This lesson is a kind of experiment. You should do this lesson before and/or after watching the May 1 video podcast of a program called The Daily English Lesson. The video podcast is the creation of Sarah. Sarah is from New Zealand. She lives and works in Japan, where she teaches English. 

Here is the link to the May 1 edition of The Daily English Show:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfzPshMpF1Y

Sarah achieved her dream.

Sarah reached one of her highest goals.

She was voted the number one video podcast.

Her video podcast was voted number one.

She voted for herself.

She cast a vote for herself.

Thank you very much. That's very cool.

I can't thank you enough. That's really nice.

Sarah printed out the list.

Sarah made a printout of the list.

Some people left some very nice comments.

Some people wrote very nice comments.

A woman emailed to ask if she could get broadband service.

A woman emailed to see about getting broadband service.

The word gay has several uses.

The word gay has a number of different meanings.

The word gay can mean a homosexual person.

The word gay can be used to mean a homosexual person.

A woman named Gay received an automated reply email.

A woman named Gay got back an automated reply email.

The company apologized. [missing in audio]

The company made an apology.

You heard that Gay received an automated reply email. The prefix AUTO- in the word automated means "by oneself" or "by itself" or "self acting."An automated email reply program studies the words in the email you write. It matches your words against a list of words and uses those matches to decide what message you should receive back.  In the case Sarah describes, the filter saw the word GAY and decided that it was an inappropriate word for a business email, because it can mean homosexual.  Now here are some sentences to help practice words that have the prefix AUTO

ATM stands for Automated Teller Machine.

I took out 50 dollars from an ATM.

I got 50 bucks at an automated teller machine.

Can you tell me where the nearest ATM is?

Can you point me to the nearest ATM?

Some restaurants automatically add a tip to the bill.

If you are born in the USA you are automatically a citizen.

If someone writes the story of your life, it is called a biography. If you write your own life story it is called an autobiography. 

I wonder if anyone would read my autobiography?

Have your read any good biographies lately?

I read the autobiography of Charles Darwin.

Reading biographies is a good way to study history.

I went to the beach with some friends.

I bought some tea.

She sang some songs in Russian.

Do you have any black markers?

Haven't any packages arrived for me?

Are there any ripe tomatoes in the garden?

We don't have any instructions yet.

They couldn't find any wood to make a fire.

Please don't send me any more emails.

Would you like some cookies?

Is there some way I can get a ticket to the football game?

Is there any more coffee in the pot?

Is there some more coffee in the pot?

Somebody has stolen my wallet.

Has anybody called in the last half hour?

I don't have anybody I can really trust.

Wasn't there anywhere to go for help?

Somewhere there is a girl for me.

He put something in his pocket.

Did they say anything about me?

Some of the apples were rotten.

Have any of you heard a weather report?

I don't like any of his new songs.

He took some shirts to the cleaners.

Do you have any shirts for the cleaners?

No, I don't have any shirts for the cleaners.

Some of us are going to play tennis today.

Are any of your friends playing tennis tomorrow?

No, I don't think any of them will be doing that.

Would you like to see some really nice websites?

Didn't you like any of those websites?

I won't show you any more websites.

Can you think of anything more to add to your presentation?

No, I can't think of anything more.

Maybe you'll think of something tomorrow.

I'd like to go somewhere warm this winter.

Is there anywhere special you might want to go?

No, I don't have anywhere special in mind.

I didn't get any of my grades yet.

I think some of my grades will be quite good.

Did you find out any of your grades yet?

Do you want to download some more songs?

Do you want to download any more songs?

I talked with my parents last night. They are not very happy.

She bought three chairs. They were very expensive.

Look at those mountains.  They are so beautiful.

They say it's going to rain tonight.

They eat a lot of fish in Japan.

They don't let you bring food into the theater.

There was a fire at the university.

They had a fire at the university.

Smoking is not allowed in that restaurant.

They don't allow smoking in that restaurant.

I have heard that airfares are going up.

They say that airfares are going up.

The staff in that store are not very pleasant.

They are not very pleasant in that store.

People eat dinner very late in Spain.

They eat dinner very late in Spain. 

The road was closed because of the storm.

They closed the road because of the storm.

Outdoor fires are going to be banned.

They are going to ban outdoor fires.

Will this bridge ever be repaired?

Will they ever repair this bridge?

Someone from the bank will call you.

They will call you from the bank.

A terrorist was arrested in Rome.

They arrested a terrorist in Rome.

The prices in that store are low.

They have low prices in that store.

My car was recalled because of a steering problem.

They recalled my car because of a steering problem.

He forgot how to start the engine.

I didn't know where to go.

We couldn't decide whether to sell the car.

He explained what to do.

She asked who to see about the problem.

I told her when to come.

Question words that are used in the pattern:

who   what   where   when   how   whether 

Most common verbs used in the pattern:

know   understand  remember  forget  

wonder  decide  ask  explain  show  tell

I explained to him what he should do.

I explained to him what he was supposed to do.

I explained to him what to do.

They could not decide when they should end the party.

They could not decide when to end the party.

How do I know when I am supposed to take the chicken out of the oven?

How do I know when to take the chicken out of the oven?

Show me how I am supposed do this problem.

Show me how to do this problem.

I wonder where I should put this table.

I wonder where to put this table.

Tell me what I should do next.

Tell me what to do next.

She asked how high she should raise the window shade.

She asked how high to raise the window shade.

Do you understand where you are supposed to go for your next class?

Do you understand where to go for your next class?

He couldn't remember who he was supposed call.

He couldn't remember who to call.

He couldn't remember whom he was supposed to call.

He couldn't remember whom to call.

I think I know what I should tell my girlfriend.

I think I know what to tell my girlfriend.

Please show me how I should set the alarm on this clock.

Please show me how to set the alarm on this clock.

The recipe told me how much milk I should use.

The recipe told me how much milk to use.

Why should we wait any longer?

Why wait any longer?

What is the sense in buying so many bananas?

Why buy so many bananas?

Why should we walk if we can take the bus?

Why walk if we can take the bus?

Let's talk to him tomorrow instead of today.

Why not talk to him tomorrow instead of today?

Let's get an order of fried clams and share it.

Why not get an order of fried clams and share it?

We should tell him what we really think.

Why not tell him what we really think?