Narrator: So, you're finally settling down. You've saved up a little
nest egg and are ready to dive into the real estate market. Let's do
a little shopping around.
The American dream
home, two bedrooms, two bathrooms, one doghouse, one garage, two garbage cans.
It's cozy, safe, and just barely within your
overstretched budget.
Not for you? For the same price, you can buy 200, 000 acres of prime Sahara
wasteland. Put up a cottage. Nothing, but you and the sky. It's like a beach
without the ocean. And talk about quiet neighbors.
Too remote? Oh, I understand. You need the thrill and excitement of
the big city. With that same nest egg, you can get a slice of prime real estate.
Not this real estate. Cozy and affordable, this lovely fixer-upper is the
perfect place for a dynamic couple like you. No need to putter around the house. It's all right there where you stand.
What's the matter? Feeling a little cramped? Well, just a
stone's throw away, just one bridge or a tunnel ride, just outside the big,
bustling city, there is a place with wide-open spaces, friendly natives, and
spacious dwellings. And it's all within your price
range. It's almost too good to be
true.
妙詞佳句，活學(xué)活用
1. nest egg 這是比較常用的表達(dá)存款的意思。這種存款不是平常的那種把錢(qián)放到銀行攢著。通常情況下，一提到nest
egg指的都是攢一部分錢(qián)來(lái)做些事情，比如說(shuō)投資股票、買(mǎi)車(chē)、買(mǎi)房等等。舉個(gè)例子來(lái)講，"我攢這些錢(qián)是為了將來(lái)出國(guó)用的"就可以是：I'm building the
nest egg for going abroad in the days ahead.
2. within...budget, with someone's price
range 上面的兩個(gè)短語(yǔ)是同一個(gè)意思，并且在生活中可以替換使用，意思是在……的承受范圍之內(nèi)，換句話(huà)說(shuō)就是某人買(mǎi)得起某物。打個(gè)比方："這件衣服雖然貴，但是我還是買(mǎi)得起的"就可以說(shuō)“This
dress is expensive, but it's within my price
range.” 這里還要強(qiáng)調(diào)一點(diǎn)，在范圍之內(nèi)是within，范圍之外就可以替換成beyond。
3. putter around 這是一個(gè)非常休閑的表達(dá)方式，意思是“漫步”。比如說(shuō)"我漫步在城市夜晚的街頭"就可以是：I putter
around on the street of the city after sunset.
要注意的是，當(dāng)用到這個(gè)短語(yǔ)時(shí)候，一定是要指很休閑、很享受的狀態(tài)才好！
4. too good to be
true 一定記住，這可是金牌句子，非常的實(shí)用。直譯的話(huà)就"是太好了，以至于不像是真的"，但這樣的話(huà)就太繞了，其實(shí)它的意思就是：It's
incredible. It's unbelievable!（太不可思議了，太難以置信了。）舉個(gè)例子吧， 一不小心，你得到了Harvard
的全獎(jiǎng)，把消息告訴給你的朋友，他們就可以說(shuō)：Wow, wow, wow, it's too good to be true!
文化面面觀
New York City
Unlike most American cities, which make up only a part of a particular
county, New York is made up of five separate counties, which are called
boroughs. Originally the city included only the borough of Manhattan, located on
an island between the Hudson and East rivers. In 1898 a number of surrounding
communities were incorporated into the city as the boroughs of Queens, Brooklyn,
the Bronx and Staten Island. The Bronx is the only borough of New York City on
the mainland of the United States. Manhattan and Staten Island are surrounded by
water, while Queens and Brooklyn are part of Long Island.
Queens is the largest of the five boroughs. Brooklyn is the second largest
and most populous of the five boroughs. It is the home of such major cultural
institutions as the Brooklyn Museum, the Brooklyn Academy of Music, and the
Brooklyn Botanic Garden. Coney Island is well known for its beaches and
amusement parks. Staten Island is the third largest and least populous of the
five boroughs. The Bronx is the fourth largest and the northernmost of the five
boroughs.
Manhattan, or New York County, is the smallest of the five boroughs of New
York City. The borough consists principally of the island of Manhattan, but also
includes Governors Island, Randalls Island, Wards Island, Roosevelt Island, U
Thant Island, and Marble Hill, a small enclave on the edge of the Bronx
mainland. Manhattan is the glittering heart of the metropolis. It is the site of
virtually all of the hundreds of skyscrapers that are the symbol of the city.
Among the more famous of these are the Empire State Building (1931), the
Chrysler Building (1930), and Citicorp Center (1977). (The 110-story twin towers
of the World Trade Center were also among New York's famous skyscrapers until
they were destroyed in a terrorist attack in 2001.)
北京新東方學(xué)校優(yōu)秀英語(yǔ)教師，主教聽(tīng)說(shuō)速成，聽(tīng)說(shuō)讀寫(xiě)，電影聽(tīng)說(shuō)強(qiáng)化等課程，有多年的英語(yǔ)聽(tīng)說(shuō)教學(xué)經(jīng)驗(yàn)。陳銳老師主修英文專(zhuān)業(yè)，深刻了解英語(yǔ)學(xué)習(xí)的困難所在；并有豐富的口譯經(jīng)驗(yàn)及體會(huì)。通過(guò)多年的經(jīng)驗(yàn)積累，陳銳老師總結(jié)出一套適合中國(guó)學(xué)生自己的漢英學(xué)習(xí)法，更好的結(jié)合漢語(yǔ)來(lái)攻克英文。
Narrator: So, you're finally settling down. You've saved up a little
nest egg and are ready to dive into the real estate market. Let's do
a little shopping around.