Language Corner

Dear Readers,It's December once more, and time for the Language Corner annual "examination. " Questions have been taken from column exercises throughout the year. The test will give you an idea of your progress in Chinese, and also help us to see what changes could be made to improve the column. So give it a try!There will be one super prize, two first prizes, five second prizes, and ten third prizes.We appreciate your participation, and wish you success.-Ed.Please mail your answers to the following address by the end of February 2003:News Center, China Today24 Baiwanzhuang Street, Xicheng District, Beijing, China 100037     

LANGUAGE CORNER

地点:上海浦东机场入境大厅、海关Site:Arrivals Hall and Customs,Pudong Airport, Shanghai 人物:杰克.乔治、边防官员、海关官员Characters:Jack George, Immigration Inspector, Customs Officer 会话Dialogue (乔治走向入境检查处) (George going through Immigration Control) 边防官员:先生,您的入境登记卡呢? Bianfang Guanyuan:Xiansheng,nin de rujing dengjika     

Language Corner

1. Chinese OperaPeople who have been to the 公园 gongyuan(parks) of Beijing are always impressed by suchsights as this: a group of people sitting in a circlesomewhere out of the way, practicing Chinese oper-a with 伴奏 banzou (accompaniment) on erhu.These people, who gather 自发 zifa(spontaneously) to enjoy themselves by listening toor performing Chinese opera, are what we call 戏迷ximi (opera fans).Chinese opera fans used to comprise mostly se-nior citizens and 退休 tuixiu (retired) people.…     

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I. Collecting收藏shoucang (collecting) can be dated backlong into Chinese history. In ancient times, collectors 珍藏zhencang (collected) exquisite and refinedartworks, including 书法 shufa (calligraphy), 中国co Zhongguohua (Chinese painting) and art utensilssuch as 笔墨 bimo (brush and ink) and 砚台yantai(inkslab). This may explain why 绘画 huihua(painting) and works of calligraphy have been celebrated in China over thousands of years. But ofcourse, it was only 文人 wenren (men of letters)an…     

LANGUAGE CORNER

地点:中国旅行社驻外分社营业部Setting:China Travel Service,Overseas Branch人物:杰克·乔治、黄先生Characters:Jack George and Mr.Huang会话 Dialogue乔治:您好,我是杰克·乔治。我想自己去中国。Qiaozhi:Nin hao,wo shi Jieke Qiaozhi.Wo xiong ziji quZhongguo.George:Hello,my name's Jack George.I'd like to goto China by myself.黄先生:您好。您想去哪儿呢?     

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Columns1.SportsinChinaItis有目共睹youmugongdu(obvioustoanyonewitheyes)thatChinese体育tiyu(sports)havemadegreatadvancesoverthepastfewdecades.Intherecently结束jieshu(concluded)Sydney奥运会Aoyunhui(OlympicGames)Chinese体育健儿tiyujian'er(athletes)landedmore金牌jinpai(goldmedals)and奖牌jiangpai(medals)thananyoftheirpredecessors.ThisachievementcanbeattributedtoChina'sflourishingsportsindustry.Inthefirstplace,inrecentyearsthenumberof赛事saishi(sportsgames)heldhasconsiderablyincreasedanda联赛lian…     

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Ⅰ. A Chinese FriendI 认识 renshi (know) a good Chinese friend,who is an English 老师 laoshi(teacher) of 北京语言学院 Beijing Yuyan Xueyuan (Beijing Languages Institute). His work keeps him very busy. His wife isalso a teacher, who teaches English at 清华大学Qinghua Daxue (Qinghua University). She works 努力 nuli (hard). The couple have a four-year-old 女儿 nu'er (daughter) named Xiaoyan.At around a quarter to eight every morning,the mother takes her daughter to 幼儿园you'eryuan(nurser…     

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1. Holidays in ChinaChinese people now have more 时间 shijian(time) to 过节 guojie (celebrate holidays). AmongChina's 传统 chuantong (traditional) holidays are 春节 Chunjie (Spring Festival), the most 重要zhongyao (important) festival, Labor Day, and National Day on October 1, all of which have been extended to as long as seven days. Taking into accountthe 双休日 shuangxiuri (two-day weekend),Chi-nese people undoubtedly have more time to enjoytheir holidays than ever before.But what will …     

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I. Sports宋君:约翰,四点半了,咱们到运动场锻炼去吧。Song Jun: Yuehdn, sididnban le, zanmen dao yundongchang duanlian qu ba.Song Jun: John, it's four thirty. Let's go to the sports ground and take some exercise.约翰:好啊。是打球还是跑步?Yuehan: Hao a. Shi daqiu haishi paobu?John: OK. Shall we play ball game or jog?宋君:踢足球怎么样?     

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I.Buying a Coat玛丽:我的外套都像是缩了水,穿上后有些小。Mǎlì Wǒ de Wàitào dōu xíàng shì suō le shuǐ,chuānshàng hòu yǒuxiē xiǎo.Mary:My coats seem a bit small for me,as if theyhave all shrunk.     

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I. Going on Holiday宋君:五一节放七天长假,你准备怎么过?Song Jun: Wuyi jie fang qitian changjia, ni zhunbei zenme guo?Song Jun: What do you plan to do for the seven-day May Day holiday?约翰:我还没有想好。Yuehan: Wo hai meiyou xiang hao.     

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Columns1. Cultural Relic ProtectionI read two 报道 baodao (reports) in the newspa-per recently. one said that the sunken wreekage ofthe warship SS Zhongshan had been painted and 装饰一新 zhuangshiyixin (refurbished to give it a newlook) soon after being 打捞 dalao (salvaged) at theend of 2000. The warship, which witnessed major 事件 shijian (events) in Chinese history, has, apartfrom a few authentic bullet holes in its body, 失去shiqu (lost) its original 价值 jiazhi (value) as a relic.The o…     

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1.Changeable WeatherA:早上还是阳光明媚,现在却阴得像个锅底。A:Zaoshang hai shi yangguangmingmei, xianzai queyin de xiang ge guodi.A:It was sunny this mornign,but now it's as darkas the bottom of a wok.B:是啊！像是要下雨。B:Shi a! Xiang shi yao xiayu.B:Yes,it looks like rain.     

Language Corner

I. A Life of LeisureIt was in the late 1980s and early 1990s thatChinese people 接触 jiechu(came into contact with)the word 休闲 xiuxian (leisure), when casualclothes and casual shoes came into fashion. But formost people, leisure seemed a concept far awayfrom them, and was regarded as a 奢侈品 shechipin(luxury) in life.Later karaoke became the rage overnight, andcould be found on 街头巷尾 jietouxiangwei (streetsand lanes). It became a must for gatherings offriends, or family banquets. Some …     

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I. A Visit to BeijingIt was several years ago that I first visited Chi-na Our 飞机 feiji(plane Ianded at the BeijingCapital 国际机场Guoji Jichang(International Air-port), 30 公里gongli (kilometers) east of the urbandistrict.I was thrilled to visit this great 国家goujia(country), home of 大熊猫 daxiongmao(giant pan-das). We stayed at the zhaolong 饭店 Fandian(Hotel), and had lunch at the Guanghua Hotel,which offered an extensive choice of courses.From 景山 Jingshan(Jinshan Hill) we had …     

Language Corner

Dear Readers,We received large numbers of answer papers from readers in response to the exam published in the December 2002 issue. We appreciate your continued support and interest in China Today. Following are some of the compositions sent in by our readers. -Ed.