A day in the life of a flat hunter

Erika Weiss had corresponded with Peter Jarvis for nearly three years, but they only met for the first time last month at London airport. Erika had come from Germany to work for a year in her firm's London office. When she first arrived, she went to stay at a hostel, but she wasn't happy there. 

She decided to look for a flat of her own, but as she didn't know her way around London, and couldn't understand the advertisements for flats in the newspapers, she went to see Peter and to ask his advice. 

<PRE>
Erika I must find a flat of my own. I don't like living in the
 hostel, Peter. There's no privacy, the food is horrible
 and I have to be in by eleven o'clock.
Peter How can I help?
Erika I can't understand the advertisements.
Peter Well, let's have a look at one.
Erika This one, for example. Whatever does it mean?
Peter Let me see. "Charm s/c furn gdn flt, dbl bedrm, lge lnge,
 kit, bth, cent htg, &#163;20 pw."
Erika Now please translate it for me.
Peter That's no good for you.
Erika It may not be, but I want to know what it means.
Peter It means, "A charming self-contained furnished garden
 flat with a double bedroom, large lounge, kitchen and
 bathroom, with central heating, at twenty pounds a week.
Erika Yes. I see. That's too big and too expensive for me. How
 am I going to find what I want?
Peter Tomorrow's Saturday and we've both got the day off. I
 suggest we spend the whole day looking for a flat. If we're
 lucky, we might find something for you to move into next
 week. All right?
Erika That sounds lovely. I hope I can find a flat as nice as
 yours.
Peter That won't be easy.
Erika You mean this wasn't the first flat you looked at?
Peter You must be joking! I've only been here for two months.
 You should have seen the terrible flat I had before. And
 it was hard enough to get that. Finding a flat in London
 is very difficult. To start with you've got to buy the
 first edition of one of the London newspapers, and after
 you've read the accomodation advertisements you've got to
 run to the nearest telephone so that you are the first
 person to ring up.
Erika But what if it says, "ring after six."?
Peter Oh, you mustn't take any notice of that. I've missed lots
 of flats by taking that too seriously. You must ring up
 at once and keep your fingers crossed that there's
 someone at home to answer the phone. If the owner answers,
 you mustn't sound too eager.
Erika What do you mean?
Peter You've got to give him, or her, the impression that you
 don't really mind if you get the flat or not. You must
 sound as if you've got dozens of other flats to consider.
Erika But there aren't dozens of other flats.
Peter Of course not. But if you sound too eager the owner will
 think you're having difficulty in finding a flat, and
 then he'll think there's something wrong with you.
Erika I suppose you're right.
Peter Of course I am. It's like a game. You pretend you don't
 really want a flat at all, and the owner pretends he
 doesn't really want to let his flat. He says, "It's
 ten pounds a week you know," as if he doesn't think you
 have enough money, so you say you didn't realize there
 was no private bath and you're not interested after all.
 When you've collected a list of addresses to visit, you
 set off. You get to the street where the first flat is
 and pass the most beautiful houses you've ever seen.
 This is perfect, you think. A flat in a house like
 this for only ten pounds a week! And then, as you
 get nearer to the number you're looking for, you notice
 that the character of the street is changing. The
 houses are dirty, the doors are unpainted, windows
 are broken. And of course the house you're looking for
 is the worst of all. You want to turn round and go home,
 but the owner is already at the door. He takes you
 up to see the flat, and although you can see what's
 there for yourself he points to everything in the
 room. "There's the bed," he says, "and there's the
 table." In the end you tell him that you've got
 another flat to look at and that you'll let him know.
 After seeing a lot of places like this you begin to
 think you'll never find a reasonable flat. I even
 thought about going to a hostel like yours.
Erika Oh, no! If other hostels are like mine you
 wouldn't have liked it at all. This sounds terrible,
 Peter. Are you sure you still want to help me tomorrow?
Peter Yes, of course I do. I just want you to know what it's
 going to be like.
Erika I'm getting a pretty good ideal Tell me how you got the
 terrible flat you had before this one.
Peter I got it through an agency. I paid a small fee to the
 agency and they gave me three addresses. I went to the
 first address and a charming grey-haired lady opened
 the door. She showed me a self-contained flat on the
 ground floor. It was nicely decorated, clean and cheap.
 I told her I'd take it and paid her a month's rent
 in advance.
Erika But I thought you didn't like it. It sounds fine.
Peter Wait a minute.
Erika Sorry. Go on.
Peter I moved in on a Sunday night. I was woken up the next
 morning at half past seven.
Erika What woke you up?
Peter Road drills and bulldozers! There was one little thing
 the landlady hadn't told me: they were going to build a
 motorway right outside my window!</PRE>

<PRE>
flat hunter someone looking for a flat (two or three
 rooms on the same floor)
there's no privacy you cannot be alone
hostel a building in which young people (usually
 students) can live cheaply</PRE> 

<PRE>
I have to be in I must be back in the hostel
self-contained with its own bath room and lavatory
lounge sitting room, living room
the day off the day free, i.e. you do not have to go
 to work
accommodation houses, flats, rooms: somewhere to live
ring up telephone
keep your fingers crossed a superstition; this is meant to
 bring good luck
eager keen, enthusiastic
you don't really mind it's not important to you
dozens many, a lot (twelve to a dozen)
let offer for rent (you often see signs
 saying FLAT TO LET)
set off start a journey
let him know tell him later
reasonable sensible, moderate
a pretty good idea quite a good idea, a fairly good idea
agency here means a firm that collects details
 of flats and passes them on to the flat
 hunters for a commission, usually the
 equivalent of a week's rent
fee payment
rent payment for use of a building usually
 paid by the week or the month
motorway high-speed road with limited access
road drills machines for breaking up the road surface
bulldozers vehicles that move earth in large
 quantities</PRE>

New words and expressions 1.

<PRE>
A. Comprehension questions

 1. Where did Peter and Erika meet for the first time?
 2. What is Erika's nationality?
 3. Why didn't Erika like the hostel?
 4. What is the meaning of "Charm s/c furn gdn fit"?
 5. What does Peter mean when he says that on Saturday they both
 have "the day off?
 6. What's the first thing you do if you want to find a flat?
 7. How did Peter get his first flat?
 8. What did Peter pay the owner before moving in?
 9. What woke Peter up at half past seven?
10. What were they going to build outside Peter's window?</PRE> 

<PRE>
B. Change the following sentences into the simple past:

 1. She doesn't know her way around London.
 2. I can't understand the advertisements.
 3. Whatever does it mean?
 4. That's too expensive for me.
 5. You take things too seriously.
 7. 1 pay her a month's rent in advance.
 8. Is it nicely decorated?

C. Change the following into sentences beginning I, you,
 etc. should have...:

Example:
 You didn't see the flat I had before.
 You should have seen the flat I had before.

 1. He didn't meet her at London airport.
 2. She didn't stay at a hostel.
 3. She wasn't in by eleven o'clock.
 4. I didn't have the day off yesterday.
 5. We didn't look for a flat.
 6. They didn't find a flat.
 7. I didn't ring him up.
 8. I didn't answer the phone.

D. Use the gerund (-ing form) instead of the
 infinitive (base form) in the following sentences:

Example:
 It's difficult to find a flat in London.
 Finding a flat in London is difficult.

 1. It's bad for you to smoke.
 2. It takes a long time to read all the accommodation
 advertisements.
 3. It can be very pleasant to stay at a hostel.
 4. The best way is to get a flat through an agency.
 5. It costs a lot of money to build a motorway.
 6. It's difficult to translate from English into German.
 7. It's easy to get the day off.
 8. It's better to pay in advance.</PRE>

Questions and exercises 12.

<PRE>
A. 1. At London airport.
 2. She's German.
 3. Because there was no privacy, the food was
 horrible, and she had to be in by eleven o'clock.
 4. Charming self-contained furnished garden flat.
 5. He meant that they don't have to go to work.
 6. You buy a newspaper and read the accomodation
 advertisements.
 7. Through an agency.
 8. A month's rent in advance.
 9. Road drills and bulldozers.
 10. A motorway.</PRE> 

<PRE>
B. 1. She didn't know her way around London.
 2. I couldn't understand the advertisements.
 3. Whatever did it mean?
 4. That was too expensive for me.
 5. You took things too seriously.
 6. I paid her a month's rent in advance.
 7. I moved in on Sunday night.
 8. Was it nicely decorated?

C. 1. You should have seen the flat I had before.
 2. She should have stayed at a hostel.
 3. She should have been in by eleven o'clock.
 4. I should have had the day off yesterday.
 5. We should have looked for a flat.
 6. They should have found a flat.
 7. I should have rung him up.
 8. I should have answered the phone.

D. 1. Smoking is bad for you.
 2. Reading all the accomodation advertisements takes
 a long time.
 3. Staying at a hostel can be very pleasant.
 4. Getting a flat through an agency is the best way.
 5. Building a motorway costs a lot of money.
 6. Translating from English into German is difficult.
 7. Getting the day off is easy.
 8. Paying in advance is better.</PRE>

Questions and exercises

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New words and expressions

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