生活英語(yǔ)口語(yǔ):要不要和父母住在一起？
N: do you think chinese families have changed much in the last 50 years?
S: I think families everywhere have changed a lot in the last 5 decades.
N: what do you think is the biggest change?
S: well, in the past, three or four generations would live together under the same roof. Nowadays, living in the same city as one’s relatives in becoming rare.
N: that’ true. You know, some husbands and wives don’t even live in the same city any more.
S: would you ever consider having your parents live with you when they get older?
N: I guess I’m a bit old-fashioned. I’d rather have my parents live with me than live in a retirement room.
S: that’s very respectable, but I could never live with my parents. I usually only see them at our christmas celebration—and that’s enough!
N: how about your other siblings? Do they spend a lot of time with your parents?
S: two of my sisters still live at home, even they have already graduated from university and have jobs. They enjoy spending their free time with my parents. I guess in that respect, I’m the back sheep of the family.
N: I see. Do your parents ever ask you to come home to visit them more often?
S: they’re always asking me to come home, but I think our relationship is better if we keep a distance from each other. Whenever we see each other, all we do is fight.
N: well, you know what they say. You can choose your friends, but not your family.
對(duì)于最近這50年來(lái)中國(guó)家庭模式的變化你有什么看法?
我覺(jué)得世界各地的家庭這些年來(lái)都有很大的變化。
那你覺(jué)得變化最大的是哪個(gè)方面?
嗯，過(guò)去常常是三代或者四代同堂。而如今，親戚們能住在一個(gè)城市的情況都很少見(jiàn)了。
沒(méi)錯(cuò)，要知道，現(xiàn)在有些夫妻都不一定能住在同一個(gè)城市里。
你有沒(méi)有想過(guò)你父母年紀(jì)大了以后你會(huì)陪他們一起住?
我覺(jué)得自己還是抱著老觀念。希望父母能和我住在一起而不是去養(yǎng)老院。
你能這么想真是很不錯(cuò)。但是我絕不會(huì)和我父母住在一起。我通常是和他么一起過(guò)圣誕節(jié)---這就足夠了。
你那其他的兄弟姐妹呢?他們會(huì)花很多時(shí)間陪你父母嗎?
我的兩個(gè)妹妹盡管已經(jīng)大學(xué)畢業(yè)，而且工作也不錯(cuò)，但她們還是住在家里。她們很樂(lè)于把閑暇的時(shí)間都用來(lái)陪父母。我想從這方面看，我是家里的異類。
哦，我明白了，那你父母要求過(guò)你多回家看看他們嗎?
他們總想讓我常回家看看。但是我覺(jué)得我們之間還是保持一點(diǎn)距離比較好。因?yàn)槲覀冎灰灰?jiàn)面總會(huì)爭(zhēng)執(zhí)不休。
哦，你知道那句老話吧，你可以挑朋友，但家庭可是沒(méi)得選。
We had our big family get-together on christmas eva.
我們?nèi)胰藲g聚在一起慶祝圣誕節(jié)。
Someone isn’t grown up until age 26, probably with financial independence.
也許等到26歲能實(shí)現(xiàn)經(jīng)濟(jì)獨(dú)立，這個(gè)人才算真正地長(zhǎng)大。
I have to work hard because I need to support the whole family.
為了維持一家人的生機(jī)，我必須努力工作。
Do you get along with your in-laws?
你和你的姻親相處的好嗎?
