生活英语对话 Episode 77: Writing an advert

本单元是关于 写广告的对话

Alice: Right, how does this sound? Wanted: student or young professional...
Tim: ... male student or young professional.
Alice: Ok. From the top. Wanted: male student or young professional for bright, sunny room in flatshare...
Tim: ... in mixed flatshare ...
Alice: ... for bright, sunny room in mixed flatshare. Must be clean, tidy and easy-going. Close to shops, pubs and buses. Reasonable rent.
Helen: Shouldn't we say something about the cat? He might be allergic¹.
Alice: Ooh, yeah, good point. Must be clean, tidy, easy-going and must like cats. Ooh, and shall we say something about, you know, the dishwasher, tv, broadband...
Helen: Yeah, put 'all mod cons²'.
Alice: Ok, mixed flatshare with all mod cons. Shall I read it back to you?
Tim: Yeah, and then call the small ads department at the Gazette. Or we could go with the Courier..


Vocabulary: 字汇

from the top 从头再来
repeat from the beginning

mixed 混合
both men and women are living in the same house

close to all amenities³ 生活便利
amenities are shops and services that people like to have close to their houses - such as schools, banks, doctors, stations etc.

allergy⁴ 过敏
an unusual sensitiveness of the body which causes certain people to be affected⁵ in a bad way by something usually harmless

all mod cons 现代化设备
'mod cons' means 'modern conveniences' - things like a telephone, washing machine, dishwasher etc.

small ads 小广告
short advertisements which are found in local and national newspapers, or on notice boards in shops, colleges etc.

go with 决定...怎么做
choose, decide

The Gazette; The Courier 报纸名
These are typical names for newspapers.

本单元的语言点是关于小广告用语，小广告通常在地方或全国性报纸上出现，有时候在商店或学校的告示板上张贴。在报纸上刊登小广告，广告费用是按字数多寡来计算的，因此为了节省费用，通常使用缩写或简写，省略一些不必要的字。本节语言点主要讨论的是关于租房子的小广告

Small ads vocabulary – accommodation

Background 背景

Small ads are short advertisements which are found in local and national newspapers, and sometimes on notice boards in shops, colleges etc. In newspaper and magazine adverts⁶, each word and/or letter has to be paid for, so to make them cheaper, people often use short forms and abbreviations, and some non-essential words are not used.
This worksheet will focus on the language used to advertise accommodation.

People 人 - 广告的对象

Advertisers often state what type of person they are looking for. They generally do this by using adjectives, such as clean, quiet, etc. but nouns and compound nouns may be used too.

professional / prof. (adj/n)
somebody who has a job.
Examples:
Rooms available: professionals only.
Prof. male required for shared house.

mature (adj)
this word is used to describe an older, quieter, more responsible person.
Example:
Mature lady wanted for single room.

easy-going (adj)
friendly and relaxed.
Example: Easy-going guy wanted for student house.

n/s (adj/n) non-smoker
Example:
n/s prof. lady wanted for single room.

landlord / landlady⁷ (n)
The person who owns the accommodation. A landlord is male, a landlady is female.

tenant⁸ (n)
The person who pays rent to live in the accommodation.

lodger⁹ (n)
A person who lives with his / her landlord.

mixed (adj)
This means that both men and women are living in the accommodation.


Types of accommodation 住房形态

flatshare / houseshare (n)
This refers to the situation of sharing a house or flat with people who are not your family.
Example:
Alice says: 'bright, sunny room in mixed flatshare.'

bedsit (n)
A type of accommodation where you live and sleep in the same room. The bathroom and kitchen may be shared with other people who live in the same building.
Example:
Bedsit to let: suit student or young professional.

self-contained (adj)
Self-contained accommodation means that the kitchen, bathroom and other rooms are not shared with anyone else, and the accommodation has its own door which is not used by anyone else.
Example:
Self-contained single flat to let.

studio flat /apartment (n)
A flat or apartment which does not have a separate bedroom and/or kitchen, but it has its own bathroom.
Example:
Clean, quiet studio flat. Reasonable rent.

(fully¹⁰) furnished / part furnished / unfurnished (adj)
Advertisers often say how much furniture is provided.
fully furnished = all the necessary furniture is provided.
part furnished = some of the necessary furniture is provided: the tenant might have to buy some additional furniture.
unfurnished = no furniture is provided.

single room / double room
A single room is suitable for one person; a double room is suitable for two people.
Example:
Single room avail. end March.

bed
Bedroom.
Example:
3 bed flat avail. Dec. Reasonable rent.

all mod cons
'mod cons' means 'modern conveniences' - things like a telephone, washing machine, dishwasher etc.
Example:
2 bed flat avail. Dec. all mod cons

close to all amenities
amenities are shops and services that people like to have close to their houses - such as schools, banks, doctors, stations etc.
Example:
3 bed house avail. Dec. suit family. 5 mins from schools & amenities.


Money 价钱

reasonable rent:
Advertisers do not always write the exact cost of the accommodation in the advertisement. 'Reasonable' usually means that the rent is not too expensive, or that it is the same as the rent for other similar accommodation in the same area.

negotiable / negot.
This means that the landlord is willing to talk about the rent and agree on a price that is acceptable to both the landlord and the tenant.

pcm
per calendar month. Sometimes rent has to be paid every 4 weeks, but pcm means that the rent is payable¹¹ on the same date each month, often the 1st.
Example:
Bedsit to let. $500 pcm.

incl.
Inclusive - the rent includes the cost of gas, electricity etc.
Example:
Wanted: young prof. for studio flat. Rent $200 pcm incl.

deposit / dep. (n)
This is an amount of money which the tenant pays to the landlord / landlady when s/he moves in to the accommodation. The landlord / landlady gives the money back to the tenant when s/he moves out.
Example:
3-bed flat avail. end Dec / beg. Jan. $500 pcm + $500 dep.


Other words and abbreviations 其他用字

avail.
Available

end
At the end of

beg.
At the beginning of

to let
Available for rent

suit
Suitable for (a particular type of person)
Example:
To let: 2 bed flat. avail. beg. Jan. Suit n/s prof.

1 allergic   

adj.过敏的，变态的

参考例句：

• Alice is allergic to the fur of cats.艾丽斯对猫的皮毛过敏。
• Many people are allergic to airborne pollutants such as pollen.许多人对空气传播的污染物过敏，比如花粉。

2 cons   

n.欺骗，骗局( con的名词复数 )v.诈骗，哄骗( con的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The pros and cons cancel out. 正反两种意见抵消。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• We should hear all the pros and cons of the matter before we make a decision. 我们在对这事做出决定之前，应该先听取正反两方面的意见。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 amenities   

n.令人愉快的事物；礼仪；礼节；便利设施；礼仪( amenity的名词复数 )；便利设施；（环境等的）舒适；（性情等的）愉快

参考例句：

• The campsite is close to all local amenities. 营地紧靠当地所有的便利设施。
• Parks and a theatre are just some of the town's local amenities. 公园和戏院只是市镇娱乐设施的一部分。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 allergy   

n.(因食物、药物等而引起的)过敏症

参考例句：

• He developed an allergy to pollen.他对花粉过敏。
• The patient had an allergy to penicillin.该患者对青霉素过敏。

5 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

6 adverts   

advertisements 广告，做广告

参考例句：

• the adverts on television 电视广告
• The adverts are not very informative. 这些广告并没有包含太多有用信息。

7 landlady   

n.女房东，女地主

参考例句：

• I heard my landlady creeping stealthily up to my door.我听到我的女房东偷偷地来到我的门前。
• The landlady came over to serve me.女店主过来接待我。

8 tenant   

n.承租人；房客；佃户；v.租借，租用

参考例句：

• The tenant was dispossessed for not paying his rent.那名房客因未付房租而被赶走。
• The tenant is responsible for all repairs to the building.租户负责对房屋的所有修理。

9 lodger   

n.寄宿人，房客

参考例句：

• My friend is a lodger in my uncle's house.我朋友是我叔叔家的房客。
• Jill and Sue are at variance over their lodger.吉尔和休在对待房客的问题上意见不和。

10 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

11 payable   

adj.可付的，应付的，有利益的

参考例句：

• This check is payable on demand.这是一张见票即付的支票。
• No tax is payable on these earnings.这些收入不须交税。