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Six Minute English

from BBC learning English.

com.

Hello this is six minute English from BBC learning English. I'm Neil and I'm

Georgina. Let me tell you a story Georgina are you ready? Yes! Grandma had always warned me not to look into the mirror at midnight. There was something strange about that mirror, she said. How childish to believe silly stories.

Later that night I heard a noise. I woke up, dark and alone.

A clock chimed midnight.

The floorboards were creaking as I walked towards the mirror.

I looked into my face, walked towards the mirror. I looked into my face reflecting in the

glass when suddenly my eye winked. Ah, stop Neil, you're scaring me.

Sorry Georgina. Okay, let's try another story. Once upon a time there was a beautiful servant

girl who lived with her wicked stepmother and two jealous stepsisters.

Ah, that's better Neil, and I know this story Cinderella more romantic and much less scary.

As you can see from Georgina's reaction telling stories is a powerful way to connect and communicate with people and the topic of this

program. Stories help us make sense of the world which is why we've been telling them to each other

for millennia and why some of the earliest folk tales stories that parents

have told and passed on to their children over many years are still being told

today.

According to the novelist Sandra Neumann and other academics, there are seven classic plotlines which are constantly being recycled into new stories.

They include Rags to Riches plots like Cinderella.

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