世博聽說——約見房東(音頻)

Dialogue Script 對話原文

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 , 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.

講解：

1. 在這段對話中，Sam看到了招租廣告以後，打電話給Ms. Li，預定看房。首先說一下這個Ms. , 表示“女士”。在英語中，未婚女性稱爲“Miss”，小姐。已婚女性稱爲“Mrs.”，太太， 而Ms. 則是在不考慮或不知道婚姻狀況的情況下使用，放在姓氏或姓名前。

2. 當Ms. Li問are you calling about the apartment? 你是打電話來問公寓的事情嗎？Sam回答說，Yes, is it still available? 是的，房子還沒租出去吧？就是說房子還能租嗎？available 這個詞表示“可用到的，可利用的”。例如：I'm sorry, those overcoats are not available in your colour and size. 對不起，這種外套沒有你要的顏色和尺碼。它還表示“有空的”， 例如：The lawyer is not available now. 律師現在沒空。

3. Ms. Li比較謹慎，問Sam，How did you find out about it? 你是怎麼知道有這麼個公寓出租呢？Sam回答I saw your advertisement on one of the bulletin boards. 我在一個公告欄上看到了你的廣告。

4. Ms. Li比較放心了，答應Sam可以來看房子，她說you're welcome to come over and see it. 歡迎你過來看看。welcome這個詞不僅可以做動詞、名詞，還可以做形容詞，表示“受歡迎的”，例如：You are always welcome in my home. 你在我家總是受歡迎的。You are welcome to join us. 我們非常樂意邀請你加入我們。welcome做動詞，表示“歡迎”，比如：My aunt welcomed me with a hug. 我姑姑用擁抱迎接了我。做名詞，表示“款待，接待”，例如：They gave us an unfriendly welcome.他們對我們的接待很不友好。還有就是大家比較熟悉的Welcome to China! 歡迎到中國來！Welcome back 歡迎你回來！

5. 20分鐘後，房東Ms. Li和房客Sam見面了，Ms. Li先問Sam在中國是做什麼的，因爲要打探清楚房客的底細，才能放心的把房子租給他。Sam回答說在中國學習漢語和中國歷史。原來是做學生的。Ms. Li又問他是想一個人住，還是想跟別人合住，Do you want to share with any roommates or live alone? roommate是室友的意思，在口語中做稱呼的時候經常被簡化爲 “roomie”。

6. Sam說I prefer to live alone. I need my peace and quiet. 我比較喜歡一個人住，我需要過安靜、平和的生活。這裏的peace and quiet表示“平和，安靜”，平常我們比較熟悉的是quiet做形容詞，在這裏quiet變成了名詞。Ms. Li表示同意，Good. That will make everything simpler. I like to keep things simple. 不錯，那樣的話，事情就簡單多了，我喜歡簡單行事。

7. Sam也說喜歡一個人獨處，他說I like my privacy. privacy, “隱私，祕密；獨處”。例如：We must respect other's privacy. 我們應該尊重別人的隱私，也就是說我們不該打聽別人的私事。

8. 達成共識之後，Ms. Li開始給Sam介紹房間的情況了，Sam覺得整個房子都不錯，就是廚房有點小，有一點，這裏用的是kind of，既可以修飾形容詞，也可以修飾動詞，例如：She kind of hoped to be invited. 她有點希望自己能被邀請。

9. Ms. Li解釋說You won't need much space if you're cooking for one. 如果你自己一個人做飯的話，你不需要太大的空間，注意這裏的空間space是不可數的，用much來修飾，而不是用many。

10. Sam又問，那垃圾怎麼辦呢？What about the trash? What about...?這個短語很常用，表示某人或某物怎樣呢？例如：What about the extra money? 那多餘的錢怎麼辦呢？Ms. Li說可以把垃圾拿到一樓，每天晚上9點左右會被清走。

11. Sam非常滿意，說If it's OK with you, I think I'll take the apartment. 如果你沒有問題的話，我決定租下這個公寓了。be OK with something, 對某事沒有意見，同意做某事，在口語中很常用，例如：I'm OK with the timing. 我對時間安排沒有意見。那麼something be ok with someone, 也表示同樣的意義，例如：Is the timing OK with you? 你對時間安排有意見嗎？

12. Ms. Li也覺得Sam不錯，她說You seem like the ideal tenant. OK, let me go get the contract. 你看起來是個理想的房客，現在我去拿合約。不論男女，房客都是tenant，但是男房東和女房東可不一樣了，男房東是landlord，女房東是landlady，但是兩者都可以縮寫成LL，記住要大寫。