Spring cleaning

Spring cleaning大扫除

Kate:  Hello, I’m Kate Colin and this is 6 minute English and today I'm joined as usual by Jackie Dalton. Well now we're well into the month of May and spring is well under way so today we’re talking about the modern attitude to 'spring cleaning and housework' – can you explain what spring cleaning is Jackie? 

Jackie:  Yes, spring cleaning is when you clean all your house from top to bottom (including the bits you don't clean very often!) 

Kate:  Well, today people have very varied¹ attitudes to housework. Some people spend a lot of time cleaning, others employ cleaners to do it for them and some people do no housework at all, preferring to spend their free time doing something else completely. 

Jackie:  Yes, I recently heard of something called 'skimming²' and this means that you spray（喷雾，扫射） a bit of furniture polish into a room to make it smell like you've been cleaning but in fact you haven't done any at all. 

Kate:  Oh – I might try that! Here's my question for this week - how many hours per week do you think the average woman spends doing housework? 

a) 3 hours b) 15 hours c) 20 hours 

Jackie:  Answers 

 

Kate: We'll check your answer later but first let's listen to an extract³ which was recorded 20 years ago. It's with a lady called Edna McLaren talking about her mother and her attitude to housework when she was growing up. How do you think housework has changed over the years?

Clip⁴ 1 Monday was washday, Tuesday probably one bedroom, Wednesday probably another, Thursday, she'd perhaps do the front room. And of course there was all the outside to do, all the fronts and the backs and the toilets and then Friday, the carpets used to have to be taken up and then the floor had to be washed and then polished.

Jackie:Well, it seems women in the past had a very busy time cleaning their houses. It seems to have been a full time job! Of course now we have vacuum⁵ cleaners（真空吸尘器） and washing machines to make our life easier. I certainly wouldn't have time to do all that and have a job as well.

Kate:Well yes, and many people do find it difficult to fit in housework round their full-time⁶ jobs and commitments⁷, and some prefer to do the very minimum⁸. In the next extract you'll hear from a lady called Vivien Emery, who admits she doesn't spend much time tidying her house. Is her house messy or tidy?

Clip 2

The state of my house is reasonably tidy, especially the rooms you can see. But I'm not

Obsessive⁹（强迫性的，分神的） about anything, I mean the kitchen's clean but it's very untidy - everything's on the

worktops. The bathroom is clean but not particularly tidy and the downstairs loo, that's clean

but there's all sorts - wellingtons and walking boots in there.

Jackie:Well it sounds to me that her house is fairly untidy but she insists it's clean. And she said she wasn’t obsessive about anything. Now if you're obsessive, you're very interested or worried about something in an extreme way. For example people can get obsessive about cleaning, they always want to make sure that everything is clean and tidy. She admitted that there's lots of clutter¹⁰(弄乱，混乱) in her downstairs loo or toilet. Clutter is a word we'll be hearing later and that means there's lots of junk（垃圾） and stuff¹¹ which is just lying around the house like piles of newspapers and books and thing like that.

Kate:What's your house like Jackie? Do you have lots of clutter lying around or are you a clean freak? A clean freak is when someone spends all their time cleaning and tidying.

Jackie:answers

Kate: Next we're going to hear from somebody who is a professional cleaner. We're going to hear her talking about spring cleaning and having a clear out. A clear out is when you throw or give away lots of things in your house you no longer need. Can you hear some reasons why she says spring cleaning is a good idea?

Clip 3 I think psychologically¹² more than anything it's good to have a good clear out, you know, get rid of stuff and it just kind of clears the air, it clears your head. Open the windows, let the air in and I just think it kind of lifts your spirits to be able to have less clutter around.

Jackie:She said that spring cleaning clears the air and your head. So it not only makes things cleaner physically¹³ but it also helps you mentally and helps you think more clearly. She also said that having less clutter lifts the spirits. If something lifts your spirits, it makes you feel happier.

Kate:I certainly agree with that – maybe I'll have a clear out this weekend. Lastly, let's have a look at some of the words we have come across today:

Jackie:First we had to spring clean which means to deep clean your house. This usually only happens once a year - in the spring. obsessive is when someone is very interested or worried about something. clutter which means a lot of junk and stuff which is lying around your house, like newspapers, books and shoes.

a clean freak is when someone spends all their time cleaning and tidying. clear out is when you throw or give away lots of things in your house you no longer need. to lift your spirits means that something makes you feel happier. 

Kate:  And finally let's go back to the question I asked you earlier. I asked how many hours per week do you think the average woman spends doing housework? 

Jackie:  And I said… 

Kate:  And I'm afraid you were wrong, the average woman spends 15 hours per week doing the housework which seems like a lot when you compare it to the average man who spends just 7 hours. Something not quite right there I think! That's all we have time for I'm afraid. Until next week. 

Both:  Goodbye! (本文由在线英语听力室整理编辑)

1 varied   

adj.多样的，多变化的

参考例句：

• The forms of art are many and varied.艺术的形式是多种多样的。
• The hotel has a varied programme of nightly entertainment.宾馆有各种晚间娱乐活动。

2 skimming   

早期获利

参考例句：

• Bill pushed us off and we went skimming away from the shore. 比尔把我们的船撑开，我们就滑离了海岸。
• They heeled the sloop well over, skimming it along to windward. 他们使单桅小船倾斜适当，让它顶着风向前滑去。

3 extract   

vt.取出，提取，获得，摘录；n.摘录，提出物

参考例句：

• The article was a choice extract from her writings.这篇文章是从她的著作中摘录出来的精粹。
• We can extract oil from olive.我们可以从橄榄中榨油。

4 clip   

n.夹子，别针，弹夹，片断；vt.夹住，修剪

参考例句：

• May I clip out the report on my performance?我能把报道我的文章剪下来吗？
• She fastened the papers together with a paper clip.她用曲别针把文件别在一起。

5 vacuum   

n.真空，空间，真空吸尘器；adj.真空的，产生(利用)真空的；v.用吸尘器打扫

参考例句：

• Sound waves will not travel through a vacuum.声波在真空里不能传播。
• He sells vacuum cleaners.他经销真空吸尘器。

6 full-time   

adj.满工作日的或工作周的，全时间的

参考例句：

• A full-time job may be too much for her.全天工作她恐怕吃不消。
• I don't know how she copes with looking after her family and doing a full-time job.既要照顾家庭又要全天工作，我不知道她是如何对付的。

7 commitments   

n.委托( commitment的名词复数 )；任务；承担的义务

参考例句：

• I am very tired because I have taken on so many commitments. 我很累，因为我承担了很多的事情。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• These commitments have already been breached. 这些承诺已遭背弃。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 minimum   

adj.最低的，最小的；n.最小量，最低限度

参考例句：

• What is the minimum price?最低价是多少？
• Today's minimum temperature is 10℃.今天的最低气温是10℃。

9 obsessive   

adj. 着迷的, 强迫性的, 分神的

参考例句：

• Some people are obsessive about cleanliness.有些人有洁癖。
• He's becoming more and more obsessive about punctuality.他对守时要求越来越过分了。

10 clutter   

n.零乱，杂乱；vt.弄乱，把…弄得杂乱

参考例句：

• The garage is in such a clutter that we can't find anything.车库如此凌乱，我们什么也找不到。
• We'll have to clear up all this clutter.我们得把这一切凌乱的东西整理清楚。

11 stuff   

n.原料，材料，东西；vt.填满；吃饱

参考例句：

• We could supply you with the stuff in the raw tomorrow.明天我们可以供应你原材料。
• He is not the stuff.他不是这个材料。

12 psychologically   

adv.心理上地，心理学地

参考例句：

• This explanation fits the facts and is psychologically plausible. 这一解释与事实相符，从心理角度看也有理。
• Boys mature more slowly than girls,both physically and psychologically. 在生理和心理上，男孩比女孩成熟得晚些。

13 physically   

adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律

参考例句：

• He was out of sorts physically,as well as disordered mentally.他浑身不舒服，心绪也很乱。
• Every time I think about it I feel physically sick.一想起那件事我就感到极恶心。