Father completes unusual parking challenge

Nick's ESL News Lessons

A printable worksheet for news-based English conversation classes.

Date: 2026/06/19

Difficulty: Intermediate B1

PDF: Father completes unusual parking challenge

Vocabulary Match

challenge •• task
unusual •• close
track •• strange
rating •• follow
total •• score
nearby •• sum

Vocabulary Answers

challengetask
unusualstrange
trackfollow
ratingscore
totalsum
nearbyclose

Article

A father from England has finished a very unusual challenge. Over one year, seven months and two days, Gareth Wild parked in every space at his local Sainsbury's car park. He used a map to track all 108 spaces and gave each one a rating, from "God Tier" to "Avoid".

Gareth only used normal shopping trips to complete the project. In total, he spent nearly £10,000 on groceries and about £90 on parking.

The 44-year-old said the challenge helped make shopping more interesting. He also said many people online enjoyed his idea. Gareth may now start a new challenge at a nearby Morrisons car park, which has more than 400 spaces.

Quiz

  1. How long did it take Gareth to complete his parking challenge?
  2. How many parking spaces did Gareth track?
  3. How much did Gareth spend on groceries?
  4. Where might Gareth start his new parking challenge?

Quiz Answers (examples)

  1. One year, seven months, and two days
  2. 108 spaces
  3. Nearly £10,000
  4. A nearby Morrisons car park

Conversation

A:Gareth, why did you park in every space?
B:Well, it made shopping more fun!
A:Did you really spend £10,000 on groceries?
B:Yes, but I needed food anyway!
A:Are you going to do it again somewhere else?
B:Maybe at Morrisons, but there are so many spaces!

Discussion

  1. Do you always park in the same place when you go shopping? Why?
  2. Do you like to make spreadsheets and lists to track things? Why?
  3. How can you make your shopping trips more interesting?
  4. What challenge would you like to try for one year?

Source Material

https://www.gazetteandherald.co.uk/news/25934660.wiltshire-dad-spends-nearly-10k-rating-sainsburys-car-park/


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