Lesson 19

Dialogue I

(At a post office in Taiwan.)

Student: Sir, how many days does it take to send a letter from Taipei to Tainan?

Clerk: Three or four days by regular mail, one day only by express mail.

Student: I'd like it to get there as soon as possible. I'll send it by express mail then.

How much postage do I need to put on?

Clerk: Twelve dollars.

Student: This letter is very important. Could I have it registered?

Clerk: Sure. But if you want to send it by registered mail, you'd have to throw in

fourteen dollars more.

Student: All right. I'll send it by registered express mail. Also I'd like to buy some ~

postcards. How much does one cost? _

Clerk: Three dollars. _

Student: OK, I'll get five. Besides postcards, I'd also like to get some stamps. How _

much is one of them? _

Clerk: Ten a piece.

Student: I'll get ten. _

Clerk: One hundred forty-one dollars all together.

Dialogue II

(At a post office in Beijing.) _

Bai: Zhang Yiwen's birthday is next month. In the past I always gave her jewelry. This

time I'd like to give her something new and different. What do you think I should

give her?

Wang: Flowers would be new and different. Why don't you give her some flowers?

Bai: She lives in Shanghai. You can't send her flowers by mail. How would I send

them?

Wang: The post office has a flower delivery service. You could order the flowers in

Beijing. In a couple of days, she would receive them in Shanghai.

Bai: That's really convenient.

Wang: You could also deposit money in the post office.

Bai: Really? My dad just sent me a check in American money from the U.S. Could I

deposit that at the post office?

Wang No, I don't think so. You can only deposit RMB at the post office, nothing else.

You'd better deposit the check in the Bank of China.