Happiness in Old Age 幸福晚年 dialogue 1 S: Louis, facy meeting you here. 路易斯,真高兴在这儿碰见你! L: hi! Susan. What brings you this way? 你好,苏珊.什么风把你吹来了? S: my father works nearby, and I am gonna meet him for lunch. 我父亲在附近工作,我和他约好了一起吃午饭. L: but I remember you told me your father retired last year. 我记得你和我说过你父亲去年就退休了. S: yes, he did, but he has found a new job in a nearby office. 是啊,退了.但是他后来又在附近找了一份新工作. L: was he worried about making ends meet? 他是担心钱不够花吗? S: not really, he has a decent pension but he wants to keep physically and mentally active. 不是,他退休金还可以,就是想活动活动. L: oh, I see. Does your father live with you? 哦,明白了.那你父亲和你们一起住吗? S: no, my father prefers to live on his own. 没有,他喜欢一个人住. L: I can understand if he wants to be independent while he still can. 我明白,他是觉得自己身体还可以,可以独立生活. S: how are your parents? I haven't seen them for a long time. 你父母怎么样?我好久没见他们了. L: they're fine. Still working but we're looking ahead. There is a new fully-equipped retirement home in our neighborhood. They've been thinking about moving there when they couldn't live on their own. 他们很好,还在工作但是马上就退休了.我们小区里新开了个养老院设施很齐备,他们考虑过几年就搬去那儿住. S: oh, really? I have no idea about that but it sounds very convenient. 是吗?没听说啊,不过好像挺方便的. L: my parents prefer to be independent, you know, and they don't want to be a burden. 我父母想自己住,他们不想成为我们的负担. S: oh, I see. That sounds great if they can keep some independence but still haveprofessionals nearby just in case. 恩,住那里也不错,他们有一定的自由,又有专业人士在身边,以防万一. dialogue 2 L Hi, Susan Warm today. isn't it? 嗨,苏珊.今天天气很暖和,是吧? S: You said it. Could you hold this newspaper for me? 是啊。你帮我拿—下报纸好吗? L Yes. of course. What are you reading? 好啊。你在看什么呢? S: An article entitled "Sunset Love' 一篇题为“黄昏恋”的文章。 . L: Interesting. What's it about? ' 挺有j敏思的,是关于什么的? S: About a love story between an old professor and a young Iady. 关于一位老教授和一个年轻女士之间的爱情故事. L DottIey get married in the end? 他们最后结婚了吗? S: Yes. Despite all the obstacles, they Iive happily together. 结了.虽然遇到了重重困难,但是他们最后还是幸福地生活在了一起. L What would you say if your father wants to remarry? 如果你父亲再婚,你同意吗? S: Actually, we have encouraged him to start dating agrun. It' s sad to see him aIone. 事实上,我们鼓励他再次谈恋爱,看见他总是一个人,我们心里也很难受。 L: I guess you're right. No mattcr how caring and attentive we are, our love can nevcr take the place of a special partner. 不论子女们有多体贴,照顾得有多周到,我们的爱永远无法取代一个老伴的位置. S: That's rigbt, but my father holds the traditional bclief that remarriage is disrespectful to my mother. 是啊,但是我父亲思想很保守,他认为再婚时不起我妈. L: Oh, I see. Due to tbc sense of morality, many seniors in China tend to believevc remarriage among older people is abnormal. 哦,这样啊.因为道德观念的束缚,在中国,许多老年人 都认为再婚不太正常. S: That's why many scniors like my father decidc to stay alone. 所以很多像我父亲一样的老年人都决定不再结婚了. L: I see. 明白了 |