ESL Podcast 456 - Sending Business Packages
package - a small box or large envelope that is filled with papers or other things and sent to a person in another location
Each year, Shawna sends a birthday package filled with home-baked cookies to her grandson.
ground service - a category of mail that is sent by using truck or trains, not planes or boats, and is usually slower than other services
If you want to save money, ask the company to use ground service to send your order.
overnight service - a category of mail that delivers packages very quickly, making sure that they arrive the day after they are sent
The job opening closes tomorrow, so he'll have to use overnight service to send in his application.
to track - to follow; to know where something is and where it is going
The company has a computer program that tracks sales for each associate and for each city and state.
to mark - to write, stamp, or otherwise make a small change to something so that it looks physically different and can be identified
They marked their house with orange balloons so that people coming to their Halloween party could find it more easily.
commercial - related to a business, not a home; not residential
The city's commercial district is very busy during the day, but no one is there at night.
contract - a legal agreement between two or more companies or people
We had to sign a two-year contract when we got new cell phones.
residential - related to a home, not a business; not commercial
We want to live on a quiet, residential street, not downtown where there are lots of small businesses and is very noisy.
breakable - fragile; something that can break easily
Please be careful moving those boxes! They're filled with breakable glass vases.
to pack - to put something into a large container, suitcase, box, or envelope and then close it, usually to send it somewhere
How were you able to pack enough clothes for the whole week in such a small suitcase?
insured - having financial protection from an insurance company, so that if something bad happens, the company will give one enough money to fix it or to pay for a replacement
Is your home insured against flooding?
declared value - the amount of money that someone says something is worth, especially when sending it through the mail
The post office lost a package with a declared value of $2,300, so it had to pay that much money to the sender.
delivery confirmation - a service where the sender can use the phone or Internet to find out exactly when and where a package was delivered
When she sold some used books online, she used delivery confirmation so that the buyer couldn't lie and say that she hadn't sent them.
customs declaration form - a small piece of paper that one writes on to describe what is in a package that is being sent to another country
We have to write down exactly what we're sending and how much it is worth on the customs declaration form.
contents - the things that are inside a box, envelope, or another package
The security guard searched the contents of our bags before he let us enter the embassy.