Level 3 · Reading series
Lesson 15 · A Conversation on the Way Home
Audio track 15
Listen first
Listen once before opening the English passage.
Open the English passage and hover for word help
My mother was unusually quiet on the walk home. When I asked about her day, she said a project at work had gone wrong. I immediately gave her three ideas for fixing it.
She smiled a little. “Thank you, but I have already made a plan. Could you just walk with me?”
For a while, we listened to the sound of our shoes. Then she told me which part had been hardest: she had to tell a teammate about the mistake. I did not have an answer for that, so I asked what the teammate had said.
By the time we reached home, she was talking normally again. I had not solved her problem. I had finally listened to the one she wanted to describe.
Check your understanding
After reading, state the main idea in one sentence and find a line that supports it.
Chinese translation
回家的路上，妈妈比平时安静。我问她今天怎么样，她说工作中的一个项目出了问题。我立刻给她提了三个解决办法。
她微微一笑：‘谢谢，不过我已经想好该怎么办了。你能只陪我走走吗？’
有一阵子，我们只是听着彼此的脚步声。后来她说出了最难的部分：她得把失误告诉一位同事。对此我没有现成的答案，就问那位同事说了什么。
到家时，妈妈又像平常一样说话了。我没有替她解决问题，终于听清了她真正想说的事。
Key words and expressions
Key terms have Chinese explanations. Hover over dotted words in the English passage for word help and pronunciation when available.
- unusually
- 不同寻常地；妈妈那天比平时安静。
- go wrong
- 出问题；a project had gone wrong 指工作项目出了差错。
- immediately
- 立刻；叙述者还没听完就提出办法。
- fix
- 修复、解决；fix a problem 是设法处理问题。
- for a while
- 一阵子；两人暂时没有说话，只听见脚步声。
- the hardest part
- 最难的部分；不是想方案，而是向同事说明失误。
- teammate
- 同事、队友；与妈妈一起做项目的人。
- mistake
- 错误、失误；项目中发生的问题。
- reach home
- 到家；叙述者在回家时发现妈妈恢复了平时的语气。
- describe
- 描述；妈妈想说清自己经历的难处。
Background notes (Chinese)
遇到难题的人有时需要办法，有时只希望有人先听自己说。妈妈直接提出‘陪我走走’，叙述者便从急着 fix（解决）改为认真 listen（倾听）。按顺序看人物的行动，能读出两人心情的变化。