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- Dialogue and Translation for Exercise 3
- Conversation between a grandmother (B) and her granddaughter (A) in Běijīng.
- A: Nǎinai, nín shuō, xīn Zhōngguo, nánnū píngděng, fùnude dìwei gāoduō le, duì bu dui? Grandma, don’t you think that in new China, with equality of the sexes the status of women is much higher?
- B: Nà hái yǒng shuō. Women niánqīngde shihou, fùnū zài jiāli, zài shěhuìshang dōu méiyou shenme dìwei, zhǐ you hěn shǎode nūháizi you jǐhui niàn shū. Bu xiàng nǐmen, gēn nánháizi yíyàng, niàn shū, zuǒ shi, duo hǎo! That goes without saying. When we were young, women didn’t have much status in the family or in society. Only a very few girls had a chance to study. It wasn’t like the way it is for you, who study and work just the same as boys. How great that is!
- A: Nǎinai, nà nǐ shuō, tongjū zhèijiàn shir shi bu shi duì fùnù bù hǎo? Then what do you think, Grandma, is cohabitation a bad thing for women?
- B: Nǐ zěnme yuè shuō yuè qíguài le? Zài xīn Zhōngguo nǎr you tōngjūde shir? What’s with these odd topics you’re bringing up? Where is there such a thing as cohabitation in new China?
- A: Zěnme méiyou? Wǒ gāngcái kànde Zhōngguo Qǐngniánshang jiù you yìpiān wénzhāng, zhèipiān wénzhāng shuō, you yíge nánháizi he yíge nùháizi tōngjū le. There isn’t, huh? Well in the China Youth that I just read there's an article that said there was a young man who was living with a young woman.
- B: Tāmen wèishénme bù jiēhūn? Why didn’t they get married?
- A: Nèige nánde xiǎng shàng dàxué. The man wanted to go to college.
- B: Ou, duì le, jiēle hūn jiu hù néng shàng dàxué le. Nà hòulǎi ne? Oh, right, you can’t go to college after you’re married. So what happened afterwards?
- A: Hòulái, nèige nánde zhēn shàng dàxué le. Afterwards, the man really went to college.
- B: Niànwánle shū tāmen jiēhūn le ha? And after he finished school they got married, I suppose?
- A: Méiyou. Niànwán shū, nèige nánde xiǎng, nèi nuháizi méi dìwei, yě méi qián, tāmen jiu suàn le. No. After he finished school, the guy thought, she didn’t have any status or any money, so they should call it quits.
- B: Suàn le?.’ Nà shi shénme huà! Tā hái you méiyou yidiǎnr dàodé guānniàn! Call it quits. What kind of thing is that to say! Didn’t he have any sense of morality!
- A: Dàodé guānniàn?! Hng, xiànzài shèhuishang jiù you zhèizhǒng shir! Nín shuō zhèi shi wèishénme? Sense of morality?! Ha, that's just the sort of thing that society is full of these days! Why do you think that is?!
- B: Ai! Zhèi shíjǐnián qíqíguài- guàide xǐnwén zhēn duō! Shénme shihou cái néng hǎo yidiǎnr ne? (Sigh) The last decade or so there sure has been a lot of strange news! When will it get better?
- A: Shéi zhīdào! Wǒ xiǎng kuài le! Kuài hǎo yidiǎnr le! I think it will be soon! It’s going to get better soon!
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