Dialogue and Translation for Exercise 2

At the Dupont Circle subway station in Washington, D.C., an Americah
college student (A) runs into a student from China (B).

-   A: Duìbuql, nl shi céng Zhǒnggué láide liúxuéshēng ba?

-   B: Shì a! Nīde Zhōngwén zènme

hSo, qùguo Zhǒnggué ba?

-   A: Hái méiyou, yìhòu yòu jlhui wS

yídìng yào qù kànkan.

-   B: Nà nīde ZhSngwén Jiù shi zài

Huáshèngdùn xuéde?

-   A: Eng. Jīnián yīqián w3 zài Jià-

zh8u Dàxué xuéguo yìnián, lái Huáshèngdùn yīhòu you yìzhí zài xué. Késhi
Zhǒngwénde shuīpíng háishi bú gdu gǎo.

-   B: NX méiyou qùguo Zhǒngguó, ZhSngwén zènme hào le, v8 lái Méigué
    yljīng yìnián, Yīngwén shuīpíng háishi tígǎode hén man.

-   A: Zài ZhSngguáde shihour nī xuéguo Yīngwén ba?

-   B: Xuéguo, xuéguo sǎnnián ban ne!

-   A: Shi Yīnggué Yīngwén?

-   B: Shì, érqié jiàoshī y? d5u shi Zhǒngguo rén* suéyi chǔ gué yīhòu
    zuì did* wèntí shi tīng-budSng, shuffbuchǔlái. Kin shǔ bl shuō huà
    réngyiduS le.

-   A: Zài ZhSngguúde shihou, nl zài

néige dàxué niàn shǔ?

-   B: Zài Bèidà. Béidàde Yīngwén hái suàn bú cuò, búguò, wSmen.xué
    kējìde xuésheng zhòngdiXn shi kàn shǔ, fányi, bú shi huìhuà.

Excuse me, you must be a student from China, aren-'t you?

Yes! Your Chinese is so good! Have you been to China?

Not yet, but if I get the chance to I'm sure I'll go visit.

Then you learned all your Chinese here in Washington?

Mm. A few years ago I had a year of Chinese at the University of
California, and since I came to Washington, I've been studying it all
along. But iny level in Chinese still isn't high enough.

Your Chinese is this good and you've never been to China, but I've been
in the States a year already and my English level is still improving
very slowly.

You studied English when you were in China, I suppose?

Sure, I studied it for three and a half years'.

British English?

Yes, and my teachers were all Chinese, so after I left China my biggest
problem was that I couldn't understand people talking and I couldn't
speak. Reading is a lot easier than speaking.

In China, what university were you studying at?

At B.U. B.U. is pretty good for English, but for us students in science
and technology the emphasis is on reading and translating, not on
conversation.

-   A: Kějì? Shi bu shi kěxué jìshu?

-   B: Shi. Wines chángchíng yòng hěn dui jilnchěng, duìbuqí ya!

-   A: Nà méiyou shenme. Búguò w3 hái yòu yìdiSnr bù dòng.

-   B: Shénme dìfangr?

A: Nimen cháng shuo kexué fěn liàng-bùfen, yíbùfen shi shèhui kěxué,
yíbùfen shi zìrén kěxué. Nàme kěxué Jìshu shuǒde jiù shi zìrán kěxué ma?

B: Zhè bú shi nàme yán'géde, tèbié shi xiàndài shèhui, zirán kěxué hé
shèhui kěxué jiu fěnde bú nàme qīngchu le.

-   A: Zhèi w3 tóngyì. Zài fěn lèide wèntíshang, w8men yòu hěn duǒ
    shuǒfl hé nimen bú tài yíyàng.

-   B: Òu, chě l£i le, v3 yào shàng chě le. Yīhòu yīu Jlhui zài tan.

-   A: Hiode, xiàci w8men yòng Ylng-

vén tán.

-   B: Hào, xièxie ni, zàijiàn.

A:   Zàijiàn.

’’Kějì”? Is that science and technology?

Right. We use a lot of abbreviations, pardon me!

No problem. But there's still something I don't understand.

What?

You often say that science has tvo divisions. One is social science and
the other is natural science.

So does science and technology refer only to the natural sciences?

This Cdistinction! isn't so strict. Especially in modern society, the
natural sciences and the social sciences aren't so clearly separated.

I agree vith that. On questions of categorization, ve have a lot of
ideas that are different from yours.

Oh, here comes the train. I have to get on it. In the future we'll talk
some more if ve get the chance.

All right. Next time we'll talk in English.

Okay, thank you. Good-bye.

Good-bye.