英语PK台 第666期:春节,我们千山万水聚团圆

 Dialogue 1

Mark: Well, Jingjing, the Spring Festival is coming up. Are you ready for your cruise 1?
马克：京晶，春节就快到了。准备好开启你的游轮之旅了吗？
Jingjing: You mean that cruise I booked last fall? That fell through. Didn't I tell you?
京晶：你是说我去年秋天预定的那个吗？那个计划落空了。我没告诉你吗？
Mark: Maybe you did, and I forgot. Sorry to hear that.
马克：也许你说了，但是我忘了。很遗憾。
Jingjing: That's all right. The travel agency 2 set me up with a great itinerary 3 for the May holiday. So, I'll be looking forward to that.
京晶：没关系。旅行社为我安排了一次很棒的五一假期旅行。所以，我很期待这个。
Mark: Oh, that sounds good. But what will you do for the Chinese New Year?
马克：哟，听上去不错呢。那你春节做什么呢？
Jingjing: I'll just fly back to my home town and spend a few days with my parents. 
京晶：我就飞回老家，和父母在一起待几天。
Mark: Was the plane ticket expensive?
马克：机票贵吗？
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：我以为要放个血呢。不过也就比一张火车票贵一点而已。
Mark: I'll be flying too, on Spring Festival eve.
马克：我也要飞。就在除夕夜。
Jingjing: So, you'll miss the Chinese New Year?
京晶：那，你要错过新年了？
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 4 of the gala. Hey, I'll probably stay up until midnight too!
马克：我倒不这么想。后面这几天我还有好多机会能吃到饺子呢。而且我确定中央电视台一定会重播春晚精彩剪辑版。嘿，我也可能会熬到大半夜哦！
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：听上去是个双赢哦（妥妥的），那样的话，我也能卡着点儿，但是计划在除夕晚餐前到家。
Mark: It's the world's biggest transportation 5 rush every year. We're lucky not to have to work on those days.
马克：这是每一年世界上最大的交通运输高峰。我们很幸运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。那些在飞机、火车、公交车上工作的人们真是有一个繁忙的假日了。
Mark: Let's hope most of them can get home at least for a day or two.
马克：让我们希望他们中的大多数人能回家至少一两天吧。
Jingjing: Everyone deserves 6 some time to rest with their family.
京晶：每个人都值得拥有和家人在一起的休息时间。
New words: 习语短语
fall through 计划泡汤，落空
something planned doesn't happen
itinerary 旅行日程
travel plan
pay through the nose 花大钱，放血
pay much more than usual for something
gala 晚会 
a big show with many different performances
Dialogue 2
Jingjing: Mark, do Americans have a holiday like the Spring Festival?
京晶：马克，美国人有春节这样的节日吗？
Mark: There's not one that spans 7 so many days.
马克：没有一个这么长的。
Jingjing: But there is a time that young people go back to stay with their relatives, right?
京晶：但是也有个时间年轻人们回家看亲戚吧？
Mark: People definitely 8 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.
马克：人们确实非常看重和家里的长辈们相处的时光——父母，叔叔阿姨，祖父祖母。那就是感恩节了，圣诞或者复活节。任何能协调好他们工作日程的。
Jingjing: So, people try to visit once a year, at least?
京晶：所以人们至少一年探视一次吧？
Mark: Yeah, and there's not one huge holiday rush—though Christmas is a heavier travel time than any other time of year.
马克：是的，没有巨大的假日出行高峰——虽然圣诞也是一年中出行更拥挤的时段。
Jingjing: I heard that families tend to be spread out in many different cities.
京晶：我听说家人们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.
马克：是的。这就让人们更难在一个地方团聚了。
Jingjing: People face a dilemma 9 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 10.
京晶：在中国人们也有这样的进退两难。当一个女性结婚后，她应该要去丈夫的父母家过春节。如果她的父母住在另一个城市，那就很难安排了。
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.
马克：听上去是个很难的的抉择啊，我听说有些夫妻是轮流来——一年去妻子父母家过年，一年去丈夫父母家过年。
Jingjing: That might be a compromise 11.
京晶：这可能是一种让步吧。
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 12.
马克：不管怎么说，当我刚了解到人们是怎样到处走亲访友时，我觉得这（文化）真是太迷人了。
Jingjing: Yeah, it's a nice tradition.
京晶：可不，多么好的传统。
New words: 习语短语
jive with something 很好地运作、协调
work well with something
dilemma 进退两难的境地
having to choose one of two options, when both are desired
compromise 妥协，让步
a way to make everyone satisfied, but not always completely happy