英语博客(A cup of English):075 the lounge/ family room.

　　A Tour of Homes 3, the lounge/ family room.
Join me again as we walk through a typical house, and observe all the every day objects that native speakers can name so easily. Before we get started, do you remember any of the vocabulary from the entry way and the powder room? Do you remember another name for an electrical socket¹? It's an outlet², isn't it. And what about the most important verb for using the toilet? To flush. I'm sure, if you make a list of the important vocabulary and think about it in your own home, you will soon know these words.
Well, let's get started with the lounge. I hope you realize that I had to tidy up my lounge before taking the photo for this podcast; that's how serious I am about you learning! The lounge is one of the places where we spend most of our time at home. Most lounges have quite a bit of furniture: a sofa, arm chairs, perhaps a love seat, a coffee table, side tables, lamps, reading lights, a television, and an entertainment center which includes a dvd player, a stereo radio, and maybe some kind of recording³ device like an old fashioned video recorder (that's what we still have). Windows either have curtains which you draw (to open and close), or blinds which you pull. To create a nice atmosphere, often homes will have recessed⁴ lights which are slightly hidden in the ceiling or in the walls. They create an indirect light which is softer on the eyes.
In these western homes, there tends to be collections of magazines and books on the coffee and end tables. Often the magazines are not read entirely⁵; they are there to flick⁶ through. Usually, next to the chairs where the heads of the household sit, the all important remote controls will be within easy reach, on a side table, or in a drawer. This device is sacred. If it ever goes missing, somebody will be in trouble. If a wife innocently moves it from one table to another while she is cleaning, uh-oh, she's in trouble. That's how it is in the Wild West. To use the remote, you must know which buttons to push. Sometimes you must select an option, just like on a computer. Never forget to replace the batteries when the power is low. A telephone is found in a lounge. You talk in the receiver, you dial the numbers, and you hang up when you have finished your conversation.
Well, there is lots to remember about lounges. Obviously, some things that you find in the first rooms that I mentioned, you also find in the lounge, but you can make those assumptions for yourself. Electrical sockets⁷ or outlets⁸, for example, would be found in this room, so I won't repeat an explanation of what they are. I hope that you follow me through the rest of the rooms of the house, and become an expert in the daily vocabulary of a native speaker.

1 socket   

n.窝，穴，孔，插座，插口

参考例句：

• He put the electric plug into the socket.他把电插头插入插座。
• The battery charger plugs into any mains socket.这个电池充电器可以插入任何类型的电源插座。

2 outlet   

n.出口/路；销路；批发商店；通风口；发泄

参考例句：

• The outlet of a water pipe was blocked.水管的出水口堵住了。
• Running is a good outlet for his energy.跑步是他发泄过剩精力的好方法。

3 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。

4 recessed   

v.把某物放在墙壁的凹处( recess的过去式和过去分词 )；将（墙）做成凹形，在（墙）上做壁龛；休息，休会，休庭

参考例句：

• My rooms were large, with deeply recessed windows and painted, eighteenth-century panellin. 我住的房间很宽敞，有向里凹陷很深的窗户，油漆过的十八世纪的镶花地板。 来自辞典例句
• The Geneva meeting recessed while Kennety and Khrushchev met in Vienna. 肯尼迪同赫鲁晓夫在维也纳会晤时，日内瓦会议已经休会。 来自辞典例句

5 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

6 flick   

n.快速的轻打，轻打声，弹开；v.轻弹，轻轻拂去，忽然摇动

参考例句：

• He gave a flick of the whip.他轻抽一下鞭子。
• By a flick of his whip,he drove the fly from the horse's head.他用鞭子轻抽了一下，将马头上的苍蝇驱走。

7 sockets   

n.套接字，使应用程序能够读写与收发通讯协定(protocol)与资料的程序( Socket的名词复数 )；孔( socket的名词复数 )；（电器上的）插口；托座；凹穴

参考例句：

• All new PCs now have USB sockets. 新的个人计算机现在都有通用串行总线插孔。
• Make sure the sockets in your house are fingerproof. 确保你房中的插座是防触电的。 来自超越目标英语 第4册

8 outlets   

n.出口( outlet的名词复数 )；经销店；插座；廉价经销店

参考例句：

• The dumping of foreign cotton blocked outlets for locally grown cotton. 外国棉花的倾销阻滞了当地生产的棉花的销路。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They must find outlets for their products. 他们必须为自己的产品寻找出路。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》