Accommodation

• Off-campus:
shared house(flat/apartment/unit):
two-bedroom; one-bedroom ; a studio//homestay
• Short-stay:
B&B(bed and breakfast)//Youth hostel//motel// apartment
hotel//holiday inn
 Making a reservation/book
single/double/twin-bedded room
a room with a (garden, ocean, lake, mountain) view
facilities: full-size, outdoor pool, gym with machines, yoga
classes; personal instructor (coach, trainer);
• I am calling (to inquire) about ….
• Is the house you are advertising in today’s paper still
available/there/vacant?
• Would you please tell me the address?
• How big is the house?
• How many bedrooms does it have?
• What do I have to share with other housemates?
• Is it furnished? (unfurnished)
bed, mattress, bookshelf, desk, wardrobe
• Does it have central heating/gas (electrical)stove/internet access/
sheltered parking(off-street parking)?
• How about the heating and cook? What are the arrangements? By gas or
electricity?
• Is it near public transport/shopping center?
• Is it within walking distance to the university?
• how much is the monthly/weekly rent?
• Are bills/utilities/water, gas and electricity included? Exclude…
• When is the rent due? The first of the month?
• Do I need to pay a deposit? Are there any house rules to keep to ?
• When will it be available? Can I come over and take
Typical a look now?
questions about
• Can we sign the lease/contract/agreement now
apartment inquiry?
• Plumbing problems// electrical
problems

• The air-conditioner is broken/ down/

doesn’t work.
• My kitchen sink/toilet/drain is
clogged/blocked!
• My water faucet is dripping /trickling
badly now.
• There is no ventilation in the room?
• The window is cracked.
• The light bulb is fused.
• TV： no picture
• Plumber/ electrician
• to fix it.
• Female: Health officials warn that oral health problems have a major
negative effect on a person’s quality of life. A new report says nearly four-
billion people, that is more than half the world’s population, have major
tooth decay, or cavities. The issue is both social and psychological.

• Male: Retail sales in Japan grew at the fastest pace in 17 years in March as
consumers rushed to make purchases ahead of the sales tax hike in April.
Japan raised its sales tax, also known as consumption tax, to 8% from 5% from
1 April, the first hike in 17 years. The hike comes as Japan has been looking to
rein in public debt, while facing rising social welfare costs linked to an ageing
population.

• Female: A powerful 7.1 magnitude earthquake violently shook the central

part of the Philippines Tuesday morning. Dozens of people were killed when
buildings fell and dozens of others were missing. A worker with the charity
said people were staying in the streets in hours after the quake because some
of the buildings that were still standing were very unsafe to be around.
 common signs that you need to see a dentist
• to maintain oral health
• To have a tooth pain/ toothache
• To have a bad tooth/a tooth decay
• Inflamed gums: sensitive to hot & cold
• Cavity/hole
• Have gaps between my front teeth
• To remove the tooth stains with scaling and polishing
• To have my tooth chipped/ slipped off the stairs
• to fill it/to pull it/ to use composite materials/ to put a crown over it/
veneers贴面
• To use anesthesia
• I can bear the pain.
• don’t eat sweets/ she has a sweet tooth
• brush your teeth 3 times a day
• Each sitting costs 50dollars
 Online shopping
Benefits/positives Drawbacks/negatives
• 24/7 shopping
• A big variety/range of selections • Fake/fraud products
• Good value/prices • Wrong size/material:
• Door-to-door service/delivery – wool, cotton, plastic, leather,
nylon
• Saving gas/ time
• risks/concerns ( viruses online)
• Product reviews：
– banking account security
– other customers’ feedback
might be stolen/anti-virus software

• Lack of exercises : bad

for health
Natural disaster
tsunami//tornado//typhoon // hurricane//
storm//volcano// flooding/ drought// earthquake//
heavy rain//aftershock// bushfire/ blaze
epicenter//seismic activity //magnitude// on a Richter
scale
to collapse// to fall// out of pow er//to sw ay
mudslide// landslide//flashflood//
to die//to injure//to be w ounded// to be hurt
to miss
to evacuate // to rescue// to flee (fled) // to seek shelter
• Male: Delegates from nearly 200 countries have spent the
past two weeks in Warsaw, Poland. More than 9,000
representatives gathered for a United Nations conference
on climate change. Organizers called the meeting to work
toward a treaty to fight rising temperatures on our
planet. The treaty would be signed in 2015 and take effect
after 2020.

• Female: NASA has confirmed that the Voyager-1

spacecraft has become the first man-made object to leave
the solar system. The probe was launched 36 years ago,
but scientists believe it left our solar system last August;
it's now nearly 19 billion kilometers from Earth in what's
known as interstellar space, a cold, dark part of the Milky
Way.
UN summit(conference)

on the agenda
delegate//representative
a round of talk// negotiation （negotiator）
to fight hunger & poverty
refugee// to take refuge w ith
to fight global w arming: rising temperature,
carbon emission/footprint, rising sea levels

capital//countryside//rural/ /urban//
 Is there alien/other/intelligent/ extraterrestrial life
in the universe?

Most life forms in outer space are probably microbial, but a handful of them
may be advanced enough to actually reach us.
Now, from their perspective, we humans are the microbial life and we would
simply not be that interesting to them. I think this is one reason aliens don’t
come here and say, “Take me to your leader, Earth man.” An extremely
advanced civilization visiting humans would almost be like humans going
down to an ant hill and telling them: "I bring you computers, I bring you
nuclear power, I bring you knowledge…" Most of the time we simply step on
them instead.

Stephen Hawking: “ I imagine they might have used up all the resources from
their home planet. Such advanced aliens would perhaps become nomads,
looking to conquer and colonize whatever planets they can reach. All of our
efforts to search and contact aliens could ultimately end in our own
destruction.”