給媽媽的一封信 A Letter to Mother

Dear Mom,

親愛的媽媽：

Can you imagine that I’m now in the United States, a country so different from China? Everything is new and interesting! I made some friends on the trip over and they have been very kind and helpful. Still, you know how much I miss you and your cooking? My mouth waters at the mere thought of those delectable Chinese dishes you prepare. Last night, my friends invited me to dinner. They had some strange ways of describing their hunger. For instance, there was“I’m starving to death”,“I’m famished”, and“I’m so hungry, I could eat a horse”, which has a similar expression in Chinese; I’m sure you know the one. How about“I’m making a pig of myself”! A little confusing, hmm? Anyway, this stuff may be useful to you as an English teacher, so I’m also sending a tape. You can listen to our conversation and hear some real modern American English.

您能想象出我在美國這樣一個與中國有着種種不同的國家裏是如何生活的嗎？這裏所有的事情都是那麼新鮮有趣。我現在交了許多新朋友，他們人很好，給了我很多幫助。但是，我仍然想念您，想念您做的飯菜。一想到那些飯菜，我就忍不住要流口水。好在我有一些朋友，上星期他們邀請我去學校附近的一家餐館吃了一頓，我發現他們形容餓的方法很有意思，我得花點時間去熟悉熟悉。比如如果覺得餓了，我一般會說：“I’m so hungry”。(我很餓）可是，他們有很多古怪的說法。像：“I’m starving to death.”“I’m famished.”（我餓死了）等等。最有趣的一句是“I’m so hungry, I could eat a horse.”（我餓到可以吃下一隻馬了）中文中有一句類似的話，我肯定您是知道的。還有一句話理解起來可能就有些困難了----“I’m making a pig of myself!”是不是有點糊塗了？不管怎麼說，您在中國教英語，這些東西可能會有用。所以隨信寄去一盤磁帶，好讓您聽一聽我們的交談，瞭解一下“真正”的現代美國口語。

Your loving daughter,

Amber

愛您的女兒

Amber