Unit 2 I think that the mooncakes are delicious.
Section A-1b
Mary: What a great day!
Bill: Yes, it was really fun!
Mary: What did you like best?
Bill: I loved the races! They were really interesting to watch. How fantastic the dragon boat teams were!
Mary: Yes! And look at the colors of the boats. How pretty they were!
Bill: I agree! But I guess it was a little too crowded.
Mary: I don’t know…I kind of like to have more people around. It makes things more exciting.
Bill: That’s true. Oh, and I really liked eating zongzi.
Mary: Oh, me too! The sweet ones are my favorite.
Bill: I wonder if they’ll have the races again next year.
Mary: Of course! They have them every year.
Bill: Then I believe that I’ll be back again next year to watch the races!
Mary: Me, too!
Section A-2a
Harry: What did you do on your vacation, Wu Ming?
Wu Ming: I visited my aunt and uncle in Hong Kong.
Harry: Wow! So what did you do?
Wu Ming: Well, we ate out a lot. I believe that we ate at least five meals a day! How delicious the food is! I’ve put on five pounds!
Harry: Haha! Yes, the food in Hong Kong is delicious. What else did you do?
Wu Ming: Shopping, of course. Hong Kong is a great place for shopping! I spent so much money.
Harry: So what was the best part of the trip?
Wu Ming: Oh, the Dragon Boat festival for sure. They had teams from all over the world!
Harry: I’m planning a trip to Hong Kong next year. I wonder whether June is a good time.
Wu Ming: Yes, if you want to see the boat races. But it’s quite hot in June. That’s one thing I didn’t like.
Harry: Oh, I don’t mind hot weather.
Wu Ming: OK, then I think that June would be a perfect time for you to visit.
Section A-2d
Clara: Guess what? I'm going to Chiang Mai in two weeks.
Ben: Wow, sounds like fun! But I believe that April is the hottest month of the year there.
Clara: Yes, that's true. But there's a water festival there from April 13th to 15th.
Ben: I wonder if it's similar to the Water Festival of the Dai people in Yunnan Province.
Clara: Yes, I think so. This is the time of Thai New Year. People go on the streets to throw water at each other.
Ben: Cool! But why do they do that?
Clara: Because the new year is a time for cleaning and washing away bad things. Then you'll have good luck in the new year.
Section A-3a
Full Moon, Full Feelings
Chinese people have been celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival and enjoying mooncakes for centuries. Mooncakes are in the shape of a full moon on Mid-Autumn night. They carry people’s wishes to the families they love and miss.
There are many traditional folk stories about this festival. However, most people think that the story of Chang’e is the most touching. Chang’e was Hou Yi’s beautiful wife. After Hou Yi shot down the nine suns, a goddess gave him a magic medicine to thank him. Whoever drank this could live forever, and Hou Yi planned to drink it with Chang’e. However, a bad man, Peng Meng, tried to steal the medicine when Hou Yi was not home. Chang’e refused to give it to him and drank it all. She became very light and flew up to the moon. Hou Yi was so sad that he called out her name to the moon every night. One night, he found that the moon was so bright and round that he could see his wife there. He quickly laid out her favorite fruits and desserts in the garden. How he wished that Chang’e could come back!
After this, people started the tradition of admiring the moon and sharing mooncakes with their families.
Section B-1b
Wu Yu: Hey Jane, what do you know about Halloween?
Jane: Oh, it’s a popular festival in North America.
Wu Yu: We don’t really celebrate it in China. I know that it’s in October, right?
Jane: Yes, October 31st. It’s a scary festival, but I think it’s fun!
Wu Yu: What do people do on that day?
Jane: Many people make their houses look scary. They may turn off the lights and light candles. They sometimes also put things like spiders and ghosts around the doors and windows.
Wu Yu: Wow, that sounds quite scary!
Jane: It’s not that bad. Even little kids dress up as ghosts or black cats. They can also dress up as fun things like cartoon characters. Some parents join in the fun by dressing up, too!
Wu Yu: Do parents take their children around the neighborhood to ask for candies and treats?
Jane: Yeah. Kids say“Trick or treat!”at every house. This means that if you don’t give them a treat, they’ll play a trick on you!
Wu Yu: It sounds like a really fun festival! I wonder if it’ll ever become popular in China.
Section B-2b
The Spirit of Christmas
Many would agree that when we think of Christmas, we probably think of gifts, Christmas trees and Santa Claus. But behind all these things lies the true meaning of Christmas: the importance of sharing and giving love and joy to the people around us. The story in A Christmas Carol is perhaps the best example of this.
A Christmas Carol is a famous novel written by Charles Dickens. It is about an old man named Scrooge who never laughs or smiles. He is mean and only thinks about himself. He doesn’t treat others nicely. He just cares about whether he can make more money. And he hates Christmas. One Christmas Eve, Scrooge sees the ghost of Jacob Marley, his dead business partner. Marley used to be just like Scrooge, so he was punished after he died. He warns Scrooge to change his ways if he doesn’t want to end up like him. He also tells Scrooge to expect three spirits to visit him.
That night, three ghosts visit Scrooge. First, the Ghost of Christmas Past takes him back to his childhood and reminds Scrooge of his happier days as a child. Then the second spirit, the Ghost of Christmas Present, takes him to see how others are spending Christmas this year. Everyone is happy, even poor people. The last one, the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, takes him to the future. He sees that he is dead but nobody cares. Scrooge is so scared that he wakes up in his bed and finds out it is only the next morning — Christmas Day!
He decides to change his life and promises to be a better person. He happily celebrates Christmas with his relatives. He also gives gifts to people in need. He now treats everyone with kindness and warmth, spreading love and joy everywhere he goes. And that is the true spirit of Christmas!
参考译文
Section A-1b
玛丽：多么美好的一天啊!
比尔：是啊，真的很有趣!
玛丽：你最喜欢什么?
比尔：我喜欢比赛!看比赛真的很有趣。龙舟队太棒了!
玛丽：没错!你看那些船的颜色，多漂亮啊!
比尔：我同意!不过我觉得人有点太多了。
玛丽：我不知道……我反而喜欢人多点。这样更热闹。
比尔：你说得对。哦，我真的很喜欢吃粽子。
玛丽：哦，我也是!甜粽子是我的最爱。
比尔：我想知道明年他们还会不会举办比赛。
玛丽：当然会!他们每年都举办的。
比尔：那我相信明年我还会再来看比赛!
玛丽：我也是!
Section A-2a
哈利：你假期做了什么，吴明?
吴明：我去香港看望了我的叔叔和婶婶。
哈利：哇!那你们做了什么?
吴明：嗯，我们吃了很多外面的东西。我想我们一天至少吃了五顿饭!食物太美味了!我长胖了五磅!
哈利：哈哈!是的，香港的食物确实美味。你们还做了什么?
吴明：当然是购物了。香港是购物的好地方!我花了好多钱。
哈利：那这次旅行最棒的部分是什么?
吴明：哦，肯定是端午节。他们有来自世界各地的队伍!
哈利：我计划明年去香港旅行。我想知道六月是不是个好时间。
吴明：是的，如果你想看龙舟赛的话。但是六月非常热。这是我不喜欢的一点。
哈利：哦，我不介意热天气。
吴明：好吧，那我觉得六月对你来说是个完美的旅行时间。
Section A-2d
克拉拉：猜猜看?我两周后要去清迈。
本：哇，听起来很有趣!但我想四月份是那里最热的一个月。
克拉拉：是的，没错。但是那里从4月13日到15日有一个泼水节。
本：我想知道它是否和云南省傣族的泼水节相似。
克拉拉：是的，我想是的。这是泰国的新年。人们走上街头互相泼水。
本：酷!但是他们为什么要这样做呢?
克拉拉：因为新年是清洁和洗去不好事物的时候。这样你在新的一年里就会有好运。
Section A-3a
满月，满情
中国人庆祝中秋节和品尝月饼已有数百年历史。月饼的形状与中秋之夜的满月相似，它们承载着人们对所爱和思念家人的祝愿。
关于这个节日有许多传统的民间故事。然而，大多数人认为嫦娥的故事最为感人。嫦娥是后羿美丽的妻子。后羿射下九个太阳后，一位女神给了他一颗仙丹以示感谢。谁吃了这颗仙丹就能长生不老，后羿原本打算和嫦娥一起吃。然而，当后羿不在家时，一个坏人彭蒙试图偷走仙丹。嫦娥拒绝给他，自己把仙丹全吃了。她变得非常轻盈，飞上了月亮。后羿非常伤心，他每天晚上都对着月亮呼喊嫦娥的名字。一天晚上，他发现月亮又亮又圆，他能在那里看到他的妻子。他迅速在花园里摆上她最喜欢的水果和甜点。他多么希望嫦娥能回来啊!
从那以后，人们开始有了赏月和与家人分享月饼的传统。
Section B-1b
吴宇：嘿，简，你对万圣节了解多少?
简：哦，它是北美地区的一个流行节日。
吴宇：我们在中国不怎么庆祝它。我知道它是在十月份，对吧?
简：是的，10月31日。这是一个恐怖的节日，但我觉得很有趣!
吴宇：那天人们会做什么?
简：很多人会把他们的房子装饰得很恐怖。他们可能会关灯点蜡烛。他们有时也会在门窗周围放上蜘蛛和鬼魂之类的东西。
吴宇：哇，听起来挺吓人的!
简：没那么糟糕。就连小孩子也打扮成鬼魂或黑猫。他们也可以打扮成有趣的东西，比如卡通人物。有些父母也会加入其中，一起享受乐趣!
吴宇：父母会带着孩子去附近要糖果和点心吗?
简：是的。孩子们每到一家都会说“不给糖就捣蛋!”这意味着如果你不给他们一些吃的，他们就会捉弄你!
吴宇：这听起来真是一个有趣的节日!我想知道它会不会在中国流行起来。
Section B-2b
圣诞精神
许多人都会同意，当我们想到圣诞节时，我们可能会想到礼物、圣诞树和圣诞老人。但所有这些事物背后的真正含义是圣诞节的真谛：与周围的人分享和给予爱与欢乐的重要性。《圣诞颂歌》中的故事或许是这一点的最佳例证。
《圣诞颂歌》是查尔斯·狄更斯创作的一部著名小说。它讲述了一个名叫斯克鲁奇的老头，他从不笑也不开心。他吝啬且只考虑自己。他对别人不好。他只关心自己是否能赚更多的钱。而且他讨厌圣诞节。一个圣诞夜，斯克鲁奇看到了他已故的生意伙伴雅各布·马利的鬼魂。马利曾经和斯克鲁奇一样，所以他死后受到了惩罚。他警告斯克鲁奇，如果不想落得和他一样的下场，就要改变自己的行为。他还告诉斯克鲁奇，有三个鬼魂会来拜访他。
那天晚上，三个鬼魂拜访了斯克鲁奇。首先，圣诞过去的鬼魂把他带回了童年，让斯克鲁奇想起了自己作为孩子时更快乐的时光。然后，第二个鬼魂，圣诞现在的鬼魂，带他去看别人今年是如何过圣诞节的。每个人都很高兴，甚至是穷人。最后一个，圣诞未来的鬼魂，把他带到了未来。他看到自己死了，但没有人关心。斯克鲁奇非常害怕，他在床上醒来，发现只是第二天的早晨——圣诞节!
他决定改变自己的生活，并承诺成为一个更好的人。他高兴地和亲戚们一起庆祝圣诞节。他还给需要的人送礼物。他现在对每个人都充满善意和温暖，走到哪里都传播着爱与欢乐。这就是圣诞节的真正精神!
