Communicate in Chinese 交际汉语 Lesson 16 Talking about weather

会话 A

（在校园里。）

小江：Tina，明天我们有篮球比赛，来给我们加油吧！怎么样？

Tina：明天，篮球比赛？

小江：对，明天下午1：30。

Tina：小江，你听没听天气预报？

小江：还没有啊！明天的天气怎么样？

Tina：（学天气预报员口吻）明天白天，晴转阴，下午有雷阵雨。风力二、三级转四级，最高气温19 摄氏度。

小江：糟了，明天下午有雷阵雨，没法(儿)比赛了。

Tina：没关系，小江。我们可以打乒乓球。

小江：乒乓球？太小了。没意思！

Translation:

(In the school ground.)

Xiao Jiang: Tina, tomorrow we are going to have a basketball competition, come and cheer us on! How ab0ut it?

Tina: Tomorrow, basketball competition?

Xiao Jiang: Yes, tomorrow afternoon at 1:30.

Tina: Xiao Jiang, have you heard the weather forecast or not?

Xiao Jiang: I still haven’t! What’s tomorrow’s weather like?

Tina: (Imitates weather forecaster) Tomorrow during the day, the weather will be sunny turning cloudy, with thunder showers in the afternoon. The wind force will be light, gentle to moderate breeze, reaching a maximum temperature of 19 degrees Celsius.

Xiao Jiang: Oh no, there’ll be thunder showers tomorrow afternoon, we can’t have the competition.

Tina: That’s alright, Xiao Jiang. We can play table tennis.

Xiao Jiang: Table tennis? The ball’s too small, boring!
 

Cultural Background

Beijing´s four seasons and what to wear

气候

北京的气候类型是典型的温带季风气候。其特征为：夏季高温多雨，冬季寒冷干燥。

北京地区属温带大陆性季风气候区，四季分明，春季短暂干旱风沙大，夏季炎热多雨潮湿，秋季是最好的季节，秋高气爽，湿润宜人，北京的秋天常被称作“金色的秋天”，冬季寒冷干燥少雪。

一般来说，北京人在冬季度假会选择去海南旅游或去黑龙江滑雪、看冰灯；夏季来临时，去大连、青岛、昆明等地旅游或避暑。

在中国，计量气温的方法用℃，而不用F。换算方法为：100F=38℃。

北京夏天最高气温可达到38℃～39℃，冬天最低气温可达到－ 14℃～－ 16℃，年平均气温为11.7℃。北京年平均降水量为640 毫米，是华北平原降水最多的地方之一。主要降水集中在七、八月份，且多雷阵雨，有时有大暴雨，全年无霜期为180～200 天。

着装

北京的冬天可以穿一件毛衣和一条毛裤，外着风衣或羽绒服，可穿高帮旅游鞋或皮鞋。通常冬天会下2～3场大雪，一两天之后就会化净。由于冬天空气干燥，风沙大，尘土多，平时最好不要穿白色或不耐脏的衣服。

北京的春季短且多风沙，温度适中并不冷，穿一件薄毛衣和一条绒裤即可。但切记天气刚转暖时就开始减衣服。中国有句老话叫“春捂秋冻”，意思是春天多穿点儿，预防感冒着凉生病；秋天穿少了没关系，加强锻炼对身体有好处。

北京的夏天炎热多雨，白天气温常常高达30℃以上，只需穿一件短袖上衣和单裤或短裤。夜间有时会突然打雷下暴雨，出门时最好带上雨伞，天晴时可遮挡强烈的阳光以防晒伤皮肤，下雨时可遮雨以防淋湿衣服，一举两得。

北京的秋天是最美丽的季节，秋高气爽，风和日丽，是旅游的最好季节。但过了十月份以后，气温会变得冷热无常，有时会下毛毛雨，雨过天晴之后会感到一丝凉意。中国有句谚语：“一场秋雨一场寒，几场秋雨就穿棉。”人们感到冬季即将来临，得赶快穿棉衣了。

Translation:

Climate

Beijing's climate is typical continental monsoon climate characterized by hot and rainy summers, cold and dry winters.

Beijing is in the continental monsoon region in the temperate zone, it has distinct four seasons, spring is brief and windy, summer is hot and humid, autumn enjoys clear skies and fresh air, while winter tends to be cold and dry, with occasional snows. It's no wonder Beijing's autumn is often termed "Golden Autmn".

Normally in winter, Beijingers choose to holiday in sunny Hainan in the south or go skiing and enjoy the ice-lanterns in northeast China's Heilongjiang；when summer hits, they often head to Dalian, Qingdao or Kunming as well as other places to see the sights or just escape the heat.

Temperature is measured in Celsius, not Fahrenheit in China. Conversion can be made by:100F=38℃.

Beijing's summer gets as hot as 38℃～39℃,while the coldest in winter can be -14℃～-16℃, the yearly average temperature is 11.7 degrees. Beijing's average annual rainfall is 640 millimeters, which is one of the highest in Northern China’s flat areas. Rainfall is concentrated in the July and August months, mostly in the form of thundershowers and rainstorms. ab0ut 180～200 days in the year are frost-free.

Clothing

Beijing's cold winters require a woolen sweater and thermal underwear, with trench coat or down jacket on the outside, footwear should be leather shoes or high-top sports shoes. Usually it snow 2～3 times in winter, but the snow melts after one or two days. As the winters are dry, dusty and windy, it is best not to wear white or other light-colored clothes because they'll dirty too easily.

Spring in Beijing is short and mild, but with strong winds that can blow gusts of sand and dirt. A light sweater and jacket would suffice. But it is recommended that you do not switch to warm weather clothes right away. The old Chinese saying goes "warm in spring and cool in autumn", which means it is better to wear clothing on the thick side in spring to prevent colds; while autumnal dressing should be on the light side, because adapting to the cold would be good for the health and get ready for the colder months.

Beijing's summers are sultry and rainy, daytime temperature tends to be in the 30s, so suitable attire should be a short sleeve top, pants or shorts. The thunderstorms that come frequently at night mean it is advisable to take an umbrella when going out. The umbrella doubles as shelter from UV rays when it is too hot and sunny during the day.

Few would disagree that autumn showcases Beijing at its best, with light winds, clear skies and pleasant sunny weather, it is no wonder that fall is peak season for travel. But after October, the weather starts becoming unpredictable, drizzles or light showers are frequent, after which the coolness sets in. A Chinese idiom goes that "it rains once in autumn and brings chill, it rains a few times in autumn and you need cotton padded jackets." The coming of winter signifies the time for thick jackets.

Language Points

1“怎么样？” — 用“怎么样”提问的句子，常把“怎么样”放在句尾。句子里不再需要动词。回答时一般用形容词。

例如：今天天气怎么样？—不错！或很好！

　　 北京的春天怎么样？—特别冷！

2“还没有啊！”表示一个动作现在还没有发生或尚未完成。

例如：她还没有到呢！

　　　我还没有听呢！

3“可以”是能愿动词的一种。表示客观或情理上的许可。

例如：“妈妈，我可以出去玩儿吗？—可以。”

“我可以出去吗？—不行， 要上课了。”

4“像……一样……”表示比较。

例如：这儿的风景像天堂一样美。

 

Substitutional Drills

1、又……又……

又高又大

又黑又小

又温柔又漂亮

2、像……一样……

像蜜一样甜

像花一样美

像火一样红

像黄连一样苦

像纸一样白

3、上有……下有……

上有老下有小

上有天下有地

4、恐怕比……还要……

今天的天气恐怕比昨天还要糟糕。

这次考试恐怕比上次考试还要难。

这场比赛恐怕比前两场比赛还要激烈。