英语口语signs

1、no standing 与free-standing： no standing 意思是不准在此停车，即使司机还在车上也不行。也就是“don't stop”或“no car at all”，通常用在大城市交通十分拥挤的地方。至于“no parking”，意思也是不准在此停车，但司机还可以坐在车里一段时间，必要时，可随时移动车子，也就是“you may stay in your car for a short period of time。” 例如：Walking along the street, I saw a “no standing” sign。 走在路上，我看到一个“不准停车”的路牌。In New York City there are many “no standing” signs (posted) on the streets。 在纽约市，路上有许多“不准停车”的牌子。 “No parking” signs sprang up around the school campus。 校园里出现一些“不准停车”的路牌。 spring up = appeared 也就是说：……Signs were put up around……但是free-standing是形容词，意思是独立式的，多指为特别用途而盖的单独建筑物或指一大建筑特的某种装饰。 例如： There is a new free-standing restaurant near the downtown area。 在市中心区附近有座新的独立餐馆 Mr. A built a free-standing shoe store behind the mall。 A先生在采购中心后面盖了一栋独立鞋店)The free-standing design does not overpower the rest of the buildings surrounding it。(这种独立式的设计，不会影响其他建筑物的外观。)(overpower=distract压倒或扰乱) 2、break the house与housebreak： housebreak 是指训练狗、猫等宠物，使其能在指定的地点大、小便，以保持家里的卫生。 例如：The dog (或cat) has been housebroken。或My dog is housebroken。(多半用被动语态)但也有人用主动语态。 例如： Pet owners should housebreak their dogs and cats。 宠物主人应该训练狗猫的卫生习惯。 或者可以说 Housebreaking is necessary for cats and dogs。 但是“break the house”是指破坏了房子。 例如： Accidentally, he broke the house by backing up his car。 他倒车时，意外碰坏了房子。(broke=damaged) The house was broken by a hurricane。 风破坏了房子。 但用在赌场(casino)时，又指赢了一大笔钱(won lots of money) 3、kick off与 tip off： kick off意思是指任何事情的正式开始，有时也指球赛。 例如： Our school has recently kicked off a mass fundraising campaign。 我们学校最近发动一次大规划的筹款运动。 We will kick off the no-smoking drive。 我们将要发动戒烟运动。 They are going to kick off the football game tomorrow。 他们明天正式开始足球赛。 多半是用主动语态，有时也用被动。 例如： The fund–raising campaign was kicked off by a millionaire。 一位百万富翁发起捐款运动。 但是，tip off 虽然也指开始，不过多半是指篮球开赛前，裁判开球让两边球员跳球。例如：The players tipped off the basketball game at 2:00 yesterday afternoon。 篮球赛于昨天下午两点开始。 注意：to tip(someone)off意思又是通知某人(to inform someone) 例如： I will tip him off about this breaking news。 我要告诉他最新消息。(breaking=latest) 有时也用tip off him about……

Lucy：exerse medo you know this city well?Tom: yesLucy; Could you tell me where the American Embassy is,please?Tom: It's on the other side of town.Lucy: That's no good.Maybe you can help?Tom: I will help you out if I can.Lucy: I got separated from my tour group.Tom: You got separated from your tour group?Lucy: Yes! What am I going to do?Tom: It's not going to be easy to find them.Lucy: I know!Who knows where they are?Tom: Do you remember what place you were visiting?Lucy: We were going to the zoo and the National Museum.Tom: Where was the tour group going?Lucy: I'm not sure where they were heading.Tom: Do you have the tour operater's phone number?Lucy: No,I left it in my room.Tom: Where is your hotel?Lucy: I'm staying at Regency Hotel.