生活英语对话 Episode 78: Not much luck

本单元是关于运气不佳的对话

Helen: ... no, no, that's ok, thanks for calling ... I hope you'll find somewhere soon - bye!
Tim: Was that another call about the room?
Helen: Yeah, but he works right over the other end of town. He said the commute 1 would be too much.
Alice: Mmm, the last one said that too, didn't he?
Helen: I know. We're not having much luck here.
Tim: What about the guy who came round yesterday?
Helen/Alice: No!!!
Helen: Eeeww, he was really creepy.
Alice: I know ... the one before that was alright though ... clean-cut.
Helen: He was very respectable, but a bit posh, I thought ...
Tim: So, what happened to him then?
Helen: He said it was too expensive. Do you think we should put the advert 2 in the paper for another week?


Vocabulary 字汇

commute 通勤
to travel regularly over some distance, for example, suburb into a city and back, often for work

respectable 值得尊敬的
behaves in a proper and socially acceptable way

clean-cut 整齐的
neat, tidy, clean and smart in appearance

creepy 令人感到不舒服的
unpleasant, annoying, weird 3, a little bit scary, makes you feel uncomfortable

本单元语言点是描写人，请看下面的解释和例句

Describing people 3

Character adjectives - usually positive 描述人的形容词 正面意义

charming
strong personal attractiveness, with very pleasing behaviour and speech; delightful

Everything about him was attractive, but his smile was especially charming.

clean-cut
neat, tidy, clean and smart in appearance

He's very clean-cut. His clothes are always clean and neatly 4 ironed, he shaves every morning and his hair is always combed.

cultured
well-educated in and having a high appreciation 5 of fine art, music, literature etc.

She's very cultured - she goes to the opera at least once a month and she knows all of Shakespeare's plays.

considerate
behaving in a way that shows caring for other people's feelings, circumstances, etc.

When he comes home late at night, he's always very considerate of the sleeping neighbours and doesn't make any noise.

open-minded
being receptive to new ideas, experiences or arguments

If you want to enjoy foreign travel, it's best to be open-minded.

respectable
behaving in a proper and socially acceptable way

Everybody thought that he was a respectable family man, but secretly he was a gambler and a drunk.

tolerant
accepting of the beliefs, practices, or behaviour of other people, even if it is new, challenging or different
She is very tolerant with the children. She doesn't get angry with them, even though they are a little bit naughty sometimes.


Character adjectives - usually negative 描述人的形容词 负面意义

creepy
unpleasant, annoying, weird, a little bit scary, makes you feel uncomfortable

Do you know that creepy guy who works in our office - He's always staring at me, and sometimes when I turn round, he's standing 6 right next to me, but I never hear anything, he's just suddenly there!

hypocritical
pretending to have beliefs or principles that you do not actually possess, or acting 7 against the beliefs which you say you have

My brother told me to stop smoking, but he smokes 20 a day himself - how hypocritical!

insincere
not honest or genuine in the expression of feelings

He wasn't a real gentleman. His false charm and cold smile made him seem very insincere.

malicious 8
often doing bad things in order to hurt people

It's just his determination and wanting to win and sometimes he gets a bit over-excited, but he isn't at all malicious.

materialistic 9
much more concerned with material things than with spiritual, intellectual, or cultural values

Those girls are greedy and materialistic: they measure their success in terms of how many pairs of shoes and designer handbags they have.

mercenary
motivated by a desire for money

He's so mercenary - he doesn't care what he has to do at work, as long as the pay is good.

ruthless
without pity or mercy

He was so ruthless in his criticism of their performance that most of them started to cry.

snobbish 10
a person who admires people of high rank or social class, and dislikes people in a lower class than him/herself

He's so snobbish. He was very friendly towards Jane until he found out her dad was a taxi driver. Now he hardly speaks to her.

spiteful
wanting to do something bad to someone, usually because of a belief that they have done something bad to you

She's so spiteful. When she saw that I had got the last piece of cake, she pushed me, to make me drop it.

stubborn
resistant to change, especially of opinions and ideas, even if others are negatively affected

Izzy is so stubborn. Everybody could see she was tired, but she wouldn't let anybody else help her.