书城外语英语PARTY——纯正口语对话室
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第14章 异域篇(1)

时事新闻我先知

A: Hello.

你好。

B: Hey,Marco.It,s Drew.Are you watching TV now?

嘿,是我Drew。你看电视呢吗?

A: No why?

没有,怎么了?

B: Just turn it on and switch to CCTV channel 9.There,s a striking news.

赶快打开电视,拨到中央九台,出大事儿了。

A: What is it?

什么事儿啊?

B: Earthquake.

地震。

A: In china?

在中国吗?

B: No ,in Africa.It,s such a serious quake,measured 8.2 on the richter scale.Lots of people died and that includs 8 Chinese.

不,在非洲。非常严重的地震,里士8.2级。死了很多人,还包括8个中国人。

A: I already knew it.And there,re still lots of aftershocks

我已经知道这事儿了。还有很多余震呢。

B: Yes,that,s horrible.You know you may survive the quake.But die in the aftershocks.

是的,真可怕。你知道你可能躲过地震,但可能死于余震。

A: No worries, Drew.That,s in Africa,which is really far from China.

别担心,Drew。那是非洲,离中国很远呢。

B: Are you sure there,re no earthquakes in Beijing?

你肯定北京没有地震吗?

A: So far as I know,there,re no socalled earthquakes in the foreseeable future in Beijing

就我目前所知。北京在可预见未来没有地震。

B: Are you sure?

你肯定?

A: Absolutely.In my 29 years of living in China.I have only experienced one earthquake and that,s like 28 years ago,when I was only 1 year old.

完全肯定。我在中国29年来只经过一次地震。还是28年以前的事儿,我当时才一岁大。

B: Did anyone die?

死人了吗?

A: I don,t know.I was like a 1yearold baby,Drew.Don,t try to make a mountain out of a molehill.

不知道。我才一岁而已。Drew,别大惊小怪的。

B: I do?

我是吗?

A: You do.China,Especially Beijing is the safest place.There,s no such thing as terrorism or earthquakes here.

是啊。中国是最安全的地方。这儿没有恐怖主义或是地震之类的事儿。

B: I guess I,m overworried

我可能是有点儿杞人忧天了。

Attention Please (特别提醒)

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[1] It,s such a serious quake,measured 8.2 on the richter scale.地震总是难以避免。发生地震时,只有寄希望于自己不是在震中了[epicenter]。

[2] Don,t try to make a mountain out of a molehill.别小题大做。molehill在这里是小土敦儿的意思。

老外写字左右手

A: Why do lots of foreigners write with their left hand?

为什么好多老外们用左手写字?

B: I don,t know. I,m a lefty too.

不知道,我也是左撇子。

A: Then why do you write with your left hand? Isn,t it better to use your right hand?

那你为什么用左手?用右手不是更好吗?

B: It doesn,t make any difference. Lefthanded or righthanded. They,re all the same.

没什么分别。左手右手都一样。

A: When I was young,I could use both my hands well. But my mom told me to use my right hand. So now, like most Chinese people, I,m righthanded.

我小的时候,我两只手都能用,可我妈妈告诉我用右手。所以现在,和大多数中国人一样,我用右手。

B: My mom never said that. This is my own business.

我妈妈可从未那么说过。那是我自己的事儿。

A: Well, does that make any inconvenient moments?

会不会觉得什么不方便的?

B: Nope.

不会。

A: What if when you drive?

那你开车时呢?

B: I don,t drive, Marco. My friends can often offer me a ride.

我不会开车。我的朋友们经常会送我。

A: And did you notice when foreigners write something, they prefer captital letters?

你注意到没有好多老外们写字的时候喜欢用大写字母?

B: Actually,most foreigners don,t write unless necessary. If we write something, essays, novels,whatever, we would do it on computers.

其实,大部分的老外除非必要,一般不会写字的。如果要写的话,像论文,小说,我们一般在电脑上写。

A: What about when you do your homework?

那你们写作业的时候呢?

B: We do that on computers too. I have never written anything before I came to China. I mean I would work on a computer. You know,doing my homework, writing essays, sending emails, that stuff.

也在电脑上,我来中国前从未“写”过什么东西。我是说我会在电脑上写,你也知道的。作业啊,毕业论文啊,电子邮件啊,那种东西。

A: That,s why your handwriting sucks.

所以你的书法才那么差。

B: I never said they,re good.

我从来都没说过它们好。

Attention Please (特别提醒)

[你可以请外教反复帮你模仿/训练下面句子/词组的正宗美式发音]

[1] It doesn,t make any difference.那没什么分别。当有人问你“喜欢喝纯净水还是矿泉水”或是“你是早上锻炼还是晚上锻炼”时。就用这个句子反问他们好了。Does it make any difference?有什么分别吗?

[2] This is my own business.这是我自己的事儿。business除了有生意的意思之外,还可以表示“某人自己的事儿”。如果你不小心问到老外们的隐私时,他们就可能直接告诉你“None of your business.”与你何干。

美丽家乡加拿大

A: Ben,tell me something about Canada,will you?

Ben,给我讲点儿加拿大的事儿吧?

B: No problem.But Canada is such a big country.What do you wanna know?

没问题,可加拿大是个大国,你想知道什么呢?

A: Everything that makes Canada unique.

一切让加拿大独一无二的东西。

B: That,s too hard,cause there,re a lot of them.I just can give you a rough description.You know,Canada is humongous.

那太难了,因为东西太多了,我只能大致的给你讲一下。你也知道,加拿大地大物博。

A: What do you mean by humongous?

你说的humongous是什么意思?

B: That,s a Canadian word.It means Canada is a vast land and rich in resources.You see Canada is the second largest country in the world. Larger than the United Stated and even China.It,s exceeded only by the Republic of Russia.

那是个加拿大词。表示加拿大地域广大,资源丰富。你知道加拿大是世界上第二大国。比美国甚至是中国还要大。惟一超过她的国家只有俄国。

A: What about population?

人口呢?

B: That,s why Canada is unique.It is one of the least populated countries in the world.There are fewer than 30 million people in Canada.And more than threequarters of the population live in urban centers,twothirds are concentrated within 200 kilometers of the border with the United Staes.

那是加拿大独一无二之处。加拿大是世界上人口最少的国家之一。其人口不到三千万。四分之三的人口住在城区,这其中,三分之二的人集中在与美国交界的二百公里处。

A: What languages do you use except English?

你们除了英语以外还使用什么语言?

B: [chuckles]Canada is in reality a country of many different languages,German,Dutch,Spanish,Polish and Chinese in all its dialects can be heard somewhere in the country.But officially,English and French are accessible to all its citizens no matter where they live.

[笑]加拿大实际上是个多语言国家。德语,荷兰语,西班牙语,波兰语还有汉语。汉语的各种方言在加拿大的某些地方还能听到。但不管在哪,官方语言还是英语和法语。

A: You sound like Mr knowitall.

你好像万事通似的。

B: I just love Canada so much and I,m proud of being a Canadian.Actually,I have a book about Canada.Read it and you,ll become an expert too.

我只是太喜欢加拿大了,我也为自己是个加拿大人而自豪。实际上,我有本儿关于加拿大的书,看一看,你也能成为专家的。

Attention Please (特别提醒)

[你可以请外教反复帮你模仿/训练下面句子/词组的正宗美式发音]