雅思口語交際類話題：住房（2）

　　實(shí)用對話

　　Buying or Renting an Apartment買房還是租房

　　Christine: I heard you are going to get married at the end of this year. Have you bought an apartment?

　　克里斯廷：聽說你們年底就要結(jié)婚了。買房了嗎?

　　Raymond. No. House prices are too high. We can't afford it. We're going to rent one.

　　雷蒙德：沒有。房價(jià)太貴了。我們買不起。我們打算租個房子。

　　Christine: You're right. People will not be able to afford housing if prices keep rising.

　　克里斯廷：是啊。如果房價(jià)一直漲，人們就買不起房子了。

　　Raymond: I hear that house prices have dropped a lot in some cities, which gives us some hope.

　　雷蒙德：我聽說有些城市的房價(jià)降了不少，這也讓我們看到了一些希望。

　　Christine: Yeah. I think housing to some extent should be under control by the related government department.

　　克里斯廷：是啊。我認(rèn)為住房在某種程度上應(yīng)該由相關(guān)的政府部門控制一下。

　　Raymond: Yes. Some people buy houses on speculation.

　　雷蒙德：是的。有些人買房是為了炒房。

　　Christine: Did you ever think of buying a second-hand house then?

　　克里斯廷：那你們有沒有考慮過買一套二手房?

　　Raymond: Yes. It's a little cheaper but it'll cost more in down payments. We can't afford it either.

　　雷蒙德：考慮過。二手房稍便宜點(diǎn)兒，不過需要交的首付更多。我們還是負(fù)擔(dān)不起。

　　Christine: People normally can't afford an apartment at an early age. Many young couples in developed countries also live in rented apartments.

　　克里斯廷：通常人們在年輕的時(shí)候都買不起房子。發(fā)達(dá)國家有好多年輕夫婦也是租房子住。

　　詳細(xì)解說

　　1.“afford”常與“can”、“could”或“be able to”等表示能力的動詞連用，并通常出現(xiàn)于含有否定意義的句子中。“can/could/be able to afford (to do) sth.”表示“買得起…，支付得起…

　　，負(fù)擔(dān)得起…，承擔(dān)得起…”。例如：We can't afford to go on vacation this year.(今年我們沒有足夠的錢去度假。)Few people are able to afford cars like that.(沒有幾個人能買得起

　　那樣的車。)I can't afford to buy a house.(我買不起房子。)We can't afford to wait any longer or we'll miss the plane.(我們可等不起了，不然會誤了飛機(jī)的。)We can't afford to

　　make any mistakes at this stage in the project.(工程到了這個階段，我們可承受不起任何的錯誤。)

　　文化洗禮

　　美國住房的種類

　　常見的美國住房可分為以下幾種：

　　1.A bungalow is a small house with one or two bedrooms and usually one bathroom.

　　平房，較小，有一個或兩個臥室，通常還有一個浴室。

　　2.A mansion is a real big house with many bedrooms and several bathrooms.

　　宅第，面積較大，有許多間臥室和多個浴室。

　　3.A ranch house usually has three or four bedrooms. The "master bedroom" for the mother and father usually has its own bathroom.

　　牧場主住宅，通常有三到四個臥室。供父母住的“主臥”通常帶有自己獨(dú)立的浴室。

　　4.An apartment is usually one living space within a building. Many apartments can be in the same building, with shared yard, parking spaces, and garbage can.

　　公寓房，通常指大樓里的一個居住空間。同一棟樓里可以有很多套公寓房，庭院，停車場地和垃圾箱共用。

　　5.A town house is a two-floor house. The kitchen, living room and dining room are usually on the first floor and the bedrooms are on the second floor.

　　連體別墅，有兩層，廚房、起居室、餐廳通常在一層，臥室在二層。