Dialogue and Translation for Exercise 3

     Two classmates, an American (B) and a Chinese (A)， share an apartment
somewhere in America. The American is at home studying Sht Ji， Records of the
Historian, a classical history. His Chinese classmate comes in the door.
A: Vode tian na! Ni hai zai nian	Viy God! Are you still studying?
 shS?~Xi, he "bei pi jiu xiuxi	Hey, how about taking a "break for
   xiuxi hǎo "bu hao?	a "beer?
B: Hao hSo hao, rang wo "ba	Okay, okay, let me finish reading
     zheiyidiǎnr kanvan xing "bu xing?	this little "bit， okay?
A: Hai, nī zongshi kān gǔshu?	Come on, you1re always reading
Xianzai shěhuide qingxing, nī	classics! Don’t you ever think about
 jiu yidiǎnr dou "bu kaolu ma?	the condition of today’s society?
B: Shěi shuo wo bu kaolu， xuě-	Who says I don’t think about it.
 shenghuide shi vo yě zuole "bu	I’ve done a lot with the Student
  shao ma!	Association， you know!
A: Nǐ zhen you yisiI Zuo	You’re something else! Just doing
yidiǎnr xuěsh5nghuide shi jiu	a little work with the Student Assoc-
shi guanxin shěhui le!	iation means you?re concerned about
                                         society!
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B: Na nǐ shuo, wo yinggai zuo	Well then, what do you think I should
  diǎn shěnme ne?	do?
A: Dalushang you name duo rěn,	There are so many people on the
 nǐ zěnme bu wěnwen tamende	mainland, how come you don’t try to
qingxing zěnmeyang?	find out what their situation is like?
B: Wo Juěde zhěngzhi wěnti tai	I think that political problems are
mafan, wo bū xiǎng tan zhěngzhi.	too much bother (tedious and involved).
                                        工 don't like to talk about politics.
A: Wo yě měiyou yāo gēn nǐ tan	I didnft mean I wanted to talk
 zhěngzhide yisi. Wode yisi shi,	politics with you. I mean that as
 nǐ yanjiu Zhongguode shihou,	you study China, on the one hand you
 yifangmiān yao kankan gushu,	should read the classics and study
 yanjiuyanjiu Zhongguo chuantong	traditional Chinese culture, but on
     wěnhua, yifǎngmian yě kěyi kankan	the other hand you can also read
     zhei yibainiande Zhongguo lishi.	some Chinese history of the past
                                         hundred years.
B: Zhěiyidiǎn shi duide. Zhěi	You1re right about that. I have
     yixuěqi wo bū shi you Zhongguo	modern Chinese history class this
   jindaishǐ kě ma?	semester, don’t I?
A: Wo xiǎng chūle shang xuě yīwai,	But I think that besides taking
nǐ hai kěyi kan yidiǎnr xiǎo-	classes, you could read some fiction,
 shuor.	too•
B: Kan xiaoshuor?! Wo nar you	Read fiction?! When (lit. "vhere”)
 shijiān kān shenme xiSoshuor?	do I have time to read any fiction?
A: W5 zuiJin zai kan jǐbenr	Lately Ifve been reading a few
 Zhongguo jindāi xiaoshuor, fēi一	modern Chinese novels which are very
chang you yisi. Nī ruguǒ xiang	interesting. If you want to understand
 dongde Zhongguo xiāndai shěhui,	modern Chinese society, you really
 zhēn děi duo kan diǎnrzhěi-	have to read more of this kind of
   zhong xiaoshuor•	fiction.
B: Wo zěnme kěyi hě^nǐ bī_, nǐ	How can I compare with you; you read
kande name kuai! E, zhěiyang	so fast! Hey, how about this: after
hao bu hao, ni kanwan yihou	youfve finished reading them, tell me
gaosu wo něiyiběn hǎo yidiǎnr,	which book is best and then I111 read
    wo zai kan, xing bu xing?	it, okay?
A: Hao hao hǎo, jiu zhěiyang ba!	Okay, that1 s what we*11 do. Now
 Xianzai wo bu zai mafan ni le.	I111 leave you alone. Oh yeahwhat
 Ei, dui le, Jxntian wǎnshang	are we going to eat tonight? I111
    zanmen chī shěnme? Wo lai zuo	make something, okay? yidiǎnr, hǎo bu hǎo?
B: Bu 1di zuo le, suibian chi	You don't have to make anything. Why
 diǎnr ba! Wo nianwan zhěiyi-	donft we just have something easy,
diǎnr, zanmen chuqu chī pǐcha	After I finish reading this， how about
   bǐng, hǎo bu hao?	going out and having a pizza?
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A: Hao! Nǐ kuai dianr nian,	Okay! Hurry up and read, wefll leave
    nianwan zanmen jiu zǒu.	right after you finish.