生活英语对话 Episode 7: Paying the rent
本单元是关于付房租的对话
Helen: Oh no, it's that time of the month again - time to pay the rent.
Tim: Comes round fast enough, doesn't it?
Alice: Yeah and I'm so broke just now. I don't know where my money goes.
Tim: You need to tighten 1 your belt Alice. Well, I'm fairly flush this month, want me to lend you some cash?
Alice: Tim, would you?
Tim: Sure, you know me, always willing to help a damsel in distress 2. There's only one small catch......
Vocabulary:
Rent (n, uncountable): amount of money you pay (usually every month) to live in a house or flat that belongs to someone else
A damsel in distress (humorous): a young woman who needs help
There's a catch: There is a condition (usually something difficult or unpleasant). In this case Tim will lend Alice some money but she has to repay him in a way that he chooses
A casino (n): a place where people can gamble (bet money) on the result of games with cards, dice 3 or machines
Greyhound racing 4 (n): a spectator sport where people watch dogs race and bet money on the result
本单元的语言点是关于钱的习语，有时习语很难通过字面单词猜出其意义，看看下面的习语，你能猜出他们是什么意思吗？
Idioms use language metaphorically 6 rather than literally 7. If you paid 'through the nose' for something, it means you paid too high a price for it (the metaphorical 5 meaning) not that you paid for something with money that came out of the middle of your face (the literal meaning).
Idioms are also fixed 8 groups of words so you can't change the wording of an idiom. For example, you can say 'That shop is a real rip off' to describe a shop that overcharges its customers but you can't say 'It's a real tear off'.
Idioms - rich and poor:
I'm so broke/I'm flat broke.
I don't have any money.
I don't have a bean.
I don't have any money.
You need to tighten your belt.
You should try to spend less.
He's flush (with cash).
He's got a lot of money.
She's rolling in it.
She's very rich.
Idioms - expensive and cheap:
We really splashed out on our new car.
We spent a lot of money on our new car.
This dress cost me an arm and a leg.
This dress was very expensive.
This bag was dirt cheap.
This bag wasn't expensive.
I got this new top for a song.
This blouse was very cheap.
I can't believe the price of a cup of coffee here. It's daylight robbery!
This cafe charges very high prices for its coffee.
- Turn the screw to the right to tighten it.向右转动螺钉把它拧紧。
- Some countries tighten monetary policy to avoid inflation.一些国家实行紧缩银根的货币政策，以避免通货膨胀。
- Nothing could alleviate his distress.什么都不能减轻他的痛苦。
- Please don't distress yourself.请你不要忧愁了。
- I was watching the racing on television last night.昨晚我在电视上看赛马。
- The two racing drivers fenced for a chance to gain the lead.两个赛车手伺机竞相领先。
- Here, then, we have a metaphorical substitution on a metonymic axis. 这样，我们在换喻（者翻译为转喻，一种以部分代替整体的修辞方法）上就有了一个隐喻的替代。
- So, in a metaphorical sense, entropy is arrow of time. 所以说，我们可以这样作个比喻：熵像是时间之矢。
- It is context and convention that determine whether a term will be interpreted literally or metaphorically. 对一个词的理解是按字面意思还是隐喻的意思要视乎上下文和习惯。
- Metaphorically it implied a sort of admirable energy. 从比喻来讲，它含有一种令人赞许的能量的意思。