Dialogue 1
Jingjing: Mark, are you okay? You look a little tired.
京晶：馬克，你還好嗎？看上去有點疲憊呢。
Mark: I'm alright. Don't worry about it.
馬克：我還行，沒事別擔心。
Jingjing: Your eyes are red, and you don't seem as relaxed as usual. Have you been getting enough sleep?
京晶：你眼睛紅了，你看著也不像平時那么放松，你最近睡眠夠嗎？
Mark: I've been sleeping like a log. It's the daytime that's a problem.
馬克：我一直睡眠挺好，睡得很沉。問題在于白天。
Jingjing: So, what's up?
京晶：那怎么了呢？
Mark: What's up and what's down—you could ask. I have construction above and below me where I live.
馬克：你倒是可以問我，上面怎么了，下面怎么了，我住的地方樓上樓下都在搞裝修。
Jingjing: This is the time of year for it! So, two houses in your building are being remodelled, right?
京晶：這不就是一年中裝修的時節嗎？所以說，你那棟樓兩戶人家都在重裝房子是嗎？
Mark: Yeah, one directly below me is being totally gutted, while another a few floors up is having some work done.
馬克：是的，正樓下那家屋里全部拆了重來，幾層樓上的另一戶有些裝修要干。
Jingjing: That must be pretty noisy!
京晶：那一定很吵吧！
Mark: My nerves are taking a beating. All that drilling noise really puts me on edge.
馬克：我的神經真是受大罪了。那些鉆頭的聲音簡直讓我煩躁極了。
Jingjing: But the workers are only allowed to make noise during the daytime. Aren't you usually out at work then?
京晶：可是工人們只被允許在白天時發出噪音吧。你通常那個時候不是出門上班了嗎？
Mark: I am. But yesterday was my day off. I was hoping to chillax and catch up on some work, kinda do half and half—but I couldn't do anything.
馬克：我是啊。但是我昨天休息啊。我本打算好好放松一下，然后趕點工作，或者說都平均做點，但什么也做不了。
Jingjing: Why didn't you get out of there and go to a coffee shop or something?
京晶：那你為什么不出門，去個咖啡店什么的？
Mark: I did. I couldn't even hear myself think. I had to go downstairs and ask the workers to stop for a few minutes so I could concentrate enough to gather my keys and stuff.
馬克：我做了。我都聽不見我自己在想什么（完全無法集中注意）。我不得不下樓請工人們停幾分鐘，這樣我才能集中注意力拿好鑰匙和東西。
Jingjing: Were they nice about it?
京晶：他們態度好嗎？
Mark: Yeah, they were pretty friendly.
馬克：嗯，還挺友善的。

New words：習語短語
sleep like a log 睡得沉
sleep deeply without moving
remodel 重整，裝修
workers make major changes inside a building (not building construction, not decoration) (“Construction” is sometimes used as a general word for this work.)
gut (v) 內部完全拆除
totally remove the insides of something (for a house, this would mean taking out the non-load-bearing walls, pulling up the flooring, etc.)
put on edge 讓人精神極度緊張
make someone nervous
chillax 放松休息
chill and relax
can't hear think 太吵而無法集中注意力
a place is too noisy/chaotic

Dialogue 2
Jingjing: That's good, at least.
京晶：至少，這還不錯。
Mark: Also, when I talked with the workers, they told me it would just be a month of heavy noise.
馬克：還有，我跟工人們交流時，他們告訴我重噪音只持續一個月左右。
Jingjing: You're lucky then. Last spring, my neighbors redid their bathroom and kitchen, and put in new floors. It took three or four months. I couldn't spend any time at home except at night.
京晶：那你算幸運了。去年春天，我鄰居重做了衛生間和廚房，換了新地板。花了三四個月。我在屋里根本沒法兒呆，除了晚上。
Mark: Wow, that must have sucked!
馬克：哇哦，那可真是太難受了。
Jingjing: It did; and it was the kind of work where it was noisy for a while, then not so much, then super noisy again.
京晶：可不是嗎，還是那種先喧鬧一會兒，然后消停一下，然后又噪聲巨大地來一會兒。
Mark: You must have spent a lot of time at coffee shops.
馬克：那你一定在咖啡店呆了不少時候。
Jingjing: Well, you know me, I don't drink coffee. So, I just came in to the office earlier every day. My boss was pretty happy those months.
京晶：你知道我的，我不喝咖啡。所以我就每天早點去辦公室，那幾個月我老板還挺高興的。
Mark: Jeez, you'd think spring would be the time to enjoy blossoming trees and warm weather. But everywhere, it's noisier than at other times of year.
馬克：天了嚕，本來你想的是春天是個多好的在暖意洋洋中賞賞花的時節，但是到處，你都發現比哪個季節都吵得厲害。
Jingjing: Hmm, all the extra noise in spring has gotten me out of doors more. Last year, because of the construction, I got in the habit of taking morning walks.
京晶：所有這些春季的噪聲都讓我出門更多了。去年，因為這些裝修，我養成了早上散步的習慣。
Mark: That's a great way to start the day. It's better than what I do.
馬克：那還真是一個開始一天的好方法。比我做的強。
Jingjing: Um, what do you do?
京晶：你做了什么？
Mark: I drink coffee. I've already burned through half of my allowance.
馬克：我喝咖啡，都已經花完一半工資了。
Jingjing: Haha, you're so careless! We're only one-third through this month.
京晶：哈哈，你太大意了。這個月才剛過了三分之一呢。
Mark: I know, right. Anyway, the weather's getting perfect for sitting out in the park.
馬克：我知道呢。對了，這天氣很合適去公園里坐坐。
Jingjing: So, if you run out of money before you run out of month, you can have picnics and bring your notebook PC out into the sun.
京晶：所以，如果你一個月沒過完就把這月錢花完了，你可以野餐嘛，帶著你的筆記本電腦來陽光下工作。
Mark: That sounds alright! Thanks for cheering me up!
馬克：這主意聽著挺好的，謝謝讓我打起精神來。

New words ：習語短語
redo 重新整修
remodel/fix (informal)
burn through 花，花光
spend, use up
run out of money before run out of month 月沒過完這月錢先花完了
spend your monthly money before the month is over