LESSON NOTES

Lower Intermediate S1 #19

Asking for Business Hours in English

CONTENTS

Dialogue - English
Main
Vocabulary
Sample sentences
Vocabulary phrase usage
Grammar
Cultural insight

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DIALOGUE - ENGLISH
MAIN

1. Susan : Why don't we take a cab since it's pouring?

2. Mike : Okay. What time does it open?

3. Susan : I don't know. Let's call them and ask.

4. (Susan
dialing)

5. Met Staff : Metropolitan Museum of Art. May I help you?

6. Susan : Yes. Can you tell me what time you open today?

7. Met Staff : Our business hours are nine-thirty a.m. to nine o'clock p.m. on Fridays, Saturdays, and
Sundays.

8. Susan : Okay. Thank you. And how much is admission?

9. Met Staff : It's a suggested donation of twenty US dollars.

10. Susan : What does that mean?

11. Met Staff : Well, we suggest that visitors pay twenty US dollars to support the museum. We don't
want to turn down people who love art but can't afford the admission.

12. Susan : How considerate! That's a great system!

13. Met Staff : Thank you. Is there anything else I can help you with today?

14. Susan : No, ma'am. That's all. Thank you.

15. Met Staff : Thank you for calling the Met. Have a nice day!

VOCABULARY

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Vocabulary English Class

cab taxi noun

system way of managing or organizing something noun

considerate thinking about the feelings of other people adjective

to turn down to say no to someone or something phrasal verb

to support to give help to someone or something verb

donation something given to help a person or organization noun

admission right to enter a place noun

museum building where interesting things are collected and displayed noun

to pour to rain heavily verb

ma'am polite way to address a woman noun

SAMPLE SENTENCES

They caught a cab since it was raining. It's no big deal if we miss the bus; we can catch a
cab instead.

The coach's system helped the team do their Please follow the new filing system.
best.

You are one of the most considerate people I That was considerate of you to invite them.
know.

She turned down the offer. We don’t want to turn down people who love art
but can’t afford the admission.

The charity supports needy families. We suggest that visitors pay twenty dollars to
support the museum.

We're taking donations to help feed the poor. It’s a suggested donation of twenty dollars.

He was denied admission to the club. How much is admission?

A trip to the art museum is a nice date. We went to the famous Metropolitan Museum of
Art in New York.

It poured all day yesterday. Why don’t we take a cab to the Met today since
it’s pouring?

Ma'am, would you like a bag? Thank you, ma'am.

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VOCABULARY PHRASE USAGE
The first phrase we look at in this lesson is the phrasal verb "turn down." As we saw in the definitions,
"to turn down" means to say "no" to someone or something. In the dialogue, the staff from the Met
says, "We don't want to turn down people who love art but can't afford the admission." The museum
does not want to tell anyone they cannot enter because they do not have enough money. As in this
example, we often use this phrasal verb in more polite situations. Another example is "I'm sorry. I'm
afraid I'm going to turn down your job offer." In this case, the person is politely saying "no" to the offer,
but not in a strong or mean way.

The next phrase we will look at is "How considerate!" We especially want to notice the use of "how" + an
adjective to emphasize the adjective. In the dialogue, Susan says "How considerate!" in response to
hearing the policy of the museum. The "how" in this expression has no literal meaning. We use it like
"very." We can combine "how" with other adjectives in a similar way. For example, "You won the lottery?
How awesome!" Like the previous example, the speaker is saying that winning a lot of money is very
awesome. The adjective that follows "how" does not need to be positive, however. For example, "Your
dog died? How sad!" "How" in this phrase emphasizes just how sad the speaker thinks the listener must
be feeling.

GRAMMAR
The Focus of This Lesson Is Questions that Imply Another Question.
"Yes. Can you tell me what time you open today?"

Let's take a look at a question implying another question from this dialogue. Sometimes when people
want to ask about something, they ask about it in an indirect way. By doing so, the question sounds
more polite. In the dialogue, Mike asks the Met staff, "Can you tell me what time you open today?" The
direct answer to this question would be "yes" or "no," but the Met staff member knows that Mike is
asking about the time when the Met is open, and therefore she answers accordingly.

Here are some other common examples of this kind of questioning.

For Example:

1. "Could you tell me how to get to the post office?"

2. "Do you have the time?"
3. "I was wondering whether you know about wine."

The first two indirect questions require a "yes" or "no" answer. But they most likely will get responses
such as "sure," "it's just around the corner," and "it's a quarter to two." The last sentence is a statement
in the form of a question, which asks whether or not the person knows about wine and can give
information to the speaker.

CULTURAL INSIGHT
Why American Organizations Ask for Contributions

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Some organizations ask for donations instead of charging a fixed price for their services. This method
has several benefits. One is that it does not keep people who cannot afford the price from coming. If
they cannot pay, they can still enjoy the service. On the other hand, people who have more than enough
money have no limit on how much they can give. And if those people think the service is valuable and
want to help others to enjoy it, they will often give much more than the suggested donation.
 
 

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