I: Good morning my name is Jancy. Could you tell me your full name, please?

C: My name is Xiao Ying. But you can call me Margaret.

I: That’s great and who gave you that name?

C: My former English teacher gave that to me. She said I reminded her of Margaret Thatcher.

I: Interesting. Can you tell me where you are from?

C: Sure. I am from Beijing.

I: May I see your identification please?

C: Here you go.

I: Now just to start out, I’d like to ask a few questions about you. Are you currently working or are you a student?

C: I am currently a student at University.

I: Right and what is your major?

C: My major is in Engineering.

I: Why did you choose to study engineering? Did you make the choice by yourself?

C: Well in a way but I was also steered that way by my parents. They wanted me to have a good technical job.

I: Well, even though you were influenced by them, do you still like your major?

C: Yes I do. An engineer is a creator and a manager at the same time. I like learning about how to solve new problems.

I: Is there anything about your major that you don’t particularly like?

C: Well at times I found it a bit tedious, because you have to study a lot of technical terms and information.

I: Well how about when you are not studying. Let’s now talk about what you like doing in your spare time? Do you have any hobbies and interests?

C: Yes one thing I enjoy doing is playing bridge.

I: Really I didn’t know Bridge was popular in China. How did you get yourself interested in this game?

C: Well I learned it, actually, when I was a teenager.

My uncle had learned it while he was a college student and he enjoys playing it quite regularly.

So whenever he came to our house, he would play with my father and mother. And one day he allowed me to join them.

I: When you do get time off from school during your holidays, what do you usually do?

C: Uh, well different things. I mean, sometimes, I go traveling. I think the main thing I try to do is to catch up on sleep.

I: You say you sometimes go traveling. Well let’s talk about a little bit about traveling and transport. If you are going on a long trip, how do you prefer to travel?

C: To tell you the truth, I’m a bit scared of planes, and of course they are more expensive. So I guess my favorite way is to go by train, so long as the train is not too crowded.

I: In your country what do people prefer using for long trips?

C: Planes are getting more popular, but the problem is that they are still so expensive. Of course, a train is still the most effective way. A lot of people are using rented car and vans now. But you sometimes need permission to drive from one place to another.

I: Has transportation changed much in the past 20 years?

C: Well in China people are very crazy about cars and so if you go to any major city in China, you will see a lot more cars on the road than there were ever used to be.