Education Scene 2

Stephen decides he’s going to fix up an old banger and gets Ashlie to help him. There’s just one small problem ...

Watch the video. Then go to Task and do the activities. If you need help, you can read the Transcript at any time.

Preparation

Think about the following questions:

  • Where do people usually buy second-hand cars?
  • What kind of problems do old cars have?

Watch as Stephen tries to find the car of his dreams.

Transcript

Ashlie: That’s it. Just need to tighten that up a bit.

Stephen: I think I've found what the problem was. It should be as good as new now.

Ashlie: We’ve finished our car maintenance course and it's already paying off. The car is going better than ever.

Stephen: Which means you can give me a lift. Come on.

Ashlie: Where are we going?

Stephen: I'll give you directions.

 

Ashlie: Oh, my gosh, Stephen! What are we doing here?

Stephen: So, I was thinking. You know I keep asking if I can borrow your car?

Ashlie: Yeah, so?

Stephen: And you’re always giving me lifts?

Ashlie: Yeah.

Stephen: Well, I thought it would be a good idea to get my own car.

Ashlie: Stephen, you’re always having these brilliant ideas. Cars are so expensive and you haven't got any money.

Stephen: Exactly. Da da! This is where I’m going to find my car. Come on. I want to introduce you to Gavin.

Stephen: Hi, Gavin. Good to see you.

Gavin: Hi, guys.

Ashlie: So where do all these cars come from?

Gavin: Well, they're cars that have been in accidents or broken down.

Stephen: So, can we take a look around? Will that be OK?

Gavin: Sure. Let me know if you need any help.

Stephen: Thanks, Gavin.

Ashlie: Thanks.

 

Stephen: Hey, Ash. What about this one?

Ashlie: Stephen, that is such an old banger. It hasn’t even got a boot.

Stephen: What about this one?

Ashlie: Stephen, that’s so big. And it’s got a smashed bonnet.

 

Stephen: OK, this is it! This is the one.

Ashlie: Are you sure, Stephen?

Stephen: With our new skills, Ash, it won't take long to get it looking as good as new.

Ashlie: We only did a course for beginners. We're not experts. And this needs an expert!

Stephen: And that's what Gavin‘s here for. Gavin!

 

Stephen: So what do you think, Gavin?

Gavin: I think you must be crazy, Stephen. It’s such an old heap.

Stephen: Yeah, she’s great, isn't she? So where do we start?

Gavin: Let's take a look at the engine.

Ashlie: Err, maybe we should start on the outside first.

Gavin: No, Ash, we really should look at the engine.

Stephen: Gavin, the engine’s the easy part. Come on. Don’t be boring. Come on, Ashlie. Let’s get started!

 

Stephen: What do you think, Ash? It needs a few more finishing touches, but I think it’s really coming along.

Ashlie: I think it looks great. I can’t wait to take it for a drive. What do you think, Gavin?

Gavin: I think it might be time to take a look at the engine.

Ashlie: Oh, OK. I guess we should take a look. Maybe top up the oil and other stuff before we take it for a spin.

Stephen: But don’t take too long. I want to get it out on the road.

Gavin: Erm, guys…

Stephen: What’s up? Problem with the engine?

Gavin: You could say that, Stephen.

Stephen: Oh no!

Task 1

Task 2

Task 3

Language level

Topics

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Submitted by Andrea Morán on Fri, 16/02/2024 - 19:49

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Hello!
I'm just having a great time learning with British Council!
I'm preparing for my English Exam wich will be at the end of this month, however, I'm planning to continue learning with these wonderful courses!!!
Greetings to the British Counil Team!

Submitted by nikoslado on Tue, 11/02/2020 - 21:09

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Dear Kirk, you are all an excellent Team,that we rarely-or nowhere- meet in such a free-education relationship.I'm really feeling lucky that I've met you all online and I can take such a free education and help in my English study.I' m sure that I' m not expressing only my own esteem but all of us who have been related with you with any way and in any time.Keep going on.Our best thanks to English Council as well for all this educational support. Νikoslado
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Submitted by Kirk Moore on Wed, 12/02/2020 - 07:33

In reply to by nikoslado

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Hello Nikoslado

Thanks very much for letting us know that you find our work helpful. That's what we're here for and we are very glad to do it!

All the best

Kirk

The LearnEnglish Team

Submitted by nikoslado on Wed, 05/02/2020 - 18:59

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Dear Team, I think the Tasks, which require to fill the gaps with the correct words or sentences , should be more flexible in some way,[ I'm not sure if there is- technically- such a way].I mean it's too tricky and difficult for someone to remember exactly the same words with exactly the same writing way-for example ''they are'' instead of ''they're'', ''to get'' instead of ''to have'' or ''to buy''....etc.Would it be technically possible or not? Differently, we have to do something like ''copy - paste'' work. What do you think of it ? Ever thankful to all of your Team. Nicoslado
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Submitted by Kirk Moore on Thu, 06/02/2020 - 06:51

In reply to by nikoslado

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Hello Nicoslado

Thanks for your suggestion. It is technically possible to allow for multiple correct answers in an exercise where you write the answers in and I've added a couple to this exercise. But please know there is nothing wrong with looking back at the transcript to find the exact words that are said, and I believe that is the point of this particular exercise. Sometimes words that might seem to be synonyms (e.g. 'to have' instead of 'to get') would not be correct or natural. Other times they are correct, but there is a good reason to use the exact words Steven and Ashlie say -- for example, 'to buy' means the same as 'to get', but 90% of the time, native speakers will say 'to get' instead of 'to buy'.

This page is one of our older pages and is due for revision at some point. In our revision, I expect we will change the exercise to require only two or three words in each gap to make it a bit more manageable.

Thanks again for your suggestions here and on other pages. You've helped us improve many pages and we always appreciate the feedback.

All the best

Kirk

The LearnEnglish Team

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Submitted by btriton on Thu, 14/06/2018 - 09:14

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My fathers liked to buy second hand cars, actually in this time the economic situation of my country was running very bad and a few people could buy a new one. Once my father and me bought a second hand VW beetle, my father as Dentist and me in my 20's didn't know about mechanics, we asked a support to my cousin, he is a teacher but he had a other beetle in good condition, so he recommend to buy it. Definitely it needed change some spares and ran not as my father expect but ran and got the my father could move around as he needed.