Why not go Dutch?
By Cathy
Picture by Zhu Lijun

"有朋自远方来, 不亦乐乎. "自古以来, 中华民族就是举世闻名的礼仪之邦. 中国人待客热情, 请客吃饭自然是生活中最常见的事情. 然而, 由于文化背景和思想观念的差异, 外国人却事事讲究公平, 买单习惯AA制, 这可让好客的中国人遇到些不解和尴尬.

"Isn't it a joy to have friends who come from afar?" China is famous for its sincerity and friendliness in the world. The Chinese conform to a set of traditional rules to treat guests. But due to the cultural differences between the West and the East, we may meet some misunderstandings and embarrassments in communication with foreigners.

An American came to China for the first time. One day, I invited her to have dinner with me. In order to show my respect and kindness, I decided to buy the meal. In doing this I just wanted to offer a host's friendship.

After we finished the dinner, the waiter took the bill to us. "How much should I pay?" She asked.

"Oh, no. It's my treat." I said.

She said politely, "Thanks, but I think we'd better go Dutch. It is not fair to ask you to pay the bill. "

"It is a custom to buy dinner for friends who come from afar. It is a common way to treat guests." I explained.

She continued to say, " When I'm in New York, my best friend just buys me one dinner a year. And that's on my birthday. We both feel comfortable with that. It is OK to go Dutch."

Suddenly I did not know what I should do. It was the first time to share the bill with others. When I hung out with my friends, either my friends or I would pay the bill. In my opinion, it is a reflection of our good friendship. I have become accustomed to this sort of phenomenon. At that time, I did not know how to deal with such a matter. She smiled and said, "Take it easy. It doesn't matter. " In the end, we shared the bill.

Another day, I had dinner with another foreign friend. I just wanted to know whether foreigners were all accustomed to sharing the bill. When we had finished the dinner, I did not intend to pay the bill alone, saying calmly, " Each of us should pay 50 yuan."

"Okay." He replied, not seeming unhappy or embarrassed. Afterwards we still got along as well as we had before.

When I want to go Dutch with my Chinese friends, they seem unable to accept it. They say, "Come on. You must be kidding." All I can do is just shake my shoulders without any word. The Chinese still cannot accept this way of paying bills.

Now I am used to sharing the bill with foreigners. I do not feel embarrassed any more. As a matter of fact, it does not influence our friendship. We all feel comfortable.

 

 

Crossword Puzzle
本栏目内容由 www.1cm.com.cn 提供



Across
5. Appropriate, right.
10. Having greater than ordinary height.
11. Excellent! (originally from Italian)
12. To make higher.

Down
1. To change.
2. A group of bees.
3. A must in a western meal.
4. An important part of the human body.

The following people have won free movie tickets:陈忠永, 阮亚玲, 林晓吉, 林颖, 林顺岂, 袁海星, 林菊丽, 张琼芬, 苏俊斌, 郑朝阳. Please go to the Jinying Cinema (世贸金鹰影院) within two weeks.
Please e-mail your answer to the following address: common-talk@fj172.com. Participants will have a chance to win free movie tickets to the Jinying Cinema (世贸金鹰影院). Please check the results on the website www.common-talk.com.

 

 

鸡同鸭讲

一天, 一个中国人载着他的美国朋友开车兜风. 突然, 一辆宝马风驰而过, 那个美国人大声地喊道: "He's driving my car."这个中国朋友听了后, 加足马力向那辆宝马追去, 还不停地寻思: 他的车被人偷走了, 怎么还这么高兴? 终于追上了, 他大声呵斥起开宝马的年轻人, 还嚷着要报警. 但是那个美国人和开宝马的中国人却一脸困惑地看着他. 后来他才明白, 美国人在表示自己钟爱或喜欢什么东西的时候, 会夸张地说成"我的...", 其实并没有真正的所属意义.

By Joanna

 

 

Hot Word
Collected by Jianjiang

● hike
Prices of train tickets will be increased before the Spring Festival. The price hike is used to control passengers during the peak travel period due to a shortage of space.
为调整客流, 防止过于超员和拥挤, 2005年春运期间铁道部将继续实行提价, 春节前上浮的日期为2月1日至7日, 上浮幅度为硬座15%, 其他席别20%.
hike, 提价. a hike in living expenses, 生活费用高涨.

● wrongdoing
Under the terms of the $168 million settlement - $155 million of which will be covered by insurance - none of the 18 former directors will admit any wrongdoing.
日前, 安然公司的18位前任董事同意, 以1.68亿美元与公司股东达成和解. 其中的1.55亿美元将由各股东投保的保险公司支付.
wrongdoing, 坏事, 不道德的行为. wrongdoer就是"做坏事的人".

● pirate edition
The domestic film market has been experiencing quite a difficult time as pirate editions are flooding the market, greatly affecting sales and filmmakers' enthusiasm to produce good work.
在盗版的冲击下, 国产电影市场和电影人经历了一段艰难时期. 但2005年初一系列最新大片的上映却使电影院盛况空前.
pirate edition, 盗版. pirate原意是"海盗", 引申出"盗印、翻印"的意思.

● unseat
High humidity, poor air quality and fast food restaurants helped Texas' most populous city Houston unseat Detroit, in the 2004 heavyweight champion.
凭借潮湿的气候、恶劣的空气质量和发达的快餐业, 德州的休斯顿取代前年的冠军底特律, 成为2004年全美"最胖"的城市.
unseat, 使失去资格. unseat的原意是"从座位上摔下", 也可以表示"罢免、剥夺资格".

● charter flight
Airlines from the Chinese mainland are gearing up to operate charter flights across the Taiwan Straits following a landmark deal inked.
两岸春节包机最后敲定, 台湾航空公司飞行航点结果也出炉, 台湾6家航空公司参与. 厦航首航决定1月29日广州飞台北, 售票火爆.
charter flight, 包机. charter是"租、包"的意思. time charter, 定期租(船).



● sack
Adrian Mutu, sacked by Chelsea for using cocaine, has signed a five year contract with Juventus, the Italian Serie A club confirmed.
意大利尤文图斯队宣布与穆图签约. 这位罗马尼亚球星在去年10月被他的老东家切尔西查出服用毒品, 随后被开除出队.
sack, 解雇. 也可以做名词, I'll get the sack if I arrive at the office late!

 

 

Cartoon English
By Bo & Bob

 

 

Daily English
Collected by the Chef

衣食住行, 学英语要从身边的小事开始. 本栏目将带给您最实用的日常口语.

节日祝福

●Happy holidays! 节日快乐!
虽然圣诞节越来越普及, 但它本来是一个基督教的节日, 有一些西方人(如犹太教)由于宗教原因并不过圣诞节, 所以有些谨慎的人经常用"Happy holidays!"来祝福别人, 而不是"Merry Christmas!"
●Best wishes! 送给你最好的祝福!
●All the best! 祝一切都好!
●Wish you a happy new year! 祝你新年快乐!
●Happy Spring Festival! 过年好! / 春节好!
这句英语听起来非常别扭, 所以衷心地希望 "GuoNianHao!" 和Long time no see(好久不见)得到同样的待遇, 尽快被收录到英文词汇里.

 

 

疯狂假日大砍价
Collected by Suky

春节就要到了, 赶快备上我们的酷英语, 开始疯狂假日的奇幻旅程吧. 砍价对于MM们来说是家常便饭, 也常见老外们在买东西的时候一边用笨笨中文还价: 太贵了, 太贵了; 一边摇头晃脑的可爱样子, 更有人将疯狂的shopping称为血拼. 这次Suky为大家准备了一些拿手好句, 赶快去血拼吧.

1. That's unreasonable! I'd take it for $100.
这真是卖得太贵了! 如果一百块我就买.
嘴上说是太贵了, 可眼睛是一刻都离不开啊. 或者简单一点, 我们讨点巧, 直接说: How about $100? 卖一百块钱如何?

2. Lower the price, and I'll consider it.
价钱低一点我才会考虑.
或者可以说, I'd buy this if it were cheaper. 再便宜一点我就买.

3. I like everything about it except the price.
这东西除了价钱之外我都喜欢.
window shopping或者走进那些"天价"商店的时候, 除了饱饱眼福, 只能感慨一句: I really like everything about it except the price. 或者只能安慰自己It's a little overpriced. 这标价有点贵.

4. I've seen this cheaper (in) other places.
我在别家有看到更便宜的.
这就是一个策略性狡猾的还价方法了, 十有八九你没有货比三家, 但还是要说说这话来壮胆. 还可以说: I heard other stores were having great mark-downs on this item. 听说其他地方这个东西在大减价呢. 多花点时间, 多看两家店, Suky的朋友就经常在禾祥西一带的小店里淘到宝.

5. If I buy more than one, will you give me a discount?
多买一点有折扣吗?
不过现在的商家都非常精明, 多买也只会给你一点甜头.

 

 

Music
By Ivan

"心, 暖了又灰; 世界有时候孤单得很需要另一个同类. "我们给那些零散的单词寻找同类, 也为热爱生活的您找一片合乎兴趣的乐园. 同类系列英语愿能换得您默契的会心一笑.
非常欢迎读者来信来电"点题", 我们将尽力满足大家的要求. (联系电话:5581650;电邮地址:common-talk@fj172.com)

● pop, 流行乐.
现在这个词已经是深入人心了, 各大热门BBS上几乎都设有pop版, 而且人气很旺, 名副其实的pop(热门)哦.
● rock, 摇滚乐.
你会想起 "we will we will rock you"的震撼吼声呢? 还是Michael learns to rock的深情款款? hard rock, 硬摇滚.
● new age, 新世纪音乐.
据说是中产阶级的最爱, 从Yanni到Secret Garden, 从Enya到Sarah Brightman, 哪一个不曾风靡小资一族呢?
● jazz, 爵士.
这个可是完完全全的舶来品了, 连中文名都是音译过来的. 但这种"陈述心与灵的本能音乐"似乎还远未被国人广泛接受.
● blues, 蓝调.
乐如其名, 忧郁的蓝色, 忧伤的曲风, 很符合现代人的心境啊.
● R&B
都是周杰伦的功劳, 这年头还有人不知道R&B吗? 但又有几个能说出个所以然来呢? R&B其实是rhythm and blues, 节奏与蓝调音乐.
● rap, 说唱.
其实字典里rap的注解是"打击乐". 但显然当人们动不动就喊"来段rap"时, 期待的是一段以"ya, ya, ya"开头的酷酷说唱.
● hip hop, 嘻哈.
hip是臀部, hop是跳跃. 实际上, hip hop是对美国街头黑人生活文化的一种统称. 至于嘻哈音乐, 远有吹牛老爹, 近有哈狗帮, 都是个性十足的人物.

 

 

编读往来

2004年10月底, 考虑到广大读者英语阅读水平的不同, 双语周刊增设双语周日版. 推出两个多月来, 收到了非常多读者的来信, 令双语周刊编辑室大受鼓舞. 我们将尽全力依据读者的需求, 让双语周日版更加符合大家的口味.

 

给周日版的一点小建议

Dear Common Talk的小编老编们:
你们好! 自从CT改成周三、周日版后, 我就更期待每周日的《厦门日报》了. 偏向休闲的定位, 能在周末的阅读中学到一些新的东西.
不过关于版面内容, 我有一些小小的建议:
1、Culture Clash可以改为每两周一次或不定期的栏目. 因为除了一些少数新鲜的话题之外, 目前Culture Clash的大部分文章并不能带给我们很强烈的"冲突感".
2、可以以特定的主题进行连载, 例如罗马神话中的一些比较出名又有意思的小典故(用英文、简述), 像"阿基里斯的脚踵"、"大力神赫拉克勒斯"等等的; 或者是收集某一类兴趣, 如与音乐、足球、电视有关的一些常用语(如音乐中可以写出各种不同曲风的单词, 如城市民谣city folk、重金属摇滚heavy metal, R&B是rythymn and blues的缩写等等). 这样可以让大家对自己感兴趣的英文单词有更多的了解.
祝CT周日版吸引更多的读者!
吴云华

编者按: 非常感谢这位读者对周日双语版的关注与支持. 我们从本期开始推出"话题聚焦"小栏目, 希望读者能喜欢. 更欢迎广大读者给我们提建议.

 

希望你们的报纸越办越成功! 我会永远支持你们的!
陈奕坚 (cyjno3@tom.com)

我是周日双语版的忠实读者. 我衷心希望你们的报纸越办越好!
Candice (susanandqiuyi@163.com)

我是贵刊的忠实读者, 希望Common Talk越办越好, 也希望能够与她一起进步.
Hattie Huang (hattie23@yeah.net)

This is my first time to read "Common Talk Sunday Edition". The "Crossword Puzzle" is quite an interesting section. I like it very much. I really enjoy the game.
蔡巍伟 (wwcai@126.com)