: stepping into the aisle. No problem, he replied, Then, hesitating
Speaker 1: for a second, he added, Hey, if you ever need
Speaker 1: another book recommendation, she smiled, Are you about to suggest
Speaker 1: that slow book you gave upon? Jake chuckled, All right, fine,
Speaker 1: if you ever need a good book recommendation, let me know.
Speaker 1: He pulled out his phone, holding it up. Ella took
Speaker 1: out hers too, and in a few seconds they had
Speaker 1: exchanged numbers. As she stepped off the train, she glanced back.
Speaker 1: Jake was still standing in the doorway, hands in his
Speaker 1: pockets and watching her. Go. Enjoy your visit, he said.
Speaker 1: She smiled, you too. The train doors beaped and closed
Speaker 1: behind her. Ella turned and walked towards the exit, her
Speaker 1: suitcase rolling behind her. So that is a story. Now
Speaker 1: let's analyze the key expressions their meanings. And also additional
Speaker 1: examples so that you can learn more English. The first
Speaker 1: one is cut it close now. This means to almost
Speaker 1: run out of time, and in the story it said
Speaker 1: Ella was cutting it close to finding a seat on
Speaker 1: the train because she didn't want to stand for four hours.
Speaker 1: Another example is I woke up late and cut it
Speaker 1: close to missing my flight, which is a really bad feeling.
Speaker 1: The next one is pull out to pull out. This
Speaker 1: means to remove something from somewhere. For example, in the story,
Speaker 1: the guy pulled out one ear bud and turned to
Speaker 1: look at her. So he had his earbuds in his headphones,
Speaker 1: and he pulled one of the earbuds out before or
Speaker 1: looking at her. Another example is she pulled out the
Speaker 1: product from the bag. The next one is this, sit
Speaker 1: up straighter now. You can see from the picture if
Speaker 1: you're watching on YouTube of somebody with a book on
Speaker 1: their head to sit up straight now. This means to
Speaker 1: adjust your posture and become more alert. For example, Jake
Speaker 1: sat up straighter when Ella spoke to him, so he
Speaker 1: sat up straighter when she spoke to him. Another example
Speaker 1: is he set up straighter when the teacher asked a question,
Speaker 1: which is common in classrooms. The next one is catch
Speaker 1: up to catch up. This means to talk about things
Speaker 1: that have happened after time apart, So if you haven't
Speaker 1: seen somebody for a while, you can catch up with them.
Speaker 1: In the story, it said it was easy, like there
Speaker 1: were two old friends. Catching up suggests that they were
Speaker 1: very friendly. Another example is from the picture is let's
Speaker 1: meet for coffee and catch up. You might hear people
Speaker 1: say as well, let's catch up soon. Let's catch up soon.
Speaker 1: The next one is this drift into now. This is
Speaker 1: probably a little bit more advanced or not as common,
Speaker 1: and it means to slowly move into a topic or activity.
Speaker 1: In this story said, the conversation drifted from books to
Speaker 1: travel to childhood memories. So it went from the conversation
Speaker 1: being about books to the conversation being about travel and
Speaker 1: childhood memories, and the meeting drifted into small talk after
Speaker 1: a while. The next one is end up end up.
Speaker 1: This means to arrive somewhere or in a situation unexpectedly,
Speaker 1: and this is very common in everyday English. For example,
Speaker 1: Jake once got lost on a hike and ended up
Speaker 1: in the wrong town, which is unexpected, and we took
Speaker 1: the wrong bus and ended up at the beach. The
Speaker 1: next one is slow down, slow down, and you probably
Speaker 1: know this to reduce speed. As the train slowed down,
Speaker 1: people stood up. So as the train slowed down, people
Speaker 1: stood up. Now, there's always this thing on a plane
Speaker 1: that people stand up as soon as the plane stops.
Speaker 1: Another example with public transport. And here's another example. She
Speaker 1: slowed down as she reached the traffic lights. The next
Speaker 1: one is this pull down, pull down. This means to
Speaker 1: bring something from a higher place. People stood up, pulling
Speaker 1: down bags and stretching their legs and can you pull
Speaker 1: down my bag for me? This is what somebody might
Speaker 1: ask you on a plane, can you pull down my
Speaker 1: bag for me? The next one is hold up, hold
Speaker 1: up now, this means to lift or show something. Jake
Speaker 1: pulled out his phone holding it up and you can
Speaker 1: see from the picture she held up the map so
Speaker 1: everyone could see. And then the next one is step
Speaker 1: off to step off. This means to move off a train, bus,
Speaker 1: or platform. For example, Ella stepped off the train and
Speaker 1: turned back. And then be careful you don't step off
Speaker 1: the edge. Want to learn more, be sure to click
Speaker 1: another video on your screen now and go to the
Speaker 1: description for more lessons and also to get the phrases
Speaker 1: from this lesson