Replace or Repair (1)

When is it time to replace an old appliance with something new?

Allison and Stacy are walking through the supermarket together.

Allison: Stacy, do you know anyone who fixes refrigerators?

Stacy: No. Why? Is yours having problems?

Allison: Yes. It's not keeping food cold enough.

Stacy: And Mr. Chen, the repairman, has retired.

Allison: That's too bad. Appliances can be so troublesome. How old is your fridge?

Stacy: I guess I've had it for more than 10 years.

Allison: Well, keep in mind that machines wear out. Maybe you should think about buying a new one.

Stacy: But new refrigerators can be so expensive! I'm sure mine can last a few more years.

Allison: Don't rule out replacing it before considering the cost of repairing it. If you need to spend more than 50 percent of the cost for a new one, than you really should replace it.

Stacy: Maybe. But it's most likely just a slight problem. If I can find a reliable repairman, it shouldn't cost too much to fix.

Allison: I've got an idea. Why don't we just browse in some appliance stores? That will give you a better idea of what a new fridge would cost.

Info Cloud
Teaching Topic: The Origin of Fridge 教學主題: Fridge的來源
The word fridge is short for refrigerator, but how did it get from refrigerator to fridge?

Some people say it’s simply a clipped word. That is, a word that has been reduced, shorten or clipped down to a component part.

Just as the word influenza got reduced to the more manageable word flu, refrigerator had its beginning and end clipped off to become fridge.

But that still doesn’t answer the question, "How did the d get in there?"

Right, well if you look closely at both words, you find that refrigerator has no d in it, while fridge does have an added d.

So some speculate that fridge actually came from Frigidaire, a well-known manufacturer of refrigerators.

This would be what’s called a genericized trademark. Kind of like calling a photo copier, a Xerox machine or calling a facial tissue, a Kleenex.

But this still doesn’t explain the d in fridge, because the d in the name Frigidaire is not where it would be if it were abbreviated.

So this leads us just one simple explanation. The d was added as a pronunciation aid. If we took out the d in fridge, the resulting word would easily be mispronounced [frig]. The addition of the d helped produce the j[d͡ʒ] sound in fridge.

Language Lab
retire v.
to stop a job or career because you have reached the age when you are not allowed to work anymore or do not need or want to work anymore
- My father retired at 65.
- The famous car racer announced that he will retire next year.
retirement n.
the act of ending your working or professional career : the act of retiring
- The retirement of the NBA player made the headlines in today's news.

troublesome adj.
causing problems or worry : causing trouble
- The scholarship application process is very troublesome.
- The troublesome backache always keeps him up at night.

slight adj.
very small in degree or amount
- The patient only made slight progress after his treatment.
- The slight difference between us doesn't interfere with our cooperation.
- I have a slight fever.

browse v.
to look at many things in a store, in a newspaper, etc., to see if there is something interesting or worth buying
- I'm not looking for anything particular. I'm just browsing.
- Rita browsed in several bookshops when she was in town.
to use a special program (called a browser) to find and look at information on the Internet
- Kelly loves to browse through shopping websites to relax.

mms://203.69.69.81/studio/20151028baabf45a06ebea93a5b45bd620f0e860ef6472629b2c7144780830d448fc70ddbb5.wma