| mài kè: | Mĕi gè zhōng guó rén dōu yŏu zì jĭ de shǔ xiàng ma? |
| 麦克： | 每个中国人都有自己的属相吗？ |
| Mike: | Does every Chinese have his or her own animal sign? |
| lì li: | Duì. Shēng xiāo shì zhōng guó chuán tŏng wén huà de zhòng yào zǔ chéng bù fèn. |
| 丽丽： | 对。生肖是中国传统文化的重要组成部分。 |
| Lili: | Yes. The zodiac is an important part of traditional Chinese culture. |
| mài kè: | Shēng xiāo zhĭ de shì nă shí èr zhŏng dòng wù? |
| 麦克： | 生肖指的是哪十二种动物？ |
| Mike: | What are the 12 animals of the zodiac? |
| lì li: | Tā men shì shǔ, niú, hǔ, tù, lóng, shé, mă, yáng, hóu, jī, gŏu, zhū. |
| 丽丽： | 它们是鼠、牛、虎、兔、龙、蛇、马、羊、猴、鸡、狗、猪。 |
| Lili: | They are rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog and boar. |
| mài kè: | Jīn nián shì shén me nián? |
| 麦克： | 今年是什么年？ |
| Mike: | What year is this year? |
| lì li: | Jīn nián shì hóu nián. |
| 丽丽： | 今年是猴年。 |
| Lili: | This year is the Year of the Monkey. |
| mài kè: | Nà me míng nián jiù shì jī nián le? |
| 麦克： | 那么明年就是鸡年了? |
| Mike: | So next year is the Year of the Rooster, isn’t it? |
| lì li: | Duì. Jī nián shĭ yú èr líng líng wǔ nián èr yuè jiǔ rì chūn jié. |
| 丽丽： | 对。鸡年始于2005年2月9日春节。 |
| Lili: | Yes. It will start with the Spring Festival on February 9, 2005. |
| mài kè: | Nĭ shì shǔ jī de ma? |
| 麦克： | 你是属鸡的吗？ |
| Mike: | Were you born in the Year of the Rooster? |
| lì li: | Bú shì. Wŏ shǔ hóu. Jīn nián shì wŏ de bĕn mìng nián. |
| 丽丽： | 不是。我属猴。今年是我的本命年。 |
| Lili: | No. I was born in the Year of the Monkey. This year is my animal year. |
| mài kè: | Wŏ bĭ nĭ dà liăng suì, wŏ yīng gāi shì shǔ……？ |
| 麦克： | 我比你大两岁，我应该是属……？ |
| Mike: | I am two years older than you, Was I born in the Year of…? |
| lì li: | Nĭ yīng gāi shì shǔ mă. |
| 丽丽： | 你应该是属马。 |
| Lili: | You were born in the Year of the Horse.
(Source: china.org.cn) |
Archive for October 1st, 2009
Cir – Lesson 463
Thursday, October 1st, 2009China Travel – Datong
Thursday, October 1st, 2009Datong, situated in the far north of Shanxi Province , covers a total area of 14,112.56 square kilometers, with an average elevation of 700 to 1,400 meters. The city has a population of 2.848 million, about 60% of which is in rural areas. Datong has ethnic minority groups like Mongolian, Manchu, Tibetan, Hui, Miao, Korean, etc., and the Han people make up 99.6%.
Datong, with a long history and located at a strategic place, was once a capital of the country in ancient times, the capital city of two non-Han Chinese dynasties and a town of military importance in four dynasties. Datong enjoys convenient transport and communications, and boasts rich mineral resources and solid industrial foundation. It is now an energy and heavy chemical base in China, and is especially famous for coal production, which wins it the name of the “capital of coal”.
The finest of the city’s marvelous natural sites is a magnificent series of Yungang Grottoes built in the Northern Wei Dynasty (386-534), just west of the city. Yungang Grottoes, Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes and Luoyang Grottoes are called China‘s three major grottoes, which are of very high artistic value.
The most beautiful landscape in Datong is Hengshan, one of the five holy mountains of Taoism. At the foot of Hengshan Mountain, there is the almost unbelievable Midair Temple, which lies against cliffs and stays high up in the air, and is acclaimed as the peak of perfection.
(Source: chinaculture.org)
Chinese Conversation – lesson 581
Thursday, October 1st, 2009莎莉靠着办公室电梯的门
小陈：我是妳的话就不会靠着电梯门。
莎莉：（站直转身）为什么？看起来蛮坚固的啊。
小陈：就在前几个月，有个新闻报导说一个小女孩因此而丧命。
莎莉：你是说真的吗？怎么可能会有那种事？
小陈：电梯门的底部没有密合，她一压到就打开了。
莎莉：好恐怖！这种死法真惨！我怎么没听到那个新闻？
小陈：也许上不了英文新闻，可是中文媒体有大幅报导。
莎莉：我敢说那一定会有一连串的诉讼。
Sally is leaning against the door in an office elevator
Chen: I wouldn’t lean against that elevator door if I were you.
Sally: [Stands upright and turns] Why? It seems sturdy enough.
Chen: Just the other month, there was a report of a little girl who died by doing that.
Sally: Are you serious? How could that happen?
Chen: The elevator door wasn’t attached at the bottom and opened as soon as she pressed against it.
Sally: Scary! What a horrible way to die! Why didn’t I hear about that in the news?
Chen: Maybe it didn’t make it into the English news, but the Chinese press covered it in a major way.
Sally: I bet that caused an explosion of lawsuits.
(Source: wwenglish.com)
