Upper-Intermediate - Designing the New Apartment 4 (D1405)

A: 老板,你看一下,装修费一共是五万八,材料费是三万二,零头我都已经去掉了。
lǎobǎn, nǐ kàn yīxià, zhuāngxiūfèi yīgòng shì wǔwàn bā, cáiliàofèi shì sānwàn èr, língtóu wǒ dōu yǐjīng qùdiào le.
Sir, take a look. The renovation fee is 58,000 total. The materials fee is 32,000. I've already rounded off the remaining bit.
B: 哎,李师傅,你先别急着跟我们算钱啊,我们还没有验收好呢。
āi, Lǐ shīfu, nǐ xiān bié jí zhe gēn wǒmen suàn qián a, wǒmen hái méiyǒu yànshōu hǎo ne.
Hey, Mr. Li, don't be in such a hurry to add up all the money just yet. We still haven't finished the final check yet.
A: 当然,当然,先验收,后结账。那你们慢慢看,我明天再来,先走了。
dāngrán, dāngrán, xiān yànshōu, hòu jiézhàng. nà nǐmen mànmān kàn, wǒ míngtiān zài lái, xiān zǒu le.
Of course, of course. First do the final check and then we'll settle accounts. You guys take your time and have a look. I'll come again tomorrow. I'm going to get going.
C: 那李师傅再见。
nà Lǐ shīfu zàijiàn.
See you later, Mr. Li.
B: 嗯,看下来,基本上没什么大问题,是吧,老婆?
ng4, kànxiàlai, jīběn shang méi shénme dà wèntí, shì ba, lǎopó?
Yeah. Looking it over, there don't seem to be any major problems, right sweetie?
C: 老公,你有没有跟装修队说,我们要在每个房间都装网络端口的?
lǎogōng, nǐ yǒumeiyǒu gēn zhuāngxiūduì shuō, wǒmen yào zài měi ge fángjiān dōu zhuāng wǎngluò duānkǒu de?
Honey, did you tell the renovation crew that we wanted an internet jack in every room?
B: 哎呀!
āiyā!
Oh no!
C: 你瞧瞧,吩咐你的事老是忘记。
nǐ qiáoqiao, fēnfù nǐ de shì lǎoshi wàngjì.
See, whatever I ask you to do you always forget.
B: 老婆,都怪我不好,事情一多就容易忘。
lǎopó, dōu guài wǒ bù hǎo, shìqing yī duō jiù róngyì wàng.
Honey, it's all my fault. When there's lots to do it just gets easy to forget.
C: 现在上网只能到书房了,而且就一个端口。你看隔壁那个老外家里,人家每个房间都有端口,连阳台上都有。
xiànzài shàngwǎng zhǐnéng dào shūfáng le, érqiě jiù yī ge duānkǒu. nǐ kàn gébì nà ge lǎowài jiālǐ, rénjiā měi ge fángjiān dōu yǒu duānkǒu, lián yángtái shang dōu yǒu.
Right now we can only get online in the study. And there's only one internet jack. At that foreigner's house next door, there's a jack in every room. Even the balcony has one.
B: 你是说隔壁那个高个子老外?
nǐ shì shuō gébì nà ge gāogèzi lǎowài?
Are you talking about that tall foreigner next door?
C: 是啊,你看人家想得多周到。
shì a, nǐ kàn rénjiā xiǎng de duō zhōudào.
Yeah. See, they thought everything through.
B: 哎呀,现在布暗线已经不可能了,都装修好了,要不拉明线?
āiyā, xiànzài bù ànxiàn yǐjīng bù kěnéng le, dōu zhuāngxiū hǎo le, yàobu lā míngxiàn?
Oh gee, it won't be possible to install the cords internally now. Everything has already been renovated. How about we run the cords on the outside?
C: 那多难看!
nà duō nánkàn!
That will look terrible!
B: 哦,我们可以装个无线路由器嘛,我明天请教一下我们公司的网管,他知道怎么弄。
ò, wǒmen kěyǐ zhuāng ge wúxiàn lùyóuqì ma, wǒ míngtiān qǐngjiào yīxià wǒmen gōngsī de wǎngguǎn, tā zhīdào zěnme nòng.
OK, we can install a wireless router. I'll ask my company's tech guy for help tomorrow. He knows how to do it.
C: 只能这样了。
zhǐnéng zhèyàng le.
That's the only thing we can do.
B: 老婆,你来看,淋浴房的花洒位置好像有点偏。
lǎopó, nǐ lái kàn, línyùfáng de huāsǎ wèizhi hǎoxiàng yǒudiǎnr piān.
Honey, look here. It looks like the shower head is a little off-center.
C: 嗯,明天让李师傅来调一下。
ng4, míngtiān ràng Lǐ shīfu lái tiáo yīxià.
Yeah. Have Mr. Li inspect it tomorrow.
B: 行,我找个本子记下来。
xíng, wǒ zhǎo ge běnzi jì xiàlai.
OK. I'll look for a notebook and write it down.
C: 这里好像有点掉漆了。
zhèlǐ hǎoxiàng yǒudiǎnr diàoqī le.
It looks like the paint is coming off a bit here.
B: 嗯,让他们来补一下。记下来,记下来。
ng4, ràng tāmen lái bǔ yīxià. jì xiàlai, jì xiàlai.
Yeah, have them fix that. Write it down, write it down.
C: 这样多好,记下来就不会忘了。
zhèyàng duō hǎo, jì xiàlai jiù bù huì wàng le.
This is a lot better. If we write it down, then we won't forget it.
B: 是啊,好记性不如烂笔头嘛。
shì a, hǎo jìxìng bùrú làn bǐtóu ma.
Yeah. A good memory isn't as good as a bad pen.

Key Vocabulary

装修费 zhuāngxiū fèi renovation fee
材料费 cáiliào fèi materials fee
零头 língtóu odd amount
验收 yànshōu to check and accept
看下来 kàn xiàlai after seeing
基本上 jīběn shang for the most part
装修队 zhuāngxiūduì renovation crew
端口 duānkǒu socket
吩咐 fēnfù to instruct, to tell to do
周到 zhōudào thoughtful, attentive
暗线 ànxiàn hidden wiring
明线 míngxiàn visible wiring
无线路由器 wúxiàn lùyóuqì wireless router
网管 wǎngguǎn network administrator
淋浴房 línyùfáng shower room
花洒 huāsǎ shower head
piān off-center, to move to one side
tiáo to adjust
掉漆 diàoqī chipping paint
好记性不如烂笔头 hǎo jìxìng bùrú làn bǐtóu a good memory is not as good as a bad pen

Supplementary Vocabulary

检验 jiǎnyàn to inspect
收货 shōuhuò to receive ordered goods
淋浴头 línyùtóu shower head
细致 xìzhì meticulous
偏左 piānzuǒ to slant to the left
偏右 piānyòu to slant to the right
油漆 yóuqī paint

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