FSI-Chinese/Module-7/FSI-42/Dialogue and translation for exercice 1.csv

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 Píng! Lái kàn shū ma?		 Hi, Lǐ Ping. 		Did you come here to do some reading?
B:	Chīle 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 Yīngwén zázhì shi shénme?		What’s your favorite English magazine?
B:	Ng, Xīnwén Zhōukān.		Um, Newsweek.
A:	Wèishenme ne?		Why?
B:	Xīnwén Zhōukān hěn hǎo, duì xué Yīngwén hěn yǒu bāngzhu.		Newsweek is very good. It’s a big help in learning English.
A:	Duì, kàn zhèige zázhì, yìfāngmiàn kéyi xué Yīngwén, yìfāngmiàn kéyi zhīdao Měiguo shèhuìde qíngkuāng, shì bu cuò. Zhèige xīngqī yǒu shénme yǒu 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:	Yǒu, yǒu yìpiān guānyú nánnǚ píngděngde wénzhāng hěn yǒu yìsi.		Yes, there’s an article about equality of the sexes that’s very interesting.
A:	Òu, “nánnū” píngděng... wǒde  nǚpéngyou duì zhèige tímu* hěn yǒu yánjiū. Zěnme? Nǐ yě duì zhèige wèntí yǒu 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:	Yǒu, wǒ yǒu xìngqu, érqiě xiǎng zhīdao nǐmende kànfǎ. Wǒ 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 liúxíng nánnǚ tóngjū 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 shì hé fùnude dìwei yǒu guānxi. Zhèi yidiǎn wǒ zhēnshi bù dǒng le. Zhōngguo rénde chuántǒng guānniàn shi, fùnǚ méiyou jiēhūn, bù yīnggāi hé tāde nánpéngyou zhù zai yìqǐ.		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 fùnǚ, tèbié shi zhīshi fùnǚ, tāmen bú yào kào xiānsheng shēnghuó, tāmen yào yǒu dúlìde jīngji hé shèhui dìwei. Xiàng wǒde nǚpéngyou, tā jiù yǒu zhèiyangde kànfǎ. Erqiě wǒ xiǎng, tóngjūde wèntí hé hěn duō shìqing yǒu guānxi, bù zhǐ shi fùnǚde 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:	Rúguó kéyi tánde huà, nǐ 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 wǒde shì, nǐ jiu zhīdao wǒmen zěnme xiǎng le. Wǒde nǚpéngyou, tā shi xué yīde. Xué yī bú shi yíjiàn róngyide shìr. 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 nǐmen shénme shíhou jiēhūn ne?		Then when are you getting married?
A:	Xiànzài wǒmen hái bù xiǎng jiēhūn.		We don’t want to get married just yet.
B:	Wèishénme? Nǐmen juéde jiēle hūn, yǒule háizi huì hěn máfan, shì bu shi?		Why not? You think that once you get married and have children it’ll be a lot of trouble, right?
A:	Bú shi zhèige yìsi. Jiùshi wǒmen jiēhūnle, yě bù yídìng mǎshàng yào háizi. Zhòngyàode shi wǒmen zhèi yíbèizi yào zuò shénme, hái méiyou hǎohāor xiǎngguo ne, yīnggāi xiān xiǎng nèige wèntí. Érqiě wǒmen dōu yuànyi zài jiēhūn yǐqiān qīngchǔde zhīdao zìjǐ 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 Lǐ Píng is being so careful here is that he knows Tom and his girlfriend are living together.

B:	Kěshi yǒu rén huì juéde nǐmen zhèiyang zuò shi yīnwei nǐmen 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:	Shì shénme ne?		What is it, then?
A:	Měiguo rén juéde zìjǐ kéyi jìhua zìjǐde shēnghuó shi zuì zhòngyàode zìyóu. Rúguo Měiguo méiyǒu zhèizhǒng zìyóu, jiù bú huì you nàme duō rén xiǎng lái Měiguo le, nǐ 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:	Nǐ shuōde yǒu diǎnr dàoli. Òu... Wǒ hai wàngle wèn ni, jīnnián xiàtiān, nǐde nǚpéngyou 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 yǒu 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, nǐ duì Xīnwén Zhōukān zhèipiān wénzhāng hái yǒu shénme biéde kànfǎ ma?		So what about it, do you have any other opinions about that article in Newsweek?
B:	Kànfǎ yǒu. Zhèige tímu hěn dà, wǒmen yǐhòu mànmàn zài tán.		Yes, I have other opinions about it. But it’s a big topic. We can talk all about it later.
A:	Hǎo, yǐhòu zài tán.		Okay, we’ll talk about it later.