Unexpected 21st Birthday Surprise and the Warmth of Friendship

15 minutes a day to easily practice listening! This book features selected 2-minute passages of moderate difficulty, suitable for beginners. Through the four stages of 'pre-listening — catching keywords — understanding sentence by sentence — overall retelling', learners can gradually understand over 90% of the content. Consistent practice leads to qualitative improvement, boosting your English listening skills! Below is a collection by the Qicai website editor of listening content suitable for junior and senior high school beginners.

Janice is turning 21 today. Originally she wanted to go to Las Vegas to celebrate. Many people go to Las Vegas for their 21st birthday because in the United States you can legally drink at 21. However, Janice decided not to go because she wanted to save money to buy a new car. She decided to just go to a nice restaurant with her friends.

Janice's birthday was on a Tuesday and she had class and work on Tuesdays. She always walked to class with her friend Austin. When she and Austin met up, she thought he would wish her a happy birthday, but he didn't. Austin had known her for years and would always remember her birthday. Janice tried to drop hints, saying, "I wonder what today is." "Just a Tuesday, nothing special," he replied. Janice was upset. She ignored him during class.

After class, Janice went to work. She expected a few birthday cards or a cake, but got nothing. She was surprised because employees would always receive something for their birthdays. This made Janice upset. She didn't even want to go out to eat for her birthday anymore.

When Janice got home, she questioned if anyone even cared about her. Her friend Lisa called her. "Hey, can you open the door? We're here," Lisa said. "I don't want to go out anymore," Janice replied. "Why not? Can you just open the door? We're already here," Lisa insisted. Janice opened the door. Surprise! Her friends yelled. They had a puppy in their hands.