From City to Sea

BBC Learning¹ EnglishLondon LifeFrom City to SeaJackie:  Hello, I'm Jackie Dalton. Have you everwanted to escape your everydaylife and go and do something completely different? If youlive in a house in a big noisy city, like London, perhapsyou could sell it and go and live on a small boat. Well,one man has and he now lives on his boat just off thesouthern English town of Brighton. We're going to hear fromBrian Bessy – well, that's his real name. But he also hasa nickname² – an affectionate name used by people who knowhim. What's his nickname?
　　AlbertAnyway, my name is Brian, Brian Bessy. That's the realname, although I'm sort of affectionately known as UncleAlbert.
　　Jackie:  Did you catch Brian's nickname? He said hewas affectionately known as'Uncle Albert'. How long has Uncle Albert been living onthe boat and why did he move there?
　　AlbertI've been down here now for the best part of 12 years. Iused to live in London. God knows what London's like thesedays, but I ended up on this. The family had grown up, thewife had passed on and I had this big house… cutting grassand decorating… and I thought who for? I'm going to go andlive on the boat.
　　Jackie:  Did you get those answers? Uncle Albertsays he's lived on the boat for the best part of 12 years– which means nearly 12 years. 'For the best part of…' Sowhy did he decide to move there from London? Because hiswife had died, his children had grown up and he was left onhis own in a big house – which seemed silly when it wasjust him.
　　BBC Learning English.comIs Albert glad he decided³ to leave London and live on aboat in Brighton?
　　AlbertBest decision I've ever made. Put years on me I think. Ioften look back and I think 'IfI'd have stayed up there I'd have probably put my head inthe oven⁴.'
　　Jackie:  Uncle Albert says it was the best decisionhe ever made. So he's pretty pleased he moved. But, surely,after life in a big house in London, it must be a bituncomfortable living on a boat. Does Albert agree? Whatcan you do on a boat that you can't do in a house? Listento find out.
　　AlbertAll these boats have got all the comforts that [are]
　　required for living on board: microwaves, televisions,fridges, you name it. If you don't like your neighbours,you can go and park somewhere else or wander off to anotherharbour.
　　Jackie:  Uncle Albert says on a boat you have allthe comforts you need – a television, a microwave and soon and, perhaps best of all, if you don't like yourneighbours, you can go somewhere else or park in adifferent harbour – a harbour – a place where boats arekept. Albert thinks it's a great lifest yle and, as he'sabout to tell us, he doesn't understand whymore people don't do it…AlbertOne of the things that always strikes me is the fact that,this being a lovely way to live, you'd think there would bemore young couples… instead of trying to raise a mortgage⁵,which is hard for them, a boat is a fraction⁶ of the costand the life itself is ten times better, you know, so…Jackie:  Well, he's got a point, hasn't he? Amortgage is a legal agreement when you borrow money from abank to buy a house and you have to pay back that moneyover a period of time. And I can tell you, living in Londonat the moment, if you want to buy a house here you've gotto have a pretty big mortgage as housing⁷ is very expensive.
　　So, as Uncle Albert argues, why get a big mortgage when youcan go and live on a boat?
　　AlbertOne of the things that always strikes me is…Jackie:  'One of the things that always strikes meis…' that's a nice phrase. It's a way of saying 'Somethingthat I find interesting or surprising…'
　　AlbertOne of the things that always strikes me is…Jackie:  Let’s listen to Albert again. What aresome of the other things he likes about being on the boat?
　　AlbertThere's a lot going for living on board. I love everythingthat's down here. I love these lovely nights, the lovelysunsets. People pay for this, you know, they ask me sillyquestions like 'Where do you go for your holiday?' and Ilook out here and I look at them and I think: 'Every day isa holiday!
　　Jackie:  Albert loves the nights and the sunsets,and when people ask where he goes on holiday he thinks it'sa silly question. Every day is a holiday! And how right hemust be. In fact, I'm almost feeling tempted⁸ myself.
　　Perhaps when London gets all too much, I'll go and askUncle Albert for some advice on the best model of boat tobuy.
　　BBC Learning English.com

1 learning   

n.学问，学识，学习；动词learn的现在分词

参考例句：

• When you are learning to ride a bicycle,you often fall off.初学骑自行车时，常会从车上掉下来。
• Learning languages isn't just a matter of remembering words.学习语言不仅仅是记些单词的事。

2 nickname   

n.绰号，昵称；v.给...取绰号，叫错名字

参考例句：

• She called me by my nickname.她叫我的外号。
• Why do you fasten such a nickname on her?你为什么给她取这样一个绰号？

3 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。

4 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。

5 mortgage   

n.抵押，抵押贷款；vt.抵押

参考例句：

• He's having a lot of trouble paying his mortgage every month.他付每月的抵押借款利息有很大的困难。
• The bank refused to accept any mortgage on land.银行拒绝接受任何土地抵押。

6 fraction   

n.小部分，碎片；一点，一些；分数

参考例句：

• The car missed me by a fraction of an inch.那车子差一点儿就要撞到我了。
• The cost is only a fraction of his salary.那项费用不过是他薪水的一小部分。

7 housing   

n.房屋，住宅；住房建筑；外壳，外罩

参考例句：

• Do you think our housing sales will turn around during this year?你认为今年我们的住宅销路会好转吗？
• The housing sales have been turning down since the summer.入夏以来，房屋的销售量日趋减少。

8 tempted   

v.怂恿（某人）干不正当的事；冒…的险（tempt的过去分词）

参考例句：

• I was sorely tempted to complain, but I didn't. 我极想发牢骚，但还是没开口。
• I was tempted by the dessert menu. 甜食菜单馋得我垂涎欲滴。