生活英語對話 Episode 77: Writing an advert

本單元是關于 寫廣告的對話

Alice: Right, how does this sound? Wanted: student or young professional...

Tim: ... male student or young professional.

Alice: Ok. From the top. Wanted: male student or young professional for bright, sunny room in flatshare...

Tim: ... in mixed flatshare ...

Alice: ... for bright, sunny room in mixed flatshare. Must be clean, tidy and easy-going. Close to shops, pubs and buses. Reasonable rent.

Helen: Shouldn't we say something about the cat? He might be allergic.

Alice: Ooh, yeah, good point. Must be clean, tidy, easy-going and must like cats. Ooh, and shall we say something about, you know, the dishwasher, tv, broadband...

Helen: Yeah, put 'all mod cons'.

Alice: Ok, mixed flatshare with all mod cons. Shall I read it back to you?

Tim: Yeah, and then call the small ads department at the Gazette. Or we could go with the Courier..

Vocabulary: 字匯

from the top 從頭再來

repeat from the beginning

mixed 混合

both men and women are living in the same house

close to all amenities 生活便利

amenities are shops and services that people like to have close to their houses - such as schools, banks, doctors, stations etc.

allergy 過敏

an unusual sensitiveness of the body which causes certain people to be affected in a bad way by something usually harmless

all mod cons 現(xiàn)代化設備

'mod cons' means 'modern conveniences' - things like a telephone, washing machine, dishwasher etc.

small ads 小廣告

short advertisements which are found in local and national newspapers, or on notice boards in shops, colleges etc.

go with 決定...怎么做

choose, decide

The Gazette; The Courier 報紙名

These are typical names for newspapers.

本單元的語言點是關于小廣告用語，小廣告通常在地方或全國性報紙上出現(xiàn)，有時候在商店或學校的告示板上張貼。在報紙上刊登小廣告，廣告費用是按字數(shù)多寡來計算的，因此為了節(jié)省費用，通常使用縮寫或簡寫，省略一些不必要的字。本節(jié)語言點主要討論的是關于租房子的小廣告

Small ads vocabulary – accommodation

Background 背景

Small ads are short advertisements which are found in local and national newspapers, and sometimes on notice boards in shops, colleges etc. In newspaper and magazine adverts, each word and/or letter has to be paid for, so to make them cheaper, people often use short forms and abbreviations, and some non-essential words are not used.

This worksheet will focus on the language used to advertise accommodation.

People 人 - 廣告的對象

Advertisers often state what type of person they are looking for. They generally do this by using adjectives, such as clean, quiet, etc. but nouns and compound nouns may be used too.

professional / prof. (adj/n)

somebody who has a job.

Examples:

Rooms available: professionals only.

Prof. male required for shared house.

mature (adj)

this word is used to describe an older, quieter, more responsible person.

Example:

Mature lady wanted for single room.

easy-going (adj)

friendly and relaxed.

Example: Easy-going guy wanted for student house.

n/s (adj/n) non-smoker

Example:

n/s prof. lady wanted for single room.

landlord / landlady (n)

The person who owns the accommodation. A landlord is male, a landlady is female.

tenant (n)

The person who pays rent to live in the accommodation.

lodger (n)

A person who lives with his / her landlord.

mixed (adj)

This means that both men and women are living in the accommodation.

Types of accommodation 住房形態(tài)

flatshare / houseshare (n)

This refers to the situation of sharing a house or flat with people who are not your family.

Example:

Alice says: 'bright, sunny room in mixed flatshare.'

bedsit (n)

A type of accommodation where you live and sleep in the same room. The bathroom and kitchen may be shared with other people who live in the same building.

Example:

Bedsit to let: suit student or young professional.

self-contained (adj)

Self-contained accommodation means that the kitchen, bathroom and other rooms are not shared with anyone else, and the accommodation has its own door which is not used by anyone else.

Example:

Self-contained single flat to let.

studio flat /apartment (n)

A flat or apartment which does not have a separate bedroom and/or kitchen, but it has its own bathroom.

Example:

Clean, quiet studio flat. Reasonable rent.

(fully) furnished / part furnished / unfurnished (adj)

Advertisers often say how much furniture is provided.

fully furnished = all the necessary furniture is provided.

part furnished = some of the necessary furniture is provided: the tenant might have to buy some additional furniture.

unfurnished = no furniture is provided.

single room / double room

A single room is suitable for one person; a double room is suitable for two people.

Example:

Single room avail. end March.

bed

Bedroom.

Example:

3 bed flat avail. Dec. Reasonable rent.

all mod cons

'mod cons' means 'modern conveniences' - things like a telephone, washing machine, dishwasher etc.

Example:

2 bed flat avail. Dec. all mod cons

close to all amenities

amenities are shops and services that people like to have close to their houses - such as schools, banks, doctors, stations etc.

Example:

3 bed house avail. Dec. suit family. 5 mins from schools & amenities.

Money 價錢

reasonable rent:

Advertisers do not always write the exact cost of the accommodation in the advertisement. 'Reasonable' usually means that the rent is not too expensive, or that it is the same as the rent for other similar accommodation in the same area.

negotiable / negot.

This means that the landlord is willing to talk about the rent and agree on a price that is acceptable to both the landlord and the tenant.

pcm

per calendar month. Sometimes rent has to be paid every 4 weeks, but pcm means that the rent is payable on the same date each month, often the 1st.

Example:

Bedsit to let. $500 pcm.

incl.

Inclusive - the rent includes the cost of gas, electricity etc.

Example:

Wanted: young prof. for studio flat. Rent $200 pcm incl.

deposit / dep. (n)

This is an amount of money which the tenant pays to the landlord / landlady when s/he moves in to the accommodation. The landlord / landlady gives the money back to the tenant when s/he moves out.

Example:

3-bed flat avail. end Dec / beg. Jan. $500 pcm + $500 dep.

Other words and abbreviations 其他用字

avail.

Available

end

At the end of

beg.

At the beginning of

to let

Available for rent

suit

Suitable for (a particular type of person)

Example:

To let: 2 bed flat. avail. beg. Jan. Suit n/s prof.