生活英语对话 Episode 8: The newcomer

本单元是关于新来的客人的对话

Alice: Hi Michal! Look what I found in a box, near the rubbish bins¹ outside the hospital. Can you believe someone wanted to throw her away! Isn't she adorable?
Michal: What are you going to call her? How about Bronka? That's a good Polish name.
Alice: Mm, I think she looks more like a Co-Co...Oh, hi Helen, meet our new flatmate. We just need to find a name for her.
Helen: Em, I don't think so. You know we're not allowed pets in the flat. It's against the rules.


Vocabulary:（词汇）

A landlord (n, male)/a landlady² (n, female): someone who owns a flat or house which s/he rents to other people

permission (n, uncountable): to ask someone's permission means to ask someone to allow you to do something

adorable (adj, usually to refer to children or animals): very cute, loveable

Meat, potato and two veg (informal and short for): Meat, potato and two vegetables (a very traditional British meal)

本单元的语言点是同音字不同形的词，下面是英语中同音但不同形的词汇。

A homophone is a word which is pronounced the same as another word but spelt differently. For example, two (She has two sisters), too (Can I have a coffee too please?) and to (I'm going to lunch).

Homophones from episode 8:（第8节对话里的同音字）

Hi and High
Hi, how are you?
At 12 o'clock the sun is high in the sky.

In and Inn
Come in and have a cup of tea.
'Inn' is an old-fashioned word for 'pub'.

Meet and Meat
Do you want to meet later for a drink?
She's a vegetarian³ so she doesn't eat fish or meat.

Our and Hour
This is our house.
He was waiting for you for over an hour.

New and knew
I love your new dress!
I knew the answer as soon as she asked the question.

We and Wee
We (my husband and I) would love you to come and stay.
Scottish people say 'wee' for 'small' or 'little'.

Need and Knead
We're hungry so we need some food.
To make bread you have to knead the dough⁴ (a mixture of flour and water).

So and Sew
It's raining so you need to use your umbrella.
Will you sew a button on this shirt for me please?

You and Ewe
You need to do more studying.
You can get wool from a ram⁵ (a male sheep) or a ewe (a female sheep).

Know and No
Do you know where the nearest Post Office is please?
No, I don't know where it is, sorry.

Not and Knot
2 + 2 is not 5.
If you tie string in a knot, it's very difficult to untie⁶ it.

Allowed and Aloud
You're not allowed to smoke in this office.
When I was very young, my mum used to read aloud to me every night.

1 bins   

n.大储藏箱( bin的名词复数 )；宽口箱（如面包箱，垃圾箱等）v.扔掉，丢弃( bin的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Garbage from all sources was deposited in bins on trolleys. 来自各方的垃圾是装在手推车上的垃圾箱里的。 来自辞典例句
• Would you be pleased at the prospect of its being on sale in dump bins? 对于它将被陈列在倾销箱中抛售这件事，你能欣然接受吗？ 来自辞典例句

2 landlady   

n.女房东，女地主

参考例句：

• I heard my landlady creeping stealthily up to my door.我听到我的女房东偷偷地来到我的门前。
• The landlady came over to serve me.女店主过来接待我。

3 vegetarian   

n.素食者；adj.素食的

参考例句：

• She got used gradually to the vegetarian diet.她逐渐习惯吃素食。
• I didn't realize you were a vegetarian.我不知道你是个素食者。

4 dough   

n.生面团；钱，现款

参考例句：

• She formed the dough into squares.她把生面团捏成四方块。
• The baker is kneading dough.那位面包师在揉面。

5 ram   

(random access memory)随机存取存储器

参考例句：

• 512k RAM is recommended and 640k RAM is preferred.推荐配置为512K内存，640K内存则更佳。

6 untie   

vt.解开，松开；解放

参考例句：

• It's just impossible to untie the knot.It's too tight.这个结根本解不开。太紧了。
• Will you please untie the knot for me?请你替我解开这个结头，好吗？