【英语趣味课堂】住在纽约-Living in New York

Todd: Now, Mike, you lived in New York City. That's really, really cool. I think New York's a fantastic city. I've never lived there, but I visited New York many times. What was it like living in New York City?

 

Mike: Uh, like you said, there's a lot of cool things to do and see in New York. One big difference, when you’re living there, compared to when you’re visiting there, is that you start to feel like a New Yorker does, and it changes your sort of view point of the city and things to do there. Within the city, there's a lot of different, interesting places, and things to do, and of course, when you live there, you find out about more places that you normally wouldn't, either wouldn't know about or wouldn't have time to see if you were just visiting for a few days.

 

Todd: What did you do in New York city?

 

Mike: Well, I was there during the height of the internet boom¹, so I was working for an internet based company that was doing broadband web casting.I won't go into details, but there was just an internet related company, and so I lived in Midtown Manhattan in an expensive apartment, with a few friends and it...

 

Todd: Oh, you had roommates?

 

Mike: Yes, I had three roommates, none of whom were from New York, which is very common in New York, I think. It's a city of people who come from elsewhere to live in and the people from New York tend to, I think, sound and act a bit differently than the rest.

 

Todd: What was your favorite part of New York City?

 

Mike: Well, as you may know, New York is divided into several sectors², and I'll stick to Manhattan though, one of the main boroughs⁴ in New York is Manhattan. In that borough³, it's divided into several sections, several areas. One of my favorite was Greenwich Village, and in that area there's a lot of interesting clubs and bars and right next to there, in another area called the Bowery, which is right next to Greenwich Village there are some sort of old icons⁵ and places that I'd known from back in the seventies, that were sort of where Punk Rock started, for example, ah, those kind of places, were there.

 

Todd: You like Punk music?

 

Mike: Yeah, I do. I'm a big fan. Old guy that I am. Yes.

 

Todd: Oh, that's cool. Um, could you ever live in New York City again?

 

Mike: Absolutely. I would live in New York, but, again it's an expensive city to live in and I think it's a very competitive⁶ city, and, yeah, if I had, if I had the opportunity I'd definitely live there again. I wouldn't settle in New York, but I'd definitely live there for awhile.

 

Todd: Oh, cool. Thanks, Mike.

 

学习内容：

 

cool

 

Living in New York is really, really cool, because there's a lot of cool things to do and see there. 

Something 'cool' is fun, interesting or popular. Notice the following:

 

He's at an age where he thinks smoking cigarettes with his friends is cool.

Your new shoes are really cool.

viewpoint

 

When you live there, you start to feel like a New Yorker does, and it changes your viewpoint of the city. 

Your 'viewpoint' is your perspective or opinion about something. It's what you think about something. Notice the following:

 

He is very loud an opinionated about his viewpoint.

We quickly became close friends because we share the same viewpoint on a lot of important issues.

during the height of or internet boom

 

I was in New York during the height of the internet boom. 

The 'internet boom' is when internet companies and doing many things online became very popular. The 'height of the internet boom' was when new internet activities were at their most popular. It refers to the highest point of popularity⁷. Notice the following:

 

During the height of her fame she made 5 movies in a single year.

He made a lot of money during the internet boom.

borough

 

Manhattan is a main borough in New York that is divided into several sections. 

A 'borough' is kind of like a neighborhood, but in a legal, instead of community way. New York City is divided into 5 boroughs which each have administrative⁸ or governmental responsibilities. Notice the following:

 

Each borough in Mexico City has its own government building.

People from New York City are very specific about which borough they are from.

competitive

 

New York is an expensive city to live in and I think it's a very competitive city. 

In a 'competitive' situation many people are trying to achieve the same thing. In this case, people are competing for jobs, money, houses, etc. Notice the following:

 

This is one of the most competitive universities in the world.

The men on our softball team are very competitive, but the women just want to have fun.

1 boom   

n.隆隆声；vt.发隆隆声

参考例句：

• The country is having a great boom in industry.这个国家的工业正蓬勃发展。
• Boom!Boom!Boom!A series of explosions shook the valley.轰！轰！轰！一连串爆破声震撼山谷。

2 sectors   

n.部门( sector的名词复数 )；领域；防御地区；扇形

参考例句：

• Berlin was divided into four sectors after the war. 战后柏林分成了4 个区。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Industry and agriculture are the two important sectors of the national economy. 工业和农业是国民经济的两个重要部门。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

3 borough   

n.享有自治权的市镇；(英)自治市镇

参考例句：

• He was slated for borough president.他被提名做自治区主席。
• That's what happened to Harry Barritt of London's Bromley borough.住在伦敦的布罗姆利自治市的哈里.巴里特就经历了此事。

4 boroughs   

（尤指大伦敦的）行政区( borough的名词复数 )； 议会中有代表的市镇

参考例句：

• London is made up of 32 boroughs. 伦敦由三十二个行政区组成。
• Brooklyn is one of the five boroughs of New York City. 布鲁克林区是纽约市的五个行政区之一。

5 icons   

n.偶像( icon的名词复数 )；（计算机屏幕上表示命令、程序的）符号，图像

参考例句：

• Distinguish important text items in lists with graphic icons. 用图标来区分重要的文本项。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
• Daemonic icons should only be employed persistently if they provide continuous, useful status information. 只有会连续地提供有用状态信息的情况下，后台应用程序才应该一直使用图标。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

6 competitive   

adj.竞争的，比赛的，好竞争的，有竞争力的

参考例句：

• Some kinds of business are competitive.有些商业是要竞争的。
• These businessmen are both competitive and honourable.这些商人既有竞争性又很诚实。

7 popularity   

n.普及，流行，名望，受欢迎

参考例句：

• The story had an extensive popularity among American readers.这本小说在美国读者中赢得广泛的声望。
• Our product enjoys popularity throughout the world.我们的产品饮誉全球。

8 administrative   

adj.行政的，管理的

参考例句：

• The administrative burden must be lifted from local government.必须解除地方政府的行政负担。
• He regarded all these administrative details as beneath his notice.他认为行政管理上的这些琐事都不值一顾。