ESL Podcast 546 – Having an Open House

Kyoko: We’re not supposed to be here. I think we should leave and let our real estate agent hold the open house without us looking over her shoulder.

Ernie: We’re not looking over her shoulder. I just want to sit in this car to see how many people go in and out.

Kyoko: You know, there’ll be a lot of lookie-loos. And plus, there’ll be a sign-in sheet, so we’ll be able to see afterwards how many people stopped in.

Ernie: Hey, someone’s coming in now.

Kyoko: That’s the stager. She’s making some last-minute changes.

Ernie: She really doesn’t need to do anything else. We did everything our agent told us to do. We made cosmetic¹ repairs, painted, and de-cluttered. What more could they ask for?

Kyoko: She’s just doing some minor² landscaping, putting some plants along the front path and around the front door. Let’s get out of here before people start showing up. I don’t want to seem like I’m spying on my own house.

Ernie: What does it matter? Hand me the fact sheet for our house. I want to read it through again to make sure the agent didn’t miss anything. Okay, the square footage on the house and the lot are correct, she noted³ that our addition is permitted, and she mentioned the upgrades⁴ – good. Where are you going?

Kyoko: I’m not going to sit in this car for the next four hours. Let’s go to visit our neighbors’ open houses.

Ernie: Good idea. We’ll see what our competition is and maybe we can steal some of their open house ideas!


Script by Dr. Lucy Tse

1 cosmetic   

n.化妆品；adj.化妆用的；装门面的；装饰性的

参考例句：

• These changes are purely cosmetic.这些改变纯粹是装饰门面。
• Laughter is the best cosmetic,so grin and wear it!微笑是最好的化妆品，所以请尽情微笑吧！

2 minor   

adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修

参考例句：

• The young actor was given a minor part in the new play.年轻的男演员在这出新戏里被分派担任一个小角色。
• I gave him a minor share of my wealth.我把小部分财产给了他。

3 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

4 upgrades   

提升( upgrade的第三人称单数 )； 使（机器、计算机系统等）升级； 提高（设施、服务等的）档次； 提高（飞机乘客、旅馆住客等）的待遇

参考例句：

• Freight trains travel slowly on upgrades into the hills. 火车徐徐向山上驶去。
• This support protocol upgrades all aircraft in a couple of important ways. 这项支援协议对所有的空军单位在很多重要方面上提供了升级。