英语口语对话5分钟

当你去到一个陌生的城市或国家，首先要解决的一件事就是住在哪里。如果只是短暂逗留几天，那可以选择宾馆旅店；若是要呆上好一段时间，那就需要租房咯。今天我们就来看看如何用英语约见房东吧！ Sam: Is this Ms. Li?Li: Yes, are you calling about the apartment?Sam: Yes, is it still available?Li: How did you find out about it?Sam: I saw your advertisement on one of the bulletin boards。Li: Well, you're welcome to come over and see it. The address is on the ad。Sam: Great. I'll be there in about twenty minutes。(20 minutes later)Li: What do you do in China?Sam: I study Chinese and Chinese history。Li: Sounds interesting...So, do you want to share with any roommates or live alone?Sam: I prefer to live alone. I need my peace and quiet。Li: Good. That will make everything simpler. I like to keep things simple。Sam: Me too. And I like my privacy。Li: OK, now I'll show you the apartment. This is the balcony, and that is the kitchen. The bedroom is over there。Sam: This place is perfect! It's so quiet! But, the kitchen is kind of small.。。Li: You won't need much space if you're cooking for one。Sam: Well, I guess that's true. So what about the trash?Li: You take it to the first floor. It's picked up daily around 9 p.m。Sam: Great! If it's OK with you, I think I'll take the apartment。Li: You seem like the ideal tenant. OK, let me go get the contract。讲解：1. 在这段对话中，Sam看到了招租广告以后，打电话给Ms. Li，预定看房。首先说一下这个Ms. , 表示“女士”。在英语中，未婚女性称为“Miss”，小姐。已婚女性称为“Mrs。”，太太， 而Ms. 则是在不考虑或不知道婚姻状况的情况下使用，放在姓氏或姓名前。2. 当Ms. Li问are you calling about the apartment? 你是打电话来问公寓的事情吗？Sam回答说，Yes, is it still available? 是的，房子还没租出去吧？就是说房子还能租吗？available 这个词表示“可用到的，可利用的”。例如：I'm sorry, those overcoats are not available in your colour and size. 对不起，这种外套没有你要的颜色和尺码。它还表示“有空的”， 例如：The lawyer is not available now. 律师现在没空。3. Ms. Li比较谨慎，问Sam，How did you find out about it? 你是怎么知道有这么个公寓出租呢？Sam回答I saw your advertisement on one of the bulletin boards. 我在一个公告栏上看到了你的广告。4. Ms. Li比较放心了，答应Sam可以来看房子，她说you're welcome to come over and see it. 欢迎你过来看看。welcome这个词不仅可以做动词、名词，还可以做形容词，表示“受欢迎的”，例如：You are always welcome in my home. 你在我家总是受欢迎的。You are welcome to join us. 我们非常乐意邀请你加入我们。welcome做动词，表示“欢迎”，比如：My aunt welcomed me with a hug. 我姑姑用拥抱迎接了我。做名词，表示“款待，接待”，例如：They gave us an unfriendly welcome。他们对我们的接待很不友好。还有就是大家比较熟悉的Welcome to China! 欢迎到中国来！Welcome back 欢迎你回来！5. 20分钟后，房东Ms. Li和房客Sam见面了，Ms. Li先问Sam在中国是做什么的，因为要打探清楚房客的底细，才能放心的把房子租给他。Sam回答说在中国学习汉语和中国历史。原来是做学生的。Ms. Li又问他是想一个人住，还是想跟别人合住，Do you want to share with any roommates or live alone? roommate是室友的意思，在口语中做称呼的时候经常被简化为 “roomie”。6. Sam说I prefer to live alone. I need my peace and quiet. 我比较喜欢一个人住，我需要过安静、平和的生活。这里的peace and quiet表示“平和，安静”，平常我们比较熟悉的是quiet做形容词，在这里quiet变成了名词。Ms. Li表示同意，Good. That will make everything simpler. I like to keep things simple. 不错，那样的话，事情就简单多了，我喜欢简单行事。7. Sam也说喜欢一个人独处，他说I like my privacy. privacy, “隐私，秘密；独处”。例如：We must respect other's privacy. 我们应该尊重别人的隐私，也就是说我们不该打听别人的私事。8. 达成共识之后，Ms. Li开始给Sam介绍房间的情况了，Sam觉得整个房子都不错，就是厨房有点小，有一点，这里用的是kind of，既可以修饰形容词，也可以修饰动词，例如：She kind of hoped to be invited. 她有点希望自己能被邀请。9. Ms. Li解释说You won't need much space if you're cooking for one. 如果你自己一个人做饭的话，你不需要太大的空间，注意这里的空间space是不可数的，用much来修饰，而不是用many。10. Sam又问，那垃圾怎么办呢？What about the trash? What about...?这个短语很常用，表示某人或某物怎样呢？例如：What about the extra money? 那多余的钱怎么办呢？Ms. Li说可以把垃圾拿到一楼，每天晚上9点左右会被清走。11. Sam非常满意，说If it's OK with you, I think I'll take the apartment. 如果你没有问题的话，我决定租下这个公寓了。be OK with something, 对某事没有意见，同意做某事，在口语中很常用，例如：I'm OK with the timing. 我对时间安排没有意见。那么something be ok with someone, 也表示同样的意义，例如：Is the timing OK with you? 你对时间安排有意见吗？12. Ms. Li也觉得Sam不错，她说You seem like the ideal tenant. OK, let me go get the contract. 你看起来是个理想的房客，现在我去拿合约。不论男女，房客都是tenant，但是男房东和女房东可不一样了，男房东是landlord，女房东是 landlady，但是两者都可以缩写成LL，记住要大写。