Episode 02: Hello Carlos!

Episode 02: Hello Carlos!

Carlos, the aspiring chef, shows up out of the blue - but he might help save the café.

Do the Preparation task first. Then listen to the audio. Next go to each Task and do the activity. If you need help, you can read the Transcript at any time.

Preparation

Transcript

Audio script

Olivia: Oh no! I don’t understand how this can happen!

Tony:  Told you so.

Sarah:  Hi Olivia! What’s the problem?

Carlos:  Excuse me...

Olivia:  It’s not just here, not just the café...

Sarah:  What do you mean?

Tony:  Told you so.

Carlos: Excuse me...

Olivia:  It’s true!

Sarah:  What is?

Olivia:  They want to knock down my shop, as well as the café!

Sarah:  Demolish it? Get rid of it completely?

Olivia:  Yes.

Tony:  Told you so.

Sarah:  Oh no!

Olivia:  That’s what I keep saying...

Carlos:  Excuse me!

Tony:  Yes?

Carlos:  Could I have something to eat please, and a cup of tea?

Tony:  Sure, here’s a menu, go and take a seat somewhere...

Sarah:  Oh dear...let’s go and sit down – there’s Harry over there, let’s sit with him.

Harry:  Hello there. Magda’s on her way. I think we need to have a plan...

Olivia:  Yeah, but what can we do?

All:  Hey Magda! Hi! We’re over here! Come and sit down!

Magda:  Hello everyone! What’s the matter? Why does everyone look so sad?

Harry:  The café is going to close...

Sarah:  ...and Olivia’s shop too!

Magda:  Why? Oh - the property company... they’re building new flats... I remember now...

Harry:  That’s right – and they want to demolish this place, and Olivia’s shop next door.

Olivia:  They’re offering us compensation...

Magda:  “Compensation”?

Sarah:  Money...

Olivia:  But it’s not enough. I want to keep my shop...

Sarah:  Yes, and I want to keep this café open... there’s nowhere else where we can all meet.

Carlos:  Excuse me...

All:  Yes?

Carlos:  I couldn’t help overhearing your conversation...

Magda:  Were you listening to us?

Carlos:  No, sorry, I wasn’t listening, I just heard what you were talking about...

Olivia:  Is this the first time you’ve been here?

Carlos:  Well, yes it is, actually...

Harry:  It’ll probably be the last...

Carlos:  Well, yes, I know... that’s what I wanted to say...

Sarah:  What?

Carlos:  I’m afraid I work for the company, the building company.

Olivia:  The company who want to knock down my shop?

Harry:  And our favourite café?

Carlos:  I’m afraid so, yes...

Olivia:  Can you stop them?

Carlos:  Well, no, I’m not sure about that...

Sarah:  What do you do for the company?

Carlos:  Well, that’s the problem, I’m not one of their top managers, or anything like that...

Harry:  That’s a shame.

Carlos:  I’m just a caterer.

Magda:  Caterer?

Carlos:  Yes, I make food for them.

Harry:  Hang on a minute, I don’t understand... you’re the caterer... you make food...

Carlos:  Yes, that’s right. I’m a chef, actually. Or at least that’s what I’d like to be...

Harry:  But you’ve just come in here to get food...

Carlos:  Oh yeah...well, you see, the problem is, I don’t really like the food I have to cook for other people. I prefer to try new things – so I came in here!

Harry:  Right...

Olivia:  Can you help us?

Carlos:  I’m not sure what I can do... I don’t really want to lose my job...

Sarah:  No... I guess not – but if you work for the building company, you could do some research for us...

Carlos:  Research? How do you mean?

Sarah:  You could find out some information for us...

Carlos:  Erm, well, ok, I mean, if I can... I’d like to help you!

Olivia:  Great! Let’s see what we can do... we can save this place!

Task 1

Task 2

Task 3

Average: 4.1 (16 votes)

Submitted by nikoslado on Wed, 27/03/2019 - 20:35

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DearTeam ,I know my confusion is because I'm unwittingly affected by the Greek structure.After your kind reply, my confusion seems to move about the existence, the use , and the meaning of the two successive verbs ''help save''.I could understand something like:1)''he might save the cafe'',2) ''he might help the cafe'',3)''he might help and save the cafe'',4)''he might help his friends (to)save(them) the cafe'', or ''he might help the cafe to be saved'',but not ''he might help save the cafe''.Could you explain me ,please?
Hello nikoslado There are many verbs that can be combined. When this happens, the second verb can go in several different forms, e.g.: - I enjoy swimming. ('swimming' = an -ing form) - I want to swim. ('to swim' = a to+infinitive) - They made me swim. ('swim' = a bare infinitive) In each of these cases, it's the first verb that determines the form of the second verb. In other words, 'enjoy' is followed by an -ing form, 'want' is followed by a to+infinitive and 'made' is followed by a noun object and a bare infinitive. There are some verbs that can be followed more than one kind of form. The verb 'help' can be followed by a to+infinitive or a bare infinitive. So you could say 'He is helping save the café' or 'He is helping to save the café' -- both forms are correct. Does that help you make sense of it? Best wishes Kirk The LearnEnglish Team
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Submitted by Rafaela1 on Wed, 27/03/2019 - 12:11

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I like canelé! (^Q^)_皿__

Submitted by nikoslado on Tue, 26/03/2019 - 19:36

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Dear Team, I' ve got a query in this headline sentence:''.....but he might help save the cafe.'' The verb ''save''- from what I' ve already searched- never has a passive meaning, but only an active one. So, how is the structure here?Is there any Anglicism? Because I realise that the meaning is that Fadi can help the cafe to be saved. Thanks a lot for your kindness. Nikos
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Submitted by Peter M. on Wed, 27/03/2019 - 06:17

In reply to by nikoslado

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Hello nikoslado, The verb here is active ('Fadi' is the subject and 'the cafe' is the object). I'm not sure why you think it is passive. More generally, 'save' can easily have a passive meaning: "The project was saved by a brilliant idea from one of the team." Peter The LearnEnglish Team