Beginner
A: I like this apartment. Do you think we can afford the mortgage¹?
B: yes. I think so. It’s not a very expensive apartment. It’s in the right area and it has everything that we are looking for. The rooms are quite large too.
A: I love the balcony². We can sit outside and enjoy the sun in summer. We are on the 12th floor, so there’s very nice view from the balcony.
B: the neighbourhood is nice too. There is a park nearby.
A: yes, and there are many houses nearby. I like it that the neighbourhood isn’t full of apartment blocks.
B: it’s a pity we can’t afford a house. A garden would be so nice.
A: yes, it would. Don’t worry. There’s a lawn³ outside the building and there’s the park nearby. This place will be fine.
B: the building is quite new and well constructed. I’m happy with the fittings⁴ too.
A: yes, everything has been well designed.

Intermediate⁵
A: so, tell me about you new house. How is it different to your old one?
B: well, first of all, it’s much bigger. It has the same number of rooms, but each room is larger. We also have a larger garden, which our dog loves, of course!
A: so, it’s a three-bedrooms detached⁶ house?
B: yes. One bedroom is for my wife and i. there’s another for our daughter. My wife wants to use the third one as a guest room, but I’d like to make it into a study. Our daughter is also keen⁷ on making it a study, so that’s probably what will happen.
A: what’s the kitchen like? I know both you and your wife like to cook.
B: that’s one of the main reason we chose that particular house. The kitchen and dining room are together. It’s really large.
A: are the rooms nice and bright?
B: yes, they are. That’s very important to us. We like to live in a home with plenty of natural light. Each room has large windows.
A: do you have a balcony?
B: no, we don’t. we wish we had one. That’s the only thing we wanted, but don’t have. The area is very nice and the neighbours seem friendly.
A: you’re right on the edge⁸ of the city, aren’t you? There can’t be much noise or traffic there. Is it easy to get into city centre?
B: it’s a very quiet neighbourhood. There’s some traffic, but not much. It’s not very difficult to get to the city centre, but you must remember to turn left and right at the right places or you’ll get lost. So when are you going to drop by?

Words
Bungalow 平房
Garden
Yard
Garage
Shed 小屋/货棚
Lawn
Flower bed
Rockery 假山
Ground/first floor
Balcony
Roof
Steps
Drive
Flat/ apartment
Fittings