英语角-圆桌会议 RoundTable0130 - 何以笙箫默，唯有钟汉良

 Topic1 The daily commute¹ time in Beijing is the longest one nationwide"Where did my time go? If I'm not in my office, then I must be on my way to the office." These jokes reflect the busy life of Chinese people in metropolises². Long-time commute is something that people there have to experience every day. And people in Beijing spend 97 minutes on average to get to work, longer than any other Chinese citiy.

So how long do you spend on the way for daily commute?

Topic2 Book a hotel room and bring your whole family there to take showersA Mr. Ma from Yangzhou, East China's Jiangsu Province has complained about being discriminated³ when an economy⁴ hotel tried to stop him from bringing his entire family to the room he booked—just to take showers in turns.

The hotel says it wouldn't provide such services to five people Mr. Ma brought along with him while he was the only person who checked in.

What happened? Who do you side with here?

Topic3 Why are there so many women on China's rich list?

Nowadays with economic and social development, the status of women has improved greatly, and women own more wealth than before by putting their efforts to career. But Chinese women seem to be especially good at establishing a fortune. A Fortune magazine article mentions that half of the world's self-made female⁵ billionaires are Chinese.

Should we feel proud?

Topic4 Why Does My Sunshine Become So PopularMillions of girls are smitten⁶ by TV actor Wallace Chung, or Zhong Hanliang now. His recent hit My Sunshine gets more than 11 billion clicks⁷ on the internet.

Why is this show so popular?

Topic5 Rude Questions Chinese Tend to AskThere're many differences east and west when it comes to manners⁸ and politeness⁹. And though we Chinese may pride ourselves as the land of decorum, some of our curiosities¹⁰ may be considered rude or inappropriate by English speakers.

What seems to be the problem?

1 commute   

vi.乘车上下班；vt.减(刑)；折合；n.上下班交通

参考例句：

• I spend much less time on my commute to work now.我现在工作的往返时间要节省好多。
• Most office workers commute from the suburbs.很多公司的职员都是从郊外来上班的。

2 metropolises   

n.一国的主要城市（不一定是首都）( metropolis的名词复数 )；中心；大都会；大城市

参考例句：

• That season, you ride it, all metropolises achieve what one wishes! 那时节，您骑上它，一切都会如愿以偿！ 来自互联网
• Carl has carried the banner in infernal metropolises. 卡尔曾经在那些地狱般的大都市流浪街头。 来自互联网

3 discriminated   

分别，辨别，区分( discriminate的过去式和过去分词 )； 歧视，有差别地对待

参考例句：

• His great size discriminated him from his followers. 他的宽广身材使他不同于他的部下。
• Should be a person that has second liver virus discriminated against? 一个患有乙肝病毒的人是不是就应该被人歧视？

4 economy   

n.经济；节俭；秩序；机体

参考例句：

• We must do our best to develop the national economy.我们必须努力发展国民经济。
• The country's economy is not very healthy.国家的经济不很景气。

5 female   

adj.雌的，女(性)的；n.雌性的动物，女子

参考例句：

• We only employ female workers.我们只雇用女工。
• The animal in the picture was a female elephant.照片上的动物是头母象。

6 smitten   

猛打，重击，打击( smite的过去分词 )

参考例句：

• From the moment they met, he was completely smitten by her. 从一见面的那一刻起，他就完全被她迷住了。
• It was easy to see why she was smitten with him. 她很容易看出为何她为他倾倒。

7 clicks   

n.卡嗒声，咔嚓声( click的名词复数 )；点击v.使发出咔哒声，使咔哒（或咔嚓）响( click的第三人称单数 )；突然明白；配合默契；在计算机荧光屏上用鼠标器)咔嗒一按

参考例句：

• Typically, a user clicks on an object and it becomes selected. 比如，用户单击一个对象，对象选中。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
• It will execute as soon as a user clicks and releases it with the mouse cursor. 用户只要单击后释放鼠标，它就立即执行。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

8 manners   

n.礼貌；规矩

参考例句：

• You should mend your manners.你的态度应当纠正。
• His manners are rough,but he is a kind man at heart.他虽然举止粗鲁，但心地善良。

9 politeness   

n.礼貌，客气

参考例句：

• His politeness was only on the surface.他只是表面上客气。
• Although she hated him,she put on a show of politeness.尽管她恨他，但还是装出一副很客气的样子。

10 curiosities   

好奇心( curiosity的名词复数 )； 爱打听的癖性； 奇人； 奇物

参考例句：

• In a series of analytical papers, scientists noted other curiosities. 在一系列的分析论文中，科学家发现另外一些奇异现象。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 生物技术的世纪
• The paintings have no intrinsic value except as curiosities. 这些油画除了作为古董，本身没有什么内在价值。