英语播客 A Cup of English Oil change at Oil Can Henry's.

I got a phone call from my husband the other day, " Hey babe, can you take the car to get the oil changed please? It's overdue." As he works forty-five minutes from town, he rarely has time to run those errands back in Wenatchee, so he gets his secretary, me, to do them. No problem. As you probably know, a car's oil has to be changed regularly. How often depends on your car and your driving habits. If you drive a lot, you might have to change the oil every three months or three thousand miles. If you drive very little, it might be a couple of years before you need to have the oil changed. Why does it need to be changed anyway? Apparently, it breaks down over time and stops performing as well. It no longer works well enough at cooling the engine. So, out goes the old, and in goes the new. Oil Can Henry's is a new chain of oil changing stations in town that is making a name for itself. What you notice first of all is its appearance. The building is brightly painted in red and tan, and everything is spotless. The workers are dressed in a smart uniform which matches the building; their shirts are stripey and their hats are paperboy hats. So all together, it looks like a very clean, professional place of business. As soon as I got out of the car, one of the employees handed me a complimentary newspaper, and I headed off to the waiting room . I had only been there a few minutes, when one of the gentlemen came in and politely offered me extra service of my car for a very special deal. I actually didn't understand what he was talking about; he used details about engine oil, the air filter, number of miles, and the color of the lubricants, which all sounded like a very foreign language to me. "Shame on you Anna," I thought to myself, " you need to read up on cars and how they work. Females should be just as savvy about cars as males....." I politely told the man that I would just have a regular oil change, nothing fancy or expensive. Before they finished the service, I walked out to where they were working on my car to take some photos for the podcast. There was a large room right underneath the car where the man was changing the oil. He was talking back and forth to another man who was looking at the engine from the top, under the hood. They were exchanging details in a way that reminded me of surgeons talking to eachother during an operation. Car maintenance certainly is a science, and one that I should get to know.

Grammar notes.

Practice of 'might' with related vocabulary: it depends, spotless, to match, lubricant.

1. We might be able to go to the beach tomorrow; it depends on the weather.

2. If you clean your room and make it spotless, I might let you go to the cinema.

3. He might be famous but his inteligences does not match his fame.

4. You should put a quality lubricant in your car to keep it running properly; it might not work with

that brand of lubricant.