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　　Helen: So thats Tims room, the bathrooms over there, and your bedroom is here. Its got a desk and chair and all that, so you shouldnt need any more furniture. Khalid: Ok, that looks ok...emp3, what do you guys do about housework? Alice: Everybody kind of chips in, dont they Tim? Tim: Yes, Alice, we all do our bit. Alice: We keep all the cleaning stuff in this cupboard here. Khalid: Ok, I see. Helen: So, what do you think? Khalid: Its a very nice room, and you guys are great and everything, but I have to say, I think its a little bit pricey...I wonder if it would be possible to reduce the rent a little bit? Helen: Well, Im afraid it isnt up to me Khalid, Ill have to ask my dad about that.

　　Vocabulary: 字汇

　　everybody chips in 大伙一起做 everybody helps or contributes to doing a task

　　we all do our bit 每个人都尽本分 we all contribute fairly to doing a task

　　pricey 昂贵 expensive

　　Im afraid I regret to say/ Im sorry to say (a polite expression used when saying )

　　It isnt up to me Its not my choice. I cant/dont decide this

　　本单元的语言点是描述相似的事物， 有时我们不想把事情描写的很具体或很难做到，我们用些特别的语言来表达，请看下面的解释和例句。

　　Vague language

　　Background: 背景 We use vague language when we do not want to be (or cannot be) exact, accurate and precise.

　　Talking about similarities:描述相似的事物 There are some phrases that are useful when we want to say that something is similar to something else, but it is not exactly the same. We often use these phrases because we cant find the exact word that we need.

　　kind of and sort of: We can use these phrases before nouns and adjectives:

　　A paramedic is a kind of doctor, or perhaps it is a sort of nurse. Im not sure, but they help injured people. Im kind of happy that school has finished, but Ill miss my friends.

　　We can also use kind of and sort of before like or similar to:

　　Australian Rules Football is kind of like soccer and rugby combined. New w Zealand is sort of similar to Britain.

　　-ish: We can add ish to adjectives and numbers to mean approximately.

　　How old is he? Im not sure, perhaps fortyish. And hes got blueish eyes, or are they greenish? Im not so sure.

　　Whats the word?记不得的东西 All of the following words can be used to represent a noun when we do not know the real word or when we cant remember it.

　　You need one of those... oh, you know, you need a whatsit to open that bottle. You mean a corkscrew? Thatt it!

　　Thingummy can be used to mean someones name. Have you seen, emp3, thingummy, you know, the guy with glasses?

　　Stuff and thing:东西 物品

　　Thing refers to single countable objects (e.g. a car, a mouse) Things refers to plural countable objects (e.g. clothes, spiders, pens) Stuff refers to uncountable objects (e.g. oil, infomp3ation) or a collection of countable objects (like things) e.g. a lot of clothes, shopping items.

　　We often use these words when both the speaker and the listener know which objects are being discussed, or when we dont know the exact word, or even when there isnt an exact word.

　　Where do you keep all the cleaning stuff? the cleaning stuff means all the different things that are used to clean a house: mops, brushes, creams and polishes

　　I cant clean your bedroom floor, theres loads of stuff/things all over it. loads of stuff/things probably means toys, socks, papers etc.

　　I need a thing to stop my washing machine from leaking, you know, a round rubber thing that goes on the main pipe.

　　Approximately 大约

　　All of the following phrases have a similar meaning to approximately but they are less fomp3al.

　　about: Itll take you about 20 minutes to drive there. roughly: There were roughly 50 people at the lecture. more or less: Theres twenty minutes till the end of the game, more or less.

　　Further stuff: 更多的东西

　　When there are more examples that you can give, but you dont need to, you can use etcetera and and all that sort of thing. It is possible to shorten and all that sort of thing to and all that.

　　We had a great time in Egypt. We saw the Nile, Cairo, the pyramids etcetera. In my office job, I have to do the filing, manage the scheduling, answer the phones and all that sort of thing. Davids a great team captain. Hes decisive, detemp3ined and all that.