纯正地道美语(外教讲解)189：建造理想家园

　　A:  Mr.  and Mrs.  Robinson! Let’s get straight to it. You have saved up your money for years and are now ready to build your dream home. What did you have in mind?
B:  A suburban¹ bungalow² straight out of the sixties! A perfect lawn with minimal³ landscaping. A brick patio⁴ in the backyard with an old-fashioned grill⁵, quaint⁶ lawn furniture, and a swimming pool. A two-car carport, pastel siding and a gable roof. Completed with white shutters⁸ and a white picket⁹ fence !
C:  Uh, honey?
B:  In the living room we would have moss-green rugs and a fireplace with a stone mantle¹⁰ and wood paneling on the walls.  In the kitchen, the cupboards would be a pale yellow and we would have a turquoise¹¹ metal oven and vinyl flooring -
C:  Umm, sweetie, but I was thinking of a more modern style house. An open concept house, all glass, wood, metal, and concrete.
B:  But sweetums, there is always a lot of wasted space in those kinds of homes. Besides, it’s just a fad¹². It doesn’t have the homey feeling the old homes do.
C:   Sweetie-pie it’s not a lot of wasted space. It is relaxing and the house would be eco-friendly with an in-floor heating system and designed to retain the heat of the sun in the winter and keep the  house cool in the summer. We would have solar panels on the roof.
B:   Do you know how much those things cost?
C:   What about your vintage furniture, dearest? And instead of a lawn, which is also a lot of wasted  space and would require environmentally harmful pesticides¹⁴, we would have a fish pond in the backyard and a garden that would cover the whole yard so we could grow our own food!
B:   But buttercup, I thought you always said that you loved visiting your grandmother’s house!
C:   And I thought you, Mr. Scientist,  were all up on saving the planet with your technological¹⁵ advancements¹⁷!
A:   Umm well I am just going to go get some coffee while you two keep discussing.
dream n.梦想
suburban adj.  郊外的
bungalow n.  平房
the   sixties  60年代 （1960-1969）
minimal adj. 最小的
landscaping n. 全景
patio n.  天井; 露台
quaint adj.  古雅的, 奇怪的
carport n.  无墙车库, 车棚
pastel n.  粉蜡笔
siding n.  墙板
gable n.  山墙, 三角墙
shutter⁷ n.  百叶窗
mantle n. 壁炉上的墙
paneling n.  嵌板
turquoise n.  青绿色
vinyl n.  塑料
sweetums  adj.  心肝儿, 宝贝fad
homey adj.  家庭似的, 舒适的, 自在的
sweentiepie n.亲爱的
eco-friendly a.不损坏生态环境的
in-floor 地热
heating n. 取暖
retain v.保存
vintage adj.  老式的
pesticide¹³ n.  杀虫剂
buttercup, n.  毛茛, 金凤花
technological adj.  技术的
advancement¹⁶ n.  前进; 进步
A: 罗宾逊夫妇，我们直接来谈主题吧。这些年你们已经存了很多钱，现在你们已经准备好建造理想家园。你们有什么打算？
B: 要盖一个60年代那样的平房。有一块能欣赏到全景的漂亮草坪，后院要有一个砖砌的露台，旧式的烤架，古雅的细麻纹家具，还要有一个游泳池。 能容纳2辆车的车棚，有着粉蜡笔墙板和三角墙屋顶。还要有一个白色的百叶窗，和白色的尖桩篱栅。
C：亲爱的，补充点吧?
B: 在起居室，我们想要苔绿色的地毯 和一个有遮挡墙的壁炉，以及一个镶在墙上的嵌板。厨房的橱柜要灰黄色的，要一个 青绿色的烤箱和塑料地板。
C：亲爱的，我想要一个现代式样的房子，全新概念的房子，全是由玻璃，木头，金属和水泥建造。
B: 但是宝贝，那样的房子总是有很多空间被浪费，而且，那只是一种时尚，它没有老式房屋的舒适感。
C：亲爱的，那不是浪费空间。那样的房子令人放松，它是种环保的房子，它装有地热系统，设计时在冬天能够保存太阳的热量，在夏天能保存梁顺。我们将在屋顶安装太阳能电池板。
B:你知道那样做会花费多少钱吗？
C：那老式的家具会花费多少钱？草坪会浪费很多空间，而且需要喷洒对环境有害的杀虫剂。所以我们会建一个鱼塘，和一个能覆盖整个院子的菜园，那样我们就能自己种菜。
B:但是金凤花，我记得你总是说你喜欢参观祖母的屋子。
C：我认为你，科学家先生，总是想着用技术上的进步来拯救地球。
A: 喔，那你们继续讨论，我去弄杯咖啡。
 

1 suburban   

adj.城郊的，在郊区的

参考例句：

• Suburban shopping centers were springing up all over America. 效区的商业中心在美国如雨后春笋般地兴起。
• There's a lot of good things about suburban living.郊区生活是有许多优点。

2 bungalow   

n.平房，周围有阳台的木造小平房

参考例句：

• A bungalow does not have an upstairs.平房没有上层。
• The old couple sold that large house and moved into a small bungalow.老两口卖掉了那幢大房子，搬进了小平房。

3 minimal   

adj.尽可能少的，最小的

参考例句：

• They referred to this kind of art as minimal art.他们把这种艺术叫微型艺术。
• I stayed with friends, so my expenses were minimal.我住在朋友家，所以我的花费很小。

4 patio   

n.庭院，平台

参考例句：

• Suddenly, the thought of my beautiful patio came to mind. I can be quiet out there,I thought.我又忽然想到家里漂亮的院子，我能够在这里宁静地呆会。
• They had a barbecue on their patio on Sunday.星期天他们在院子里进行烧烤。

5 grill   

n.烤架，铁格子，烤肉；v.烧，烤，严加盘问

参考例句：

• Put it under the grill for a minute to brown the top.放在烤架下烤一分钟把上面烤成金黄色。
• I'll grill you some mutton.我来给你烤一些羊肉吃。

6 quaint   

adj.古雅的，离奇有趣的，奇怪的

参考例句：

• There were many small lanes in the quaint village.在这古香古色的村庄里，有很多小巷。
• They still keep some quaint old customs.他们仍然保留着一些稀奇古怪的旧风俗。

7 shutter   

n.百叶窗；(照相机)快门；关闭装置

参考例句：

• The camera has a shutter speed of one-sixtieth of a second.这架照像机的快门速度达六十分之一秒。
• The shutter rattled in the wind.百叶窗在风中发出嘎嘎声。

8 shutters   

百叶窗( shutter的名词复数 )； （照相机的）快门

参考例句：

• The shop-front is fitted with rolling shutters. 那商店的店门装有卷门。
• The shutters thumped the wall in the wind. 在风中百叶窗砰砰地碰在墙上。

9 picket   

n.纠察队；警戒哨；v.设置纠察线；布置警卫

参考例句：

• They marched to the factory and formed a picket.他们向工厂前进,并组成了纠察队。
• Some of the union members did not want to picket.工会的一些会员不想担任罢工纠察员。

10 mantle   

n.斗篷，覆罩之物，罩子；v.罩住，覆盖，脸红

参考例句：

• The earth had donned her mantle of brightest green.大地披上了苍翠欲滴的绿色斗篷。
• The mountain was covered with a mantle of snow.山上覆盖着一层雪。

11 turquoise   

n.绿宝石；adj.蓝绿色的

参考例句：

• She wore a string of turquoise round her neck.她脖子上戴着一串绿宝石。
• The women have elaborate necklaces of turquoise.那些女人戴着由绿松石制成的精美项链。

12 fad   

n.时尚；一时流行的狂热；一时的爱好

参考例句：

• His interest in photography is only a passing fad.他对摄影的兴趣只是一时的爱好罢了。
• A hot business opportunity is based on a long-term trend not a short-lived fad.一个热门的商机指的是长期的趋势而非一时的流行。

13 pesticide   

n.杀虫剂，农药

参考例句：

• The pesticide was spread over the vegetable plot.菜田里撒上了农药。
• This pesticide is diluted with water and applied directly to the fields.这种杀虫剂用水稀释后直接施用在田里。

14 pesticides   

n.杀虫剂( pesticide的名词复数 )；除害药物

参考例句：

• vegetables grown without the use of pesticides 未用杀虫剂种植的蔬菜
• There is a lot of concern over the amount of herbicides and pesticides used in farming. 人们对农业上灭草剂和杀虫剂的用量非常担忧。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 technological   

adj.技术的；工艺的

参考例句：

• A successful company must keep up with the pace of technological change.一家成功的公司必须得跟上技术变革的步伐。
• Today,the pace of life is increasing with technological advancements.当今， 随着科技进步，生活节奏不断增快。

16 advancement   

n.前进，促进，提升

参考例句：

• His new contribution to the advancement of physiology was well appreciated.他对生理学发展的新贡献获得高度赞赏。
• The aim of a university should be the advancement of learning.大学的目标应是促进学术。

17 advancements   

n.（级别的）晋升( advancement的名词复数 )；前进；进展；促进

参考例句：

• Today, the pace of life is increasing with technological advancements. 当今， 随着科技进步，生活节奏不断增快。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Great advancements in drought prediction have been made in recent years. 近年来，人们对干旱灾害的预报研究取得了长足的进步。 来自互联网