Eztalk美语【157】I assume 我猜

Meeting the landlord

Beth: Hello, Mr. Gao. We appreciate your letting us have the apartment.
LL: My pleasure. You're a sweet couple. Do you have any questions?
Beth: The ad said rent was thirty thousand. That includes utilities and phone, I assume.
LL: No, it doesn't. And there's a maintenance fee for each month. It's forty NT per ping.
Beth: That's another one thousand six hundred?
LL: Yes, but that doesn't include cable. It's for cleaning and trash removal. You just leave your trash outside your door.

rent (v.,n.)
房租；出租
A: We also want to move because it's too expensive.
我们也想搬家，因为太贵了。
B: Yes, the rent must be really high here.
是啊，这里房租一定很贵。

utility (n.)
瓦斯、电力、自来水等设施
A: Does your rent include utilities?
你的房租包括水电瓦斯费吗？
B: It includes water, but you have to pay for gas and electricity.
包括水费，不过要付瓦斯跟电费。

assume (v.)
假定，假设
I assumed you had a boyfriend.
我猜妳有男朋友了。

maintenance fee
维修保养费。这里是指大楼管理费
Maintenance fees are just another way for landlords to rip us off.
管理费只是房东剥削我们的另一种方法。

removal (n.)
搬运，移动
A: What is the government doing about that toxic¹ waste?
政府如何处理那些有毒废物？
B: The new laws call for its removal by 2010.
新立法要求在二○一○年之前移除。

和房东见面

贝丝：哈啰，高先生。我们很感激你让我们承租这间公寓。
房东：荣幸之至。你们这对夫妇人很好。有任何问题吗？
贝丝：广告上说房租是三万元。我猜那包括水电瓦斯跟电话费吧。
房东：不，没有包括。而且每个月还有管理费。一坪四十元。
贝丝：那就是还要外加一千六百元？
房东：对，不过那不包括有线电视。那是清洁跟收垃圾的费用。你只要把垃圾放在门外就好了。

1 toxic   

adj.有毒的，因中毒引起的

参考例句：

• The factory had accidentally released a quantity of toxic waste into the sea.这家工厂意外泄漏大量有毒废物到海中。
• There is a risk that toxic chemicals might be blasted into the atmosphere.爆炸后有毒化学物质可能会进入大气层。