Monday 10th June

Listening Exercise - Hotel Reservations

1. The man makes a reservation finally for which day?
A. March 20th
B. March 21st
C. March 22nd

2. What kind of room does the man prefer?
A. a non-smoking room
B. a smoking room
C. either one is okay

3. Why doesn't he want to reserve the suite?
A. It doesn't have a nice view.
B. It doesn't come with a sauna bath.
C. It's too expensive.

4. Including tax, how much is the man's room?
A. 80 dollars
B. 88 dollars
C. 96 dollars

5. How do you spell the man's name?
A. Maxner
B. Maexner
C. Mexner

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Transcript of Conversation:

Hotel Clerk: Hello. Sunnyside Inn. May I help you?
Man: Yes, I'd like to reserve a room for two on the 21st of March.

Hotel Clerk: Okay. Let me check our computer here for a moment. The 21st of May, right?

Man: No. March, not May.

Hotel Clerk: Oh, sorry. Let me see here. Hmmm.

Man: Are you all booked that night?

Hotel Clerk: Well, we have one suite available, complete with a kitchenetteand a sauna bath. And the view of the city is great, too.

Man: How much is that?

Hotel Clerk: It's only $200 dollars, plus a 10% room tax.

Man: Oh, that's a little too expensive for me. Do you have a cheaper room available either on the 20th or the 22nd?

Hotel Clerk: Well, would you like a smoking or a non-smoking room?

Man: Non-smoking, please.

Hotel Clerk: Okay, we do have a few rooms available on the 20th; we're full on the 22nd, unless you want a smoking room.

Man: Well, how much is the non-smoking room on the 20th?

Hotel Clerk: $80 dollars, plus the 10% room tax.

Man: Okay, that'll be fine.

Hotel Clerk: All right. Could I have your name, please?

Man: Yes. Bob Maexner.

Hotel Clerk: How do you spell your last name, Mr. Maexner?

Man: M-A-E-X-N-E-R.

Hotel Clerk: Okay, Mr. Maexner, we look forward to seeing you on March 20th.

Man: Okay. Goodbye.

Key Vocabulary

• suite (noun): a group of connected rooms at a hotel
  - I decided to reserve a suite for our honeymoon.
• kitchenette (noun): a very small kitchen
  - My first apartment was very small and only had a kitchenette.

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Post Listening Exercises:

I'd like to ______________ a hotel room for April 21st.

1.   schedule
2.   reserve
3.   buy

Do you have any rooms with a _______________ where I can prepare basic meals?

1.   cooking
2.   kitchenette
3.   suite

Let me ______________ to see if we have any rooms available.

1.   test
2.   check
3.   view

The rooms at that hotel cost $300 a night, and that is a little ________________ for me. There's no way I could pay for that.

1.   expensive
2.   cheap
3.   reasonable

This hotel is one of the best in the city, and the employees try to roll out the __________ carpet for special guests.

1.   blue
2.   red
3.   green

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Text Completion:

Hotel Clerk: Hello. Sunnyside Inn. May I help you?

Man: Yes, I'd like to ⁽¹⁾ a room for two on the 21st of March.

Hotel Clerk: Okay. Let me check our ⁽²⁾ here for a moment. The 21st of May, right?

Man: No. March, not May.

Hotel Clerk: Oh, sorry. Let me see here. Hmmm.

Man: Are you all booked that ⁽³⁾?

Hotel Clerk: Well, we have one ⁽⁴⁾ available, complete with a kitchenette and sauna bath. And the view of the city is great, too.

Man: How much is that?

Hotel Clerk: It's only $200 dollars, plus a 10% room ⁽⁵⁾.

Man: Oh, that's a little too expensive for me. Do you have a ⁽⁶⁾ room available either on the 20th or the 22nd?

Hotel Clerk: Well, would you like a smoking or non-smoking room?

Man: Non-smoking, please.

Hotel Clerk: Okay, we do have a few rooms available on the 20th; we're full on the 22nd, ⁽⁷⁾ you want a smoking room.

Man: Well, how much is the non-smoking room on the 20th?

Hotel Clerk: $80 dollars, plus the 10% room tax.

Man: Okay, that'll be ⁽⁸⁾.

Hotel Clerk: All right. Could I have your name, please?

Man: Yes. Bob Maexner.

Hotel Clerk: How do you ⁽⁹⁾ your last name, Mr. Maexner?

Man: M-A-E-X-N-E-R.

Hotel Clerk: Okay, Mr. Maexner, we look ⁽¹⁰⁾ to seeing you on March 20th.

Man: Okay. Goodbye.

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Grammar Point: Comparatives

Use: 

Use the comparative form to talk about how two things are different.
I am taller than you.
This book is thicker than that one.

Form: 

1) If an adjective has one syllable, add er to the end. If it ends in e already, just add r.
tall   =>  taller     nice  =>  nicer
thick  =>  thicker    late  =>  later

2) If an adjective ends in one vowel and one consonant, write the consonant again, then write er. But never write a w twice.
big   =>  bigger     new   =>  newer (NOT newwer) thin  =>  thinner    slow  =>  slower (NOT slowwer) slim  =>  slimmer
My brother is thinner than me.

3) If an adjective has two syllables and ends in y, change the y to i and add er.
funny   =>  funnier     silly   =>  sillier 
Which of these books is funnier?

Complete the sentences. Use the comparative forms of the short adjectives.

 
Tokyo is  than Shanghai.  (large)

Europe is  than South America.  (small) 

The Amazon river is  than the Mississipi river.  (long) 

Antarctica is  than Africa.  (cold)

The Caspian sea is  than lake Michigan.  (deep) 

Brazil is  than Norway.  (hot)

Andagoya, Colombia, is  than Santiago, Chile. (wet)

The Atlantic ocean is than the Mediterranean.  (wide)

The Aconcagua, in South America, is  than Mt. McKinley, in North America.  (tall)

The Niger river is  than the Congo river. (short)

Adjectives which are longer than 1 syllable do NOT add er, but put "more" in front to create a comparative.

difficult => more difficult

Complete the sentences. Use the comparative forms of the long adjectives.

1.    Gold is  than silver.  (expensive)

2.  Reality TV programmes are  than chat shows.  (interesting)

 3.  Science is difficult but Maths is .  (difficult)

4.  I think that Halle Berry is  than Sharon Stone.  

(beautiful)

5. Tigers are  than crocodiles.  (dangerous)

Some adjectives have irregular superlative forms. These are listed below.

good  =>  better
bad   =>  worse
far   =>  further 

Add than after a comparative adjective to compare one thing with another. 

=> My house is smaller than yours.  

Select the correct option.

1.   Jim Carrey is more funnyfunniestfunnier than Rob Schneider.  (funny)

2. The TV series Vampire Diaries  is more popularmost popularpopularer than Supernatural.  (popular)

3.   A sloth is slowestslowermore slow than a tortoise. (slow)

4.   Men are more intelligentless intelligentintelligenter than chimpanzees.  (intelligent)

5.  Trains are more fastfastestfaster than cars. (fast)

6.  Cristiano Ronaldo plays football more goodbetter than Figo. (good)

  

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Online Investigations:

Choose a city that you want to visit and use the Internet to find two cheap, affordable accommodations (hotels, youth hostels, etc.) that interest you in that area. Then, compare prices, location, and amenities of each. Finally, decide where to stay based on the information you collected and present your reasons to the class. Consider the following:

1. What are the advantages and disadvantages of each?
2. What does each hotel offer?
3. Consider the price, location and amenities
4. Compare the hotels using comparatives that we have learnt.