Dialogue 1
Jingjing: Mark, have you watched any good movies or read any good books lately?
京晶：马克，最近看过什么好电影，读了什么好书吗？
Mark: I don't really like the book I'm reading now, but I feel the need to power through it. Hey, I just discovered a TV series, Ducktales. Have you heard of it?
马克：我不太喜欢现在读的那本书，但是我感觉还是争取读完算了。嘿，我刚发现一部电视剧《唐老鸭》，你听说过吗？
Jingjing: Isn't that a cartoon?
京晶：那不是动画片吗？
Mark: Yeah, it's a reboot of one from the 1980s and 90s. I watched that as a kid.
马克：是的，它是80,90年代那一版的翻拍，我小时候看过。
Jingjing: Is the new version any good?
京晶：新版本好看吗？
Mark: It's surprisingly good. I keep downloading more episodes. Pretty soon I'll have watched them all and will have to go back to that book.
马克：出奇的好。我一直在下载更多剧集，很快我就要看完了。然后再回头来读书。
Jingjing: It sounds like you lack self control in some areas, Mark. Did your parents let you watch lots of TV when you were a kid?
京晶：马克，听起来你在某些方面缺少自制力呀。你小时候，父母允许你经常看电视吗？
Mark: Actually, we didn't have a TV in the house until I was 10 or 11. My parents wanted to keep me from getting hooked.
马克：事实上，直到我10岁或11岁，我们家才有电视。我父母希望能阻止我别上瘾。
Jingjing: How'd that work out for you?
京晶：那样做管用吗？
Mark: Um, as you can guess, I did a lot of binge-watching once we got a TV. But I never really got into TV like most people do, and had no patience for the commercials.
马克：呃，正如你所猜测，我们家一有电视，我就看得没玩没了。但是我从来没有像大部分人那样沉迷电视，并且我对广告也没什么耐心。
Jingjing: That's good. In a lot of homes, the TV is a member of the family.
京晶：那挺好。在很多家庭里，电视机就是家庭成员。
Mark: My parents raised me with good habits. They didn't tell me what to do though.
马克：我父母用好习惯养育我。但他们不会告诉我应该怎么做。
Jingjing: How's that?
京晶：那样好吗？
Mark: Well, I wish they'd have pushed me a little more to study toward a professional career. I might tell my own kid they're either going to be a doctor, a lawyer or an engineer.
马克：好吧，我真希望他们能多推动我去学习以进入一个专业的职业领域。我可能会告诉我自己的孩子，他们要么成为一名医生，律师，要么成为一名工程师。
Jingjing: Strictness skips a generation.
京晶：严格隔代遗传了。
Mark: And so does self-discipline. Ha ha.
马克：自律也是，哈哈。

New words : 习语短语
power through (something) 勉强坚持做完不喜欢做的事
keep doing something you don't enjoy, just get it done
reboot 重做，重拍
a series of movies or TV shows that is remade a generation later
hooked 上瘾
addicted
binge-watching 大量地做某事，此处指大量看电视
watching one TV series for several hours at a time, like getting through a whole season in one afternoon
(something) skips a generation 隔代遗传
Someone's great grandmother has a trait, the grandmother doesn't, the mother does, the daughter doesn't, and the great granddaughter does.

Dialogue 2
Jingjing: Mark, do you think kids should listen to their parents about everything?
京晶：马克，你觉得孩子应该事事听父母的吗？
Mark: Hmm. It's good for kids to obey their parents. I've seen families where the parents kind of gave up on telling their kids what to do. That's pretty sad.
马克：嗯，孩子服从父母是件好事。我见过一些家庭父母几乎有点放弃告诉孩子该做什么。这还挺可悲的。
Jingjing: In China, families are pretty big, with lots of elders telling each kid what to do.
京晶：在中国，都是大家庭，有很多老辈告诉每个孩子该做什么。
Mark: Yeah, that's good for children growing up.
马克：是的，那对孩子的成长还是有好处的。
Jingjing: What about young adults? Should they keep doing what their parents say?
京晶：那青年呢？他们应该按父母说的做吗？
Mark: If they agree with it. They should definitely listen.
马克：如果他们赞同父母的观点的话，他们当然要听了。
Jingjing: Parents should also set a good example, right?
京晶：父母也应该树立一个好榜样，对吧？
Mark: Yes, that's crucial, especially during a kid's teenage years.
马克：是的，这很关键，尤其是在孩子的青少年时期。
Jingjing: Right, I read a few interviews with top scorers on China's college entrance exam. Those students said their parents kept their phones turned off and read books at home during homework time after 4PM.
京晶：是的，我读到过一些采访中国高考状元们的文章，那的学生们说他们的父母每天下午4点以后手机就关机了，家庭作业时间他们就在家读书。
Mark: That's a good idea. A teenager can't really be expected to hit the books when the TV is on in the other room.
马克：这是个好方法。另一间屋子里开着电视，一个青少年很难去认真看书。
Jingjing: So, back to young-adulthood. Does parents' advice still matter once someone is out of college?
京晶：那，说回青年时期。一旦大学毕业以后，父母的建议还管用吗？
Mark: Well, that's the usual stuff: buy a house, get married, have a baby. It all makes sense. Of course, no one should get pushed into the wrong home, even if parents mean well.
马克：那就是那些常事了：买房，结婚，生娃。都有意义。当然，就算父母初衷是好的。谁也不应被强迫去嫁娶个不合适的人。
Jingjing: Right. I think parents do a good job of checking progress.
京晶：是的，我觉得父母在把握进程方面能做的不错。
Mark: Yes, and hopefully young adults can be honest with their parents.
马克：是的，理想化的情况是，年轻人们也能对父母坦诚。
Jingjing: Exactly. In a relationship of honesty, someone can go to their parents freely for advice.
京晶：的确是。在一种坦诚的关系中，一个人应该能非常自由地向父母寻求建议。
Mark: I hope parents and their adult children can be friends as parents enter their senior years.
马克：我希望当父母年事已高时，父母和成年的孩子之间能成为朋友。
Jingjing: That's ideal. Well, let's hope everyone gets along with their parents.
京晶：这是非常理想的状态了。让我们希望每个人都能和父母和睦相处。
Mark: And learns from them.
马克：并且向它们学习。


New words : 习语短语
give up on (someone) 放弃某人，不抱希望
no longer care about someone, no longer believe in someone
set a good example 树立榜样
do something you want other people to do also (when they see you doing it, they will try it too)
crucial 非常重要的
important, necessary