Dialogue 1

Mark: Well, Jingjing, the Spring Festival is coming up. Are you ready for your cruise?
馬克：京晶，春節就快到了。準備好開啟你的游輪之旅了嗎？
Jingjing: You mean that cruise I booked last fall? That fell through. Didn't I tell you?
京晶：你是說我去年秋天預定的那個嗎？那個計劃落空了。我沒告訴你嗎？
Mark: Maybe you did, and I forgot. Sorry to hear that.
馬克：也許你說了，但是我忘了。很遺憾。
Jingjing: That's all right. The travel agency set me up with a great itinerary for the May holiday. So, I'll be looking forward to that.
京晶：沒關系。旅行社為我安排了一次很棒的五一假期旅行。所以，我很期待這個。
Mark: Oh, that sounds good. But what will you do for the Chinese New Year?
馬克：喲，聽上去不錯呢。那你春節做什么呢？
Jingjing: I'll just fly back to my home town and spend a few days with my parents.
京晶：我就飛回老家，和父母在一起待幾天。
Mark: Was the plane ticket expensive?
馬克：機票貴嗎？
Jingjing: I thought I'd have to pay through the nose. But it was not that much more than the train ticket would have cost.
京晶：我以為要放個血呢。不過也就比一張火車票貴一點而已。
Mark: I'll be flying too, on Spring Festival eve.
馬克：我也要飛。就在除夕夜。
Jingjing: So, you'll miss the Chinese New Year?
京晶：那，你要錯過新年了？
Mark: I don't really think of it that way. I'll still have plenty of chances to eat dumplings in the coming days. And I'm sure CCTV will replay highlights of the gala. Hey, I'll probably stay up until midnight too!
馬克：我倒不這么想。后面這幾天我還有好多機會能吃到餃子呢。而且我確定中央電視臺一定會重播春晚精彩剪輯版。嘿，我也可能會熬到大半夜哦！
Jingjing: It sounds like a win-win, then. I'll be cutting it close, but plan on being back home before dinnertime on the eve.
京晶：聽上去是個雙贏哦（妥妥的），那樣的話，我也能卡著點兒，但是計劃在除夕晚餐前到家。
Mark: It's the world's biggest transportation rush every year. We're lucky not to have to work on those days.
馬克：這是每一年世界上最大的交通運輸高峰。我們很幸運不用在那些日子里工作啊。
Jingjing: I agree. Those people working on planes, trains and buses really have a busy holiday.
京晶：同意。那些在飛機、火車、公交車上工作的人們真是有一個繁忙的假日了。
Mark: Let's hope most of them can get home at least for a day or two.
馬克：讓我們希望他們中的大多數人能回家至少一兩天吧。
Jingjing: Everyone deserves some time to rest with their family.
京晶：每個人都值得擁有和家人在一起的休息時間。

New words: 習語短語

fall through 計劃泡湯，落空
something planned doesn't happen
itinerary 旅行日程
travel plan
pay through the nose 花大錢，放血
pay much more than usual for something
gala 晚會
a big show with many different performances

Dialogue 2

Jingjing: Mark, do Americans have a holiday like the Spring Festival?
京晶：馬克，美國人有春節這樣的節日嗎？
Mark: There's not one that spans so many days.
馬克：沒有一個這么長的。
Jingjing: But there is a time that young people go back to stay with their relatives, right?
京晶：但是也有個時間年輕人們回家看親戚吧？
Mark: People definitely value time with older members of their family—their parents, aunts and uncles, grandparents. But that could be Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter—whatever jives with their work schedule.
馬克：人們確實非常看重和家里的長輩們相處的時光——父母，叔叔阿姨，祖父祖母。那就是感恩節了，圣誕或者復活節。任何能協調好他們工作日程的。
Jingjing: So, people try to visit once a year, at least?
京晶：所以人們至少一年探視一次吧？
Mark: Yeah, and there's not one huge holiday rush—though Christmas is a heavier travel time than any other time of year.
馬克：是的，沒有巨大的假日出行高峰——雖然圣誕也是一年中出行更擁擠的時段。
Jingjing: I heard that families tend to be spread out in many different cities.
京晶：我聽說家人們都各自生活在不同的城市？
Mark: Exactly. That makes it less likely for people to all get together in one place.
馬克：是的。這就讓人們更難在一個地方團聚了。
Jingjing: People face a dilemma in China too. When a woman gets married, she's supposed to visit her husband's parents for the Spring Festival. If her own parents live in a different part of the country, it can be difficult to arrange.
京晶：在中國人們也有這樣的進退兩難。當一個女性結婚后，她應該要去丈夫的父母家過春節。如果她的父母住在另一個城市，那就很難安排了。
Mark: That sounds like a tough choice to make. I've heard of some couples that alternate—one year at the wife's parents, one year at the husband's parents.
馬克：聽上去是個很難的的抉擇啊，我聽說有些夫妻是輪流來——一年去妻子父母家過年，一年去丈夫父母家過年。
Jingjing: That might be a compromise.
京晶：這可能是一種讓步吧。
Mark: Anyway, when I first found out about how people go around visiting as many family members as possible, I thought it was very charming.
馬克：不管怎么說，當我剛了解到人們是怎樣到處走親訪友時，我覺得這（文化）真是太迷人了。
Jingjing: Yeah, it's a nice tradition.
京晶：可不，多么好的傳統。

New words: 習語短語

jive with something 很好地運作、協調
work well with something
dilemma 進退兩難的境地
having to choose one of two options, when both are desired
compromise 妥協，讓步
a way to make everyone satisfied, but not always completely happy