双语加油站

酒鬼

一年一度的春运，将从1月23日开始。根据铁道部门的预测，2008年全国铁路春运预计将发送旅客1.786亿人，同比增长8.3％。今年春运客流将出现节前集中、节后平缓趋势。让我们来一同了解有关春运的表达方式：



春运（passenger）transport during the Spring Festival period



客运量 volume of passenger transport



客运列车 passenger train



客流高峰期 peak time for passenger transport



加开列车 operate / arrange extra trains   



开通２４小时售票窗口 open 24-hour ticket sales windows



集体预订火车票 group ticket-booking   



送票上门 deliver train tickets to the doorsteps  



规范售票 regulate ticket sale  



打击票贩子 crack down on scalpers



缓解交通压力 ease the traffic pressure   



春节期间客流量最大。 The volume of passenger traffic reaches its climax before and after the Spring Festival.   



今年春节期间火车票票价不上涨。 The train ticket prices will not be raised during the Spring Festival period this year.   



大多数乘客是放寒假的大学生和返乡过年的农民工。Most of the passengers are college students on their winter vacation and migrant workers returning home for Spring Festival.   



客流将集中在北京、广州、重庆、武汉等城市。Passenger flows will be concentrated in Beijing, Guangzhou, Chongqing, Wuhan and some other cities

酒鬼

It’s a really popular destination.
这是一个非常受人欢迎的目的地。


A
Beijing’s packed with tourists now.



A
北京现在到处都是旅游的人。






B
Yes, I guess it’s a really popular destination nowadays.



B
是的，我想现在它是一个非常受人欢迎的目的地。






A
Look at this – the hotel is full of tourists.



A
看这——这家旅馆全是游客。






B
What language are they speaking? I can’t understand what they’re speaking.



B
他们在讲什么语言？我不明白他们在说什么。






A
I’m not sure. It might be French or Spanish. I’m not really sure.



A
我不知道。可能是法语或者西班牙语。我不十分肯定。






B
I think they’re all European, from France and Spain, maybe Italy and Germany too.



B
我想他们是欧洲人，从法国和西班牙来，也可能是从意大利或者德国来。






Notes
注释






1 You can talk about a place in terms of tourism by using popular / popular, eg Beijing is a popular tourist destination now / Beijing is a popular tourist destination now.




你可以用popular / 受人欢迎的来谈论某地的旅游状况。例如：Beijing is a popular tourist destination now /北京现在是个旅游的胜地。








2 Again, remember the distinction between the country or place name and the nationality (or language): France / French: France/French; Spain / Spanish: Spain / Spanish: Germany / German: Germany / German and Europe / European: Europe / European.


3

再一次，请记住国名或者地名与国籍（或者语言）之间的区别：France / French: 法国/法语（法国的）; Spain / Spanish:西班牙 / 西班牙语: Germany / German: 德国/ 德语以及Europe / European: 欧洲/ 欧洲人。

酒鬼

I wonder how expensive it is.
I wonder how expensive it is.
我想知道它有多贵。

A
That’s a great car. What make is it?



A
那是一辆漂亮的小汽车。是什么牌的？






B
It’s Japanese, I think. It’s a Toyota.



B
我想是日本产的。是丰田牌的。






A
It looks not bad. I wonder how expensive it is.



A
看起来不错。我想知道它有多贵。






B
I’m not sure. Some Japanese cars are quite reasonable prices. Some Korean ones too.



B
我不清楚。有些日本车价格很合理，有些韩国车也一样。






A
Yes, maybe. I really prefer German cars.



A
是的，也许是的。我更喜欢德国车。






B
Mercedes, Audis, BMWs. They’re fantastic cars, but very expensive.



B
像梅赛德斯、奥迪、宝马。它们都是很棒的车，但是非常昂贵。






Notes
注释



1 When you talk about specific brands of products, you can use make / make or brand / brand or the more general kind / kind, eg: What make of car is that? / What make of car is that? : What kind of camera do you have? / What kind of camera do you have?




当你谈论某个产品的品牌时，你可以用make /品牌或者brand / 牌子，或者用更宽泛的词语kind / 种类。例如：What make of car is that? / 那是什么品牌的？What kind of camera do you have? / 你有哪种照相机？






2 Remember various phrases about costs and prices, eg: I wonder how much it costs / I wonder how much it costs: It’s quite reasonable / It’s quite reasonable: It’s too expensive for me / It’s too expensive for me.




记住关于价钱和价格的不同词语。例如：
I wonder how much it costs /我想知道它多少钱。It’s quite reasonable / 价格非常合理。It’s too expensive for me / 对我来说太贵了。