Dialogue 1

Mark: How's life treating you, Jingjing?
马克：最近这怎样，京晶？
Jingjing: Didn't you ask me that last week? Anyway, it's going smoothly. I wish I could say the same for Stephen Hawking.
京晶：上周不是问过我了吗？好吧，一切顺利。我希望我也可以对霍金这样说。
Mark: Oh, I know! I was so sad to hear he'd passed away. He was only 76 years old.
马克：哦，是啊！很遗憾听说他过世了。他才76岁。
Jingjing: I found out about it just after I saw you last week.
京晶：上周我们刚见完面我就得知此事了。
Mark: Yeah, a week ago, my social media blew up with posts about it: R.I.P. Stephen Hawking.
马克：是的，一周前，我的社交媒体被“霍金安息”的各种发布刷屏了。
Jingjing: Have you read any of his work?
京晶：你读过他的作品吗？
Mark: No, and I figured now it's high time to do some. So I got his most famous book, A Brief History of Time, and am reading it on my phone.
马克：没有，我认为现在正是最好的时候。所以我找到了他最有名的作品《时间简史》，我正在手机上阅读。
Jingjing: I read that a few years ago. Can you understand it?
京晶：我几年前就读过了。你能理解吗？
Mark: Ask me in another week or so. I just started reading it on the subway coming over here.
马克：一周左右再问我吧。我在过来这儿的地铁上才开始读起来。
Jingjing: When I started reading it, I thought it would be really chewy. It turned out to be both engaging and within my grasp.
京晶：我当时开始读的时候，我以为会比较难懂。结果发现引人入胜，也好理解。
Mark: That's probably why it's an international best-seller.
马克：这也许就是为什么它热销全球。
Jingjing: Yeah, it's written for the general public. I'm glad I read it. Let me know what you think when you finish it.
京晶：是，这就是写给普罗大众看的。我还挺高兴我读过这书。你看完后告诉我。
Mark: I'm putting other books on hold for it. Hopefully I'll have something intelligent to say about it next time.
马克：我先把其他的书放一边缓缓，希望下次见面时我能说出点有智慧的东西。
Jingjing: I bet you will. Speaking of time, how about we go now and beat the lunch rush.
京晶：我打赌肯定的。说到时间，我们现在就走怎么样，避开午餐高峰。
Mark: Well, if you can pull yourself away from work, I'll introduce a British pub that just opened up down the street.
马克：如果你现在能从工作中抽身，我给你介绍一家这条街上刚开的英式酒吧。
Jingjing: What made you think of that?
京晶：怎么想到了这个？
Mark: I'm in the mood for British food—if you don't mind. Besides, Stephen Hawking was British.
马克：我想在很想吃英国菜，如果你不介意，对了，霍金就是英国人。
Jingjing: Yeah, I know he comes from Oxford. I just kept forgetting because of his American voice.
京晶：是的，我知道他来自牛津。他的美国口音总是让我忘记这一点。

New words:习语短语

passed away 去世
died
blew up 社交媒体中的刷屏
lots of the same kind of post on social media
high time 是时候做某事了
should be done now
chewy 咀嚼的，阅读素材难以理解的
(here, about reading material) difficult to fully understand, with lots of information
the general public 大众
most people, not only scientists or other experts
put...on hold 把某事暂时搁置一旁
stop doing something for a while, but don't quit
pull yourself away 忙中抽身
leave even though you are busy

Dialogue 2

Mark: Jingjing, you mentioned earlier that Stephen Hawking has an American voice. Why is that?
马克：京晶，之前你说霍金有美国口音，这是为何？
Jingjing: Oh, that's because of the technology he used to communicate. Several companies, some of them British, were making the software and equipment. He just stuck with the first voice that was available.
京晶：是因为他用来进行交流的那种科技，有许多公司，包括一些英国的，制造了软件和设备。他一直在用着第一次使用设备里的那种口音。
Mark: I understand he chose words and phrases by moving his hand.
马克：我能理解他通过转动头部选择单词与词组。
Jingjing: That's how the first equipment worked. Later, he had to move parts of his face.
京晶：第一台设备就是这样运作的。后来，他还需要移动部分脸部。
Mark: Didn't that take forever? How could he speak at a regular rate?
马克：那不是要花很久的时间吗？那他怎么用正常语速说话呢？
Jingjing: He could do 15 words per minute with his hand. But with his face, it was slower. But he started to use predictive software.
京晶：他用手一分钟可以完成15个词，但是用脸就要慢一些。但是他已经开始使用预测软件了。
Mark: Is that like what we have on our smartphones?
马克：就像是我们智能手机上使用的那样吗？
Jingjing: Exactly. That way, he wouldn't have to choose every letter or every word.
京晶：没错完全一样。这样的话，他便不需要再去选择每一个字，每一个词。
Mark: Wow, I really don't know much about Stephen Hawking. What was the name of the disease he had?
马克：哇哦，我对霍金真是知之甚少。他是患了什么病呢？
Jingjing: It was ALS. That stands for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. It's a disease that causes the death of motor neurons.
京晶：ALS症。肌萎缩侧索硬化的缩写。这种病症会造成运动神经元萎缩死亡。
Mark: Those are what make us move, right? But wait—isn't ALS the cause of the Ice Bucket Challenge?
马克：那些（神经元）可是让我们的身体能够活动的东西啊，对吗？但是，稍等——ALS不就是冰桶挑战的起因吗？
Jingjing: Yeah, people were raising money for ALS research.
京晶：正是。那会儿人们为渐冻症研究筹款。
Mark: I bet Stephen Hawking would want to be remembered for his work as a scientist, not for his disability.
马克：我打赌霍金宁愿让人们记住他的科学家身份和著作研究，而不是他的身体残疾。
Jingjing: Yes, he had a strong personality, and didn't let anything stop him during his life.
京晶：是啊，他个性很顽强，他不会允许任何事成为他生命的阻碍。
Mark: Well, I'll get going on his book.
马克：好吧，我得继续去读他的书了。
Jingjing: You do that.
京晶：必须的，赶紧吧！

New words:习语短语

predictive software 预测软件
a program that chooses words and phrases before they have been fully typed
motor neurons 运动神经元
cells that respond to electricity and connect the brain with muscles in the body, for movement
get going on 某事做起来了，有进展了
do some work on, start to make progress on