Travel in Chinese Lesson 42 Beijing Subway

(地铁丢钱包)

表姐：（看手表）我们得快点儿了，要不一会儿该赶不上这场电影了。

雪梅：好久没到电影院看电影了，电影院离这儿还远吗？

表姐：不远了，（边走边看）唉，雪梅，等等，你的包怎么开着呢？

雪梅：怪了，我明明拉上了，怎么开了呢。

姐：那快点儿看看有没有丢东西？

雪梅：（低头检查）呀，我的钱包没有了！

姐：那其他东西呢？

雪梅：我看看，护照、笔记本……都在，只有钱包丢了。

姐：在什么地方丢的呢？

雪梅：不是公共汽车上就是在地铁里？我怎么一点儿感觉都没有呢？

姐：别急，我们再找找。如果不行的话，我们再去派出所报案。

（与同事碰面）

同事：哎，雪梅，我老远就看见你了，对你挥了半天手你都没看见我。

雪梅：（对双方介绍）这是我的同事小李；小李，这是我先生的表姐。

同事：你们这是要到哪儿去啊？

雪梅：别提了，本来我想和表姐一起去看电影的，可是现在发现我的钱包不见了，这不正到处找呢！

同事：是吗？什么时候发现钱包不见的？

姐：我们也是刚刚才发现的。一出地铁口，我就看见她的包开了。

同事：那是在地铁里丢的吧。

雪梅：这个说不好。也许在公共汽车上就已经丢了。

同事：要我说，你们最好还是到派出所报个案吧。

表姐：对，我们还是去派出所吧。如果被人拣到的话，他们也好通知我们。

雪梅：派出所离这儿远吗？

同事：不远，从这儿往前走，往右一拐就到了。这样吧，我陪你们一块儿去吧。

雪梅：谢谢！都怪我不小心，现在电影也看不成了。

姐：瞧你说的，丢东西这事儿，谁都难免。电影看不成有什么大不了的？我们走吧。
 

Translation

Cousin: （looks at watch）We need to hurry, or we won’t make the movie.

Xuemei: I haven’t been to a movie at the cinema for ages. Is the cinema far from here?

Cousin: Not far. （walks and notices something）Hey, Xuemei, wait, why is your bag open?

Xuemei: That’s strange, I zipped it closed. How come it’s open?

Cousin: Quick, check if you’ve lost anything.

Xuemei: （checks）Oh no, my purse is gone！

Cousin: What about your other things?

Xuemei: Let me see. Passport, notebook…all here, just the purse is gone.

Cousin: wher did you lose it?

Xuemei: Either on the bus or on the subway? How come I didn’t notice anything?

Cousin: Don’t panic, we’ll look for it. If we still can’t find it, we’ll report it to the police.

（runs into colleague）

Colleague: Hey, Xuemei, I saw you a long way back. I kept waving to you but you didn’t see me.

Xuemei: （makes introductions）This is my colleague Xiao Li；Xiao Li, this is my husband’s cousin.

Colleague: wher are you planning on going?

Xuemei: Don’t ask, I was planning to go to a movie with my cousin. But now I’ve found my purse is missing. We’re still looking for it!

Colleague: Really? When did you notice the purse was missing?

Cousin: We just noticed. As soon as we got out of the subway exit, I saw her bag was open.

Colleague: Then you lost it in the subway.

Xuemei: We can’t be sure. Maybe it was already lost on the bus.

Colleague: If you ask me, you’d better report it to the police.

Cousin: Yes, let’s go to the police station. If someone finds it, they can contact us.

Xuemei: Is the police station far from here?

Colleague: Not far. Go straight ahead and turn right. How about I go with you two?

Xuemei: Thank you！It’s all my fault for being so careless, now we’re going to miss the movie.

Cousin: Don’t be silly, we all lose things sometimes. Missing a movie’s not a big deal. Let ’s go. （the three leave together）
 

Bookmarks

1）明明 something is clearly different

（例）你明明知道下午有事，为什么还出去？

You obviously knew that there was something happening this afternoon. Why did you go out?

（例）他明明去过那儿，却说他根本没去过。

He's obviously been there before, but he said he'd never been there before.

2）好 in order that

（例）带上雨衣吧，下雨好用。

Bring a raincoat in case it rains.

（例）你留个电话，有事好互相联系。

Leave me a phone number so that we can contact each other when we need to.

3）难免 hard to avoid

（例）朋友之间，看法难免有时会不一致。

Even between friends, it's hard to avoid sometimes having different points of view.

（例）你刚开始学习汉语，这样的错误是难免的。

You've just started learning Chinese. This kind of mistake is hard to avoid.

Sign Posts

Beijing Subway

The Beijing subway dates back to the 1960s, but it is undergoing rapid development right now. Originally, there were two subway lines. A circular line that follows under the second ring road. This was originally the location of the Beijing city wall, and many of the intersections today still retain the original place names. That’s why many of the subway stops are at places called 门 or gate, like 前门, the front gate , just south of Tian’anmen.

A second original subway line travels along an east-west route, following under Chang’an Blvd. This is the wide avenue that passes right in front of Tian’anmen Square. In fact, there are two subway exits on the east and west side of the square. Chang’an Blvd. changes names as it goes from the far eastern side of Beijing right to near the Western Hills on the other side of Beijing.

In recent years, old lines have been expanded and new lines are being built. Some of these lines go up to the Summer Palace, or around the northern suburbs of Beijing. Another line cuts straight through the city from North to South. These lines are often called 轻轨 light rail transit rather than 地铁 subway, because they travel at least part of their routes elevated above the city rather than underground.

By the time the Olympics arrive in 2008, much of this new construction will have been finished.

Substitution and Extension

1）不是…就是…if it's not this, it must be that.

（例）这里的天气真差，不是刮风就是下雨。