Pronunciation Tips - Short Vowel - Programme 3 from BBC Learning English

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland:

Down, down, down. There was nothing else to do, so Alice soon began talking again. 'Dinah'll miss me very much to-night, I should think!' (Dinah was the cat.) 'I hope they'll remember her saucer of milk at tea-time. Dinah my dear! I wish you were down here with me! There are no mice in the air, I'm afraid, but you might catch a bat, and that's very like a mouse, you know. But do cats eat bats, I wonder?'

And here Alice began to get rather sleepy, and went on saying to herself, in a dreamy sort of way, 'Do cats eat bats? Do cats eat bats?' and sometimes, 'Do bats eat cats?' for, you see, as she couldn't answer either question, it didn't much matter which way she put it. She felt that she was dozing off, and had just begun to dream that she was walking hand in hand with Dinah, and saying to her very earnestly, 'Now, Dinah, tell me the truth: did you ever eat a bat?' when suddenly, thump! thump! down she came upon a heap of sticks and dry leaves, and the fall was over.

Alice was not a bit hurt, and she jumped up on to her feet in a moment: she looked up, but it was all dark overhead; before her was another long passage, and the White Rabbit was still in sight, hurrying down it. There was not a moment to be lost: away went Alice like the wind, and was just in time to hear it say, as it turned a corner, 'Oh, my ears and whiskers, how late it's getting!' She was close behind it when she turned the corner, but the Rabbit was no longer to be seen: she found herself in a long, low hall, which was lit up by a row of lamps hanging from the roof.

There were doors all round the hall, but they were all locked; and when Alice had been all the way down one side and up the other, trying every door, she walked sadly down the middle, wondering how she was ever to get out again.

Suddenly she came upon a little three-legged table, all made of solid glass; there was nothing on it except a tiny golden key, and Alice's first thought was that it might belong to one of the doors of the hall; but, alas! either the locks were too large, or the key was too small, but at any rate it would not open any of them. However, on the second time round, she came upon a low curtain she had not noticed before, and behind it was a little door about fifteen inches high: she tried the little golden key in the lock, and to her great delight it fitted!

The sounds of silence - Simon & Garfunkel ( SUB ESPAÑOL INGLES )

Pronunciation Tips - Short Vowel - Programme 2 from BBC Learning English

Pronunciation Tips - Short Vowel - Programme 1 from BBC Learning English...

English phrasal verbs with "off"

There are many phrasal verbs in English that use the word "off". Here are some of the more common.

Break off= end: "Talks have broken off between the union and management."

Bring off = succeed in something difficult: "The new management brought off an amazing recovery in the company's fortunes."

Call off = cancel: "The proposed merger has been called off."

Cut off = disconnect: "Their electricity was cut off when they didn't pay the bill."

Lay off = make workers redundant: "The car manufacturer laid off 5000 workers."

Live off = get money from another source: "He invested the money and lived off the interest."

Pay off = settle your debt: "She saved money every month and finally managed to pay off her student loan."

Put off = (1) postpone: "They put off the decision for another month."

= (2) dissuade: "Falling prices put me off investing in the English property market."

Take off = do well: "Business has really taken off!"

Write off = accept a loss: "We'll never get the money back – I think we should write it off."

English phrasal Verbs using "out"

There are many phrasal verbs in English that use 'out'. Here is a small selection of some of the more common ones.

back out = decide not to do something you first intended to do: "We can't back out of the holiday now – we've already paid for it!"

break out = escape: "The prisoners managed to break out."

bring out = make more noticeable: "The lemon brings out the taste of the strawberries."

check out (1) = look at: "You've got to check out this new website – it's really useful."

check out (2) = investigate: "The police are checking out his story."

cut out = eliminate: "He's cut out all the fat from his diet and he's a lot slimmer."

eat out = eat in a restaurant: "Do you fancy eating out tonight?"

hand out = distribute: "The teacher handed out the English books to the students."

fill out = complete a form: "You need to fill out all the sections on this form."

make out = see well: "I can't make out the name on this envelope. Is it Jones or James?"

pass out = faint: "It was so hot in the room that she passed out."

put out = inconvenience someone: "Thanks for your offer of letting us stay. Are you sure that we won't be putting you out?"

stand out = be easily distinguishable: "With the way he dresses, he always manages to stand out!"

take out = withdraw money: "I've taken out a lot of money from my account recently."

work out (1) = calculate: "We've worked out our profit margin."

work out (2) = get better: "Everything worked out well in the end."

work out (3) = understand: "I really can't work it out. Why did she leave such a well-paid job?"