Jane和Will初次約會(huì),聊到彼此的家庭背景。我知道Jane的父母來自中國,所以我很想聽聽,作為一個(gè)亞裔美國人,Jane的成長經(jīng)歷是什么樣的。
Professor: That's right, Winnie, let's listen to what they have to say.
Will: So Jane, you said that both your parents are from China. How do they like living in America?
Jane: They really like it, but of course they miss their friends and family back home sometimes.
Will: Yeah, I can imagine. So do you consider yourself Chinese or American?
Jane: Well, that's a complicated question. Of course I'm American, but I'm ethnically Chinese as well.
Will: I see. So you consider yourself both?
Jane: That's right.
Will總是問一些嚴(yán)肅的問題! 他問Jane,覺得自己是中國人還是美國人。Jane回答說,自己既是中國人,也是美國人。
Professor: Right. Jane is an American citizen, but she is also ethnically Chinese.
Ethnically? 我明白了,ethnic是民族的意思.
Professor: Exactly. For example, I could say that Hispanics are one of the largest ethnic groups in America.
所以,從民族上講,Jane認(rèn)為自己是華人。
Professor, 拉美裔人,是美國人口最多的少數(shù)族裔之一?那么,亞裔人口又怎么樣呢?
Professor: Asians make up about 4.5 percent of the American population.
Will: Did you face a lot of stereotypes growing up?
Jane: Of course, all minorities face some stereotypes. For me, lots of people assume that because I'm Asian, I'm smart and good at math.
Will: That doesn't sound like a bad stereotype to have!
Jane: No, it's not a very offensive stereotype. But it's still wrong for people to assume things about me because of how I look. I hate math!
Will: Me too! I guess that's one thing we have in common.
Stereotype, s-t-e-r-e-o-t-y-p-e, stereotype,是“刻板印象”、“先入為主的看法”。Jane說,因?yàn)樗莵喴?,所以很多美國人對她持有stereotype,一看她的亞洲臉,就認(rèn)定她的數(shù)學(xué)一定很好!
Professor: But Jane thinks that stereotypes are wrong, doesn't she?
當(dāng)然啦!Jane說,以貌取人是不對的。她其實(shí)很討厭學(xué)數(shù)學(xué)。
Professor: That's right. She and Will both hate math, so that's one thing they have in common.
Will: Did people tease you when you were growing up because you're Asian?
Jane: My school was very politically correct, so people tried really hard not to say things that would offend me.
Will: Right. Race can be a sensitive subject in America. People like to talk about it, but only in a polite way.
Jane: That's true. People these days try hard to be tolerant, and are careful not to say things that other people may think are racist.
看來Jane是在比較tolerant -“寬容”的環(huán)境下 長大的。人們沒有因?yàn)樗莵喴岫芭?。不過,Professor, 什么叫"politically correct"?
Professor: Being politically correct is making sure that the things that you say won't offend people in minority groups and disadvantaged groups.
哦,politically correct,在政治上保持正確,也就是言行上避免有歧視少數(shù)族裔或弱勢群體之嫌。
Professor: Right. People don't want to say anything racist, so they make sure all their words are very polite.
沒錯(cuò),racist -“種族歧視性”言行,肯定不能讓你做到politically correct.
Jane: It's pretty easy for me living in the US because it is such a diverse country. There are many other minorities, so I don't feel different.
Will: That's true. The US is a country of immigrants, so it is very diverse.
Jane: Yup. My university is especially diverse. It tries to find students from all over the world.
Will: Oh yeah, my university has lots of minority students too. I've really enjoyed learning about lots of different cultures from them.
Professor: Winnie, do you know what "diverse" means?
Diverse就是“多樣化”。Jane和Will的大學(xué)都很diverse, 不僅有來自各族裔的學(xué)生,還有來自世界各地的留學(xué)生! Professor, Jane和Will初次約會(huì)就談了宗教、種族這些嚴(yán)肅話題,而且聊得挺高興。我看他們真是天生一對兒!
這次的美語三級跳就播送到這里。