大城市小世界 Series 1 Episode 4 - We Have a Mission!

 　　Introduction

　　This support pack accompanies the audio soap opera 'Big City Small World'.

　　This support pack contains the following materials:

　　a pre-listening vocabulary activity;

　　 the transcript¹ of the episode;

　　a comprehension activity;

　　three language activities

　　Before you listen

　　Activity 01

　　Match the words and phrases at the top to their definitions.

　　1. accommodation

　　2. afford

　　3. flat

　　4. grateful

　　5. greedy

　　6. jealous

　　7. keen

　　8. landlord

　　9. leave off!

　　10. loads

　　11. matter

　　12. mission

　　13. offend

　　14. reasonable

　　15. sensitive

　　16. shared house

　　17. upset

　　a. a lot of (informal)

　　b. a person who owns and rents out a flat, a house, etc.

　　c. a place to live

　　d. a set of rooms for living in which are part of a larger building

　　e. an excessive desire for food, drink, etc.

　　f. an important job that someone believes it is their duty to do

　　g. based on or using good judgment² and therefore fair and practical

　　h. easily affected³ in an emotional way

　　i. enthusiastic about something or someone

　　j.  have enough money to buy or do something

　　k.  house that you live in with other people who are not family

　　l. hurt somebody’s feelings

　　m. showing or expressing thanks, especially to another person

　　n. the reason for pain, worry or a problem

　　o. unhappy and angry because someone has something or someone you want

　　p. used to tell someone to stop being annoying

　　q. worried, unhappy or angry

　　Transcript

　　Harry⁴: Well Sarah, here’s the paper...I was looking at jobs...but you’ll need the “accommodation” page!

　　Olivia: Hmmm, not very sensitive, Harry...

　　Harry: Have to go now...see you all!

　　All: Bye!

　　Olivia: What’s the problem with your flat, then Sarah?

　　Sarah: Well, I was renting a room in a shared house, but now the landlord has decided⁵ to sell the house, so we all have to move out...

　　Magda: Oh no...that can be really difficult in London. It’s so expensive here...

　　Sarah: I know, I’m not sure I’ll be able to afford it...

　　Olivia: Tell me about it!

　　Sarah: About what?

　　Olivia: Sorry...I just mean, I know how expensive life is!

　　Sarah: Why’s that?

　　Magda: Olivia wants Harry to set up a website for her, but he’s asked for loads of money!

　　Fadi: Yeah...me too!

　　Magda: I think he’s greedy.

　　Fadi: I’m not sure about that...he’s a professional after all. He’s right to ask a reasonable amount for his work.

　　Olivia: You’re just like him, I can see...only interested in money!

　　Magda: Yeah, that’s right...

　　Fadi: Leave off...I’m not only interested in money. I like football too...

　　Olivia: I don’t think I can afford it, but I don’t know how to say “no” without offending him now.

　　Sarah: Do you think he’ll be offended?

　　Olivia: Perhaps...

　　Fadi: I shouldn’t worry. He’s not a very sensitive guy, is he?

　　Olivia: No! I like him, though...

　　Fadi: Oh yeah?

　　Olivia: Not in that way...he’s just a friend...

　　Fadi: “Just a friend”, eh?

　　Olivia: Are you jealous?

　　Fadi: Get out of here! Course I’m not. I’ve got lots of girlfriends...

　　Magda: And they only ever last for two weeks!

　　Fadi: I like to keep them keen!

　　Sarah: Oh yeah, sure...

　　Fadi: Listen, Olivia, if it makes it easier for you, I think I’m going to take Harry up on his offer. I’ll get him to do some work for me, then it won’t matter if you turn him down.

　　Sarah: I do some work for a website, Olivia. It’s called DimSum.co.uk – it’s for the Chinese community in Britain. I could find out who does their website – they might be cheaper.

　　Olivia: Could you do that for me? I’d be really grateful.

　　Sarah: Sure, no problem.

　　Olivia: And we’ll try and help you find a flat!

　　Sarah: Thanks!

　　Magda: How long have you got before you have to move out?

　　Sarah: Only a month.

　　Magda: That’s not long.

　　Fadi: I’ll ask around, see if anyone I know has a room free in their house...

　　Magda: I’ll do the same thing...

　　Olivia: Me too!

　　Magda: Ok everyone...we have a mission!

　　Fadi: Find Sarah a place to live!

　　Olivia: And tell Harry he’s greedy!

　　Sarah: I think this might be difficult....

　　Magda: What? Finding you a flat, or upsetting Harry?

　　Sarah: Both!

　　After listening

　　Activity 02

　　Who (Sarah, Olivia, Harry, Fadi or Magda) …

　　1. ... is worried about accommodation?

　　2. ... complains about life being expensive?

　　3. ... thinks Harry is a good worker?

　　4. ... is worried about upsetting Harry?

　　5. ... makes fun of Fadi’s love life?

　　6. ... offers to find another website designer?

　　Activity 03

　　Fill the gaps in the text with the words at in the table.

　　a. accommodation

　　b. flat

　　c. house

　　d. landlord

　　e. room

　　f. shared

　　g. to live

　　h. to rent

　　I’m looking for a new place (1) ......................... My (2) .........................  wants to sell the (3) ......................... that my (4) ......................... is in. I’d love to find a small (5) ......................... in the town centre but it costs a lot of money (6) ......................... a place for one. The (7) ......................... pages of the newspaper are full of (8) ......................... houses, so I’ll phone a few and see if I am lucky.

　　Activity 04

　　Put the adjectives into the correct column, depending on whether their opposite takes the prefix⁶ 'in-' or 'un-'.

　　certain

　　clear

　　expensive

　　experienced

　　reasonable

　　sensitive

　　in

　　un

　　Activity 05

　　Rearrange the words to make grammatically correct sentences.

　　1. problem What’s flat with the your?

　　2. is. I expensive life know how

　　3. interested not in money. I’m only

　　4. very, a he sensitive He’s not guy is?

　　5. you do Could for that me?

　　6. help and you a We’ll try flat. find

　　Answers

　　Activity 01

　　1. c; 2. j; 3. d; 4. m; 5. e; 6. o; 7. i; 8. b; 9. p; 10. a; 11. n; 12. f; 13. l; 14. g; 15. h; 16. k; 17. q

　　Activity 02

　　1. Sarah; 2. Olivia; 3. Fadi; 4. Olivia; 5. Magda; 6. Sarah

　　Activity 03

　　1. g; 2. d; 3. c; 4. e; 5. b; 6. h; 7. a; 8.f

　　Activity 04

　　uncertain; unclear; inexpensive; inexperienced; unreasonable⁷; insensitive

　　Activity 05

　　1. What’s the problem with your flat?; 2. I know how expensive life is.; 3. I’m not only interested in money.; 4. He’s not a very sensitive guy, is he?; 5. Could you do that for me?; 6. We’ll try and help you find a flat.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 judgment   

n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见

参考例句：

• The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
• He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。

3 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。

4 harry   

vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼

参考例句：

• Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天，人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
• Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。

5 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

6 prefix   

n.前缀；vt.加…作为前缀；置于前面

参考例句：

• We prefix "Mr."to a man's name.我们在男士的姓名前加“先生”。
• In the word "unimportant ","un-" is a prefix.在单词“unimportant”中“un”是前缀。

7 unreasonable   

adj.不讲道理的，不合情理的，过度的

参考例句：

• I know that they made the most unreasonable demands on you.我知道他们对你提出了最不合理的要求。
• They spend an unreasonable amount of money on clothes.他们花在衣服上的钱太多了。