73 After exams 考试后
定期試験明けの話題といえば、決まっています。
大家好, hi there everybody 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 we designed our show to help all of you learn some basic Chinese, through the adventures of 小明, a local 北京 high school student, and Mike, an exchange student who is living with 小明. And apart from language study, we also aim to introduce to you various aspects of Chinese culture, history and everyday life.
Now exams are finally over for our three friends and today’s discussion revolves around how everyone did, what kind of scores they received.
So let’s now check in with 兰兰, Mike and 小明 and see what their scores were.
老师：好，考试试卷就分析到这儿。同学们课后把做错的题重新做一遍，明天交给我。下课。
班长：起立。小明：兰兰，你考了多少分？
兰兰：你猜猜看？
小明：96分？
兰兰：差不多吧。98分。
小明：哇噻，兰兰，我就说你是神童吧。这么难的考试，你还能得98分。真是太厉害了！
Mike：这就叫“一分耕耘，一分收获”。
小明：是啊，到目前为止，兰兰的考试成绩还没下过90分呢。
兰兰：好啦好啦，你们别夸我了。小明，你考了多少分啊？
小明：我这回考砸了，差一点就没及格。
兰兰：到底多少分啊？
小明：61分。兰兰：小明，别泄气。不是都说失败是成功之母吗？
Mike：就是的。只要你以后认真学习、复习，肯定能比这次考得好。我对你有信心！
兰兰：说不准下次考试你也能上90分。
小明：但愿如此。兰兰、麦克，我求求你们了。千万别告诉我爸爸。
Mike：那你请我们俩吃冰淇淋？
小明：成！ 没问题。现在就去。兰兰：对了，麦克。你上次中文考试的成绩出来没有啊？
小明：是啊，你得了多少分？
Mike：我嘛，自我感觉还不错，但最后分数怎么样，我可说不好。
小明：你看、你看，他还卖关子呢。小明：您好，我们要几个冰淇淋。对了，兰兰、麦克你们要什么口味的？
Mike：你带了多少钱啊？
All right everyone let’s take a look at our main sentences in today’s dialogue.
同学们课后要把做错的题重新做一遍, 明天交给我. After class everyone need to rewrite the problems they got wrong and then hand them into me tomorrow. 重新 means again or a new. So 重新做 is to do something again. 交 in the context of homework means to hand in or turn in.
这就叫“一分耕耘, 一分收获.” This is called “more pains, more gains.” Now the saying 一分耕耘, 一分收获 actually means the more plowing and weeding, the better the crop. Or in other words “more pains, more gains.”
老师：同学们课后把做错的题重新做一遍，明天交给我。下课。
班长：起立。小明：兰兰，你考了多少分？
兰兰：你猜猜看？
小明：96分？
兰兰：差不多吧。98分。
小明：哇噻，兰兰，我就说你是神童吧。这么难的考试，你还能得98分。真是太厉害了！
Mike：这就叫“一分耕耘，一分收获”。
小明：是啊，到目前为止，兰兰的考试成绩还没下过90分呢。
兰兰：好啦好啦，你们别夸我了。小明，你考了多少分啊？
小明：我这回考砸了，差一点就没及格。
兰兰：到底多少分啊？
小明：61分。兰兰：小明，别泄气。不是都说失败是成功之母吗？
Mike：就是的。只要你以后认真学习、复习，肯定能比这次考得好。我对你有信心！
我这回考砸了, 差一点就没及格. I really messed up this time I almost didn’t pass. 砸 on its own means foul up or be bungled. So 考砸 puts the foul up in the context of taking an exam. So he didn’t do a good job for taking his exam. 及格 means pass as in pass an exam.
小明, 别泄气. 不是都说失败是成功之母吗? 小明, don’t lose heart, after all, everyone says failure is the mother of success, right? 失败是成功之母. Failure is the mother of success. This is a classic Chinese proverb.
Mike：这就叫“一分耕耘，一分收获”。
小明：是啊，到目前为止，兰兰的考试成绩还没下过90分呢。
兰兰：好啦好啦，你们别夸我了。小明，你考了多少分啊？
小明：我这回考砸了，差一点就没及格。
兰兰：到底多少分啊？
小明：61分。兰兰：小明，别泄气。不是都说失败是成功之母吗？
Mike：就是的。只要你以后认真学习、复习，肯定能比这次考得好。我对你有信心！
兰兰：说不准下次考试你也能上90分。
小明：但愿如此。兰兰、麦克，我求求你们了。千万别告诉我爸爸。
Mike：那你请我们俩吃冰淇淋？
小明：成！ 没问题。现在就去。兰兰：对了，麦克。你上次中文考试的成绩出来没有啊？
小明：是啊，你得了多少分？
Mike：我嘛，自我感觉还不错，但最后分数怎么样，我可说不好。
你看, 他还卖关子呢. Look, he is still setting up his punch line*1. 卖关子 is kind of difficult to translate. Now the dictionary defines it as oppose at a climax in story telling to keep listeners in suspense, or to be deliberately mystifying*2. It’s kind of like setting up a joke and that not giving the punch line. So by drawing out this suspense of Mike’s grade in Chinese, he is 卖关子 setting up for a big punch line.
小明：兰兰、麦克，我求求你们了。千万别告诉我爸爸。
Mike：那你请我们俩吃冰淇淋？
小明：成！ 没问题。现在就去。兰兰：对了，麦克。你上次中文考试的成绩出来没有啊？
小明：是啊，你得了多少分？
Mike：我嘛，自我感觉还不错，但最后分数怎么样，我可说不好。
小明：你看、你看，他还卖关子呢。小明：您好，我们要几个冰淇淋。对了，兰兰、麦克你们要什么口味的？
Mike：你带了多少钱啊？
All right everyone it’s vocabulary time and then we’ll be doing our pinyin highlight.
But first off, let’s take a look at our specific vocabulary words.
- 分析 analyze. fēn xī
- 重新 again, a new, a fresh. chóng xīn
- 猜 guess. cāi
- 厉害 terrible, formidable. lì hai
- 夸 in today’s context, 夸 means praise. kuā
- 及格 pass, as in pass an exam. jí gé
- 泄气 lose heart, feel frustrated, be disheartened. xiè qì
- 认真 earnest, take seriously. rèn zhēn
- 信心 confidence, faith. xìn xīn
- 口味 flavor. kǒu wèi
All right for today’s pinyin highlight I picked a bit of tongue twister, it’s 信心. And if some of you are thinking “wow that sounds the same,” it’s because it actually is the same the spelling is the same. So we have 信 x-i-n and 心 x-i-n. All right. So what difference though are the tones one is fourth tone xìn and xīn first tone. So, our marker goes above the vowel xìn and xīn, xìn xīn.
OK it’s time to discuss today’s language points. And to begin with let’s take a look at 到目前为止.
到目前为止 is a set expression meaning as of now. 目前 means present or at the moment and 止 means stop. So today 小明 said 到目前为止, 兰兰的考试成绩还没有下过90分. As of now, 兰兰 hasn’t scored below at ninety on her exams. Now you could also say 我到目前为止还没有去过夏威夷. As of now, I still haven’t been to Hawaii. Let’s look at some more 到目前为止 examples.
- 到目前为止，你一共去过多少个国家？／嗯，让我数数……
- 我今天又迟到了。／小明，到目前为止，你都迟到过多少次了！
说不准. 说不准 is like saying you never know. 准 means accurate so with this expression, there is an overlying*3 feeling of the inability to be completely accurate in your analysis of something. So 兰兰 said that 小明 today, 说不准下次考试你也能上90分. You never know, next time you might score ninety on your exams. Now you could also say 他会不会答应你的要求, 我可说不准. It’s hard for me to say if he’ll agree your terms or not.
- 你说这两个队，谁会赢？／说不准，两个队都很强。
- 周末天气怎么样？／还有三、四天呢，这可说不准。
说不好. This one has two meanings. The first is when 说不好 is used at the begging of a sentence or a phrase, it means maybe or perhaps. For example, 你早点出发, 说不好路上会堵车. You might hit traffic if you don’t leave early. So maybe or perhaps is one meaning of 说不好.
Now the other meaning is the inability to determine something, like to have no idea. And this is how we saw it used today. Mike said 我嘛, 自我感觉还不错, 但最后分数怎么样, 我可说不好. I feel like I did an OK job but I have no idea what my final score’s going to be. Now you could also say 他的想法我现在说不好. It’s hard for me to say what he’s thinking right now. Let’s look at some more examples.
- 带上雨伞，说不好一会儿会下雨呢。／好的。
- 兰兰，这次你又能考前三名吧？／这我可说不好！
好了, we’ve run out of time for today, thank goodness exams are all over now?
OK, as always please don’t forget to send in any comments or questions you might have for us here Growing up with Chinese, we love to hear from you. And on that note, good luck with your Chinese studies and your general studies everyone, I’ll see you all next time. 大家, 加油, 好好学习, 再见.
