Dialogue 1
Jingjing: Hey Mark, is that a new phone?
京晶：嘿，马克，那是一部新手机吗？
Mark: This is my wife's old one.
马克：这是我太太那部旧手机。
Jingjing: What's she using now? Did she get a new one?
京晶：她现在用什么呢？
她买了部新的吗？
Mark: Hers is newer than this, but it's pretty basic. We're taking a few years off from cutting edge electronics.
马克：她那部比这部新，但是挺基础款的。我们已经不买潮流先锋电子设备好多年了。
Jingjing: I get that you're on the runway for buying a house and having a baby.
京晶：我明白你们现在的情况，
正在准备买房子和要孩子。
Mark: That's it. So, for now, I'll make do with this phone and a power bank.
马克：是这样的。现在我就将就用这个手机，再配个充电宝。
Jingjing: That's smart. But smartphones aren't all that expensive, and it makes a big difference which one you have.
京晶：很聪明的做法。但智能手机也不那么贵，你用哪一款还是有很大的不同。
Mark: I agree. But in a few years it won't matter which smartphone I had in 2019. And with any luck I'll still have the money.
马克：我同意。但是再过些年以后，我2019用哪款手机已无关紧要了。按这计划（不买手机），到时我还有钱。
Jingjing: Good idea. I bought a good camera before I ever bought a good smartphone. So, when my friends all had better phones than me, I had a good camera.
京晶：好主意。我在买个像样的手机前买了一个好相机。所以，当我的朋友们都拥有比我更高级的手机时，我有一个好相机。
Mark: Don't you use the camera on your phone most of the time?
马克：你难道不经常用手机上的摄像头吗？
Jingjing: Well now that I have a pretty good phone, yes. But that camera still takes better pictures than any phone.
京晶：既然我有个这么好的手机，那当然。但那个相机依然能照出比任何手机都好的照片。
Mark: Is it a DSLR?
马克：是单反相机吗？
Jingjing: Yeah, and they still sell the memory cards in stores. So, it doesn't seem like I have such an old camera.
京晶：是的。商店里还有储存卡卖的，所以看上去一点儿也不像我有个如此有年头的相机。
Mark: That's cool. And I bet you have great pictures from these years.
马克：那还挺酷的。我打赌你这些年肯定是拍了不少好照片。
Jingjing: Well, that camera's so clunky that I seldom carry it. Most of my photos are snapshots from my phone.
京晶：不过，那台相机太笨重了我不怎么带在身边。我大部分照片都是手机快拍的。
Mark: Ha ha. Well, based on your WeChat posts, it looks like your photos came out pretty well.
马克：哈哈。从你微信发的那些来看，看上去你的照片拍得还挺好的。
Jingjing: How nice of you to notice!
京晶：你不要太好，连这些都能注意到！
New words : 习语短语
cutting edge 尖端的，前沿的
the newest of something, especially in science and technology
on the runway for (something) 准备好做某事
ready to do something important, not a good time to be distracted (this is not a common idiom; and “on the deck for”, “on the launchpad for”, and others are easily coined)
isn't/aren't all that <adjective> 并非那么……
less expensive than expected, or less than other things by comparison
with any luck 如果事情按计划进行
if things go according to plan
DSLR 数码单反相机
digital single-lens reflex (a big camera that has a prism inside and a mechanism that allows the photographer to see through the main lens before the actual photo is taken)
clunky 笨重不便的
heavy and inconvenient
Dialogue 2
Mark: So, what do you think gadgets will be like in the future?
马克：那，你觉得这些小装置未来会是什么样？
Jingjing: Ten years from now, smartphones will be able to do more things.
京晶：十年后，智能手机将能做更多事了。
Mark: It seems like every year, smartphones can do something new.
马克：看上去就像是每一年智能手机都能做些新事情。
Jingjing: Yeah, it's not like sci-fi movies, where there's a different gadget for each thing you want to do. Smartphones are really an all-in-one.
京晶：是的，不像在科幻电影里，一个小设备能做一件你想做的事，智能手机手机真是一种全能的存在。
Mark: Right. I saw a keyboard that was projected onto a desk. It wasn't really there, but the projector picked up where the user put his fingers.
马克：是的，我见过一个键盘投影在一张桌子上，键盘当然不在桌子上，投影仪抓取了用户放手指的地方。
Jingjing: I'm not sure how that would work. But it sounds like that little projector could be packed into a phone.
京晶：我不确定那个怎么运作，但听上去小投影仪能被装在一台手机里。
Mark: That's right. So, you could have a full-size keyboard anywhere you go.
马克：对啊，这样一来，不管你到哪儿都能有个完整大小的键盘了。
Jingjing: Great, then I could work on my novel when I go on a hike.
京晶： 太棒了，到时我去远足的时候也能继续写我的小说了。
Mark: You're writing a novel?
马克：你在写小说？
Jingjing: No, I was being sarcastic. Anyway, I think there's an app for that already. You just print out the keyboard they send you, then you put that piece of paper with the keyboard under your camera, and type.
京晶：没有，我只是幽默一下。对了，我想已经有app 有那个功能了。你只需要打印出来他们发给你的键盘，然后他们把那张有键盘的纸放在你的手机镜头下，然后打字。
Mark: Whoa, I need that. Do you remember what the app was called?
马克：哇哦，这个我需要。你记得是什么App吗？
Jingjing: No, but I think if you search “keyboard”, something will come up.
京晶：记不得了，但如果你搜索“键盘”的英文，就有显示。
Mark: I'll give that a shot. I keep forgetting to look for technology that's already out there.
马克：这个我得试试。我总是忘记去搜寻那些现成的科技。
Jingjing: We all do. And that app's free, if I remember correctly.
京晶：我们都一样，那个软件是免费的，如果我没记错的话。
Mark: Well, I guess our big cameras and notebook PCs will be collecting dust most of the time.
马克：那，我估计我们的大相机，笔记本电脑大多数时候都要闲置了。
Jingjing: Yours might. I'm going to dig up my camera and take spring photos.
京晶：说的对，我要去把我们的相机找出来拍拍春天了。
Mark: Ha ha, ok. Don't forget to post some of the better ones!
马克：哈哈，好。别忘了发点好的啊！
New words : 习语短语
gadgets 电子小设备
electronic devices, and tools that have many functions
sci-fi 科幻
science fiction, a type of story with robots and future technology
an all-in-one 多功能俱全
a device that does what two or three other devices can do
something will come up 能找到些结果
you'll find search results
already out there 已经在市面上售卖的
already being sold to the public |