First listen and then answer the question.
听录音，然后回答以下问题。
Why is the new house special?
英式发音：
美式发音：
I had a letter from my sister yesterday. She lives in Nigeria. In her letter, she said that she would come to England next year. If she comes, she will get a surprise. We are now living in a beautiful new house in the country. Work on it had begun before my sister left. The house was completed five months ago. In my letter, I told her that she could stay with us. The house has many large rooms and there is a lovely garden. It is a very modern house, so it looks strange to some people. It must be the only modern house in the district.
New words and expressions 生词和短语
complete (1. 5) /kəm'pli:t/ v. 完成
strange (1. 8) /streindʒ/ adj. 奇怪的
modern (1. 7) /'modn/ adj. 新式的，与以往不同的
district (1. 9) /'distrikt/ n. 地区
Notes on the text 课文注释
1 get a surprise中的，surprise这里作“使人惊奇、意外的事物”解，是可数名词。
2 Work on it had begun…，住宅的建设在……就开始了。work是名词，作主语，it指房屋。
3 The house has many large rooms and there is a lovely garden. 栋房子里有许多房间，还有一个漂亮的花园。
there is这个结构在第1册第42-44课中曾经出现过，用来说明人、物的存在。
参考译文
昨天我收到了姐姐的一封信，她住在尼日利亚。在信中她说她明年将到英国来。如果她来了，她会感到非常惊奇的。我们现在住在乡间的一栋漂亮的新住宅里。这栋房子在我姐姐离开之前就已动工了，是在5个月以前竣工的。我在信中告诉她，她可以和我们住在一起。这栋房子里有许多房间，还有一个漂亮的花园。它是一栋非常现代化的住宅，因此在有些人看来很古怪。它肯定是这个地区唯一的一栋现代化住宅。
