Intermediate - A Detained Package (C2012)

A: 我今天收到一个通知单。
wǒ jīntiān shōudào yī ge tōngzhīdān.
I got a notice today.
B: 我看看。你有美国寄来的包裹,被海关扣了。
wǒ kàn kan. nǐ yǒu Měiguó jì lái de bāoguǒ, bèi hǎiguān kòu le.
Let me take a look. You got a package from the US that was detained by customs.
A: 哦,我妈妈给我寄了东西。那怎么办?
ò, wǒ māma gěi wǒ jì le dōngxi. nà zěnme bàn?
Oh, my mom sent me some stuff. What should I do?
B: 要去海关申报。可能要交一些关税。
yào qù hǎiguān shēnbào. kěnéng yào jiāo yīxiē guānshuì.
You need to go claim it. You might have to pay some duties.
A: 怎么还要交关税啊!
zěnme hái yào jiāo guānshuì a!
Why do I have to pay duties?
B: 包裹是随机检查的,可能你的正好被查到了。
bāoguǒ shì suíjī jiǎnchá de, kěnéng nǐ de zhènghǎo bèi chá dào le.
Packages all undergo random inspection. I guess yours happened to be checked.
A: 怎么这么倒霉!要交多少钱?
zěnme zhème dǎoméi! yào jiāo duōshǎo qián?
How am I so unlucky? How much am I going to have to pay?
B: 我也不清楚。寄的是什么东西?
wǒ yě bù qīngchu. jì de shì shénme dōngxi?
I’m not sure. What did you have shipped?
A: 巧克力。
qiǎokèlì.
Chocolate.
B: 去问问吧。如果要交很多税的话,你可以不要。
qù wèn wen ba. rúguǒ yào jiāo hěn duō shuì dehuà, nǐ kěyǐ bù yào.
Go ask. If you have to pay a lot, you can just say you don’t want it.
A: 好吧。哎,我的巧克力!
hǎo ba. ai, wǒ de qiǎokèlì!
OK. Ah, my chocolate!

Key Vocabulary

收到 shōudào to receive
通知单 tōngzhīdān notice
to mail
包裹 bāoguǒ package
bèi [passive marker]
海关 hǎiguān customs
kòu to detain
申报 shēnbào to claim, to detain
jiāo to pay
关税 guānshuì customs duty
随机 suíjī random
检查 jiǎnchá to inspect
正好 zhènghǎo happen to
查到 chádào to search, to find out
倒霉 dǎoméi bad luck
如果 rúguǒ if
的话 dehuà if
shuì taxes

Supplementary Vocabulary

付钱 fùqián to pay money
蛋黄 dànhuáng egg yolk
月饼 yuèbǐng mooncake
安全检查 ānquán jiǎnchá security inspection

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