82 Oriental Pearl TV Tower 1 东方明珠电视塔1
Hi everybody, 大家好, 欢迎收看今天的成长汉语. Thanks for joining us for today’s episode of Growing up with Chinese.
Now 小明 and Mike are still out and about in 上海 today. Taking in the sights and sounds of that fabulous city. Now just so you all know, our skit today is too long to fit into one episode, so we’ll be continuing it next time. All right, so without further ado, let’s check in with our gang and see what they’re up to today.
小明：…啊大海 是我生长的地方 海风吹 海浪涌 随我飘流四方〜
小明：哎呀，太美了。我真开心啊。
Mike：小明，瞧你高兴的。
堂妹：麦克，你可不知道。他呀，就喜欢在黄浦江上高声嚎叫。每次都是。
小明：哎，哎，茜茜，你怎么说话呢。我这是放声歌唱，怎么能说是高声嚎叫呢！
堂妹：本来就是嘛，多难听啊，哇啦哇啦的……
小明：嘿，还说我呢，你唱得多好啊，也好不到哪儿去！
Mike：好啦，好啦，你们别吵啦。小明就是太高兴了，有点儿得意忘形，情有可原，情有可原。
堂妹：哼，真是的，我跟他开玩笑呢。谁知你还当真了。
小明：好啦，好啦，消消气。准备下船吧。小明：你们俩在这儿等，我先去买票。
堂妹：那好吧，就算你将功补过。
Mike：哇，电视塔可真高啊！
堂妹：麦克，原来东方明珠电视塔是上海最高的建筑，后来在电视塔的旁边又盖了一座比它还高的“金茂大厦”，瞧，就是那座。
Mike：哎，茜茜，我怎么觉得这座大厦比“金茂大厦”还要高啊？
堂妹：你说得对。这叫“国际金融中心”。它现在是上海最高的建筑了。
小明：茜茜，没想到你知道得还挺多。难怪叔叔让你给我们当导游呢。
堂妹：那当然，我可是“东道主”啊。
小明：走吧，我们上去吧。
The Oriental Pearl TV Tower is quite the sight, don’t you think? Now it certainly seemed like Mike was impressed with it. OK, now let’s take a look at some of the specifics that came up in today’s clip.
小明 and 茜茜 had a bit of a tiff*1 on their way to the TV tower, and at the end of it 小明 said to 茜茜 “消消气.” Now 消气 means to calm down or cool down referring to one’s temper. Now this is an interesting word because to be angry is 生气 right? 生 on its own means be born, grow or get, have. So you have 气 or anger. Now, 消 on its own means eliminate, remove or dispel. So if you 消 dispel 气 anger, you cool down or calm down right?
Now repeating 消 as in 消消气 lightens the intensity of the action. 茜茜 was livid*2, she was just more annoyed so she needed to 消消气.
堂妹：麦克，你可不知道。他呀，就喜欢在黄浦江上高声嚎叫。每次都是。
小明：哎，哎，茜茜，你怎么说话呢。我这是放声歌唱，怎么能说是高声嚎叫呢！
堂妹：本来就是嘛，多难听啊，哇啦哇啦的……
小明：嘿，还说我呢，你唱得多好啊，也好不到哪儿去！
Mike：好啦，好啦，你们别吵啦。小明就是太高兴了，有点儿得意忘形，情有可原，情有可原。
堂妹：哼，真是的，我跟他开玩笑呢。谁知你还当真了。
小明：好啦，好啦，消消气。准备下船吧。
After our gang arrived at the TV tower 小明 offered to go buy tickets. And 茜茜’s response was 好吧, 就算你将功补过吧. 将功补过 is a set expression that means make amends for one’s faults by good deeds*3. Now if you break the expression down, 将 when used [noise] idioms or dialects means with, by means of or by. 功 means meritorious*4 service or just merit. 补 is to mend, patch or repair. And 过 refers to a fault or mistake. 将 功 补 过 make amends for one’s faults by good deeds.
Mike：好啦，好啦，你们别吵啦。小明就是太高兴了，有点儿得意忘形，情有可原，情有可原。
堂妹：哼，真是的，我跟他开玩笑呢。谁知你还当真了。
小明：好啦，好啦，消消气。准备下船吧。小明：你们俩在这儿等，我先去买票。
堂妹：那好吧，就算你将功补过。
Mike：哇，电视塔可真高啊！
堂妹：麦克，原来东方明珠电视塔是上海最高的建筑，后来在电视塔的旁边又盖了一座比它还高的“金茂大厦”，瞧，就是那座。
Mike：哎，茜茜，我怎么觉得这座大厦比“金茂大厦”还要高啊？
And here is another expression you most likely hear when you are in China 东道主. 道主 refers to the role of the host. And 东 we all know means east or eastern. So 东道主 is eastern host. 茜茜 said of herself 我可是“东道主.” I’m an eastern host. Now you all oftentimes hear the phrase 做好东道主, be a good eastern host. I have to say, I’m hard put to*5 think of a better hosts than the people of China.
Mike：小明就是太高兴了，有点儿得意忘形，情有可原，情有可原。
堂妹：哼，真是的，我跟他开玩笑呢。谁知你还当真了。
小明：好啦，好啦，消消气。准备下船吧。小明：你们俩在这儿等，我先去买票。
堂妹：那好吧，就算你将功补过。
Mike：哇，电视塔可真高啊！
堂妹：麦克，原来东方明珠电视塔是上海最高的建筑，后来在电视塔的旁边又盖了一座比它还高的“金茂大厦”，瞧，就是那座。
Mike：哎，茜茜，我怎么觉得这座大厦比“金茂大厦”还要高啊？
堂妹：你说得对。这叫“国际金融中心”。它现在是上海最高的建筑了。
小明：茜茜，没想到你知道得还挺多。难怪叔叔让你给我们当导游呢。
堂妹：那当然，我可是“东道主”啊。
小明：走吧，我们上去吧。
OK let’s take a look at some of today’s vocabulary.
- 嚎叫 howl, yell. háo jiào
- 得意忘形 be intoxicated*6 by one’s success, get dizzy with success. dé yì wàng xíng
- 情有可原 excusable, forgivable, perdonable. qíng yǒu kě yuán
- 消消气 cool down, calm down, be mollified*7. xiāo xiāo qì
- 东道主 role of the host. dōng dào zhǔ
Spotlight
上海 skyline is a myriad of interesting buildings. But, the Oriental Pearl TV Tower stands apart from the crowd for many reasons.
Now the first is that construction started on it in nineteen ninety, that’s quite a long time ago. It’s four hundred sixty-eight meters tall or one thousand five hundred and thirty-five feet. And just so you can put that into perspective, it was China’s tallest building upon its completion in nineteen ninety-four and it lasted all the way until two thousand and seven. And China’s got a lot of tall buildings.
Now in part because it was built back in the early nineties it quickly became almost like a symbol of 上海. It’s quite unique looking don’t you think? Almost like a rocket ship.
Now it’s a great place to go to get a bird’s eye view of 上海 because it has fifteen observatory levels that’s a lot. There’re shops, restaurants, exhibition facilities, and even hotel aptly named [noise] the Space Hotel located within the building. And roughly half way up the tower, there is a revolving restaurant for anyone who wants to take a break and get a panoramic view of 浦西 and 浦东.
Now as long as you are out and about in 上海 you will pass by the Oriental Pearl TV Tower for sure. And it’s worth the trip up.
There’re plenty of tall buildings where you can get a good view of 上海 but having been China’s tallest building for over ten years. There’s something kind of special about seeing it through the eyes of the Oriental Pearl TV Tower. Something not to be missed.
Primer
It’s language point time everyone, we’ve got a phrase to begin with and it is adjective + 不到哪儿去.
Now this phrase is used to express a small degree of something. So for example 远不到哪儿去 means it’s not too far away or it’s closer than you think. So 小明 said today of 茜茜 “哎呦, 还说我呢, 你唱得多好啊, 也好不到哪儿去.” And you were complaining about me even if you sang well it wouldn’t sound all that good anyway. All right so another example could be 漂亮不到哪儿去 or 不是很漂亮, not so beautiful. 热不到哪儿去. 不是很热, not too hot. 忙不到哪儿去. 不是很忙, or not too busy.
- 上海的夏天比北京热吗？／我觉得热不到哪儿去。
- 人太多了，要不我们去那边吃吧？／那儿的人也少不到哪儿去。
谁知 or 谁知道? Who would have thought? 谁知 or 谁知道 is typically used at the beginning of a sentence or phrase. So 茜茜 said to 小明 “我跟你开玩笑呢, 谁知你还当真了.” I was just kidding. Who would have thought you would take me seriously? Now I could also say 今天看起来天气不错, 谁知道中午以后突然下起了大雨. The weather was looked pretty good today who would have thought it was start pouring after lunch? OK let’s take a look at some more examples.
- 我今天去超市，谁知碰到张老师了。吓我一跳。／啊，这么巧。
- 小明，我想让你帮我修电脑，谁知你一大早就不在家。／别着急，我马上去你家。
难怪. 难怪 is an adverb and expresses sudden understanding kind of like the phrase “no wonder” in English. The 难 in 难怪 has the meaning of 不应该 or shouldn’t, mustn’t. 难怪 can be used before the subject of a sentence. So 小明 said to 茜茜 “没想到你知道得还挺多, 难怪叔叔让你给我们当导游呢.” I wouldn’t have thought you knew so much, no wonder uncle asked you to be a tour guide. Now, you could also say 她是新来的同学, 难怪大家都不认识她. She is a new student, so no wonder everyone doesn’t know her.
- 这是我奶奶，她是德国人。／哦，难怪你会说德语。
- 难怪你那么怕狗，原来你小时被狗咬过。／是啊，当时我都快被吓死了。
好了, 我们今天剩的时间不多了. We’ve just about run out of time for today, but I hope you all enjoyed seeing more of 上海.
And don’t forget you can always visit our website if you want to review anything or watch today’s episode again. And while you are there, leave us some comments or send in any questions you might have because it’s always good to hear from you. OK, I will see you all next time. 大家, 加油, 下次见, bye for now.
