【英语趣味课堂】描述房子-House Description

 Todd: OK. Nicola we are going to talk about your house in Australia?

 

Nicola: About my house!

 

Todd: Is that OK.

 

Nicola: It changes quite often.

 

Todd: OK. How about your last house? The last house you were at.

 

Nicola: OK.

 

Todd: Let's talk about the kitchen.

 

Nicola: Mm-hm.

 

Todd: OK. What was in the kitchen?

 

Nicola: There were a lot of paintings, actually!

 

Todd: Paintings in the kitchen.

 

Nicola: Paintings in the kitchen. Yeah!

 

Todd: Wow! That's really nice.

 

Nicola: But there were paintings and then the usual things, like a fridge, and an oven¹ and kitchen utensils².

 

Todd: OK. Wow! What was in the living room?

 

Nicola: In the living room we had two couches⁴, and a rug⁵, and a big book shelf, and a bean bag.

 

Todd: A bean bag!

 

Nicola: Mm-hm.

 

Todd: So to sit in, you sit in the bean bag.

 

Nicola: Yeah, to sit down, lie, relax.

 

Todd: OK. Nice. What's in the bathroom?

 

Nicola: The bathroon we had -- it was a small bathroom. There was just a shower, and a basin, and a cupboard, that was about it.

 

学习内容：

 

Learn Vocabulary from the lesson

last

 

How about your last house?

 

In the example your 'last house' refers to the house that you had before the one you live in now, or your most recent house.  Notice the following:

 

I bought my last car from a friend.

Where did you go for your last vacation?

utensils

 

The kitchen had a fridge, oven and kitchen utensils.

 

'Utensils' are tools that you use for cooking.  This includes knives, forks, spoons, spatula⁶, etc.  Notice the following:

 

We need to buy some plastic utensils for the party.

What kind of utensils do you need to make cookies.

couch³

 

In the living room we had two couches.

 

A 'couch' is a large comfortable chair made for two or more people.  The seat is very soft and there are usually a lot of pillows.  Another word for couch is 'sofa.'  Notice the following:

 

He spends most of the day on the couch watching television.

We bought a new leather couch last weekend.

bean bag

 

You sit in a bean bag.

 

A 'bean bag' is a type of chair that is a huge cloth or leather bag filled with millions of tiny foam⁷ balls.  This chair can be shaped to fit your body.  Notice the following:

 

She loves to read in her bean bag chair.

The bean bag was so comfortable he fell asleep as soon as he sat down.

that was about it

 

A shower and a basin and a cupboard, that was about it.

 

'That was about it' means almost nothing else.  In the example this phrase is used for emphasis⁸ to explain that the bathroom was very basic.  Notice the following:

 

He packed a swimsuit, sunscreen and a toothbrush and that was about it.

I had about $10 in my pocket and that was about it.

 

1 oven   

n.烤炉；烤箱

参考例句：

• You put food inside an oven to cook it.你把食物放进烤箱里热一下。
• She baked bread in an oven.她用烤炉烤面包。

2 utensils   

器具，用具，器皿( utensil的名词复数 )； 器物

参考例句：

• Formerly most of our household utensils were made of brass. 以前我们家庭用的器皿多数是用黄铜做的。
• Some utensils were in a state of decay when they were unearthed. 有些器皿在出土时已经残破。

3 couch   

n.睡椅，长沙发椅；vt.表达，隐含

参考例句：

• Lie down on the couch if you're feeling ill.如果你感觉不舒服就躺到沙发上去。
• The rabbIt'sprang from its grassy couch.兔子从草丛中跳出。

4 couches   

n.长沙发椅( couch的名词复数 )；睡椅；（病人受检查时躺的）长榻；（尤指诊室内的）诊察台

参考例句：

• In the small room we disguise our beds as couches.during the day. 在这间小房间里，白天我们把床改作长椅用。 来自辞典例句
• The furniture was old and comfortable-leather couches, newspaper racks, priceless antique tables. 家具古老而舒适——有皮靠背椅，报纸架，无价的古董桌子。 来自辞典例句

5 rug   

n.毯子，地毯，旅行毯

参考例句：

• The rug can double up.这条地毯能卷起来。
• It will be more beautiful if you work some blue into the rug.如果你再织些蓝色的图案，这毯子会更好看。

6 spatula   

n.抹刀

参考例句：

• He scraped the mixture out of the bowl with a plastic spatula.他用塑料铲把盆里的混合料刮了出来。
• She levelled the surface of the cake mixtured with a metal spatula.她用金属铲抹平了蛋糕配料。

7 foam   

v./n.泡沫，起泡沫

参考例句：

• The glass of beer was mostly foam.这杯啤酒大部分是泡沫。
• The surface of the water is full of foam.水面都是泡沫。

8 emphasis   

n.强调，重点，重要性

参考例句：

• The emphasis has shifted markedly in recent years.最近几年重点已经明显改变了。
• Particular emphasis will be placed on oral language training.将会特别强调口语训练。