Communicate in Chinese 交际汉语 Lesson 4: Time

会话 A
(在家)
刘明：(伸懒腰) 李红，几点了？
李红：几点了？九点十分了。
刘明：坏了坏了，要迟到了。
李红：你糊涂了？今天你休息。
刘明：我知道。可……
李红：可什么？
刘明：你忘了，十点钟要去机场接我爸？
李红：哎哟，我给忘了。快，还有45分钟，去机场还来得及。
刘明：那我先去了。
Translation:
(At home.)
Liu Ming: (stretching)Li Hong, what's the time?
Li Hong: What's the time? Ten minutes past nine.
Liu Ming: Oh my god, I'm going to be late.
Li Hong: Have you forgotten? It's your day off today.
Liu Ming: I know, but...
Li Hong :But what?
Liu Ming: You forgot, we have to pick up my dad from the airport at 10 o'clock?
Li Hong: Whoops, I forgot. Quick, there's 45 minutes to go, we can still make it to the airport.
Liu Ming: Then I’ll go there right now.
会话 B
(在学校宿舍。)
小江：最近忙吗，Tina？
Tina：忙，忙死我了!一天24小时根本不够。
小江：什么? 24 小 时还不够?你都 忙些什么呢？
Tina：你看，我上午8点到12点上课；12点到12点半吃午饭；下午1点到3点学汉语；然后3点到5点打网球；晚饭后6点到8点上网查资料……
小江：那晚上8点以后呢？
Tina：8点以后更忙。晚上8点到半夜12点我一直在酒吧。
小江：去泡吧？那也叫忙？
Tina：我去酒吧打工，不是泡吧。
小江：是够忙的，从早忙到晚。
Translation:
(In School dormitory.)
Xiao Jiang: Been busy lately, Tina?
Tina: Busy, can't get any busier! 24 hours in a day aren't enough at all.
Xiao Jiang: What? 24 hours aren't enough? What are you busy doing?
Tina: You see, I go to classes from 8 to 12 in the morning; have lunch between 12 and 12:30; learn
Chinese from 1 to 3 in the afternoon; then play tennis from 3 to 5; look for information on the internet after dinner from 6 to 8...
Xiao Jiang: What about after 8 at night?
Tina: I get busier after 8 pm. I'm at the bar all the time from 8 to 12 midnight
Xiao Jiang: Hanging out at the bar? You call that busy?
Tina: I work at the bar, not hang out there.
Xiao Jiang: That is pretty busy, from morning to night.
Cultural Background
Talking about time
All of China is in the same time zone. Beijing time, which is calculated at Greenwich Mean Time plus eight hours, is called China' s standard time. There is no daylight saving' s time, so the time is the same throughout the year.
In general Chinese people are very "守时" or punctual. Late arrivals are considered quite impolite. In our dialogues Liu Ming was very concerned about arriving at the airport late to pick up his father. He is going to the Beijing Capital International Airport" 北京首都国际机场",taking into account the traffic, because China, like elsewhere, experiences traffic jams during rush hour. There is a long distance from the city center to the Beijing Capital International Airport. Though there is a highway, it still needs time to get there. The efficiency of Beijing Airport means that Liu Ming’s father will probably come out quickly. It is also best to leave plenty of time prior to departures.
Units of time in Chinese are similar to those in English. "一小时" is one hour. "一刻钟" is a quarter or fifteen minutes. "半小时" is half an hour. "三刻钟" would be forty-five minutes or three quarters. One special event in Beijing really worth seeing is the raising and lowering of the national flag in Tian' anmen Square, called the "升旗仪式", or the flag raising ceremony. Because dawn and dusk occur at slightly different time everyday, the exact times are published in newspapers and on the internet.
Language Points
1、"坏了坏了" — "Oh no": Repeated use places emphasis.
2、Nouns or quantities that represent time are used as subjects, predicates, and attributives in this lesson.
For example:
现在九点。 It is nine o'clock now. (subject)
今天10号。 Today is the 10th. (predicate)
我们看6点30分的电影。 We are watching the 6:30 movie. (attributive)
上午的表演很精彩。 The morning's performance was brilliant. (attributive)
3、"忙死我了" — "Can't get any busier", to show extent of being busy.
4、Ways of expressing time:
To denote a point in time: 09∶10 9点10分, nine ten or ten past nine; 10∶30 10点半, ten thirty or half past ten.
5、To denote lengths of time: 45 minutes, 24 hours a day, morning, afternoon, night, midnight
Substitutional Drills
1、从……到……
从白天到黑夜
从南到北
从车站到学校
从 宿舍到教室
2、……来得及
去火车站还来得及。
去老师家还来得及。
3、去……不是去……
我去机场，不是去火车站。
我去学校，不是去饭店。
我去运动场，不是去食堂。
我去图书 馆，不是去教室。
4、一直……
我们一直在看书。
他一直在玩(儿)。
大家一直在听课。