Dialogue 1

Jingjing: Mark, have you travelled much in China?
京晶：馬克，你在中國(guó)旅游得多嗎？
Mark: I've been to most of the major cities.
馬克：我去過(guò)大多數(shù)大城市吧
Jingjing: Which city did you like the best?
京晶：你最喜歡哪個(gè)城市？
Mark: That's hard to say. I enjoy visiting Shenzhen and Guangzhou. The tropical climate is nice for a change. And the food is great.
馬克：很難說(shuō)。我喜歡去深圳和廣州。換換熱帶氣候感受一下還挺好的，食物也很好吃。
Jingjing: Do you think you'd want to live in the south?
京晶：你覺(jué)得你想住在南方嗎？
Mark: Not for long. In the summer it's too hot and humid. In the winter it's still cold, and damp.
馬克：不會(huì)長(zhǎng)住吧。夏天太濕太熱了。冬天也冷，濕冷。
Jingjing: Ha ha. You're hooked on the central heating we have in the north.
京晶：哈哈，你已經(jīng)徹底離不開我們北方的集中供暖了吧。
Mark: I guess you could say so. Also, I like having different seasons.
馬克：我猜你可以這么說(shuō)吧。同樣，我喜歡有分明的四季。
Jingjing: Me too. It's nice to see spring blossoms and autumn leaves.
京晶：我也是。看春花秋葉很美的。
Mark: You said it. It seems like the season is always about to change.
馬克：可不是嗎。看上去就像這季節(jié)隨時(shí)準(zhǔn)備改變。
Jingjing: Can you bear the cold in the north?
京晶：你能忍受北方的寒冷嗎？
Mark: Sure. I grew up in the northern part of the US. So, it wasn't a big surprise when I came here.
馬克：當(dāng)然。我就是在美國(guó)的北部長(zhǎng)大的。所以，但我來(lái)這兒的時(shí)候也沒(méi)覺(jué)得太多意外。
Jingjing: I think Beijing winters are a little too long.
京晶：我覺(jué)得北京的冬天有點(diǎn)長(zhǎng)。
Mark: They do kind of drag on.
馬克：確實(shí)有點(diǎn)拖拉。
Jingjing: It's pretty easy to get cabin fever.
京晶：很容易覺(jué)得（在室內(nèi)）悶得難受。
Mark: That's one of the reasons I look forward to spring every year.
馬克：這也是我每年期待春天的原因之一。

New words: 習(xí)語(yǔ)短語(yǔ)：

major cities 大的、著名的城市
(big, famous cities)
hard to say 很難說(shuō)，不確定
(difficult to say for sure)
hooked on 依賴于，沉迷于
(addicted to, totally reliant on)
central heating 集中供暖
(heating system provided to the public)
drag on 拖的，拖沓的
(last a long time, too long)
cabin fever 悶在屋里難受
(stuck in the house with room mates or family members)

Dialogue 2

Mark: Jingjing, do you think northerners are very different from southerners in China?
馬克：京晶，你覺(jué)得在中國(guó)，北方人和南方人的區(qū)別很大嗎？
Jingjing: They sure are.
京晶：那是當(dāng)然
Mark: How so?
馬克：怎么個(gè)區(qū)別？
Jingjing: Well, northerners are known for being boisterous.
京晶：北方人是出了名的熱鬧活潑
Mark: I thought it was in the south that people had a hot pepper temper.
馬克：我以為是在南方人們脾氣火爆。
Jingjing: That's not quite right. Maybe that has to do with spicy food.
京晶：并不完全正確。也許跟那些辣辣的食物有關(guān)。
Mark: Right. Not all southern food is spicy.
馬克：對(duì)，不知所有的南方食物都是辣的
Jingjing: In general, southerners are a little more low key. They think it's important to be quiet and clever.
京晶：總體來(lái)說(shuō)，南方人稍微低調(diào)一些。他們認(rèn)為成為安靜而機(jī)靈的人更加重要。
Mark: When I visited the south, I got a mellow feeling from the people there.
馬克：當(dāng)我去南方的時(shí)候，我在人們那里感到了一種平和。
Jingjing: Yeah. Meanwhile, in the north, people seem more passionate.
京晶：是的。同時(shí)，在北方，人們看上去更充滿激情。
Mark: Hmm, people do talk more loudly in the north.
馬克：嗯，在北方，人們確實(shí)更大聲地說(shuō)話。
Jingjing: Does it bother you how noisy people are sometimes?
京晶：人們有時(shí)候會(huì)非常吵鬧，這一點(diǎn)煩擾你嗎？
Mark: Nah, it's kind of cool.
馬克：不會(huì)。還挺酷的。
Jingjing: But the mellow lifestyle of southerners is cool too, right?
京晶: 但是南方人的那種平和的生活方式也很酷，對(duì)嗎？
Mark: Yes. It's just as cool, just different.
馬克：是的，一樣酷，不同的酷罷了

New words: 習(xí)語(yǔ)短語(yǔ)：

boisterous 大聲的，外向的，熱鬧的
(loud, jovial, outgoing, maybe bothersome to people nearby)
a hot pepper temper 爆脾氣
(easily angered)
low key 低調(diào)的，放松的，隨和的
(relaxed, calm, easygoing)
a mellow feeling 一種平靜的，淡定的感覺(jué)
(a feeling of calmness)
passionate 有熱情的，興奮的，熱鬧的
(excited, fun)