My hometown家乡 /ˈhoʊm.taʊn/ is a small town小镇 /taʊn/ called Ashford阿什福德（地名）. It is not famous著名的 /ˈfeɪ.məs/, but I know了解 /noʊ/ every street街道 /striːt/ and every corner角落 /ˈkɔːr.nɚ/. I was born出生 /bɔːrn/ here and grew成长 /ɡruː/ up along its narrow狭窄的 /ˈnær.oʊ/ lanes小巷 /leɪnz/ and beside its river河 /ˈrɪv.ɚ/. To most people it is just a dot on a map地图 /mæp/. To me it is home家 /hoʊm/.
Last weekend my friend Sophie索菲（人名） came to visit来访 /ˈvɪz.ɪt/ for the first time. I decided to show her around带她四处参观. We started从…出发 /ˈstɑːr.tɪd/ at the market集市 /ˈmɑːr.kɪt/ square广场 /skwer/ in the centre中心 /ˈsen.t̬ɚ/ of town. On Saturday mornings the stalls摊位 /stɔːlz/ fill the square with colour色彩 /ˈkʌl.ɚ/: vegetables蔬菜 /ˈvedʒ.tə.bəlz/, flowers鲜花 /ˈflaʊ.ɚz/, bread面包 /bred/, and cheese奶酪 /tʃiːz/. The crowd人群 /kraʊd/ moves穿行 /muːvz/ slowly缓慢地 /ˈsloʊ.li/, and the air空气 /er/ smells弥漫着 /smelz/ of fresh新鲜的 /freʃ/ herbs香草 /ɜːrbz/. "I love this already," Sophie said.
From the square we walked走 /wɔːkt/ down to the river. There is an old古老的 /oʊld/ stone石头 /stoʊn/ bridge桥 /brɪdʒ/ that has stood屹立 /stʊd/ for three hundred years. People lean over探身向下 the railing栏杆 /ˈreɪ.lɪŋ/ to watch看 /wɑːtʃ/ the ducks鸭子 /dʌks/ drift漂浮 /drɪft/ below在下面 /bɪˈloʊ/. Sophie took拍 /tʊk/ a photo照片 /ˈfoʊ.toʊ/. "This bridge is beautiful美丽的 /ˈbjuː.tɪ.fəl/," she said. I nodded. I had never really noticed注意到 /ˈnoʊ.tɪst/ before.
Next we climbed爬上 /klaɪmd/ the hill小山 /hɪl/ behind the church教堂 /tʃɜːrtʃ/. At the top山顶 /tɑːp/ you can see the whole town spread展开 /spred/ out below: the red红色的 /red/ rooftops屋顶 /ˈruːf.tɑːps/, the church tower塔楼 /ˈtaʊ.ər/, the river winding蜿蜒 /ˈwaɪn.dɪŋ/ through the fields田野 /fiːldz/. Sophie stood very still静止 /stɪl/ and looked凝视 /lʊkt/ for a long time. "You are very lucky幸运的 /ˈlʌk.i/," she said quietly轻声地 /ˈkwaɪ.ət.li/.
On the way back we passed经过 /pɑːst/ the pond池塘 /pɑːnd/ where I used to过去常常 catch捉 /kætʃ/ tadpoles蝌蚪 /ˈtæd.poʊlz/ as a child, and the bench长椅 /bentʃ/ where Grandad外公 /ˈɡrænd.æd/ used to read看书 /riːd/ his newspaper报纸 /ˈnjuːz.peɪ.pɚ/ on Sunday周日 /ˈsʌn.deɪ/ mornings早上 /ˈmɔːr.nɪŋz/. These places地方 /ˈpleɪ.sɪz/ are ordinary普通的 /ˈɔːr.dɪ.ner.i/ to everyone else其他人 /els/. To me they are full充满 /fʊl/ of memories记忆 /ˈmem.ɚ.iz/.
That evening傍晚 /ˈiːv.nɪŋ/ we sat on the doorstep门口台阶 /ˈdɔːr.step/ with cups of tea茶 /tiː/. "I understand明白了 /ˌʌn.dəˈstænd/ why you never want to leave离开 /liːv/," Sophie said. I smiled微笑 /smaɪld/. I had never thought about it从未想过这件事 that way before, but she was right说得对 /raɪt/. Ashford is small. Ashford is quiet安静的 /ˈkwaɪ.ət/. But it is also the place that made塑造了 /meɪd/ me, and I belong属于 /bɪˈlɔːŋ/ here.