Lesson 20

Dialogue I

Old Li: Look, my belly is getting bigger and bigger.

Little Lin: You usually eat so much, and you never exercise. No wonder you

are putting on more and more weight.

Old Li: What should I do?

Little Lin: If you're afraid of being overweight, you should exercise two or three

times a week, for half an hour each time. Then your belly will get smaller.

Old Li: I haven't exercised for two years. What exercise should I do?

Little Lin: The simplest exercise is jogging.

Old Li: It's so cold in the winter, and so hot in the summer. How unbearable it

would be to jog!

Little Lin: How about playing some tennis?

Old Li: Then I'd have to get a racket, and tennis shoes. That'd be too expensive.

Little Lin: How about getting a few people together to play basketball (with you)? A

basketball is very inexpensive (to buy}.

Old Li: Every time (I wanted to play) I'd have to make phone calls to look for

people. Too much hassle.

Little Lin: Then how about swimming? No need to look for people (to swim with

you), and it wouldn't cost much money. And you could go any time.

Old Li: Swimming? That's too dangerous. What if I drown?

Little Lin: I can't say anything more. If you are unwilling to exercise, keep on adding

pounds, then.

Dialogue II

Yiwen's younger brother, Siwen, just came from Taiwan. He will be going to

college in the U. S. Right now he is staying at his elder sister's studying English. In order

to improve his listening comprehension, he watches two hours of TV every day.

Yiwen: Siwen, quick, switch to Channel Six. The football game is about to start.

Siwen: Really? I like to watch football games, too. What kind of football is

this? How come it's not round?

Yiwen: This is not international football. This is American football.

Siwen: Playing football you should kick (the ball) with your feet. Why is

that guy running with the ball in his hands?

Yiwen: You can use your hands in American football.

Siwen. Look! All those people are on top of one another. Wouldn't the people

underneath be crushed to pieces?

Yiwen: Don't worry. They are really strong. Besides, they wear special clothes (so

that) they won't injure so easily.

Siwen: I've been watching for a long time. I still don't know who is winning (and

who is losing.) Let's watch something else.

Yiwen: You only have to live in America for six months (half a year) before you

will begin to like American football. I have many friends who won't even

eat as soon as they start watching a football game.