Welcome to English as a Second Language podcast number 1182, Finding a Parking Space.
This is English as a Second Language podcast episode 1182.
I'm your host, Dr. Jeff McQuillan.
Coming to you from the Center for Educational Development in beautiful Los Angeles, California.
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On this episode, we're going to hear a dialogue about trying to find a place to park your car.
Let's get started.
We have to find a parking space.
Let's drive around the block one more time.
Did you say that the restaurant we're going to has no off-street parking at all?
None.
When I called the restaurant earlier today, I was told they have ample street parking.
Obviously not on a Saturday night.
Look, there's a space.
No.
Look at the curb.
That's a loading zone, and the area in front of it is a red zone.
This is impossible.
We've driven along this street four times and there are no parking spaces, not even ones with meters.
I'd be willing to plug the meter all evening if we could just find a space.
I have an idea.
Pull into that red zone.
Okay, but we can't park here.
What's that?
This is my grandfather's handicapped placard.
I borrowed it.
We can park here with this.
I don't think so.
We're going to get a parking ticket or worse.
And we really shouldn't be using your grandfather's placard anyway.
Do you know how many strings I had to pull to get a reservation at the hottest restaurant in town?
Come on, let's go.
Why are you checking your wallet?
Dinner is my treat.
I just want to make sure I have enough cash for a taxi when your car gets towed.
A dialogue begins with Alan saying to Sasha We have to find a parking space.
A parking space is a small area, a place in which you can park your car.
If you drive down the street, usually there are spaces along the street where you can park a car.
Alan is looking for a parking space.
He suggests to Sasha that they drive around the block.
One more time.
A block, B-L-O-C-K, here refers to a square or rectangle of land that is surrounded by four streets.
So in a typical city, some of the streets go north to south, others go east to west.
And you can find blocks that are in between the streets.
The blocks are where the houses and buildings are.
You drive your car on the street, of course.
They're going to drive around the block in order to find a parking space.
Alan says, did you say that the restaurant we're going to has no off-street parking at all?
Off-street parking is parking that is in a garage or in what we would call a parking lot, an area of land specially designated to park cars on.
There is street parking where you park your car on the side of the road or street.
And then there is off-street parking where you park it in a parking lot or a parking garage.
Sasha says none, meaning the restaurant doesn't have any off-street parking.
When I called the restaurant earlier today, she says...
Ample, A-M-P-L-E, means more than enough or plenty.
Streets are plenty public, which means anyone can park their car there.
So even if a restaurant says they have a lot of street parking around them, they can't reserve that parking.
They can't say well, no one else can park there but our customers.
And so this is the problem that Sasha and Alan are having.
They are trying to find a place on the street to park near the restaurant, and there doesn't appear to be any.
Alan says obviously not on a Saturday night, meaning the restaurant obviously does not have ample parking, especially on a busy night like Saturday.
Then he says, look, there's a space.
He thinks he sees a place for him to park.
Sasha says no, look at the curb.
The curb c-u-r-b is a raised concrete border really.
That is on the side of the street.
It separates the street from the rest of the land, the sidewalk or the area next to the street.
That is part of the block.
Sasha says look at the curb.
That's a loading zone, and the area in front of it is a red zone.
Sometimes there will be paint on the curb to tell you if you can park there or not.
A loading L-O-A-D-I-N-G zone Z-O-N-E is an area where you can park only for a few minutes in order to take something out of your car or to put something into your car.
A loading zone then, would be an area usually indicated by yellow paint on the curb, where you can only park for a short amount of time.
A red zone is an area with the curb painted red where you cannot park at all.
Those are areas where, if you do park, the police will come and give you a ticket, give you a fine or perhaps even remove your car.
Sasha says that there is not a place for them to park on the street, that the place that Alan sees is actually a loading zone and a red zone.
Alan says this is impossible.
We've driven along this street four times and there are no parking spaces, not even ones with meters.
A meter.
M-E-T-E-R here refers to a parking meter where you can park in a certain place but you have to pay a certain amount of money for every 15 or 30 minutes that you park there.
Alan says, I'd be willing to plug the meter all evening if we could just find a space.
To plug P-L-U-G the meter or to plug the parking meter means to put coins into the parking meters.
Nowadays many parking meters take credit cards, but we probably would still use the same expression to plug the meter to put coins into the parking meter.
Sasha says, I have an idea.
Pull into the red zone.
To pull into means to park your car.
She's telling Alan to park the car in the red zone which remember, is a place where you're not supposed to park.
Alan says, okay, but we can't park here.
What's that?
Sasha says, this is my grandfather's handicapped placard.
I borrowed it.
We can park here with this.
Handicapped, H-A-N-D-I-C-A-P-P-E-D, refers to someone who has some sort of physical problem.
Maybe they have problems walking, or they have some other issue that makes them unable to walk or to move as easily as most people.
A placard is a little sign that you either put in the front part of your car near your window, or you hang it from what we call your rear view mirror, which is the mirror in your car that allows you to see what's going on behind you.
If you are handicapped, the government will give you a special placard, a special card that you can put into your car.
That will allow you to park in special places.
Usually we call these handicapped spaces or handicapped parking.
They will also allow you in some cities to park at a parking meter and not pay.
However, they never allow you to park in a red zone, but Sasha somehow thinks that if she uses this handicapped placard of her grandfather's, she can park there.
Another thing about a handicapped placard, you are not allowed to use it if you are not handicapped.
But of course, Sasha is using it anyway.
Alan says, I don't think so.
We're going to get a parking ticket or worse.
And we really shouldn't be using your grandfather's placard anyway.
Alan knows that this is not the right thing to do.
He knows also, or at least he should know, that parking in a red zone, even with a handicapped placard, will get you a parking ticket, a penalty for parking there.
Usually the police will leave a little piece of paper on your car telling you that you are now going to have to pay a fine, an amount of money, Sasha says Do you know how many strings I had to pull to get a reservation at the hottest restaurant in town?
The expression to pull some strings means to use your power or your influence in order to get something done that other people wouldn't be able to get done.
If you want to get tickets to a concert and you know somebody who works where the concert is being held.
You might ask that person for a favor to get you some tickets that other people would not be able to get.
That would be pulling some strings.
Sasha pulled some strings to get a reservation at the hottest restaurant in town.
The word hottest here means most popular.
The one that everyone wants to go to right now.
Sasha says come on let's go.
Why are you checking your wallet?
Meaning, why are you looking at your wallet or inside of your wallet?
Sasha says, dinner is my treat.
To say something is your treat, T-R-E-A-T, means you are going to pay for it.
If I say, I'm going to invite you to dinner, it's my treat.
That means I am going to pay for your dinner.
I'm not actually, but if you want to invite me to dinner and make it your treat, I'd be happy to go with you.
Sasha is wondering why Alan is looking at his wallet since she is going to pay for dinner.
That's what she means when she says dinner is my treat.
Alan says.
However, I just want to make sure I have enough cash enough money for a taxi to when your car gets towed.
To tow t-o-w means to use a truck to take a car and remove it from where it is.
If you park your car in a place where it should not be, sometimes the local police will tow your car.
They will get a truck and they will remove your car, and then you have to pay a lot of money to get your car back.
I know it's happened to me.
And if you park in a red zone, even with a handicap placard, you will also get towed.
Now let's listen to the dialogue, this time at a normal speed.
We have to find a parking space.
Let's drive around the block one more time.
Did you say that the restaurant we're going to has no off-street parking at all?
None.
When I called the restaurant earlier today, I was told they have ample street parking.
Obviously not on a Saturday night.
Look, there's a space.
No, look at the curb.
That's a loading zone, and the area in front of it is a red zone.
This is impossible.
We've driven along this street four times and there are no parking spaces, not even ones with meters.
I'd be willing to plug the meter all evening if we could just find a space.
I have an idea.
Pull into that red zone.
Okay, but we can't park here.
What's that?
This is my grandfather's handicap placard.
I borrowed it.
We can park here with this.
I don't think so.
We're going to get a parking ticket or worse.
And we really shouldn't be using your grandfather's placard anyway.
Do you know how many strings I had to pull to get a reservation at the hottest restaurant in town?
Come on, let's go.
Why are you checking your wallet?
Dinner is my treat.
I just want to make sure I have enough cash for a taxi when your car gets towed.
Our scripts give you ample opportunity to improve your English thanks to the wonderful writing by our script writer, Dr Lucy Say.
From Los Angeles, California, I'm Jeff McQuillan.
Thanks for listening.
Come back and listen to us again right here on ESL Podcast.
English as a Second Language Podcast is written and produced by Dr Lucy Say, hosted by Dr Jeff McQuillan.
Copyright 2015 by the Center for Educational Development.
