สื่อการสอนภาษาอังกฤษ(14)

In the Garage

 Garages are small buildings used to park or store automobiles.  A garage can be a separate building or it can be attached to a house.  Usually the garage is on one side of the house, but sometimes it is behind the house.  Garages are used for many things in addition to storing automobiles.  Some men have  a work bench and tools in their garages where they go to repair broken items from the home, fix toys, build bird houses or avoid their wives.  Other people store seasonal items in their garages: lawnmowers, rakes, sleds, wagons, bicycles, barbecue grills and so on.  Some people store so many other things in their garage that there is no room for their car. 

This is a special can used for storing gasoline.	Work gloves are often kept in the garage.	This is a hacksaw and is used for cutting metal.	You can often find a hammer, nails and a tape measure in a garage.	People use a step ladder to reach high places for painting, changing light bulbs, etc.

Some garages are small, just large enough for one car with enough room on either side for the car doors to open.  Other garages have enough room for two or three cars in them.  Sometimes a garage will have a room or small apartment above the parking area.  This extra living space can be used as an office, a workshop, a guest room or a bedroom for one of the children in the family.  Older garages often had wide doors that swung open to the side or slid sideways on tracks to allow cars to get in or out.  Most newer garages have overhead doors that lift up and slide back along metal guide rails.  These overhead doors can be operated by muscle power or by electric motors.  Many electric doors are raised or lowered by pushing a button on a little gadget that looks like a television remote control.  These gadgets are called "garage door openers," of course.

Lawnmowers are often stored in the garage when they are not being used.	This is a paint roller, used for spreading paint on flat surfaces.	Sam is sweeping the garage with a push broom.	Sally is painting the floor and herself.	A wood saw is used for cutting boards.

The little road that leads from the street to the garage is called a driveway.  A driveway can be paved with concrete or macadam ("blacktop"), covered with gravel, or may just be a path worn through the grass.  Finally, a "garage sale" is not an occasion for buying a garage at a low price.  This is another term for a "yard sale" or a "porch sale," but which takes place in a garage, instead.   A family tries to sell all of the old furniture, appliances, unwanted gifts, out-grown clothing and odds and ends that had been accumulating for years to some other family that doesn't have enough old stuff yet.  This can also be called "redistribution of wealth" at the neighborhood level.

Many mothers make their sons keep their skateboards in the garage.	Snow shovels and garden spades are often stored in the garage.	A staple gun uses spring power to drive staples into wood.	An open-end wrench is a useful tool for mechanics.	Thumbtacks are used to hold light items to wood or to bulletin boards.

Expressions used in a garage:

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Note: You may print out this lesson from the web page or order it free via e-mail.

Exercise A, Verbs used in the garage: Write a meaning that has something to do with a garage for each verb and use each verb in a sentence.

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Exercise B, Nouns used in a garage:  Write a meaning related to a garage after each noun in the list below.

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Exercise C: Fill the blanks in the following sentences with nouns from the list above.  You might be able to use more than one noun in some of the blanks.

1. Father put the family _________ in the _______________ each night to protect it.

2. My grandfather had many wood-working _______________ on his ________________ .

3. John pulled up the ________________ so his brother could back the _______________ onto the __________________.

4. Anthony found  the right-sized ______________ on the ______________in the garage to fix the bicycle.

5. The ______________ from a running ______________ can be dangerous.

6. When the ______________ is icy, you should sprinkle ______________ on it.

7. Many people keep the _____________, the hoe, the ______________ and the rake for working in the garden in the _______________ during the winter.

8. "Be careful you don't spill the _______________ when you put it in the car."

9. There is a black _____________ spot where the car sits in the _______________.

10. We keep extra _____________, _______________ and other ____________ for the car in the garage.

Answers:

1. car (automobile), garage

2. tools, work bench

3. garage door, car, garage

4. wrench, pegboard (work bench)

5. exhaust, automobile (engine)

6. driveway, rock salt (sand)

7. wheelbarrow, spade (shovel), garage

8. motor oil

9. grease, garage

10. spark plugs, tires, parts

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