bull (animal):
Chinese Pinyin: gong1 niu2
(Source: about.com)
Archive for December 13th, 2008
Chinese Characters: bull (animal):公牛
Saturday, December 13th, 2008Chinese Conversation – lesson 289
Saturday, December 13th, 2008爱因斯坦去世后，1971年，两名科学家完成了一项重要实验。他们使用两个原子钟，将时间调成一致。其中一个被放在飞机上，而另一个则置于地球上的原来地方。随后飞机环绕全球飞行了80个小时。按照爱因斯坦理论，相对于地面上的时钟，飞机上的时钟会因为80个小时的运动而减少时间。当他们将两个时钟拿到一起比较时，飞机上的时钟确实较另一只慢了几毫微秒。
In 1971, after Einstein’s death, two scientists were able to carry out a crucial experiment. They used two atomic clocks, synchronized them, and placed one on a plane, while the other stayed in the same location on Earth. The plane then flew around the world for 80 hours. According to Einstein’s theory, the clock on the plane would be expected to have lost time, due to being in motion over 80 hours compared to the clock on the ground. When they brought the clocks together and made a comparison, the clock on the plane was indeed a few nanoseconds slower than the other clock.
(Source: wwenglish.com)
Cri – Lesson 171
Saturday, December 13th, 2008B: Help, I need somebody.
Y: Ni hao Mark, what’s the problem?
B: dajia hao, wo shi Mark, sit in for Brendan… well there’s no problem here in the Chinese Studio, but I’ve realized I wouldn’t know where to turn in the case of an emergency, so can you help me cover the emergency contingencies this week?
Y: Mei wenti. Here are some keywords to get us rolling.
Key words of the day
passport 护照wallet钱包Stop, thief! 抓小偷! Where’s a police station? 派出所在哪儿？ My bag was stolen 我的包被偷了。What was in it? 包里有什么？ All in today’s Chinese Studio.
B: Although I haven’t had any problems, as yet, it’s better to be safe than sorry, be prepared. So let’s say Y, there he is, stop, thief,
Y: Put your best Chinese tones forward and call out … zhua1 xiao3 tou1.
B: zhua1 xiao3 tou1.
Y: zhua1 means to catch,
B: zhua1,
Y: xiao3 tou1 means thief,
B: xiao3 tou1,
Y: zhua1 xiao3 tou1
B: zhua1 xiao3 tou1, catch a thief,
Conversation 1
A: 抓小偷！
B: 抓小偷！ 别让他跑了。
B: He got away on me. you know that bag has my passport and wallet in it. Where’s a police station?
Y: That was too bad. Firstly, you should learn how to say this, pai4 chu1 suo3 zai4 na3er? Where’s a police station?
B: pai4 chu1 suo3 zai4 na3er?
Y: pai4 chu1 suo3 is a police station,
B: pa4 chu1 suo3,
Y: zai4 na3er literally means at where,
B: zai4 na3er,
Y: pai4 chu1 suo3 zai4 na3er?
B: pai4 chu1 suo3 zai4 na3er? Where’s a police station?
Conversation 2
A: 我的钱包丢了，请问派出所在哪儿？
B: 往前200米。
B: The jing3 cha2, the police are very efficient, as long as I can tell them what happened. My bag was stolen.
Y: They’ll get the general idea if you say it like this: wo3 de bao1 bei4 tou1 le.
B: wo3 de bao1 bei4 tou1 le.
Y: wo3 de means mine,
B: wo3 de,
Y: bao1 is bag,
B: bao1,
Y: the word “bei4” is used to form a passive verbal phrase,
B: bei4,
Y: tou1 means steal,
B: tou1,
Y: wo3 de bao1 bei4 tou1 le.
B: wo3 de bao1 bei4 tou1 le. My bag was stolen.
Conversation 3
A: 出什么事了？
B: 我的包被偷了。
B: The police will probably ask something like, what was in your bag?
Y: Yes they will, they want to know包里有什么? What was in it?
B: bao1 li2 you3 shen2 me?
Y: bao1 means bag, and li3 means inside the bag,
B: bao1 li3,
Y: you3 shen2me, literally means have what?
B: you3 shen2me
Y: bao1 li2 you3 shen2 me?
B: bao1 li2 you3 shen2 me? What was in it?. And to tell them, my passport and wallet?
Y: Remember it’s hu4zhao4, a passport, and a wallet is qian2 bao1,
B: qian2 bao1,
Y: qian2 means money,
B: qian2,
Y: bao1 means a small flat case,
B: bao1,
Y: qian2 bao1,
B:qian2 bao1, a wallet,
Conversation 4
A: 包里有什么？
B: 有我的护照和钱包。
B: Sometimes the glass is half empty, and sometimes half full, that little adventure with a thief will teach me to be more careful in future, cos I always like to see the full part of the glass.
Y: Some lessons are harder than others. But we’ve got an easy question today, how do we say, “passport” in Chinese.
B: Let us know by sending an email to Chinese@crifm.com. Don’t forget, there’s a prize at stake as well. Mingtian jian
(Source:english.cri.cn)
