Unit 2, Tape 1, Review Dialogue At the entrance to Lauinger Library at Georgetown University, Lǐ Ping (B) encounters Tom (A). B: Èi! Tāngmǔ, nǐ hǎo a! Hey! Hi, Tom! A: Nǐ hǎo, Lǐ Ping! Lai kàn shū ma? Hi, Lǐ Ping. Did you come here to do some reading? B: Chile wǎnfàn, chūlai zǒuzou, dào túshūguǎn kànkan xīn dàode zázhì. After dinner I went out for a walk and came to the library to read through some of the new magazines. A: Nǐ zuì xǐhuande Yǐngwén zázhì shi shénme? What’s your favorite English magazine? B: Ng, Xǐnwén Zhōukān. Um, Newsweek. A: Wèishenme ne? Why? B: Xǐnwén Zhōukān hěn hǎo, duì xué Yǐngwén hěn you bāngzhu. Newsweek is very good. It’s a big help in learning English. A: Duì, kàn zhèige zázhì, yìfāng miàn kéyi xué Yǐngwén, yìfāngmiàn kéyi zhīdao Měiguo shèhuìde qíngkuāng, shi bu cud. Zhèige xīngqī you shénme yěu yìside wénzhāng ma? Right. When you read it, you can-study English at the same time you learn about conditions in American society; it is good. Are there any interesting articles in it this week? B: You, yěu yìpiān guānyú nánnū píngděngde wénzhāng hěn you yìsi. Yes, there’s an article about equality of the sexes that’s very interesting. A: Ou, nánnū píngděng...wěde nupéngyou duì zhèige tímu’ hěn yěu yánjiū. Zěnme? Nǐ yě duì zhèige wèntí you xìngqu ma? Oh, equality of the sexes...My girl friend is an expert on the subject. Don’t tell me—are you interested in that issue too? B: You, wǒ you xìngqu, érqiě xiǎng zhīdao nǐmende kànfǎ. Wo kéyi wèn jǐge wèntí ma? Yes, I am, and I’d also like to know your views on it. Can I ask a few questions? A: Dāngrán, qǐng wèn ba! Sure. What would you like to know? B: Zhèipiān wénzhāng shuō, zài hěn duō dìfāng yuè lái yuè liú-xíng nánnū tongjū le. E, duìbuqǐ... The article says that in a lot of places cohabitation is getting more and more common. Uh, excuse me... *tímu, subject, topic (see Unit 5) A: Méi shenme, nǐ shuōxiaqu. Not at all, go on. B: Zhèipiān wénzhāng hái shuō zhèizhōng shi hé fùnude dìwei you guānxi. Zhèi yidiǎn wǒ zhēnshi bù dong le. Zhōngguo rénde chuántǒng guānniàn shi, fùnu méiyou jiēhūn, bù yīnggāi hé tāde nánpéngyou zhù zai yìqī. It also said in the article that this is related to the status of women. I really don’t understand that point. The traditional Chinese idea is that a woman should not live with her boyfriend before they get married. A: Wǒmende guānniàn bú tài yí yàng. Yìxiē fùnu, tèbié shi zhīshi fùnu, tāmen bú yào kào xiānsheng shēnghuó, tāmen yào you dúlìde jīngji hé shèhui dìwei. Xiàng wǒde nupéngyou, tā jiù you zhèiyangde kànfǎ. Erqiě wǒ xiǎng, tóngjūde wèntí hé hěn duō shining you guānxi, bù zhī shi fùnude dìwei wèntí. We have a somewhat different concept. Some women, especially women intellectuals, don’t want to depend on their husbands in order to live; they want to have independent economic and social status. Like my girlfriend— that’s the way her view is. But also, I think that living together has to do with a lot of things. It’s not just a question of the status of women. B: Rúguo kéyi tánde huà, nī gěi wo jiǎngjiang zěnmeyàng? If it’s all right to talk about it, would you tell me more? A: Hǎo, zhèiyangr ba, wǒ gěi ni tántan wode shi, nī jiu zhīdao women zěnme xiǎng le. Wǒde nupéngyou, tā shi xué yīde. Xué yī bú shi yíjiàn rongyide shir. Tā hái yào zài dàxué xuéxí liùnián. Okay, how about this. I’ll tell you about my situation, and then you’ll know the way we think. My girlfriend is studying medicine. Studying medicine isn’t the easiest thing. She still has six more years of university. B: Nà nīmen shénme shihou jiēhūn ne? Then when are you getting married? A: Xiànzài women hái bù xiǎng jiēhūn. We don’t want to get married just yet. B: Weishénme? Nīmen juéde jiēle hūn, yǒule háizi huì hěn máfan, shi bu shi? Why not? You think that once you get married and have children it’ll be a lot of trouble, rigjrt? A: Bú shi zhèige yìsi. Jiùshi women jiēhūnle, yě bù yídìng mǎshàng yào háizi. Zhǒngyàode shi women zhèi yíbèizi yào zuò shénme, hái méiyou hǎohāor xiǎng-guo ne, yīnggāi xiān xiǎng nèige wèntí. Erqiě wǒmen dōu yuànyi zài jiēhūn yǐqiān qīngchǔde zhīdao zìjī xǐhuande nèige rén shi yíge shénmeyàngrde rén. Zhèi yě xūyào shíjiān. That’s not the point. Even if we get married, we won’t necessarily have children right away The important thing is that we haven’t even thought out well what we want to do in our lives. We should think about that problem first. What’s more, we each want to have a clear idea of of what kind of person the other is before we get married. And that takes time. °The reason Lī Ping is being so careful here is that he knows Tom and his girlfriend are living together. B: Kěshi you rén huì juéde nīmen zhèiyang zuò shi yīnwei nīmen juéde tóngjū bǐ jiēhūn zìyóu. But some people will think you are doing this because you feel that living together is freer than marriage. A: You rén zhème shuō, kěshi wǒ xiǎng tāmen méi dǒng wǒmende zìyóu shi shénme. Some people say that, but I don’t think they have understood what our freedom is. B: Shi shénme ne? What is it, then? A: Měiguo rén Juéde zìjī kéyi jìhua zìjǐde shēnghuó shi zuì zhòngyàode zìyóu. Rūguo Měiguo méiyǒu zhèizhǒng zìyóu, jiù bú huì you name duō rén xiǎng lai Měiguo le, nī shuō wǒ shuōde duì bu dui? Americans feel that to be able to plan their own life is the most important freedom. If America didn’t have that kind of freedom, there wouldn’t be so many people who want to come here. Don’t you think I’m right? B: Nī shuōde you diǎnr dàoli. Ou . . . Wǒ hai wangle wèn ni, jīnniàn xiàtiān, nǐde nupéngyou néng péi ni dào Xiānggǎng qu ma? There’s something to what you say. Oh ... I forgot to ask you something else: Will your girlfriend be able to come with you to Hong Kong this summer? A: Bù xíng. Tā jìhua dào Déguo qu niàn shū. Shǔjiàde shihou tā yào zài Déguo zhù sānge yuè, nà duì tāde Déwén yídìng hěn you bāngzhu. No. She’s planning to go to school in Germany. During summer vacation she’s going to live in Germany for three months. I’m sure that will help her German a lot. B: Duì. That’s right. A: Zěnmeyàng, nī duì Xǐnwén Zhōu kān zhèipiān wénzhāng hai you shénme biéde kànfǎ ma? So what about it, do you have any other opinions about that article in Newsweek? B: Kanfǎ you. Zhèige tímu hěn dà, women yīhòu mànmàn zài tan. Yes, I have other opinions about it. But it’s a big topic. We can talk all about it later. A: Hǎo, yīhòu zài tan. Okay, we’ll talk about it later.