Cultural Notes：

Inside View

1.  A mess is asituation in which a place is dirty or untidy; if you make a mess or the roomis in a mess you need to tidy it up / clean it up.

2. Pretty can mean either“fairly”or “very”. Which meaning is intended needs to be determined from the context and will often be shown by the speaker’stone of voice: If prettyis emphasized, it is more likely to mean “very”. In Conversation 1, it is more likely to mean “fairly”.

3. A sociable person is friendly and enjoys being with other people. They socialize – spend time with other people in a friendly way and mix with others.

4. Honey is a term of affection used to show that you care about someone. Other examples of spoken terms of endearment include darling, sweetheart, sweetie, angel or just dear.

5.Generally, to go on means to continue happening or doing something as before. Here, it means to say more about it or to give more details. Notice that if someone goes on and on about something this is negative because it means that they are talking too much and others are getting bored or annoyed.

6. English pubs are sociable places which serve alcoholic drinks, and non-alcoholic drinks too. Generally pubs also serve food. This can vary from sandwiches or light snacks to cooked meals chosen from a full menu. Many pubs have become known for particular kinds of local food, such as pies. In pubs, customers may also play games like card games, dominoes, darts or skittles, and pubs often have evenings with general knowledge quizzes with prizes for competing teams (“pubquizzes”).

7. Oxford is a large university and is divided into different colleges. Students choose a particular college within the university at which to study. Students live in their college and it is also where they are supervised by a personal tutor.

8. In American English, college is the usual word for university and a place that gives students degrees.  

9. School in American English is an informal word for university. It is also used in both British and American English to describe a department of a university or a college that teaches a particular subject, eg. art school, medical school, law school etc.

Cultural Notes：

Outside View

1. Work-life balance refers to the proportion of hours spent working to the hours spent with the family or relaxing in leisure activities.

2. In agroup or society, a role is a position which has certain obligations and expectations. A role model is an influential person in our life who shows us how to behave in a particular role. Role reversal occurs when someone adopts an opposite role to what society expects, for example, when a man gives up a career and stays at home to look after children, becoming astay-at-home dad.

3. Childcare means looking after babies or young children, usually in the child's home. This is done either by parents or relatives who bring up or raise children or another adult who may be paid for this work, as a babysitter, for a few hours, or as a childcarer for several hours every day.

4. The Westinghouse Electric Corporation was founded in 1886 by George Westinghouse (1846–1914), an American entrepreneur and engineer, who was a rival to Thomas Edison and General Electric. The Westinghouse Electric Corporation was influential in developing the electric power industry worldwide and in manufacturing electrical equipment for thehome. It was renamed as CBS Corporation in 1997 but the Westinghouse brand remains on many household goods.

5. To hang out means to spend time in a particular place or with particular people. It is an informal expression.

6. To head somewhere means to move in a particular direction, for example, They headed towards the shops; to head back is to start the return journey or to head for home.

Cultural Notes:

Listening in

To get is informal for to understand someone or something, for example, Do you get it? Do you get the message? Get this is a signal that the speaker is about to say something interesting, surprising or newsworthy, which you need to understand or receive.