Make everyday Earth day
極簡生活

Dialogue 1

Jingjing: What's happening, Mark? Did you do anything special for Earth Day?
京晶：你怎么樣，馬克？有為世界地球日做點什么特別的事嗎？
Mark: You mean like give presents or eat cake?
馬克：你是指送禮物，或者吃蛋糕？
Jingjing: No, of course it's not that kind of holiday.
京晶：不是，當然不是那種意義的節假日了。
Mark: Well, I usually make one change each year to reduce my carbon footprint. Last year, I stopped buying bottled water and started carrying around this metal one.
馬克：我通常每一年做一個改變來減少我的碳足跡。去年，我已經停止了購買瓶裝水，開始帶著這個金屬瓶。
Jingjing: Yeah, I've seen you carrying that same blue bottle. What else do you do?
京晶：是呢，一直看見你拿著同一個藍瓶。還做了別的什么？
Mark: Um, I also try to use fewer plastic bags. At home I have some cloth bags I bring with me for shopping.
馬克：我也盡量少用塑料袋。我家里有一些布袋我就帶著它們購物。
Jingjing: I do that also. And you'll hardly ever see me with a plastic bottle.
京晶：我也這樣做。你幾乎看不見我用塑料瓶。
Mark: That's good. But I really don't have any ideas what I could change this year.
馬克：這很好。但是我今年要做點什么改變我還真沒想好。
Jingjing: Do you take taxis often?
京晶：你經常打車嗎？
Mark: Naw, I cut that out a long time ago, not just because it was bad for the environment but also because it was eating up my money every month.
馬克：不，很久以前就不再打了，不僅因為對環境不太好，還因為花了我不少錢呢。
Jingjing: Well, you're not very wasteful. Let me try to think of something. I'll have more ideas next time I see you.
京晶：你也不是很浪費啊。讓我試著想出點什么，下次見面的時候我會有些想法的。
Mark: You've got work to do, I see. Let's talk after you're finished with it.
馬克：你有工作要忙了，了解。你忙完我們再聊。
Jingjing: Great. See you soon.
京晶：好。一會兒見。

New words: 習語短語

carbon footprint 碳足跡
the amount of resources consumed and pollution caused by one person (or company)
cut that out 在生活中戒掉
quit it, remove it from your lifestyle
eating up 消費過多
using, consuming too much

Dialogue 2

Mark: Jingjing, are you all done with work for the day?
馬克：京晶，今天的工作都做完了嗎？
Jingjing: I've finished what I need to do in the office. I'll do a bit more once I get home.
京晶：我已經完成了辦公室里需要完成的部分?；氐郊液筮€要再做一點。
Mark: I'm heading out now too. Let's ride the subway together.
馬克：我也要出發了。我們一起坐地鐵吧。
Jingjing: Sure. Hey, I gave some thought to your Earth Day question.
京晶：好啊。對了，我想了想你地球日的那個問題。
Mark: Yeah, don't hold back.
馬克：那你不妨直說
Jingjing: Well, do you get together with friends often?
京晶：你經常和朋友聚嗎？
Mark: I know where you're going with that. I used to be more of a social butterfly. Now I just see friends once a week or so, and put them together instead of running around town to meet different people.
馬克：我知道你想說什么。我過去更善于交際，現在我差不多一周就見一次朋友，都約在一起見而不是跑來跑去見不同的人。
Jingjing: That's what I was gonna suggest.
京晶：這就是我正想建議的。
Mark: My cell phone was broken for a few weeks, and I realized how nice it was not to have to answer calls and messages all the time.
馬克：我手機壞了好幾周了，我這才意識到不用隨時隨地接電話回信息是多好的事。
Jingjing: I'm glad my cell phone worked last week. A friend of mine broke up with her boyfriend and needed someone to talk to for a few hours at a coffee shop. I'm glad I saw the message.
京晶：我很慶幸我的電話上周是好的。我的一個朋友和她男友分手了，需要有人在咖啡店陪她聊上幾小時，還好我看到了這條信息。
Mark: Yeah, you never know when your friends are really gonna need you.
馬克：是啊，你永遠不知道你的朋友什么時候真的需要你。
Jingjing: Right. On the other hand, someone I hardly know invited me to a big party. I wanted to lie and tell them I was broke, but ended up spending a lot of money to go there.
京晶：是的，另一方面，我不熟的人邀我去個大派對，我本想撒個慌說我沒錢去，結果不但去了還花了好多錢。
Mark: Well, hopefully you had a good time. It's hit or miss with social stuff like that.
馬克：好吧，希望你玩得開心了。那樣的社交活動都是去了以后才知道。
Jingjing: I agree. I guess it's not wasteful.
京晶：同意。我想也還行吧，不算浪費。

New words: 習語短語

don't hold back 別猶豫，別介意，盡管做
don't hesitate to tell me something, even if it might upset me
where you're going 接下來可能要說的
what you are likely to say next
a social butterfly 善于交際的人
someone who has many friends and is always shifting their attention from one to another
hit or miss 嘗試后才知值不值得
not always likely to succeed (or be worthwhile), so that one doesn't know until after they've tried each time