中阶生活|第38集：每个英国人都有自己的城堡？

音频一：

M: I met a woman once, an Italian. She'd been working in Manchester for two years, and no one-not one of her colleagues-had ever invited her to their home. They were friendly to her at work, but nothing else. She couldn't believe it. She said that would never happen in Italy.

音频二：

W: You know what they say- "an Englishman's home is his castle". It's really difficult to get inside.

M: Yeah. It's about being private. You go home to your house and your garden and you close the door. It's your place.

W: That's why the British don't like flats. They prefer to live in houses.

重点词汇：

1, Manchester /ˈmæntʃɪstə/ n.曼彻斯特

Manchester United 曼彻斯特联队

2, Italy / 'itəli / n.意大利

Italian /ɪˈtæljən/ adj.意大利的; 意大利人的

3, private / 'praɪvɪt / adj.私有的，个人的；私营的

反义词：public

4, flat / flæt / n.一套公寓房 adj.平坦的 adv.平坦地

同义替换：apartment【美】

5, colleague /'kɒliːɡ/ n. 同事

同义替换：co-worker

6, castle 英/'kɑːsəl/ 美/'kæsl/ n. 城堡

易混词：cancel /'kænsl/ v.取消

跟读训练：

一、

I met a woman once, an Italian.

我有一次遇到一位女士，意大利人。

She'd been working in Manchester for two years, and no one-not one of her colleagues-had ever invited her to their home.

她在曼彻斯特工作了两年，没有人--一个同事都没有--曾经邀请她去他们家做客过。

They were friendly to her at work, but nothing else.

他们在工作中对她很友好，但是没有别的。

She couldn't believe it. She said that would never happen in Italy.

她简直不能相信。她说在意大利这从来不会发生。

二、

You know what they say— "an Englishman's home is his castle". It's really difficult to get inside.

他们都说：“一位英国人的家就是他的城堡。”确实很难进去。

Yeah. It's about being private.

是的，这有关隐私。

You go home to your house and your garden and you close the door. It's your place.

你回家，到你的房子里，到你的花园里，关上门。就是你的地盘了。

That's why the British don't like flats. They prefer to live in houses.

这就是为什么英国人不喜欢公寓。他们更喜欢住在大房子里。

一般来说，英国人留给大家的印象是：reserved内敛 gentle绅士polite礼貌 well-behaved 得体，但是，今天案例是，一位意大利女士在曼彻斯特工作数年，从未被邀请过去到别人家里not one of her colleagues-had ever invited her to their home. 因为英国人认为，自己的家就是城堡an Englishman's home is his castle.

背景拓展：

英国人的居住方式很典型，不管是中产阶级middle class还是劳工阶级working class，都追求住一个独立的房子house，房子后边有一小块绿地，可以种花种草，所以你会在听力中听到，gardening 园艺，是很多英美人士感兴趣的事情。另外，flat和apartment均可表示公寓，我在英国读书的时候，租住的就是公寓。其实，在英国时，发现能够买房的年轻人也是凤毛麟角，很多研究生同窗，连学费都是贷款或者打工赚的，所以，租房，非常常见。