1. Dialogues
PART ONE
(Maggie and John are talking at the lounge of the company.)
M: Hi John, how are you doing today?
J: Pretty good. And you?
M: Not so good.
J: What’s up?
M: I was late for work. And my boss was unhappy with me about it.
J: What happened?
M: It was raining heavily when I left home this morning, so the traffic was jammed.
J: Then how did you come to work?
M: You know, I usually drive my car to the company, but today my husband drove it to Shanghai for a business meeting.
J: So what?
M: I had to take a bus. But unfortunately, all the buses, cars, e-bikes and other vehicles were piled up in the streets, and the bus I took was terribly slow.
J: Poor Maggie, you had a bad day today!
PART TWO
J: Maggie, where do you live?
M: I live in Xindu Community, Suzhou Industrial Park.
J: How far is it from your home to the company?
M: It’s about twenty minutes driving. But it will take at least forty-five minutes if by bus.
J: What does your husband do?
M: He is a Production Engineer at an American Company.
J: How many people are in your family?
M: There are four people including me in my family.
J: Who are the others?
M: They are my mother-in-law, my daughter and my husband.
J: How old is your daughter?
M: She is three years old.
J: Is she the only child in your family?
M: Sure. You should know the One-child Policy in our country.
J: Then who is taking care of your little daughter?
M: My mother-in-law during weekdays. But I usually take care of her myself on weekends.
J: Do you have any relatives in Suzhou?
M: Yes, I have two cousins living in Suzhou New District.
PART THREE
M: John, are you married?
J: Yes, I was.
M: What do you mean by “was”?
J: That means I got married decades ago, but now my wife and I are divorced.
M: Sorry. But do you have any children?
J: Of course, I have two sons and a daughter.
M: What are they doing now?
J: My older son has just graduated from college, my younger son goes to high school, and my daughter is a primary school student.
M: Where are they now?
J: My two sons are staying with me in Austin, Texas. You know, that’s the home state of our former President Bush, he is from a wealthy Oil Family.
M: Really? I never heard about it. What about your daughter?
J: She is living together with my ex-wife in New York.
M: I see. Do you miss them?
J: Sure I do. But you see, I have so many Chinese friends like you, I’m not feeling homesick.
M: Sure you shouldn’t.
J: Oh, Maggie, I guess we have to go back to work now.
M: Oh, my God! It’s already one o’clock in the afternoon. Let’s hurry up!
J: Please say “Hi” to your mother-in-law and your husband!
M: I will. Thank you!
2. New Words and Phrases:
lounge [ ] 休息室
pretty [ ] 很，相当
boss [ ] 老板， 主人
unhappy [ ] 不高兴
happen [ ] 发生
heavily [ ] 重，大
traffic [ ] 交通，交通状况
family [ ] 家庭
e-bike [ ] 电动车
vehicles [ ] 车辆
pill [ ] 堆积
terribly [ ] 可怕地
slow [ ] 慢
jam [ ] 挤压
drive [ ] 驾驶
husband [ ] 丈夫
unfortunately [ ] 不幸地，运气不佳地
Suzhou New District (SND) [ ] 苏州新区
production [ ] 生产
engineer [ ] 工程师
include [ ] 包括
mother-in law 岳母
daughter [ ] 女儿
only child [ ] 独生子女
One-child Policy [ ] 独生子女政策
country [ ] 国家
cousin [ ] 堂/表兄弟姐妹
during [ ] 在 。。。期间
weekday [ ] 工作日，周一至周五
weekend [ ] 周末，周六和周日
relative [ ] 亲戚
be married [ ] 已婚的
decade [ ] 十年
divorce [ ] 离婚
children [ ] 小孩，儿童
graduate [ ] 毕业
primary [ ] school 小学
college [ ] 大学，学院
Austin, Texas [ ] 奥斯汀市，得克萨斯州
home state [ ] 老家
former [ ] 以前的
president [ ] 总统，总裁
wealthy [ ] 富有的
Oil Family[ ] 石油世家
ex-wife [ ] 前妻
feel [ ] 感觉
homesick [ ] 思乡，想家
miss [ ] 想念
guess [ ] 猜想
hurry [ ] 匆忙，快点
younger [ ] 较年青的
3. Sentence Patterns and Expressions
small talk 闲谈
how are you doing? 你好吗？
pretty good. 很好！
not so good. 不太好。
what’s up？什么事？
what happened? 发生什么了
traffic is jammed. 交通堵塞了。
be piled up 堆积，拥挤
how did you come to work? 你怎么来上班的？
to take a bus 坐公交车。
you had a bad day! 你今天真倒霉！
where do you live? 你住在哪儿？
it will take … by …. … 要花 …（时间）
at least 至少
how many … are in …? … 有多少人？
do you have any …? 你有…吗？
there are … people in … 我家有…人。
who are they? 他们是谁？
to take care of … 照顾
what do you mean by… 你说 。。。是什么意思
to graduate from college. 从大学毕业。
to go to … school. 上…学校。
to stay with … 与 。。。在一起
I never heard about it 我从未听说过
to live together with … 与 。。。住在一起，与 。。。同居
do you miss …? 你想念…吗？
sure I do. 确实是的。
I’m not feeling … 我不感觉…
sure you shouldn’t 当然你不应该
I guess … 我想…
to go back to work. 回去工作。
Let’s hurry up! 快一点！
please say “Hi” to…! 请向...问好。
4. Text Translation in Chinese
在 公 司 里 闲 谈
第一部分：
（麦吉和约翰在公司的餐厅里聊天）
M：嗨，约翰，今天好吗？
J：很好，你呢？
M：不怎么好。
J：怎么回事？
M：我上班迟到了，我的老板为此对我很不高兴。
J：发生什么事了？
M：今天早上我离开家的时候雨下得很大，所以交通堵塞了。
J：那你是怎么来上班的呢？
M：你知道的，通常我自己开车上班，但今天我老公把车开到上海开会去了。
J：那又怎么了呢？
M：我乘了公交车。可是所有的公交车、汽车、电动车和其他车辆都在路上挤满了，因此我坐的公交车慢得可怕。
J：可怜的麦吉，你今天真倒霉！
第二部分：
J: 麦吉, 你住在哪儿？
M：我住在苏州工业园区新都花园。
J: 从你家到公司有多远？
M：大概有20分钟车程。但是如果乘公交车就要至少花45分钟。
J：你先生是做什么的？
M：他是一家美资企业的生产工程师。
J：你家里有几口人呢？
M：我家里连我有四口人。
J：其他人是谁？
M：他们是我的婆婆、我的女儿和我的先生。
J：你的女儿多大了？
M：她3岁了。
J：她是你们家的独生女吗“
M：当然。你应该知道我们国家的独生子女政策。
J：那么谁在照顾你们的小女儿呢？
M：平常工作日是我婆婆，但周末通常是我自己。
J：你在苏州还有亲戚吗？
M：我有两个表亲住在苏州新区。
第三部分：
M: 约翰，你结过婚了吗？
J: 是的，曾经。
M:“曾经”是什么意思？
J: 那就是说我二十年前曾经结过婚，但现在我老婆跟我离婚了。
M: 抱歉！那你有小孩吗？
J: 当然，我有两个儿子和一个女儿。
M: 他们现在在做什么？
J: 我的大儿子刚从大学毕业，小儿子读高中，还有一个小女儿是小学生。
M：他们现在在哪儿？
J：我的两个儿子跟我一起在得克萨斯州的奥斯汀，你知道那是我们前布什总统的老家，他来自一个富有的石油世家。
M：真的吗？我从未听说过。那你女儿呢？
J：她与我前妻一起住在纽约。
M: 哦。你想他们吗？
J: 当然想。不过你知道，由于我有这么多象你这样的中国朋友，我并不感到想家。
M: 当然你不该的。
J: 哦，麦吉，我想我们现在得回去工作了！
M: 哦，我的天啊！已经下午一点钟了，快点走吧！
J: 回去代问你婆婆和先生好！
M: 我会的，谢谢！
