Shadowing Practice: 'The Three Questions' read by Meryl Streep - Learn English Speaking with Video

Hi, welcome to Storyline Online Brought to you by the SAG-AFTRA Foundation I’m Meryl Streep and today we’re going to read The Three Questions Based on a story by Leo Tolstoy Written and illustrated by Jon J Muth There once was a boy named Nikolai who sometimes felt uncertain about the right way to act.

“I want to be a good person,” he told his friends.

“But I don’t always know the best way to do that.” Nikolai’s friends understood and they wanted to help him.

“If only I could find the answers to my three questions,” Nikolai continued, “then I would always know what to do.” When is the best time to do things?

Who is the most important one?

What is the right thing to do?

Nikolai’s friends considered his first question.

Then Sonya, the heron, spoke.

“To know the best time to do things, one must plan in advance,” she said.

Gogol, the monkey, who had been rooting through some leaves to find something good to eat, said, “You will know when to do things if you watch and pay close attention.” Then Pushkin, the dog, who was just dozing off, rolled over and said, “You can’t pay attention to everything yourself.

You need a pack to keep watch and help you decide when to do things.

For example, Gogol, a coconut is about to fall on your head!” Nikolai thought for a moment.

Then he asked his second question.

“Who is the most important one?” “Those who are closest to heaven,” said Sonya, circling up into the sky.

“Those who know how to heal the sick,” said Gogol, stroking his bruised noggin.

“Those who make the rules,” growled Pushkin.

Nikolai thought some more.

Then he asked the third question.

“What is the right thing to do?” “Flying,” said Sonya.

“Having fun all the time,” laughed Gogol.

“Fighting,” barked Pushkin right away.

Then the boy thought for a long while.

He loved his friends.

He knew they were all trying their best to help him answer his questions.

But their answers didn’t seem quite right.

Then, an idea came to him.

I know! he thought.

I will ask Leo, the turtle.

He has lived a very long time.

Surely he will know the answers I am looking for.

Nikolai hiked high up into the mountains where the old turtle lived all alone.

When Nikolai arrived, he found Leo digging a garden.

The turtle was old, and digging was hard for him.

“I have three questions and I came to ask your help,” Nikolai said.

“When is the best time to do things?

Who is the most important one?

What is the right thing to do?” Leo listened carefully, but he only smiled.

Then he went on with his digging.

“You must be tired,” Nikolai said at last.

“Let me help you.” The turtle gave him his shovel and thanked him.

And because it was easier for a young boy to dig than it was for an old turtle, Nikolai kept on digging until the rows were finished.

But just as he finished, the wind blew wildly and rain burst from darkened clouds.

As they moved toward the cottage for shelter, Nikolai suddenly heard a cry for help.

Running down the path, he found a panda whose leg had been injured by a fallen tree.

Carefully, Nikolai carried her into Leo’s house and made a splint for her leg with a stick of bamboo.

The storm raged on, banging at the doors and windows.

The panda woke up.

“Where am I?” she said.

“And where is my child?” The boy ran out of the cottage and down the path.

The roar of the storm was deafening.

Pushing against the howling wind and drenching rain, he ran farther into the forest.

There he found the panda’s child, cold and shivering on the ground.

The little panda was wet and scared, but alive.

Nikolai carried her inside and made her warm and dry.

Then he laid her in her mother’s arms.

Leo smiled when he saw what the boy had done.

The next morning the sun was warm, birds sang, and all was well with the world.

The panda’s leg was healing nicely, and she thanked Nikolai for saving her and her baby from the storm.

At that moment, Sonya, Gogol, and Pushkin arrived to make sure everyone was all right.

Nikolai felt great peace within himself.

He had wonderful friends.

And he had saved the panda and her child.

But he also felt disappointed.

He still had not found the answers to his three questions.

So he asked Leo one more time.

The old turtle looked at the boy.

“But your questions have been answered!” he said.

“They have?” asked the boy.

“Yesterday, if you had not stayed to help me dig my garden, you wouldn’t have heard the panda’s cries for help in the storm.

Therefore, the most important time was the time you spent digging the garden.

The most important one at that moment was me, and the most important thing to do was to help me with my garden.

“Later, when you found the injured panda, the most important time was the time you spent mending her leg and saving her child.

The most important ones were the panda and her baby.

And the most important thing to do was to take care of them and make them safe.

“Remember then that there is only one important time, and that time is now.

The most important one is always the one you are with.

And the most important thing is to do good for the one who is standing at your side.

For these, my dear boy, are the answers to what is most important in this world.

“This is why we are here.” It's such an, it’s such an interesting book because it raises very big questions in a very small story, small space and it made me think about in my own life when I try to figure out difficult things, I ask advice from friends, and everybody always has different advice, but the heron speaks for what’s important to her, and the monkey says, what’s what’s what’s fun and important to him.

And the dog is, uh, you know, has a different point of view, but I feel like the turtle says to Nikolai, look inside yourself and to your own experience and what, what that’s taught you and what you feel, what happened to you teaches you something, and uh, teaches him and says be, be aware of the lessons life is teaching you every second you go along.

And so I love that. I love that little message, but it is a mystery how to answer the three questions, and I guess we answer them every day.

Thank you for watching Storyline Online.

We’d like you to check out our other stories as well.

Keep watching, and keep reading.

📺 Zelfde Kanaal

'Room on the Broom' read by Kate Winslet

KidsDaily Conversation

Woord	Uitspraak	Betekenis
turtle zelfstandig naamwoord	/ˈtɝtl̩/	schildpad
dig werkwoord	/dɪɡ/	graven, delven
carefully bijwoord	/ˈkɛɹf(ə)li/	voorzichtig
arrive werkwoord	/əˈɹaɪv/	aankomen, arriveren
heal werkwoord	/ˈhiːl/	genezen, helen
monkey zelfstandig naamwoord	/ˈmʌŋki/	aap, apin
lesson zelfstandig naamwoord	/ˈlɛs.ən/	les
cloud zelfstandig naamwoord	/ˈklaʊ̯d/	wolk
mystery zelfstandig naamwoord	/ˈmɪs.t(ə.)ɹi/	mysterie
disappointed bijvoeglijk naamwoord	/ˌdɪsəˈpɔɪnɪd/	teleurgesteld
bang zelfstandig naamwoord	/ˈbæŋ/	knal, klap
shelter zelfstandig naamwoord	/ˈʃɛltə/	onderdak, toevluchtsoord
leaf zelfstandig naamwoord	/lif/	blad
burst werkwoord	/bɜːst/	barsten
rage zelfstandig naamwoord	/ɹeɪd͡ʒ/	furie, razernij

Woord	Uitspraak	Betekenis
check out werkwoord		onderzoeken
figure out werkwoord		uitvogelen, er achter komen
roll over werkwoord		overkop gaan
run down werkwoord		aanrijden
wake up werkwoord	/ˌweɪk ˈʌp/	wakker worden, ontwaken

Structuur	In de video
Betrekkelijke bijzinnen who / which + zin — extra informatie over een persoon of ding	Those who are · Those who know · Those who make
Lijdende vorm be + voltooid deelwoord — het gaat om wat er gebeurt, niet om wie het doet	were finished · had been injured · have been answered
Present perfect have/has + voltooid deelwoord — iets uit het verleden dat nu nog telt	has lived · have been answered
Overtreffende trap the -est / the most … — het hoogste of laagste van een groep	the best · the most important

Shadowing Practice: 'The Three Questions' read by Meryl Streep - Learn English Speaking with Video

'Room on the Broom' read by Kate Winslet

'How I Met My Monster' read by Nancy Cartwright

'Private I. Guana' read by Esai Morales

'That Cat Can't Stay' read by Haley Lu Richardson

'Being Frank' read by Bob Odenkirk

'Remember to Dream, Ebere' read by Cynthia Erivo

'So Much Slime' read by June Squibb

'Professor Nincompoop' read by Bryan Cranston

'The Giving Tree' read by Keith Carradine

'The Magician's Hat' read by Alison Brie

'Somebody Loves You, Mr. Hatch' read by Hector Elizondo

'The Empty Pot' read by Rami Malek

'Too Much Glue' read by Nicole Byer

'The Most Magnificent Thing' read by Olivia Munn

'Maddi's Fridge' read by Jennifer Garner

'Otters vs. Badgers' read by Uzo Aduba

The Happy Prince - Bedtime Story (BedtimeStory.TV)

Unit 3 / (My things) Class book /lesson 1

You're a Good Man Charlie Brown - My New Philosophy

Learn English with Podcast | A Story That Changes How You Think | A2 Listening & Shadowing Practice

For Beginners| One Story A Day| Book 3 - 10 Mr.Fox and the Tree

Watch Julia Donaldson star in a staged adaptation of The Gruffalo

The Life of Dostoevsky - Dark Secrets of a Literary King || Learn English For Beginners ✅

Unit 13: THE SCHOOL PLAY

The Power of Positive Thinking | True Inspirational Story That Can Change Your Life

Video

Woordenschat en spreektips bij deze les

Belangrijke woorden in deze video

Phrasal verbs die je zult horen

Grammatica in deze video

Uitspraak om op te letten

Zo oefen je met deze video

Wat is de Shadowing-techniek?