Helpful Information：Things don’t often happen the way we expect.  We may miss a lot of important things in life, but we shouldn’t miss the understanding of one another.
很多時(shí)候事情都不會按照我們想象的發(fā)展。生命中我們可能錯(cuò)過很多重要的東西，但是我們不應(yīng)該錯(cuò)過相互的理解。

【譯文】
——嗨，辛迪。我以為我錯(cuò)過你了。
——噢，真對不起，漢斯。謝謝你等我。你一定在這里等了很久了。
——沒關(guān)系。
——我趕上下雨了，不然我會早一點(diǎn)到。很抱歉，讓你久等了。
——我等的地方很舒適，真的，沒關(guān)系的。我很高興見到你。你被雨礙了很長時(shí)間嗎？
——是啊。我從地鐵站一出來，就下著傾盆大雨。而我忘了帶傘。所以我只好等雨小一點(diǎn)。
——我完全理解。

3.  Gary and Evelyn are boyfriend and girlfriend.  They’re going to see a movie together on campus.  They’re supposed to meet in front of the theater at five to seven, five minutes before the movie starts.  And now it’s seven o’clock and Gary still hasn’t appeared.  She decides to look for him at his apartment.  (Evelyn is knocking the door.)
Gary:  Come in, come in！
Evelyn:  Hi, Gary, what happened? I was waiting for you at the theater. Why didn’t you meet me there?
Gary:  I thought we were supposed to meet HERE.
Evelyn:  Don’t you know our movie starts at seven? And we were going to meet at the theater at five to seven. Then it doesn’t make sense3 to meet at the apartment.
Gary:  I’m sorry. We must have misunderstood each other.
Evelyn:  Why don’t you try to be clearer about your intentions4?
Gary:  You’re right.  I am sorry.  Let’s go and watch the movie.
Evelyn:  It’s okay.  I don’t want to go now.  We’ve already missed ten minutes of the movie.  I don’t want to see a movie without watching the beginning.

【譯文】
——進(jìn)來，進(jìn)來!
——嗨，加里，發(fā)生了什么事？我在電影院等你。你為什么沒去那里和我碰面呢？
——我原以為我們說好了在這里見面。
——你難道不知道我們的電影七點(diǎn)開始嗎？而且我們又打算七點(diǎn)差五分在電影院見面。那在公寓見面就沒有道理了嘛。
——對不起。我們肯定是相互誤解了。
——你的意圖為什么就不想清楚一點(diǎn)呢？
——你說得對。對不起。我們?nèi)タ措娪鞍伞?br /> ——沒關(guān)系。現(xiàn)在我不想走了。我們都已經(jīng)錯(cuò)過十分鐘的電影了。我不想看電影不看開頭。

4. Sorry I’m late.
A high-school student from Brazil is visiting several American universities5 with her parents.  They are waiting to see the dean of a small college in Maine.

Father:  I see you've brought something to occupy your time while we wait.  Good.  We may be here a long time.
Isabel: Yes, Papa.  I brought the catalog6 for the next college we're going to visit--the one in New Hampshire.
Mother:  Maybe we won't have to wait long.  We've only been here fifteen minutes.
Isabel:  I'm not used to the way they treat time here.  They wouldn't see me at that place in Massachusetts yesterday.  I missed the appointment because I was forty-five minutes late.  That's no time at all back in Brazil.
Father:  It’s just that North Americans pay more attention to exact times.  They're very punctual7 people.
Mother: I think that if you're more than thirty minutes late, you have to apologize and explain what delayed you.
Father:  Our appointment with this dean is for three-fifteen. My watch says three-thirty.  I'm sure we’re not late.
(The dean comes out of his office.)
Dean:  Isabel?  Come in.  Sorry I kept you waiting. We're running a little behind schedule8 today.

【譯文】
——我知道你帶了一些東西過來，在我們等的時(shí)候來打發(fā)你的時(shí)間。這樣好。我們可能要在這里呆很長時(shí)間。
——是啊，爸爸。我把我們將要去的下一個(gè)學(xué)院的目錄表帶來了－在新罕布什爾的那個(gè)。
——也許我們不要等很久。我們到這里才十五分鐘。
——我不習(xí)慣他們這里這樣對待時(shí)間。昨天在馬薩諸塞州那個(gè)地方他們就不會見我。就因?yàn)槲疫t了四十五分鐘，我連面試都錯(cuò)過了。在巴西，這點(diǎn)時(shí)間根本就不算什么。
——美國北方人就是更注重時(shí)間的準(zhǔn)確性。他們很守時(shí)。
——我想如果你遲到超過三十分鐘，你就得道歉并且解釋是什么延誤了你。——我們和這位系主任的約面時(shí)間是三點(diǎn)十五分。我的手表是三點(diǎn)半。我想我們沒遲到。（系主任從他的辦公室出來。）
——伊莎貝爾？請進(jìn)。對不起讓你久等了。今天我們比預(yù)計(jì)時(shí)間晚了一點(diǎn)。

《零距離美語會話[文化風(fēng)俗差異]Lesson1:Youmusthavebeenherea&》永久閱讀地址: http://www.jiazhineng.cn/yingyu/2019/