社会上的新情况

刘明，你的作文里写“现在的年轻人只喜欢玩手机”，你觉得这么说对吗？

Liú Míng, nǐ de zuòwén li xiě “xiànzài de niánqīng rén zhǐ xǐhuan wán shǒujī”, nǐ juéde zhème shuō duì ma?

Liu Ming, your essay says 'young people today only like playing on their phones'. Do you think that's fair?

王老师，我身边的同学基本上都是这样。

Wáng lǎoshī, wǒ shēnbiān de tóngxué jīběnshang dōu shì zhèyàng.

Teacher Wang, the classmates around me are basically all like that.

你身边的同学只是一小部分。实际上，现在年轻人的生活方式很多样。

Nǐ shēnbiān de tóngxué zhǐ shì yì xiǎo bùfen. Shíjìshàng, xiànzài niánqīng rén de shēnghuó fāngshì hěn duōyàng.

Your classmates are only a small group. In fact, young people's lifestyles are very varied now.

也是。有的人周末去爬山，有的人学做饭，还有的人去帮助老人。

Yě shì. Yǒu de rén zhōumò qù pá shān, yǒu de rén xué zuò fàn, hái yǒu de rén qù bāngzhù lǎorén.

That's true. Some go hiking at the weekend, some learn to cook, and some go and help old people.

对。社会上的事情很复杂，不能只看一个方面。

Duì. Shèhuì shang de shìqing hěn fùzá, bù néng zhǐ kàn yí ge fāngmiàn.

Right. Things in society are complicated; you can't look at just one side.

我明白了。我回去把作文改一改，多写几种不同的年轻人。

Wǒ míngbai le. Wǒ huíqu bǎ zuòwén gǎi yi gǎi, duō xiě jǐ zhǒng bù tóng de niánqīng rén.

I see. I'll go back and revise my essay and write about several different kinds of young people.

我觉得我基本上没买什么东西，可是每个月还没过完，钱就没了。

Wǒ juéde wǒ jīběnshang méi mǎi shénme dōngxi, kěshì měi ge yuè hái méi guò wán, qián jiù méi le.

I feel like I basically haven't bought anything, but every month my money's gone before the month is over.

你看看这个月在网上买了什么。

Nǐ kànkan zhège yuè zài wǎngshang mǎi le shénme.

Have a look at what you bought online this month.

衣服、吃的、喝的……每次都只有几十块啊。

Yīfu, chī de, hē de…… Měi cì dōu zhǐ yǒu jǐshí kuài a.

Clothes, food, drinks... Each time it was only a few dozen yuan.

实际上，几十块加起来有好几千。这些东西里，你真正需要的有多少？

Shíjìshàng, jǐshí kuài jiā qǐlai yǒu hǎo jǐ qiān. Zhèxiē dōngxi li, nǐ zhēnzhèng xūyào de yǒu duōshao?

Actually, a few dozen yuan here and there adds up to several thousand. Of all these things, how many do you really need?

这么一看，真正需要的不多，许多都是看着便宜就买了。

Zhème yí kàn, zhēnzhèng xūyào de bù duō, xǔduō dōu shì kànzhe piányi jiù mǎi le.

Looking at it like this, not many. I bought a lot of them just because they looked cheap.

最实际的办法是每天把花的钱记下来，一个月以后你就清楚了。

Zuì shíjì de bànfǎ shì měi tiān bǎ huā de qián jì xiàlai, yí ge yuè yǐhòu nǐ jiù qīngchu le.

The most practical thing is to write down what you spend every day. After a month you'll see clearly.

好，从今天开始，我买东西以前先想想是不是真正需要。

Hǎo, cóng jīntiān kāishǐ, wǒ mǎi dōngxi yǐqián xiān xiǎngxiang shì bu shì zhēnzhèng xūyào.

Okay. From today on, before I buy anything I'll think first about whether I really need it.

你看这个新闻：“他是一个普通的司机，但是有着许多朋友。”

Nǐ kàn zhège xīnwén: “Tā shì yí ge pǔtōng de sījī, dànshì yǒuzhe xǔduō péngyou.”

Look at this news story: 'He is an ordinary driver, but he has many friends.'

一个司机，怎么会有那么多朋友？

Yí ge sījī, zěnme huì yǒu nàme duō péngyou?

How can a driver have so many friends?

他开了二十年公共汽车，每次有老人上车，他都等老人坐好了再开。

Tā kāi le èrshí nián gōnggòng qìchē, měi cì yǒu lǎorén shàng chē, tā dōu děng lǎorén zuòhǎo le zài kāi.

He's been driving a bus for twenty years, and whenever an old person gets on, he waits until they've sat down before he drives off.

这样的司机，大家当然喜欢。现在社会上，这样的人越来越少了。

Zhèyàng de sījī, dàjiā dāngrán xǐhuan. Xiànzài shèhuì shang, zhèyàng de rén yuè lái yuè shǎo le.

Of course everyone likes a driver like that. In society today, people like that are getting rarer.

我不同意。实际上，许多普通人都像他这样，只是新闻上看不到。

Wǒ bù tóngyì. Shíjìshàng, xǔduō pǔtōng rén dōu xiàng tā zhèyàng, zhǐ shì xīnwén shang kàn bu dào.

I disagree. Actually, lots of ordinary people are like him; you just don't see them in the news.

你说得也对。我们小区门口卖水果的阿姨，下雨天还把伞借给大家呢。

Nǐ shuō de yě duì. Wǒmen xiǎoqū ménkǒu mài shuǐguǒ de āyí, xià yǔ tiān hái bǎ sǎn jiè gěi dàjiā ne.

You have a point. The woman who sells fruit at our compound gate even lends people umbrellas on rainy days.