【英语趣味课堂】新房子-New House

 Todd: Keri, I heard you have a new house.

Keri: Yes, I do.

 

Todd: Oh, so what's your new house like?

 

Keri: It's small, it's old. It's mostly wooden in the inside. It has two bedrooms and a balcony¹ off of those rooms. Downstairs, there's like a living room area and a tatami mat² room, kitchen, bathroom.

 

Todd: Wow, so do you live in the tatami mat room?

 

Keri: No, there's two tatami mat rooms. There's one upstairs and there's one downstairs and I don't live in either. One we use as kind of a spare room and the other one is my roommate's bedroom.

 

Todd: Oh, OK. So you have a roommate?

 

Keri: Yes.

 

Todd: What's it like having a roommate?

 

Keri: It's good. I like living alone too but sometimes it's nice to come home and have someone there. My roommate gets home before I do and she likes to cook so often she's cooked dinner for me.

 

Todd: Wow, that's nice.

 

Keri: I know.

 

Todd: Well, you do all the cleaning?

 

Keri: Now that you mention it, I do a lot of the cleaning but not all of it.

 

Todd: Oh, OK. Well, what kind of things does she make you?

 

Keri: Last night she made curry³. I think it was an Indian curry, tomato-base.

 

Todd: Spicy⁴?

 

Keri: Yes.

 

Todd: Cool. Thanks a lot, Keri.

 

Keri: You're welcome.

 

学习内容：

Learn Vocabulary from the lesson

tatami mat room

We have a tatami mat room upstairs.

A 'tatami mat' is a traditional Japanese floor covering that was originally⁵ made from rice straw⁶. Notice the following:

 

The restaurant has tatami mats⁷ in the private rooms.

Do you have tatami mats in your house?

spare room

We use one of the rooms as a spare room.

A 'spare room' is a room that you have available for guests or a room where nobody permanently⁸ lives. Notice the following:

 

We have a spare room for you to stay in.

How many spare rooms do you have?

roommate

 

I like living alone, but it's nice to have a roommate, too,

A 'roommate' is someone who shares your house or apartment with you who is not family. Notice the following:

 

My roommate is the cleanest person ever.

Where did you meet your roommate?

what's it like

What's it like to have a roommate?

When you ask 'what's it like' you want the speaker to describe something for you.  Notice the following:

 

What's it like to be married?

What's it like to have a real job?

-based

 

She made tomato-based Indian curry.

If a food is 'tomato-based' it is made up mostly of tomatoes.  We can put the word '-based' after other words to show the composition of something.  Notice the following:

 

Is the soup tomato-based?

Is the class conversation-based?

 

 

1 balcony   

n.阳台

参考例句：

• You can see the sea from our balcony.你从我们的阳台上就能看见大海。
• The balcony was closed with bars.阳台用铁条封上了。

2 mat   

n.垫，丛，衬边；adj.粗糙的；v.纠缠在一起，铺席于...上，使...无光泽

参考例句：

• This mat has to be hammered down at the edges.必须把这张席子的边钉上。
• Please wipe your shoes on the mat.请在蹭鞋垫子上擦擦鞋。

3 curry   

n.咖哩粉，咖哩饭菜；v.用咖哩粉调味，用马栉梳，制革

参考例句：

• Rice makes an excellent complement to a curry dish.有咖喱的菜配米饭最棒。
• Add a teaspoonful of curry powder.加一茶匙咖喱粉。

4 spicy   

adj.加香料的；辛辣的，有风味的

参考例句：

• The soup tasted mildly spicy.汤尝起来略有点辣。
• Very spicy food doesn't suit her stomach.太辣的东西她吃了胃不舒服。

5 originally   

adv.本来，原来，最初，就起源而论，独创地

参考例句：

• Originally I didn't want to go.我本意不想去。
• After much discussion they settled on the plan originally proposed.他们讨论了很久，然后确定了原来提出的那个计划。

6 straw   

n.稻草，麦杆，吸管；adj.用稻草做的，用来作稻草的，麦杆色的，无价值的，象稻草人的，非正式民意测验所发现的

参考例句：

• The old peasant is twisting pieces of straw into a rope.这位老农民正把稻草搓成绳子。
• May I have a straw for my drink?给我一根喝饮料的吸管好吗？

7 mats   

abbr.maintenance analysis test set 维修分析测试装置n.席子( mat的名词复数 )；（体育运动用的）厚垫子；（起装饰或保护作用的）衬垫；团

参考例句：

• The effect of MATS on blood-lipids in experimental hypercholesteremic rats was observed. 本文探讨了甲基烯丙基三硫(MATS)对实验性高胆固醇血症大鼠脂质代谢紊乱的影响。 来自互联网
• The hallway smelt of boiled cabbage and old rag mats. 门厅里一股子清煮白菜外带破草垫的味儿。 来自英汉文学

8 permanently   

adv.永恒地，永久地，固定不变地

参考例句：

• The accident left him permanently scarred.那次事故给他留下了永久的伤疤。
• The ship is now permanently moored on the Thames in London.该船现在永久地停泊在伦敦泰晤士河边。