Learn by Listening Level 2

[00:00.52]A Small Town|[00:03.13] I grew up in a small town.|[00:04.94] There were only about two thousand people|[00:07.18] who lived in the town where I grew up.|[00:09.36] When a town is very small, it is also called a village.|[00:13.71] My village was surrounded|[00:15.27] by many farms and many lakes.|[00:17.69] The house where my family lived|[00:20.06] was near the middle of the town.|[00:22.17] On the street where we lived,|[00:24.04] most of the houses were similar in size,|[00:26.96] but many of them had different shapes and different colors.|[00:30.38] Each house was surrounded by a yard,|[00:33.12] where people grew their lawn and their garden.|[00:36.35] Often, I would walk from my house|[00:38.28] to the downtown part of the village.|[00:40.58] "Downtown" is the area|[00:42.70] where the stores and shops of a town are located.|[00:45.69] Because I lived in a small town,|[00:48.05] it was a short walk to the downtown area.|[00:51.03] Along the main street,|[00:52.84] there were several different kinds of stores.|[00:55.21] Some stores sold food, some stores sold clothing,|[00:59.43] and some stores sold hardware (or building supplies).|[01:03.35] It was also a short walk to the schools in my town.|[01:06.77] When I went to elementary school,|[01:09.01] it would take about ten minutes to walk to the school.|[01:12.12] Some of my friends lived on the same street where I lived.|[01:15.79] Sometimes, we walked to school together.|[01:18.65] During the summer months,|[01:20.40] many people came from the big city to visit our village.|[01:24.13] The people liked to get away from the busy streets of the city.|[01:27.80] They enjoyed the quietness and the slow pace of village life.|[01:31.97] They also liked to spend their vacations near the lakes|[01:35.08] that were near the village.|[01:36.82] People from the city often said that people|[01:39.56] who live in villages seemed very friendly.|[01:42.30] When I grew up, I left my village,|[01:45.22] and I went to work in a larger town.|[01:47.40] But sometimes I like to go back and visit the place|[01:50.94] where I grew up.