داستان های صوتی انگلیسی- Listen to the short stories

[Parniya]

Everyone Just Stood There

Drew was standing near the pharmacy counter in the drugstore on 33rd Street. Two men approached. The short, stocky man was swearing loudly. He told the male employee, "You better not call the police. Do you live around here? I better not see you on the street." "Are you threatening me?" the employee asked. Five other customers were near Drew. Three other employees were also nearby. No one said a word. Everyone watched and listened. "I didn't steal nothing. You call the cops, and I'll fight every one of them. You think I won't?" the young man said. "Sign here, please," the employee said. The man signed a form. He broke the pen in two. He said, "You're a punk," and walked away. That was a violent guy, Drew thought. He might have attacked the employee. Why didn't I call the police, he wondered. Why did I just stand here?

[Parniya]

​Teacher Laid Off

Sam had lost his new teaching job. His supervisor had told him, "I'm sorry. When we don't get enough new students, I have to lay off the newest teachers." But Sam was the only new teacher who'd been laid off. All the other new teachers were still working. Why him, he wondered. "Was it something I said or did? Something I didn't say or do?" he asked his wife. His wife asked, "Were you the last teacher hired?" He said he wasn't. "Are you the oldest new teacher?" she asked. "Oh, yeah," he said. "I'm much older than the others." She said, "That's why." He looked at her. "Don't you see?" she said. "You're too old." He told her that people can be too old for many jobs, but not for teaching jobs. "Some of the best teachers are old teachers," he said. His wife said, "Not at that school."

[Parniya]

J-Lo at Macy's

Jennifer Lopez was appearing at Macy's. A live band was playing outside Macy's. Jennifer was Dave's favorite actress. He had told his wife that many times. Macy's was across the street. "I'm going to see what all the music is about," he said. His wife said, "Oh no, you're not. I know where you're going. You're going to meet your girlfriend." Is she crazy, he wondered. He was almost 60 years old, but she worried that he was still "looking." Because "you have a history," she always told him. But he wasn't looking. A girlfriend would destroy his marriage. Nothing was more important to him than his marriage. "How many times have I said that you are my only girlfriend?" he said. "Even if Jennifer asked me to marry her, I would say no." His wife said, "That's what you tell me. But that's not what you would tell her."

[Parniya]

A Fast Breakfast

She was in a hurry. She wanted something fast for breakfast. He told her to have milk and cereal. She said that milk upset her stomach. "Don't you know that by now?" she asked. He said there was soybean milk in the refrigerator. "What kind of cereal do we have?" she asked. He told her they had Grape Nuts and Shredded Wheat. "Yuck!" she said. "Don't we have anything tasty?" He said that a spoonful of sugar would make the cereal taste better. "But sugar might raise my cholesterol," she said. He said that sugar doesn't raise cholesterol—meat does. "If you really want to lower your cholesterol, you should stop eating meat," he said. She said she loved meat. She would never stop eating meat. Meat was much more important to her than her cholesterol level. "If someone invented steak cereal, I'd eat three bowls a day!" she said.

[Parniya]

One Person at a Time

Barry called Gene from work. The two of them talked only occasionally. They used to be best friends. Barry asked how everything was. He asked about Gene's health. While Gene was answering, he heard someone talking to Barry. What's going on, Gene wondered. A coworker was talking with Barry. The conversation lasted about 20 seconds. Finally, Barry said, "I'm sorry. Susan asked me a question." Gene asked, "Couldn't she see you were on the phone?" Barry said, "Yes, but she needed a fast answer." Gene said, "That's rude." Barry said, "Sometimes she forgets her manners." Gene said, "She was rude, but you were rude, too. You were talking with me. You should've asked me if I minded waiting a second. Instead, you ignored me and paid complete attention to her. Would you have done that if you had been talking to your supervisor?" Barry said that he had to go.

[Parniya]

Whose Fault Was It?




He said that he felt bad because she had lost her client last week. "You should feel bad. It was your fault," she said. He said it wasn't totally his fault. "We missed the first train by a few seconds. Yes, that was my fault. So we got to Costco 20 minutes late. We got home 20 minutes late. But you still had plenty of time to make your appointment. But you ate a big lunch. Then you took a long shower," he said. "I always eat a big lunch," she said. "I always take a long shower." "You should have kept your 1 o'clock appointment," he said. "Instead, you told your client to meet you at 2 o'clock. She refused. You should have asked her, not told her. That was rude." She said, "You knew I had a 1 o'clock appointment. But you made us late. That was rude!"

[Parniya]

Her Dental Visit

It was time for her yearly checkup and teeth-cleaning. The dentist examined her gums and teeth. He said that she had a lot of plaque and tartar. He recommended a "deep cleaning." She asked what that was. He said that it would take two visits. He would clean her top teeth first. He would clean her bottom teeth second. Each visit would take two hours. "How much will it cost?" she asked. "It will cost four times as much as a regular cleaning," he said. "I can't," she said. "I don’t have the time or the money." He tried to convince her to get the deep cleaning. She refused. He turned cold. He silently gave her the regular cleaning. But he did it fast, and it hurt. "He taught me a good lesson," she told her husband. "What lesson?" he asked. "He taught me to find another dentist," she said.

[Parniya]

Hairy Ears

She told him to stop picking at his ear. He said he wasn't "picking at" his ear. He was pulling hairs out of his ear. "You look ridiculous," she said. "You look like you have a mental problem." He said he did have a mental problem. The hairs in his ears were driving him crazy. "They grow like weeds on steroids," he said. "Do what my brother does—shave your ears," she said. He said that was ridiculous—nobody shaves their ears. "Nobody? I just told you my brother does," she said. "Don't knock it till you try it." He decided to try it. He went into the bathroom. He put shaving cream on both ears. He grabbed his razor. His wife walked in. She started laughing. "What are you doing?" she asked. "I'm shaving my ears," he said. "Not with a regular razor," she said. "Use an electric shaver."

[Parniya]

Don't Let the Bedbugs Bite

Do you sleep alone? Or do you just think you sleep alone? Maybe your bed is not just your bed. Bedbugs are taking over the USA. The little pests are about the size of an apple seed. Many big cities have them. The Big Apple has them. They are in hotels. They are in theaters. They are in department stores. They are in apartment buildings. Their favorite place in an apartment is the bedroom. Their favorite place in a bedroom is the mattress. At night they crawl out of the mattress. They **** blood out of whoever is sleeping on "their" mattress. Many victims have red bite marks on their skin the next day. The red marks are ugly. Worse, they usually itch like crazy. Researchers are trying to develop a magic chemical that will kill only bedbugs. Meanwhile, people need to keep their eyes open—especially while they're asleep!

[Parniya]

A Note from the Teacher

"Mommy, look at my paper," said Sandra. "My teacher wrote me a note." Her mom looked at the paper. It was a math test. At the top it said, "50%--You're such a loser." Her mom screamed. She said, "Did Mr. Brown write this note? How dare he? I'm calling your school right now.” She went into the living room. Sandra heard her mom yelling on the phone. A little later, she came back into the kitchen. "Don't pay attention to that note, honey. Just because you fail a test doesn't make you a loser. You're a winner, honey. You're the best little girl in all the world. Don't worry about your score. Your daddy and I got 50% on many tests in school. We're not losers, and neither are you. But you know who is a loser? Mr. Brown is a loser. Because he's going to lose his job!"

[Parniya]

I Can't Stop My Car!

Toyota was in the national news. It was recalling a million cars. It wanted to check all their brakes. Jack was driving his new Toyota. He dialed 911. "Help! My brakes don't work!" he said. He told the dispatcher where he was. The dispatcher called the highway patrol. A highway patrolman pulled in front of Jack's car. He slowed down until Jack's front bumper touched his rear bumper. He carefully braked. Both cars slowly stopped. Jack got out of his car. He hugged the patrolman. A TV news helicopter was filming everything. Jack was on the national TV news. "It was terrible," he said. "I almost died. Of course, I'm going to sue Toyota." Toyota examined Jack's car. It said nothing was wrong with the brakes. A newspaper reported that Jack was $700,000 in debt. He had missed his last two car payments. "Something's fishy here," said the newspaper reporter.

[Parniya]

Five Words of Love

Roy wondered if he had some kind of problem. Maybe he loved his wife too much. His brother asked how he could love her too much. Roy said, "About six times a day, out of the blue, I say to myself, 'I love her so much!'" Frank said that did sound a bit much. "Do you ever do that?" Roy asked. Frank said he used to, just after his wedding. "But that wasn't six times a day. And I can't remember the last time those words just popped into my head," he said. "Do you ever say you love her?" Roy said that he told his wife he loved her at least twice a day. "How long have you two been married?" Frank asked. Roy said 16 years. "You've been thinking and saying that every day for 16 years?!" Frank asked. "I'll bet she doesn't think you have a problem!"

[Parniya]

A Black TV Screen

She called up the cable company. The cable representative asked how he could help her. She said she didn't have a picture. The TV screen was black, except for two words in big white letters: Please Wait. She said, "'Please Wait' for what? What am I waiting for? I've been waiting for 30 minutes. I'm still waiting!" He said that the TV was trying to fix itself. "Can't it fix itself any faster?" she asked. He said he could help her fix it faster. "Unplug your cable box," he said. She did. "Now plug it back in," he said. She did. Moments later, she said, "It works! My TV works! That was too easy. So why did my TV screen say Please Wait? Why didn't it say Unplug Your Cable Box and Plug It Back In? Thank you. Now I know what to do next time. I certainly won't wait!"

[Parniya]

Who Cares About Germs?

She brought home a salad and a large pizza. She put them on the table. Her husband asked if he could join her. She was surprised, but she said of course. They started eating. "This is delicious," he said. He was wolfing the pizza down. "Sometimes I don't understand you. You're such a germophobe," she said. "You know that some restaurant workers don't bother to wash their hands after using the bathroom. Some don't wash their hands after they pick their nose. A worker might have used his dirty hands to make this food. Or he might have used his dirty plastic gloves. He might have sneezed on the cheese. He might have coughed on the carrots. He might have picked the pepperoni off the floor. You are eating all those germs. Don't you care?" He said, "Of course I care. But sometimes I don't when it smells so good!"

[Parniya]

It's Them Again

They had four children and six grandchildren. Someone was knocking loudly at their front door. It was almost midnight. "Oh, dear, it's them again," she said. "How many times have they come here? They come late at night. They go from room to room. They never find anything. They never apologize." Her husband went to the front door. "Come in, officers," he said. "Feel free to search our house again. Good luck finding drugs." An officer said, "Sit down at the dining table with your wife, sir." The officers searched the house. They left the house. "We should call the police," she said. "But they are the police," he said. "I mean some other police," she said. "What other police?" he asked. "They're the only police we've got. I know—let's call the TV news. The police don't like to be embarrassed on TV. I'll call WPIX first thing tomorrow.”