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[00:00.00]Unit 8 House and home
[00:04.70]4 While you read
[00:11.68]Home-but not alone
[00:15.80]Dave and Steve Briggs share a bedroom in their parents' house.
[00:23.04]You might think that's quite normal for brothers.
[00:27.77]but Dave and Steve aren't teenagers.
[00:33.04]They're both in their mid-thirties and their parents are now retired1.
[00:39.71]They are part of a growing number of children
[00:44.67]who are being forced to live with their parents well intoadulthood,
[00:50.73]simply because they can't afford to rent or buy a place of their own.
[00:57.00]Steve has lived in the twobedroom terraced3 house in the London suburb4 of Walthamstow
[01:05.04]nearly all his life.
[01:08.52]apart from two years when he was studying nursing in Derby.While he was there.
[01:16.28]he suffered a nervous breaddown and came home before completing his course.
[01:23.44]It was a difficult time.he said,
[01:28.69]it was the first time I'd really been away from my family
[01:33.96]and I was finding5 the course quite stressful.
[01:38.40]In the end,I just couldn't cope6 and my life just went to pieces.
[01:44.57]I've suffered from depression ever since.
[01:49.30]which has meant I've been in and out of work a lot.
[01:54.47]but I've always been able to come home and know I'll be looked after,
[02:00.53]that I won't end up on the streets because I couldn't afford to pay the rent.
[02:06.69]And until two years ago.I had the bedroom to myself,so that was all right.
[02:14.27]I had the TV and PlayStation in there.so I had my privacy7.'
[02:20.62]All that changed when Dave got divorced8
[02:26.78]and had to leave his large four-bedroom house to his wife and two kids.
[02:33.55]He had originally left home at seventeen.
[02:38.69]When he joined the army,and now works9 as a mechanical10 engineer for Ford2 Motors.
[02:46.16]When Lisa and I divorced.
[02:50.81]I thought I would just rent somewhere close by
[02:56.38]so I could just drop in and see the kids easily,but when I started looking,
[03:03.14]I just couldn't believe how expensive everything was.
[03:08.47]I'd never actually had to rent a flat before,being in the army,
[03:14.93]and most landlords11 wanted something like a hundred and fifty pounds a week just for a tiny studio flat.
[03:23.60]I thought about buying,but over the ten years Lisa and I had lived in our place,
[03:30.86]prices had just rocketed.I mean,for the money we paid for our house ten years ago.
[03:38.72]we culd probably only get a one or two-bedroom flat in a large block now.
[03:44.97]It's ridiculous!
[03:48.62]There were cheaper places,but they were in really rough parts of town.
[03:55.70]where I wouldn't want my kids walking around.
[04:00.07]And the trouble is,it's not stopping.
[04:04.22]Prices have almost doubled just in the two years I've been staying with my parents.
[04:11.66]You know,the other day I saw a parking space being sold for&73000!&73000!
[04:23.73]For a parking space!The world's gone mad!
[04:29.51]So how does he find living at home again?It was quite werid for a long time,
[04:39.07]but you get used to it.It has its advantages.
[04:45.02]I still get my meals cooked and my clothes washed,but of course,
[04:51.68]it's difficult to have any privacy.Steve snores really badly.
[04:58.95]And he's always smoking.It's really disgusting!
[05:05.01]I sometimes stay over at my girlfriend's flat,
[05:09.86]and I'm trying to persuade her to let me move in,
[05:14.51]but she's not keen12 at the moment.So what else can I do?"
[05:20.26]As many people know,the answer is "Not much'.
[05:26.64]Unless.of course,you're prepared to move to a poor industrial town in the north
[05:32.80]or a tiny little village right out in the countryside,
[05:38.16]where you can buy a house for a tenth of the price it would be in London.
[05:43.61]I did suggest this to Steve."Yeah,right!
[05:50.28]So I could live in a slum13 or in the middle of nowhere,
[05:55.53]it's not much of an alternative,is it?
[05:59.60]No, in the end,my family and job are here,and that's what's most important."
[06:08.56]4 Pronunciation:sentence stress
[06:22.22]When we complain about something,we usually place an extra stress on always and never.
[06:29.77]They're always gossiping.
[06:33.85]He never does the washing-up.
[06:38.11]While you listen
[06:54.67]Come in,come in.You can leave your bags in the hall for the moment.
[07:00.91]Take your coat off.Just hang it up on the back of the door there.
[07:06.66]Paul,why don't you take it?Honestly,he can be so rude sometimes.
[07:14.91]Hello.Nice to meet you at last.I'm Angela.Hello.
[07:23.38]Did you have a good journey?I was starting to get a bit worried about you.
[07:30.35]It was OK.but the plane was...what did you say.Paul?
[07:37.51]Yeah.I think she had a bit of a bumpy14 flight from the sounds of things.
[07:43.96]It was almost an hour late getting in.A storm or something.
[07:49.32]Oh,poor you.Sit down.You must be exhausted15.
[07:56.29]Sorry?You must be very tired.Yes,yes.
[08:03.74]Can I get you something to eat?
[08:08.18]No.thank you.I had something to eat on the plane.I'm just tired.Yes.I'm sure.
[08:17.11]The children wanted to stay up to meet you.but they've got school tomorrow.
[08:23.28]Do you want me to show you round the house now or shall we do it in the morning?
[08:29.44]No.I'm very tired,so maybe...
[08:35.68]So.We'll show you where everything is tomorrow?
[08:40.65]Is it OK if I just go to bed?
[08:45.11]Yes,yes of couse,It is very late.I need to get to bed myself.
[08:52.87]Paul,do you think you could take her bags up?
[08:57.60]Yeah,of course.Thanks,Goodnight.Yes,Sleep well.
[09:04.55]By the way,have you got an alarm clock?
[09:09.22]The children really do need to have their breakfast by seven thirty.
[09:15.47]Seven thirty?
[09:18.94]Do you want me to get you up tomorrow?
[09:23.30]Maybe that'll be easier as it's your first day.I...er...yes.
收听单词发音 |
1
retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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2
Ford
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| n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过 | |
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3
terraced
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| a.(房屋)沿斜坡建造的 | |
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4
suburb
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| n.郊区，郊外，近郊 | |
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5
finding
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| n.发现，发现物；调查的结果 | |
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6
cope
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| v.(with)竞争，对抗；对付，妥善处理 | |
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7
privacy
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| n.私人权利，个人自由，隐私权 | |
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8
divorced
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| adj.离婚的；分开的；不相干的；脱离的v.与…离婚(divorce的过去式和过去分词)；分离；与某人离婚，判某人离婚 | |
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9
works
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| n.作品，著作；工厂，活动部件，机件 | |
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10
mechanical
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| adj.机械(学)的；力学的；机械似的；手工操作的 | |
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11
landlords
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| 房东； 房东，地主( landlord的名词复数 )； 店主 | |
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12
keen
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| adj.热心的；敏锐的；激烈的；锋利的 | |
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13
slum
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| n.贫民窟，贫民区；vi.（因好奇而）逛贫民区 | |
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14
bumpy
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| adj.颠簸不平的，崎岖的 | |
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15
exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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