look at him carefully in order to find out the reason why he cannot fall asleep. Many scientists study him. Many scientists examine him.
Next we have the word to liberate. Actually, it is a verb. To liberate means to give someone freedom to do what they want. In other words, to liberate means to make someone free or to become free. As you remember from the story the woman says to Harry to liberate himself from the cage. In other words, she says to Harry, “Go and become a free hamster” She actually says, “You must liberate yourself from that cage. Go and live like a free hamster.” Be free. Do what you want to do and if you do this, if you become free, if you liberate yourself from that cage, then and only then you will you get what you want. You will have beautiful, fantastic and vivid dreams.
In this vocabulary lesson we also have one of my favourite expressions in English and what is it? It is smell the flowers, of course. What do people mean when they say to you «Smell the flowers»?
It actually means don’t worry about your future, stop it now, wake up. Wake up and look around and enjoy the moment. Smell the flowers. It is when you work really hard, a lot and you are stressed. You have to stop doing it. You have to take a break and enjoy life. Enjoy life as it is or smell the flowers. Don’t worry about the future. The future will take care of itself.
Oaky, our next expression is without a trace. Usually we use this expression with the verb to disappear. We often say, «She disappears without a trace or he disappears without a trace» It is when someone or something is gone completely, and you cannot see him or her or it. So the woman disappears completely and the hamster cannot see her. She’s gone. She disappears without a trace.
This is a very short vocabulary lesson. And that is why our final expression for today is to be in seventh heaven. When you are in seventh heaven it means you feel extremely happy. So Harry the hamster feels extremely happy. He is extremely happy because now he has fantastic, beautiful and vivid dreams. Harry is in seventh heaven.
This is the end of the vocabulary lesson for «Harry the Hamster». The vocabulary gives you a quick little lesson about some of the words and phrases you may not know. And it also liberates you from the story as I like to say. It certainly gives you that freedom you need to express yourself better and to feel more confident every time when you need to speak English. Moreover, it surely helps you to get automatic respect from people every time when you need to speak English.
Okay, I’ll see you in the mini-story lesson. Bye for now!
Story 1 The mini-story lesson
Hi! This is Alex. Welcome to the mini-story for «Harry the Hamster». You know what I am going to do, right? Yes, I’m going to ask the story. I want you to answer the questions fast and automatically. I want you to train your brain, teach your brain to answer very quickly. I don’t want you to translate from your language to English or from English to your language. Of course, you can answer with one or two words. It’s okay. Short answers are fine. Let’s go!
Harry was a small, smart and significant hamster.
What kind of hamster was Harry?
Right! Harry was small, smart and significant.
Where did Harry the hamster live?
Yes, you are absolutely right. He lived in a spacious, gorgeous and very comfortable cage.
Why was Harry significant?
The reason he was significant was that Harry never slept in his life. He couldn’t sleep. He never had dreams. No dreams for Harry.
What? Oh, my Lord! He never slept in his life. He never had dreams. No dreams for Harry. Poor Harry.
Did Harry the hamster want to have dreams?
Of course, he did. Harry the hamster wanted to have dreams.
He often said, «How much I want to have colorful, fantastic and vivid dreams! But I cannot sleep.»
What did he often say?
He often said, «How much I want to have colorful, fantastic and vivid dreams! But I cannot sleep.»
Did Harry the hamster want to have colorful, fantastic and vivid dreams a lot or a little?
A lot, very much. He often said, «How much I want to have colorful, fantastic and vivid dreams!»
Every day hundreds of people came to see him. Every day many reporters interviewed him. And every day a lot of scientists examined him.
Why did hundreds of people come to see him?
They did it, because Harry the hamster was significant. He was not like other, any other hamster in the world. He never ever slept in his life.
What about reporters? Did reporters interview him?
Yes, sure, they did. Many reporters interviewed him.
Why did many reporters interview Harry?
They did it, because they wanted to know more about Harry as an individual.
They wanted to know how it felt not to sleep at all.
Did many reporters study Harry? Did they examine Harry?
No, they didn’t study him. They didn’t examine him. Many reporters talked to him. They interview him.
Who examined Harry the Hamster?
Scientists did. A lot of scientists looked at Harry the Hamster. A lot of scientists examined him.
What did a lot of scientists do with or to Harry the hamster?
Right you are. They examined him. They looked at him carefully. They studied him.
Did a lot of scientists want to know why he couldn’t sleep?
Yes, exactly. A lot of scientists examined Harry the hamster because they wanted to know the reason why he couldn’t sleep.
Did the scientists find out the reason why Harry couldn’t sleep?
No, they didn’t. The scientists didn’t find out the reason why he couldn’t fall asleep. They didn’t find out the reason why Harry still couldn’t sleep. They didn’t find out the reason why Harry still couldn’t have vivid dreams.
And how did Harry the hamster feel?
Of course, he felt frustrated, depressed and unhappy.
Why did Harry the hamster feel that way? I mean frustrated, depressed and unhappy?
It’s obvious. He felt frustrated, depressed and unhappy because no one could help him to fall asleep. Nobody could help him to have vivid fantastic and beautiful dreams.
But one day… you know there is always a day that turns your life around, the day that changes everything.
The day when a woman appeared out of nowhere and she said, «You want to have vivid dreams, don’t you Harry?»
«Yes, I do. I really really want to have vivid, fantastic and beautiful dreams. But I cannot sleep. I cannot fall asleep, so I cannot have dreams. No one can help me.»
«I can», the woman said. «I am here to help you, Harry. I can help you. I do can solve your problem.»
Harry the hamster got very much excited. He couldn’t believe his ears.
How did Harry the hamster feel?
Of course, he felt very much excited. He felt very happy. He really really wanted to have vivid, fantastic and beautiful dreams. That is why he got very much excited.
And