A：Hey, look at these paintings on the wall! Aren’t they beautiful? Linda bought some good paintings.

喂，看墻上這些畫!它們難道不漂亮嗎?琳達(dá)買的油畫真不錯(cuò)。

B：Yeah, very impressive. Oh, this one’s marvelous!

是啊，很令人欽佩。噢，這幅畫很了不起哦!

C：Sure, they’re very colorful.

當(dāng)然，它們很鮮艷。

D：Thank you. You are very generous with your compliments.

謝謝你們。你們真樂(lè)于夸獎(jiǎng)別人。

A：You know the first thing most Chinese students would ask is how much did this painting cost?

你知道大部分中國(guó)學(xué)生第一件會(huì)問(wèn)的事便是,這畫多少錢?

B：Right. I’ve noticed that too. They always ask that question before they say anything else.

是啊。我也注意到了。在他們說(shuō)其它話之前，他們老喜歡問(wèn)那個(gè)問(wèn)題。

C：That’s true. Most Chinese do that. I don’t know why. It’s just a habit. I’ve noticed that foreigners often make compliments soon after they see a product someone has bought - even if they don’t really mean it.

的確是這樣。許多中國(guó)人都這樣做。我不知道為什么。只是個(gè)習(xí)慣。我注意到了外國(guó)人看見(jiàn)別人買的東西常常會(huì)馬上稱贊一番——即使他們并不真正發(fā)自內(nèi)心。

A：Yeah, we’re just different. We can’t figure out why many Chinese people don’t give big hugs to their own parents after they grow up.

是啊，我們就是不一樣。我們不明白為什么許多中國(guó)人成年以后就不再擁抱他們自己的父母親。

C：No, we don’t do that. At least very few people I know do that.

不，我們不這么做。至少我認(rèn)識(shí)的人中很少人會(huì)這樣。

B：And as far as I know, it’s not common for a Chinese to say, I love you to anyone including his or her soul mate.

而且據(jù)我所知，對(duì)于一個(gè)中國(guó)人來(lái)說(shuō)，說(shuō)聲我愛(ài)你是很不常見(jiàn)的，即使對(duì)他們的心上人。

D：Cindy, please don’t misunderstand. We’re not saying that one way is better than another. They’re just different, that’s all.

辛迪，你不要誤會(huì)。我們不是在說(shuō)哪一個(gè)比另一個(gè)好。它們只是不同，就這樣。

C：I know. Americans say those three words a lot, especially in movies. I wonder if they really mean it.

我知道。美國(guó)人說(shuō)這三個(gè)字說(shuō)得特別多，尤其在電影里。我想知道他們是否是說(shuō)真的。

B：We do, most of the time. Sometimes we tell our loved ones that we’re proud of them too. Words are important.

大部分時(shí)間，我們是說(shuō)真的。有時(shí)候我們也告訴我們愛(ài)著的人我們很為他們自豪。言語(yǔ)是重要的。