Intermediate - Excuses for Being Late (C1153)

A 已经九点了,怎么一个人也没来?
yǐjīng jiǔ diǎn le, zěnme yī ge rén yě méi lái?
It's already nine o'clock! How come nobody's here?
B 不好意思,我迟到了。今天地铁坏了,等了很久。
bùhǎoyìsi, wǒ chídào le. jīntiān dìtiě huài le, děng le hěn jiǔ.
Sorry, I'm late. The metro broke down today, and I had to wait a long time.
A 没关系,坐吧。
méiguānxi, zuò ba.
No problem. Please, take a seat.
C 不好意思,我儿子发烧了,我先送他去了医院。
bùhǎoyìsi, wǒ érzi fāshāo le, wǒ xiān sòng tā qù le yīyuàn.
Sorry, my son has a fever. I took him to the hospital.
A 哦,孩子没事吧?
ò, háizi méishì ba?
Oh! The little guy's OK, right?
C 没事,没事,谢谢经理关心。
méishì , méishì , xièxie jīnglǐ guānxīn.
Yeah, he's fine. Thanks for asking.
D 对不起,今天堵车堵得厉害,我……
duìbuqǐ, jīntiān dǔchē dǔ de lìhai, wǒ......
Sorry-- there was a huge traffic jam today. I...
A 好,坐吧。
hǎo, zuò ba.
Fine. Please, take a seat.
E 张经理不好意思,我闹钟没响,起晚了。
Zhāng jīnglǐ bùhǎoyìsi, wǒ nàozhōng méi xiǎng, qǐ wǎn le.
I'm sorry, Manager Zhang. My alarm clock didn't go off. I got up too late.
A 快坐!已经九点半了,我们开会吧,不等其他人了。
kuài zuò! yǐjīng jiǔdiǎn bàn le, wǒmen kāihuì ba, bù děng qítā rén le.
Please, sit down! It's already nine thirty. Let's start our meeting. We're not going to wait for anyone else.
F 对不起对不起,出租车真难打!我很早就出门了……
duìbuqǐ duìbuqǐ, chūzūchē zhēn nán dǎ! wǒ hěn zǎo jiù chūmén le......
Sorry, sorry! It was really hard to get a cab! I left really early...
A 好了好了,不用解释了!反正你们都有借口!从今天起,迟到的都扣工资!
hǎole hǎole, bùyòng jiěshì le! fǎnzhèng nǐmen dōu yǒu jièkǒu! cóng jīntiān qǐ, chídào de dōu kòu gōngzī!
Enough, enough! There's no need to explain any more! Anyway, you all have excuses. Starting today, if you're late, your salary gets docked!

Key Vocabulary

迟到 chídào to arrive late
坏了 huài le to be broken
发烧 fāshāo to have a fever
sòng to deliver
没事 méishì no problem
关心 guānxīn to be concerned about
堵车 dǔchē traffic jam
厉害 lìhai powerful
闹钟 nàozhōng alarm clock
xiǎng to ring
解释 jiěshì to explain
反正 fǎnzhèng anyway
借口 jièkǒu excuse
kòu to dock or deduct
工资 gōngzī to dock wages

Supplementary Vocabulary

理由 lǐyóu reason
早退 zǎotuì to leave work early
打车 dǎchē to take a taxi
乘地铁 chéng dìtiě to ride the metro
奖金 jiǎngjīn bonus