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.

Past progressive

The past progressive is a past tense which emphasizes the ongoing nature of the action described. It is formed by using the auxiliary "to be" with the present participle:

• I was working.
• He was eating his dinner when the phone rang.
• The cat was meowing last night while we tried to sleep.

Normally, if an idea could be expressed with the expression "was in the process of doing" or with "was in the midst of doing," the past progressive will be more appropriate than the simple past. Consequently, verbs indicating belief, emotion, possession, etc., are rarely conjugated in the past progressive:

• I thought that was right. ["I was in the process of thinking..." would be awkward.]
• Cheryl owned her own house. ["Cheryl was in the midst of owning..." would be awkward.]

Note: Do not use the past progressive in order to describe habitual actions in the past.

این کتاب به شما کمک می‌کند که بیش از 300 لغت کلیدی را یاد بگیرید تا بتوانید در آزمون‌های استاندارد زبان انگلیسی به حداکثر نمرات ممکن دست یابید. برای این منظور در این کتاب می‌توانید روش‌های مختلفی برای یاد گرفتن این لغات پیدا کنید، از قبیل چدول کلمات متقاطع، تمرین جور کردن کلمات در ستون‌های دو تایی، و پر کردن جملات با جای خالی. در هر حال این کتاب طوری به شما آموزش می‌دهد که می‌توانید این کلمات را برای همیشه در حافظه‌ی خود نگاه داشته و از آن‌ها به راحتی و با اعتماد به نفس کافی استفاده کنید.

این کتاب در قطع پی‌دی‌اف و 314 صفحه کم‌تر از یک و نیم مگابایت حجم دارد و برای به دست‌ آوردن کافی است خودتان را به ادامه‌ی متن برسانید. برای کسب اطلاعات بیش‌تر در مورد این کتاب نیز می‌توانید به آمازون سر بزنید...

The dance
retold by
S. E. Schlosser

The girl hurried through her schoolwork as fast as she could. It was the night of the high school dance, along about 70 years ago in the town of Kingsville, Texas. The girl was so excited about the dance. She had bought a brand new, sparkly red dress for the dance. She knew she looked smashing in it. It was gone to be the best evening of her life.

Then her mother came in the house, looking pale and determined.

"You are not going to that dance," her mother said.

"But why?" the girl asked her mother.

"I"ve just been talking to the preacher. He says the dance is going to be for the devil. You are absolutely forbidden to go," her mother said.

The girl nodded as if she accepted her mother"s words. But she was determined to go to the dance. As soon as her mother was busy, she put on her brand new red dress and ran down to the K.C. Hall where the dance was being held.

As soon as she walked into the room, all the guys turned to look at her. She was startled by all the attention. Normally, no one noticed her. Her mother sometimes accused her of being too awkward to get a boyfriend. But she was not awkward that night. The boys in her class were fighting with each other to dance with her.

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