A car for the trip

What's in the lesson

1. 1Warm-up
2. 2In this lesson
3. 3Guess the words (1)Vocabulary exercise
4. 4Guess the words (2)Vocabulary exercise
5. 5Check the wordsVocabulary
6. 6Check your understandingReading comprehension
7. 7Listen: a great deal?Listening comprehension
8. 8Use the new wordsVocabulary exercise
9. 9Direct or polite?Grammar exercise
10. 10Indirect questionsGrammar rule
11. 11Choose the polite questionGrammar exercise
12. 12Make it politeGrammar exercise
13. 13Say it naturallySpeaking practice
14. 14At the rental counterSpeaking practice
15. 15Let's discussDiscussion
16. 16Wrap-up

Homework

1. 1Homework: closest meaningVocabulary exercise
2. 2Homework: your sentencesVocabulary exercise
3. 3Homework: fix the questionsGrammar exercise
4. 4Homework: an email to a rental companyDiscussion

Words

• available/əˈveɪləbl/

  free to be used, bought or rented

• deposit/dɪˈpɑːzɪt/

  money you pay first, which you get back later if there are no problems

• fee/fiː/

  an amount of money you pay for a service, or to be allowed to do something

• insurance/ɪnˈʃʊrəns/

  a plan you pay for, so that a company pays if you have an accident or something is damaged or lost

• damage/ˈdæmɪdʒ/

  harm that makes something broken or not as good as before

• scratch/skrætʃ/

  a thin mark or cut on a surface

• toll/toʊl/

  money you pay to use some roads or bridges

• mileage/ˈmaɪlɪdʒ/

  the number of miles a car travels (unlimited mileage: you can drive as far as you want)

• go with/ˈɡoʊ wɪð/

  to choose something, often after thinking about it

• deal/diːl/

  something you buy at a good price (a good deal)

Two slides from the lesson

Warm-up

Let's talk about traveling by car.

1. Have you ever rented a car? Where, and why?
2. What can go wrong when you rent a car?
3. On vacation, do you prefer to drive or to use public transportation?

Grammar rule

Indirect questions

Could you tell me…? Do you know…?

Indirect questions are more polite. After the question word, or after if / whether, use normal sentence order (subject + verb), with no do, does or did:

Direct question	Indirect question
Where is the station?	Could you tell me where the station is?
What time does the office open?	Do you know what time the office opens?
Is there a fee for extra drivers?	Could you tell me if there is a fee for extra drivers?
Where can I return the car?	Do you know where I can return the car?
When did the last bus leave?	Do you know when the last bus left?

Yes / no questions: if or whether

When there is no question word, add if (or whether): Do you know if the price includes gas?

Other polite beginnings

I'd like to know… · I was wondering… These are not questions, so they end with a period: I was wondering if you have any cars available.

Not Could you tell me where is the station? and not Do you know what time does it open? Keep the tense of the direct question: "How much is it?" → Could you tell me how much it is? (Reported questions are different: She asked how much it was.)