A:I see you've brought something to occupy your time while we wait. Good. We may be here a long time.
我知道你帶了一些東西過(guò)來(lái),在我們等的時(shí)候來(lái)打發(fā)你的時(shí)間。這樣好。我們可能要在這里呆很長(zhǎng)時(shí)間。
B:Yes, Papa. I brought the catalog for the next college we're going to visit--the one in New Hampshir.
是啊,爸爸。我把我們將要去的下一個(gè)學(xué)院的目錄表帶來(lái)了-在新罕布什爾的那個(gè)。
C:Maybe we won't have to wait long. We've only been here fifteen minutes.
也許我們不要等很久。我們到這里才十五分鐘。
B:I'm not used to the way they treat time here. They wouldn't see me at that place in Massachusetts yesterday. I missed the appointment because I was forty-five minutes late. That's no time at all back in Brazil.
我不習(xí)慣他們這里這樣對(duì)待時(shí)間。昨天在馬薩諸塞州那個(gè)地方他們就不會(huì)見(jiàn)我。就因?yàn)槲疫t了四十五分鐘,我連面試都錯(cuò)過(guò)了。在巴西,這點(diǎn)時(shí)間根本就不算什么。
A:It’s just that North Americans pay more attention to exact times. They're very punctual people.
美國(guó)北方人就是更注重時(shí)間的準(zhǔn)確性。他們很守時(shí)。
C:I think that if you're more than thirty minutes late, you have to apologize and explain what delayed you.
我想如果你遲到超過(guò)三十分鐘,你就得道歉并且解釋是什么延誤了你。
A:Our appointment with this dean is for three-fifteen. My watch says three-thirty. I'm sure we’re not late.
我們和這位系主任的約面時(shí)間是三點(diǎn)十五分。我的手表是三點(diǎn)半。我想我們沒(méi)遲到。
D:Isabel? Come in. Sorry I kept you waiting. We're running a little behind schedule today.
伊莎貝爾?請(qǐng)進(jìn)。對(duì)不起讓你久等了。今天我們比預(yù)計(jì)時(shí)間晚了一點(diǎn)。