Lesson 23 A new house新居
Why is the new house special?
I had a letter from my sister yesterday. She lives in Nigeria. In her letter, she said that she would come to England next year. If she comes, she will get a surprise. We are now living in a beautiful new house in the country. Work on it had begun before my sister left. The house was completed five months ago. In my letter, I told her that she could stay with us. The house has many large rooms and there is a lovely garden. It is a very modern house, so it looks strange to some people. It must be the only modern house in the district.
参考译文
昨天我收到了姐姐的一封信，她住在尼日利亚。在信中她说她明年将到英国来。如果她来了，她会感到非常惊奇了。我们现在住在乡间的一栋漂亮的新住宅里。这栋房子在我姐姐离开之前就已动工了，是在5个月以前竣工的。我在信中告诉她，她可以和我们住在一起。这栋房子里有许多房间，还有一个漂亮的花园。它是一栋非常现代化的住宅，因此在有些人看来很古怪。它肯定是这个地区唯一的一栋现代化住宅。
【New words and expressions】（4）
complete adj./n.
adj. （很少有比较级、最高级的变化）
1) 全部的，完备的
the complete works of Hemingway 海明威全集
a large house complete with swimming pool 一所设备齐全带有游泳池的大房子
2) 彻底的，完全的
a complete victory 完胜
a complete failure 彻底的失败
be complete完成/ be finished
eg. My work will be complete next week. 我的工作将于下周完成。
vt. 完成，做完，完结
eg. The bridge isn’t completed yet. 这座桥还没有竣工。
completely adv. 完全地，全部地
eg. I was completely at a loss what to do. 我完全不知道怎么办才好。
at a loss： not knowing what to do or say不知如何是好; 茫然; 困惑
强调的副词：
quite 十分
absolutely / completely 完全地
much 非常
rather 相当地
considerably 颇
slightly 稍微
a bit, a little 有一点儿
modern adj.
1) 现代的，近代的
modern times 现代
a modern discovery 最近的发现
2) 现代的，时髦的
eg. I’m afraid your ideas are not modern. 恐怕你的主意已经过时了。modern school （英国不升大学的）中等学校
modernization n. 现代化
modern (a.) → modernize (v.) 使…现代化→ modernization (n.) 现代化the four modernizations 四个现代化
类似的变化：
real → realize → realization
globe → global → globalize → globalization
strange adj. 奇怪的，陌生的，生疏的，外行的，不习惯的
eg. I am quite strange here. 我对这里相当不熟悉。
be strange at football 对足球是个外行
eg. He was still strange to the work. 他对工作还很生疏。
eg. The idiom is strange to an English ear. 这句成语英国人听起来很别扭。stranger n. 陌生人，异乡人，外行
eg. Do they admit strangers to the tennis court? 他们承认对网球是外行吗？make a stranger of sb 冷淡地对待某人
make no stranger of sb 热情地对待某人
eg. He makes no stranger of me. 他不把我当外人。
the little stranger 新生婴儿
eg. He is no stranger to me. 他对我来说并不陌生。
an utter stranger to shame 一个恬不知耻的人
eg. He is a stranger to fear. 他不知道什么叫害怕。
district n. 区，地区，（美）选举区
