1.Beauty and Cosmetics美容化妆
Dialogue 1A(Addison)J(James)Addison: How can I help you?
James: I?d like to buy some perfume for my girlfriend.
A: Do you know what kind of scent she usually wears?
J: She usually doesn’t wear anything but a few drops of Chanel No. 5. But I’d like to buy her a new fragrance.
A: Ok, here are some of our most popular perfumes.
J: Which one would you recommend?
A: Personally, I quite like the new perfume by Clinique. It’s a subtle flowery scent. What do you think?
J: That smells great. I’ll take one bottle, please.
A: Would you like to buy any other cosmetics for your girlfriend? We have a full range of products from cosmetics to skin cleansers and moisturizers.
J: That’s ok. She normally just wears a little foundation and some loose powder, and I wouldn’t know what shade to buy.
A: How about some lipstick? Every woman needs a nice tube of red lipstick.
J: She doesn’t usually wear lipstick. She thinks it makes her nose look too big.
A: How about some mascara? That will make her eyes look bigger.
J: No thank you. She has big enough eyes as it is.
A: I know what she would like some whitening cream.
J: No thanks. Western women usually try to make their skin darker, not lighter.
A: Will that be all then?
J: That will be all. You’ve been very helpful, thanks.
安德森:需要我帮你什么?
詹姆斯:我想给我女朋友买点香水。
A:你知道她平常爱用哪种香型的吗?
J:她一般除了香奈儿5号不用别的。但是我想给她买一种新的。
A:好的,这有一些我们卖的特别好的香水。
J:你推荐哪一种?
A:就个人而言,我非常喜欢倩碧的这个新款。属于神秘花香型。你觉得怎么样?
J:闻起来感觉好极了。请给我拿这瓶。
A:你想不想给你女朋友买些其他的化妆品?我们有各种产品,从彩妆到洁肤和润肤用品。
J:没关系。她一般只用一点粉底和散粉,我也不知道该买哪种颜色的。
A:唇膏呢?每个女人都需要一支好口红。
J:她很少用口红。她觉得涂口红会使她的鼻子显得很大。
A:那睫毛膏呢?睫毛膏能使眼睛看起来更大。
J:不用了,谢谢。她的眼睛已经很大了。
A:我想她会喜欢美白润肤霜。
J:不了,谢谢。西方女子通常想让她们的皮肤更黑一些,而不是更白。
A:这些就行了吗?
J:就这些了。你帮了不少忙,谢谢。
2. Feelings情绪
Parker: Why are you in such a good mood today?
Jayden: Well, yesterday, I decided to face my fear of heights.
P: I didn’t know you were scared of heights! Was it really bad?
J: Let me put it this way. I’ve never seen a professional sports game in a stadium because I could never get myself to walk to the top of the stairs to sit down!
P: So what did you do about it yesterday?
J: I went sky?diving!
P: You’re kidding me! That sounds really scary!
J: It was scary, but it felt great, too.
P: Weren’t you scared?
J: Of course I was scared. But I had an instructor that went with me and that helped.
P: So have you cured your fear of heights?
J: I think so. After I jumped out of the plane, I realized that I should just enjoy life. Worrying about it or not doing things out of fear is just plain silly.
P: I’m impressed.
J: Are you scared of anything?
P: Well, sometimes I get scared when I’m in my apartment all by myself.
J: What do you think is going to happen?
P: I always worry that the door is unlocked or that a window is open and that a stranger will come in and steal my things.
J: It sounds like you just need to be more careful.
P:你今天心情怎么这么好?
J:嗯,昨天我下定决心正视自己的恐高问题。
P:我不知道你恐高!严重吗?
J:这么跟你解释吧。我从来没去体育馆看过任何一场职业比赛,因为我不敢从楼梯走上去找座位坐下。
P:那你昨天怎么做的?
J:我去高空跳伞了。
P:你开玩笑吧!这听起来太恐怖了!
J:确实很恐怖,不过感觉棒极了。
P:你不害怕了吗?
J:我当然害怕。不过有个教练一直陪着我,指导我。
P:那你的恐高症就这么好了?
J:我觉得是。从飞机上跳下去的那一刻,我意识到我应该尽情享受生活。总是怕东怕西或者陷入恐惧什么都不敢做,实在是太傻了。
P:我明白了。
J:你有什么害怕的吗?
P:嗯,有时候,我独自一人呆在房间里时会有点害怕。
J:你觉得会发生什么事情吗?
P:我总是担心门或窗没锁,会有小偷进来偷东西。
J:听起来你做事需要更谨慎一些。
3. Is There Any Other Life Out There? 外星生物存在吗?
Ben: Guess what! I know something you don’t know!
Layla: What’s that?
B: How many planets are there in the solar system?
L: That’s easy. Everyone knows that there are nine.
B: Not anymore! Can you believe it? They’ve decided that Pluto is not a planet anymore!
L: Nice try. I wasn’t born yesterday, you know.
B: I’m dead serious. They’ve decided that it’s too small to be a planet, but actually they haven’t yet agreed on how big something has to be in order to be a planet anymore.
L: That sounds crazy. They can’t just change their mind about things like that.
B: Yes, they can. If you remember correctly, people used to believe that the world was flat.
L: I suppose you’re right. They also used to think that they were so important that the sun revolved around them, not the other way around.
B: We actually know relatively little about space and the cosmos.
L: Do you think that we’ll one day be able to travel to another planet for a vacation?
B: I suppose we could actually live on a planet outside of the milky way.
L: Do you think we’ll ever get to meet an alien from outer space?
B: I hope not. I think they would be a threat to those of us that lived on Earth.
L: You’re so old fashioned. That’s what people used to think about people from another country!
B: Point taken. Hopefully one day, we’ll live in an interplanetary society.
B:你猜怎么着?我知道一些你不知道的事情!
L:什么事?
B:你知道太阳系有多少行星吗?
L:很简单。大家都知道有九大行星。
B:现在可不是啦!你相信吗?他们决定取消冥王星的行星资格了。
L:想得美。别哄我了,我又不是昨天才生出来(我又不是三岁的孩子)。
B:我是认真的。他们认为冥王星太小了,不够做行星的资格,不过他们尚未对行星的体积究竟该有多大而达成一致的意见。
L:这听起来简直是疯了!他们不能对这种事情随便乱改主意。
B:是的,他们可以。如果你还记得的话,以前人们曾经认为地球是平的。
L:我觉得你说的有道理。他们过去还认为人类是特别重要的,以至于太阳都是围绕着我们转的,不存在其他运行的方式。
B:可能我们对空间和宇宙的了解只是非常有限的一点点。
L:你觉得未来我们有可能去其它星球度假吗?
B:我想我们可以居住在银河系以外的其他星球上。
L:你觉得咱们会在外太空遇到外星人吗?
B:我希望不会。我觉得他们可能对生活在地球上的人类是一种威胁。
L:你的思想可太老派了。这就好像人们以前对外国人的看法一样!
B:知道啦。希望未来有一天,我们能生活在一个行星际的社会里。
4. Mind Your Posture注意姿态
Isabella: Matthew, do you know much about body language in countries around the world?
Matthew: Sure. I’ve picked up a few things from travelling around for work. Why?
I: Well, I had a meeting today with a woman from Japan and she wouldn’t stop bowing! I didn’t know what to do!
M: Did you bow back?
I: No, I tried to shake her hand, but her hand was so limp I was a bit offended.
M: Well, Japanese businessmen and women typically bow to greet each other in Japan. She might have been offended by your strong handshake.
I: But she was in America! Shouldn’t she have known that strong handshakes in America signify confidence and respect?
M: Things are different in Japan. You know, in some countries, making eye contact with others is considered rude.
I: Is that why she wouldn’t look at me in the meeting?
M: I think it’s highly possible, yes.
I: The meeting really didn’t go down well at all. I think I need to read up about intercultural communication before I have another meeting with someone from another country.
M: That’s a good idea. When you don’t know much about other cultures, the simplest thing can offend someone.
I: That’s so true. It’s great that we see eye to eye on this
.伊莎贝拉:马修,你了解世界各国的身体语言吗?
马修:当然。我工作中有很多出差的机会,了解到一些这方面的知识。怎么了?
I:好哎,我今天参加了一个会议,会上有个日本女子总是不停地鞠躬!我不知道该怎么办!
M:你鞠躬还礼了吗?
I:没有。我试图跟她握手,可是她的手握上去很无力,我好像有点冒犯她了。
M:哦,在日本,谈生意的人无论男女一般都会互相鞠躬致意。你握手那么用力她很可能因此而有点不愉快。
I:但她这是在美国!难道她不知道,在美国用力握手意味着信任和尊重吗?
M:这跟日本的习俗完全不同。你知道吗,在有些国家,直视对方的眼睛被认为是无礼的举动。
I:这就是她为什么在开会时一直不看我的原因吧?
M:我觉得很可能是这个缘故。
I:这次的会晤进行得非常不顺利。我想下次再出席类似这样有外国人参加的会议之前,一定要熟知一些有关跨文化交流方面的知识。
M:这是个好主意。当你对另一种文化缺乏了解的时候,即使是最简单的举止也会冒犯到别人。
I:一点没错。真高兴咱俩对这件事情看法一致。
5. Chinese Food中餐
Morgan: Are you good at cooking?
John: No, but I’m pretty good eating!
M: Do you prefer Chinese food or Western food?
J: Well, to be honest with you, Chinese food is really different from western food.
M: Are you used to the food here?
J: I’m not really used to it yet.
M: What’s your favourite Chinese dish?
J: Like most foreigners, I really like Sweet and Sour Pork and Kung Pao Chicken. I eat them almost every day.
M: Have you tried traditional Chinese dumplings yet?
J: I tried once, but they are quite difficult to eat with chopsticks.
M: You know, foreigners are not expected to use chopsticks proficiently. If you do, you’ll give your Chinese friends quite an impression.
J: That’s good to know. I’d like to try more Chinese food, but since I can’t read any of the menus in the restaurants near my home, it’s difficult to try new food.
M: If you want, I can introduce you to some typical Chinese dishes.
J: That would be great. I really only want to taste real Chinese food, not just the food that foreigners like to eat!
M: If you haven’t tried Beijing duck yet, I’d like to treat you to a meal at a famous duck restaurant near Qianmen. It would be a pity if you left without tasting it!
摩根:你擅长做饭吗?
约翰:不太擅长,不过我是个美食家!
M:你喜欢吃中餐还是西餐?
J:嗯,坦白说,中餐和西餐可是大相径庭。
M:你吃得惯这儿的饭菜吗?
J:还没习惯呢。
M:你最喜欢中餐的哪道菜?
J:和大多数外国人一样,我喜欢吃咕噜肉和宫保鸡丁。我几乎天天都吃。
M:你吃过中国传统的饺子吗?
J:吃过一次,不过用筷子夹太难了。
M:要知道,中国人并不要求老外能对筷子运用自如。但是如果你能用好,会让人对你印象深刻。
J:知道这个真是太好了。我很想品尝更多的中餐,可是我家附近餐馆里的菜单我都读不懂,所以要想尝试新的品种就很困难。
M:如果你愿意,我可以向你介绍几种经典菜式。
J:那可太好了。我是真的想吃正宗的中餐,而不是外国人喜欢吃的那种!
M:如果你还没吃过烤鸭,我请你去前门附近的那家有名的烤鸭店去吃一顿。你要是没吃过烤鸭就离开北京那可太遗憾了!