B1 · Intermediate · The Search Begins · 190 words · ~2 min read

📓 The Missing Notebook

Language focus: Describing a search · past tenses

The Secret Recipe of Borough Market

Nadia searched the bakery high and low for the missing notebook. She emptied dusty drawers, dug out forgotten boxes from the cellar, and checked every single shelf at least twice. Hours later, covered from head to toe in flour and cobwebs, she had found absolutely nothing.

Then she came across a faded letter from her grandmother. “If the recipe is ever lost,” it read, “ask the people of the market. They remember far more than any book.” It was a strange clue, but it gave Nadia a small, badly needed glimmer of hope.

She decided to begin with the suppliers her family had trusted for decades. The first, a cheese seller, sent her to a baker, who in turn sent her to a miller — and so it went on. At times it felt like a complete wild goose chase, with one lead merely pointing towards the next.

Even so, Nadia kept going, notebook by notebook, stall by stall. Each conversation taught her a little more about her grandmother’s methods and the market’s long, tangled history. The recipe, she felt sure, was out there somewhere, simply waiting to be found.

Key vocabulary (6 words)

drawernoun
A box-like part of furniture that slides in and out.
cellarnoun
A room below the ground in a building.
cobwebnoun
A fine net made by a spider.
suppliernoun
A person or company that provides goods.
millernoun
A person who grinds grain into flour.
methodnoun
A particular way of doing something.

Phrasal verbs in this episode

  • look for — To look for something means to try to find it.
  • dig out — To dig out means to find something by searching through other things.
  • come across — To come across means to find something by chance.

Comprehension quiz

  1. Where does Nadia search first?

    • All over the bakery
    • In a museum
    • At the airport
    Show answer

    All over the bakery

  2. “Search high and low” means to…

    • look everywhere
    • look up only
    • give up
    Show answer

    look everywhere

  3. What advice does her grandmother’s letter give?

    • Ask the people of the market
    • Buy a new book
    • Close the bakery
    Show answer

    Ask the people of the market

  4. “A wild goose chase” is…

    • a useless search
    • a bird race
    • a cooking method
    Show answer

    a useless search

  5. “Dig out” old boxes means to…

    • find them by searching
    • bury them
    • sell them
    Show answer

    find them by searching

  6. How does Nadia feel by the end?

    • Determined to keep going
    • Ready to quit
    • Bored
    Show answer

    Determined to keep going

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