Level 3 · Reading series
Lesson 13 · Two Calendars, One Weekend
Audio track 13
Listen first
Listen once before opening the English passage.
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Mother: The museum tickets are for Saturday morning, right?
Me: Saturday? I promised to help at the community garden then.
Mother: I wrote “museum” on the kitchen calendar last week.
Me: I put “garden” on my phone calendar. I never checked yours.
We were both disappointed. The tickets could be changed, but only before Friday evening. Instead of arguing about whose plan came first, we looked at both calendars together. I called the garden leader and asked if I could help on Sunday. She said yes.
Now we have a shared calendar as well as our own. It cannot make us agree on every plan, but it helps us notice a problem before Friday evening.
Check your understanding
After reading, state the main idea in one sentence and find a line that supports it.
Chinese translation
妈妈： 博物馆的门票是星期六上午的，对吧？
我： 星期六？我那时答应去社区花园帮忙了。
妈妈： 我上周就在厨房的日历上写了‘博物馆’。
我： 我把‘花园’记在手机日历里，却从没看过你的日历。
我们都很失望。门票可以改期，但必须在星期五晚上之前办理。我们没有争论谁先定下计划，而是一起对照两本日历。我给社区花园的负责人打电话，问能否改在星期天帮忙。她同意了。
现在，除了各自的日历，我们还共用一本日历。它不能保证我们对每项计划都意见一致，却能帮我们赶在截止时间前发现冲突。
Key words and expressions
Key terms have Chinese explanations. Hover over dotted words in the English passage for word help and pronunciation when available.
- ticket
- 门票；博物馆门票可以在截止前改期。
- promise to do
- 答应做某事；孩子已答应去社区花园帮忙。
- community garden
- 社区花园；附近居民共同照料的园地。
- calendar
- 日历；妈妈用厨房的，孩子用手机里的。
- disappointed
- 失望的；两人发现周末安排冲突时的心情。
- argue about
- 争论……；他们没有争论是谁先安排的。
- come first
- 先发生、排在前面；whose plan came first 指‘谁先定下计划’。
- leader
- 负责人；孩子给社区花园的负责人打电话。
- shared
- 共享的；后来母子共同使用一本日历。
- as well as
- 除……之外还；既保留各自日历，也使用共享日历。
Background notes (Chinese)
日程撞期不一定是谁忘了；信息可能分别记在不同地方。文中妈妈写在厨房日历，孩子写在手机上。I never checked yours 承认自己没看对方的记录，使谈话从追究责任转向共享信息。