5.9: Dialogue- At the airport
- Page ID
- 89639
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\(\newcommand{\avec}{\mathbf a}\) \(\newcommand{\bvec}{\mathbf b}\) \(\newcommand{\cvec}{\mathbf c}\) \(\newcommand{\dvec}{\mathbf d}\) \(\newcommand{\dtil}{\widetilde{\mathbf d}}\) \(\newcommand{\evec}{\mathbf e}\) \(\newcommand{\fvec}{\mathbf f}\) \(\newcommand{\nvec}{\mathbf n}\) \(\newcommand{\pvec}{\mathbf p}\) \(\newcommand{\qvec}{\mathbf q}\) \(\newcommand{\svec}{\mathbf s}\) \(\newcommand{\tvec}{\mathbf t}\) \(\newcommand{\uvec}{\mathbf u}\) \(\newcommand{\vvec}{\mathbf v}\) \(\newcommand{\wvec}{\mathbf w}\) \(\newcommand{\xvec}{\mathbf x}\) \(\newcommand{\yvec}{\mathbf y}\) \(\newcommand{\zvec}{\mathbf z}\) \(\newcommand{\rvec}{\mathbf r}\) \(\newcommand{\mvec}{\mathbf m}\) \(\newcommand{\zerovec}{\mathbf 0}\) \(\newcommand{\onevec}{\mathbf 1}\) \(\newcommand{\real}{\mathbb R}\) \(\newcommand{\twovec}[2]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\ctwovec}[2]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\threevec}[3]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cthreevec}[3]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\fourvec}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cfourvec}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\fivevec}[5]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \\ #5 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cfivevec}[5]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \\ #5 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\mattwo}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{rr}#1 \amp #2 \\ #3 \amp #4 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\laspan}[1]{\text{Span}\{#1\}}\) \(\newcommand{\bcal}{\cal B}\) \(\newcommand{\ccal}{\cal C}\) \(\newcommand{\scal}{\cal S}\) \(\newcommand{\wcal}{\cal W}\) \(\newcommand{\ecal}{\cal E}\) \(\newcommand{\coords}[2]{\left\{#1\right\}_{#2}}\) \(\newcommand{\gray}[1]{\color{gray}{#1}}\) \(\newcommand{\lgray}[1]{\color{lightgray}{#1}}\) \(\newcommand{\rank}{\operatorname{rank}}\) \(\newcommand{\row}{\text{Row}}\) \(\newcommand{\col}{\text{Col}}\) \(\renewcommand{\row}{\text{Row}}\) \(\newcommand{\nul}{\text{Nul}}\) \(\newcommand{\var}{\text{Var}}\) \(\newcommand{\corr}{\text{corr}}\) \(\newcommand{\len}[1]{\left|#1\right|}\) \(\newcommand{\bbar}{\overline{\bvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\bhat}{\widehat{\bvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\bperp}{\bvec^\perp}\) \(\newcommand{\xhat}{\widehat{\xvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\vhat}{\widehat{\vvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\uhat}{\widehat{\uvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\what}{\widehat{\wvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\Sighat}{\widehat{\Sigma}}\) \(\newcommand{\lt}{<}\) \(\newcommand{\gt}{>}\) \(\newcommand{\amp}{&}\) \(\definecolor{fillinmathshade}{gray}{0.9}\)Given the need to restrict vocabulary and structures, the following dialogue cannot be regarded as completely natural, but it serves as a good model for some of the material that has been introduced in the first two units.
Situation: Professor Wáng (W) has come to the airport with a university driver to meet half a dozen international students who are arriving in China to continue their study of Chinese. The students all have Chinese names as well as their regular ones. One of them (Dàwéi [Dw]) spots Wáng lǎoshī holding a sign and walks over to introduce himself; some of the others follow and introduce themselves too. [X designates any one, or a few.]
| Dw | Nín hǎo, wǒ shì Máo Dàwéi. | Hello, I’m Mao Dawei. |
| W. | O, Máo Dàwéi, wǒ shì Wáng lǎoshī | Oh, Mao Dawei, I’m Prof. Wang. |
| An | Wáng lǎoshī, nín hǎo! Wǒ shì Lǐ Ānnà. | Prof. Wang, how are you? I’m Li Anna. |
| W. | Lǐ Ānnà, nǐ hǎo. | Li Anna, hello. |
| Ym | Wáng lǎoshī, wǒ shi Xiǎolín Yóuměi. | Professor Wang, I’m Xiaolin Youmei. |
| W. | Xiǎolín Yóuměi, nǐ hǎo. Hǎo, sān ge rén le. | Xiaolin Youmei, hi. Okay, [that’s] 3. |
| Ym | Hái yǒu tā – tā xìng Kǒng, jiào Kǒng Měi. | [pointing] And her too -- her name is Kong, she’s called Kong Mei. |
| W. |
Hǎo, Kǒng Měi, nǐ hǎo! Sì ge rén le. Nǐ ne? |
Fine, how are you Kong Mei? [That’s] 4 then. And [ who are] you? |
| Jf | Wǒ shì Bái Jiéfēi. | I’m Bai Jiefei. |
| --- | ||
| W. |
Bái Jiéfēi, nǐ hǎo…. Nà hǎo, huānyíng nǐmen lái Běijīng! |
Bai Jiefei, hi…. Okay, then, welcome to Beijing! |
| All | Xièxie, xièxie nǐmen lái jiē wǒmen. | Thanks; thank you for coming to meet us. |
| W. | Zhè shì Gāo shīfu. | This is Mr. Gao. |
| All | Gāo shīfu, nín hǎo. | Hello Mr. Gao. |
| Gāo |
Èi, nǐmen hǎo, nǐmen hǎo. Zhōngwén shuō+de hěn hǎo! |
Ah, hello, hello. [You] speak Chinese very well! |
| All | Nǎlǐ, nǎlǐ, shuō+de bù hǎo! | Nah, we don’t speak very well. |
| --- | ||
| W. | Nǐmen hěn lèi ba. | You’re probably tired. |
| X. | Bù, bú tài lèi, hái hǎo. | No, not too, [we]’re okay. |
| W. | È ma? Chīfàn le ma? | Are [you] hungry? Have [you] eaten? |
| X. | Bú è, zài fēijī shàng chī le. | No, [we]’re not, [we] ate on the airplane. |
| W. | Nà, nǐmen de xíngli ne? | And your bags? |
| X. | Zài zhèr: yī, èr, sān, sì, wǔ, liù. Dōu zài zhèr. | [They]’re here: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. [They]’re all here. |
| --- | ||
| W. | Nà hǎo, wǒmen zǒu ba. Shàng chē ba. | Fine, let’s go then. All aboard! |
| X. | Hǎo, hǎo. | Okay. |
| W. | Jīntiān yǒu diǎnr rè, nǐmen rè ma? | [Aboard the minibus.] [It]’s kind of hot today; are you hot? |
| X. | Bù, bú rè, hái hǎo. Wǒmen dōu hěn shūfu. | No, [we]’re not, [we]’re fine. We’re all comfortable. |
| W. | Xíngli, hùzhào, sǎn dōu yǒu ma? | [You] have [your] bags, [your] passports, umbrellas? |
| X. | Dōu yǒu, dōu yǒu, xièxie. | [We] have them all, thanks. |
| W. | Hǎo, nà wǒmen zǒu ba. | Fine, so… let’s go then! |
| X. | Bĕijīng hĕn yuăn ma? | Is Beijing far? |
| W. | Bù, lí zhèr bù yuǎn – hěn jìn! | No, it’s not far from here – quite close! |
This model conversation is quite ambitious. All its vocabulary is fairly new, of course, and it also introduces quite a few grammatical patterns and features. But a bold beginning has the advantage of giving you interesting material to work with from the start. To make it more manageable, it is divided into four sections. The first involves collecting all the people; the second, with welcoming them; the third, with finding out how they are; and the fourth, with getting to the minibus to drive to Beijing. Get familiar with the scenario first, then visualize the conversation. You should be able to re-enact it more or less as presented before trying it out with partners.
Exercise 6
a) Translate the following:
| 1. Okay, that’s three people. |
| 2. Who’s the first person? The second? |
| 3. That’s it then, I’m off. |
| 4. It’s late, I should be going. |
| 5. We’ve all eaten, we ate on the plane. |
| 6. We’re not hungry, we’re fine. |
| 7. Welcome to [….]. |
| 8. Thanks for coming to meet us. |
| 9. That’s it then, see you tomorrow. |
| 10. Okay, bye, take it easy. |
| 11. How about you – you thirsty? |
| 12. That looks like my umbrella. |
b) Comment that...
| 1. you haven’t eaten yet. |
| 2. they haven’t left yet. |
| 3. she hasn’t had her shower yet. |
| 4. he hasn’t got out of class yet. |
| 5. you haven’t read the day’s paper yet. |
| 6. you were tired yesterday, but today you’re fine. |
| 7. you’re not nervous anymore. |
| 8. you were cold on the plane, but you’re fine now. |
| 9. they’ve already gone to bed. |
Airports and airlines
China has invested heavily in infrastructure projects in the last few decades, including the construction of new airports (jīchǎng) and the reconstruction of old ones. An airport said to be the world’s largest is due to be completed near Beijing in time for the 2008 Olympics. Some of the better known airports are Capital (Shǒudū) in Beijing, Báiyún (‘white clouds’) in Canton, and Hóngqiáo (the old airport) and Pǔdōng (the new) in Shanghai – the last two both named after districts. Pǔdōng, which like so many of the new airports is far out of town, is served by a German-built mag-lev (magnetic levitation) train (officially called a cíxuán-fúchē ‘magnet-suspend float-vehicle’, but colloquially referred to as a diàncíchē ‘electromagnetic-vehicle’). It reaches a top speed of 430 kilometers an hour during its 7-8 minute run between the airport and its city terminus at an outlying subway station.
Airlines are proliferating and consolidating in China. ‘Airline’ is hángkōng gōngsī, literally ‘aviation company’. Here is a list of some of the larger Chinese airlines for you to practice saying:
| Zhōngguó Hángkōng Gōngsī | Air China |
| Zhōngguó Dōngfāng Hángkōng Gōngsī | China Eastern Airlines |
| Zhōngguó Bĕifāng Hángkōng Gōngsī | China Northern Airlines |
| Zhōngguó Xīběi Hángkōng Gōngsī | China Northwest Airlines |
| Zhōngguó Nánfāng Hángkōng Gōngsī | China Southern Airlines |
| Zhōngguó Xīnán Hángkōng Gōngsī | China Southwest Airlines |
| Xīnjiāng Hángkōng Gōngsī | Xinjiang Airlines |
| Yúnnán Hángkōng Gōngsī | Yunnan Airlines |
| Gǎnglóng Hángkōng Gōngsī | Dragonair [Hong Kong-dragon…] |
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