Lesson Transcript

Hi, everyone.
In this lesson, you'll practice your listening skills with one classic story told in two
surprising ways.
Listen carefully and tell us which version you prefer.
Let's begin.
Stone Soup 2.0: Bring What You Got
A digital nomad arrived in a fading town.
The café was closed. The park was empty.
At noon, he posted a flyer on the community board:
"Oceanside Community Soup @ 6PM. Bring what you got.
Read more @sto.ne"
At first, no replies.
No shares. No interest.
Then—one follower. A comment:
@mira.mouse: see you @ 6 w/ 2 carrots
Then another.
And another.
At 6PM, he boiled water in a pot on a solar-powered stone heater.
A boy brought herbs.
An old man brought potatoes.
A woman brought bread.
Mira brought her carrots—and stayed to stir.
They ate under string lights and stars.
People shared. People laughed.
Something quiet came back to life.
The nomad filmed a short video.
Soup @Sto.ne
It went viral: "The Town That Cooked Together."
Visitors came. The café reopened.
The town began to gather again.
The traveler left the next month.
Thirty days later, @sto.ne posted:
"Mountainside Community Soup @ 6PM. Bring what you got."
@mira.mouse: big hello from Oceanside. We also start at 6.
Stone Soup 2.0: The Two-Pot Plan
The digital nomad came to a struggling town with an idea—and a stone.
She reread her life coach’s message:
"Don’t sell the product. Sell the moment."—Dorian
Then, she posted on the bulletin board:
"Stone Soup at 6. Bring something to eat something."
At 6 p.m., the villagers came.
One brought carrots. Another, potatoes. A small girl brought onions.
They stirred. They laughed. They shared.
She gave them each a bowl of soup, just as promised.
But behind the kitchen, she’d set up a second door.
She posted to her invite-only group, BougieBroth:
"Farm-to-Fire Pop-Up. $300 per bowl. Real people. Real soup."
Influencers came.
They posed beside the pot.
Streamed the soup ladling.
They called it authentic.
They came. They ate. They left.
Everyone was happy.
And Dorian got paid.
When someone asked,
"Do they know it’s the same soup?"
She smiled:
"Same soup. Different stories."
Great listening!
Which version did you prefer and why?
Share your thoughts in the comments below.

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