Upper-Intermediate - The Auntie Bai Show (D2129)

A: 妈,我回来了。
mā, wǒ huílai le.
Mom, I'm back!
A: 妈,明天要加班,晚饭不回来吃了。
mā, míngtiān yào jiābān, wǎnfàn bù huílai chī le.
Mom, tomorrow I need to work overtime. I won't be home for dinner.
A: 妈,你在干吗啊?又在看柏阿姨。
mā, nǐ zài gànmá a? yòu zài kàn Bǎi āyí.
Mom, what are you doing? You're watching Auntie Bai again.
B: 安静,安静!
ānjìng, ānjìng!
Quiet, quiet!
A: 这种讲家长里短的节目,有什么好看的?听得都烦死了。
zhèzhǒng jiǎng jiāchánglǐduǎn de jiémù, yǒu shénme hǎokàn de? tīng de dōu fán sǐle.
What's so interesting about these kinds of shows talking about family problems? It's so annoying just listening to them.
B: 你懂什么!人家柏阿姨人生阅历丰富,你们这种小年青就应该多听听她的话。
nǐ dǒng shénme! rénjiā Bǎi āyí rénshēng yuèlì fēngfù, nǐmen zhèzhǒng xiǎoniánqīng jiù yīnggāi duōtīngting tā de huà.
What do you know? This Auntie Bai has been through a lot in her life. Young people like you should listen well to what she says.
A: 要我说,都是上了年纪的人了,在家享享清福多好啊,干吗还出来东家长西家短的?
yào wǒ shuō, dōu shì shàng le niánjì de rén le, zài jiā xiǎng xiang qīngfú duō hǎo a, gànmá hái chūlái dōngjiā cháng xījiā duǎn de?
I just want to say that she's already pretty old. She should stay at home and relax. What is she doing coming out and dealing with other people's family problems?
B: 你不懂不要乱说,人家柏阿姨是经验丰富的调解员,是电视台邀请她出来做节目的。
nǐ bù dǒng bù yào luànshuō, rénjiā Bǎiāyí shì jīngyàn fēngfù de tiáojiěyuán, shì diànshìtái yāoqǐng tā chūlái zuò jiémù de.
You don't know what you're saying. This Auntie Bai is an experienced mediator. The TV station invited her to come on and do the show.
A: 这个节目本身也有问题,靠曝光别人的不幸和隐私来博得收视率。
zhè gè jiémù běnshēn yě yǒu wèntí, kào bàoguāng biérén de bùxìng hé yǐnsī lái bódé shōushì lǜ.
This program itself also has issues, relying on exposing the misfortunes and personal secrets of others in order to gain ratings.
B: 有很多事情,是当局者迷旁观者清。往往很深的矛盾需要经过旁人的点拨后才能化解。而且经过电视上这样公开调解后,也能让观众对一些事情提高警惕,防范类似的事情发生。
yǒu hěn duō shìqing, shì dāngjúzhěmí pángguānzhě qīng. wǎngwǎng hěn shēn de máodùn xūyào jīngguò pángrén de diǎnbō hòu cái néng huàjiě. érqiě jīngguò diànshì shang zhèyàng gōngkāi tiáojiě hòu, yě néng ràng guānzhòng duì yīxiē shìqing tígāo jǐngtì, fángfàn lèisì de shìqing fāshēng.
There are many situations where someone who isn't involved directly in a situation can provide an objective view of the situation. Often there are deep contradictions that require instruction from someone outside the situation in order to be resolved. Also, after going through this kind of public mediation on TV, it can make viewers more aware of these things and prevent these kinds of things from happening.
A: 说来说去不就是那几件事吗?本地人的房产问题,外地人的情感问题。
shuōláishuōqù bù jiùshì nà jǐ jiàn shì ma? běndìrén de fángchǎn wèntí, wàidirén de qínggǎn wèntí.
Isn't it all just talking about a few problems? Local people have real estate problems; people from outside have relationship problems.
B: 中国人讲究面子,有时候就需要有这么个老娘舅,才能解决问题。
Zhōngguórén jiǎngjiu miànzi, yǒushíhou jiù xūyào yǒu zhème gè lǎoniángjiù, cái néng jiějué wèntí.
Chinese people are concerned with face. Sometimes they need an older person to be able to resolve the problem.
A: 不跟你说了,我出去逛一圈。
bù gēn nǐ shuō le, wǒ chūqù guàngyīquān.
I'm not talking about this anymore. I'm going to go out for a bit.
B: 我跟你讲,别太晚回来。小张是不错,但你要知道,姑娘家,要矜持一点。有时候要知道保护自己,太早在一起的话是要吃亏的。柏阿姨节目里这种例子多的是啊……
wǒ gēn nǐ jiǎng, bié tài wǎn huílai. Xiǎo Zhāng shì bùcuò, dàn nǐ yào zhīdào, gūniangjiā, yào jīnchí yīdiǎn. yǒushíhou yào zhīdào bǎohù zìjǐ, tài zǎo zàiyīqǐ dehuà shì yào chīkuī de. Bǎi āyí jiémù lǐ zhèzhǒng lìzi duōdeshì a……
Listen to me, don't come home too late. Xiao Zhang is okay, but you need to know, as a young woman, that you need to be careful. Sometimes you need to know when to protect yourself, if you get together too early then you'll get hurt. On Auntie Bai's show, there are many examples likes this...
A: 哎呀,妈,你烦不烦呀!
āiyā, mā, nǐ fán bu fán ya!
Jeez! Mom! You're so annoying!

Key Vocabulary

柏阿姨 Bǎi āyí Auntie Bai
家长里短 jiāchánglǐduǎn family problems
阅历 yuèlì experience
丰富 fēngfù abundant, plentiful
享清福 xiǎng qīngfú to enjoy a carefree life
东家长西家短 dōngjiāchángxījiāduǎn to deal with other people's family problems
调解员 tiáojiěyuán mediator
曝光 bàoguāng to expose
不幸 bùxìng misfortune
隐私 yǐnsī personal secrets
博得 bódé to gain
收视率 shōushì lǜ TV ratings
当局者迷旁观者清 dāngjúzhěmí pángguānzhě qīng someone involved directly in a situation doesn't have the clarity of a bystander
旁人 pángrén bystander
点拨 diǎnbō to teach, instruct
化解 huàjiě to resolve
警惕 jǐngtì vigilence
防范 fángfàn to prevent
讲究 jiǎngjiu to be particular about
老娘舅 lǎoniángjiù older person
矜持 jīnchí to restrain oneself
吃亏 chīkuī to suffer loss

Supplementary Vocabulary

概念 gàiniàn concept, notion
中年妇女 zhōngniánfùnǚ middle-aged woman
绯闻 fēiwén sex scandal
八卦 bāguà gossip
清闲 qīngxián idle, at leisure
观众 guānzhòng audience
同情 tóngqíng to sympathize with someone

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