High 1 · Reading series
Lesson 52 · A Letter Across Time Zones
Audio track 52
Listen first
Listen once before opening the English passage.
Open the English passage and hover for word help
I joined an international writing project and exchanged letters with a student named Lina. After I sent my first long email, I checked for a reply every few hours. Two days passed. I began to wonder whether my questions had sounded strange.
Then I looked at the project calendar. Lina lived in a different time zone and had exams that week. My message had arrived in the middle of her night. I had measured her response time using only my own day.
When she replied, she had answered carefully and asked about the river near my school. I wrote back with a photograph and a shorter question. We agreed to expect a reply within several days rather than immediately.
Our letters moved slowly, but that gave each of us time to notice details. A delay was not always a message about our friendship. Sometimes it was simply the shape of two different schedules crossing the world.
Sentence practice
Play any sentence in Dicvo’s Jenny English voice. Before playing all, choose how many times each sentence plays. A practice pause about as long as the sentence follows each play, including before the next sentence. The complete reading remains above.
Choose a sentence to begin.
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I joined an international writing project and exchanged letters with a student named Lina.
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After I sent my first long email, I checked for a reply every few hours.
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Two days passed.
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I began to wonder whether my questions had sounded strange.
-
Then I looked at the project calendar.
-
Lina lived in a different time zone and had exams that week.
-
My message had arrived in the middle of her night.
-
I had measured her response time using only my own day.
-
When she replied, she had answered carefully and asked about the river near my school.
-
I wrote back with a photograph and a shorter question.
-
We agreed to expect a reply within several days rather than immediately.
-
Our letters moved slowly, but that gave each of us time to notice details.
-
A delay was not always a message about our friendship.
-
Sometimes it was simply the shape of two different schedules crossing the world.
Check your understanding
After reading, state the main idea in one sentence and find a line that supports it.
Chinese translation
我参加一个国际写作项目，和名叫莉娜的学生通信。发出第一封长邮件后，我每隔几小时就查看一次回信。两天过去，我开始担心自己的问题是不是听起来很奇怪。
后来，我看了项目日历。莉娜住在另一个时区，那周还要考试。我的邮件到达时，正是她那里的深夜。我只用自己的一天去衡量她回复的快慢。
回信来了，她认真回答了问题，还问起学校附近的河。我附上一张照片回信，并把新问题写得短一些。我们约好，几天内回复就好，不必马上作答。
书信来往缓慢，却让我们都有时间留意细节。延迟不一定在表达对友谊的看法，有时只是相隔遥远的两份日程表恰好交错的样子。
Key words and expressions
Key terms have Chinese explanations. Hover over dotted words in the English passage for word help and pronunciation when available.
- exchange letters
- 通信；国际项目中的书信往来。
- reply
- 回复；主人公不停查看。
- every few hours
- 每隔几小时；查看邮箱的频率。
- wonder whether
- 怀疑是否；担心问题显得奇怪。
- time zone
- 时区；两人当地时间不同。
- measure
- 衡量；不宜只按自己的日程判断。
- respond
- 作答；莉娜后来认真回信。
- expect
- 预期；约好几天内回复。
- delay
- 延迟；并不一定带有关系上的暗示。
- cross
- 跨越、交错；两份日程相隔世界。
Background notes (Chinese)
跨时区交流中，发信人的白天可能是收信人的深夜。再加上考试安排，回信慢未必代表冷淡；双方商定合理的回复时间后更容易相处。