Dear Mom,

Can you imagine that I’m now in the United States, a country so different from China? Everything is new and interesting! I made some friends on the trip over and they have been very kind and helpful. Still, you know how much I miss you and your cooking? My mouth waters at the mere thought of those delectable Chinese dishes you prepare. Last night, my friends invited me to dinner. They had some strange ways of describing their hunger. For instance, there was“I’m starving to death”,“I’m famished”, and“I’m so hungry, I could eat a horse”, which has a similar expression in Chinese; I’m sure you know the one. How about“I’m making a pig of myself”! A little confusing, hmm? Anyway, this stuff may be useful to you

as an English teacher, so I’m also sending a tape. You can listen to our conversation and hear some real modern American English.

Your loving daughter,

Amber

親愛(ài)的媽媽：

您能想象出，我在美國(guó)這樣一個(gè)與中國(guó)有著種種不同的國(guó)家里是如何生活的嗎?這里所有的事情都是那么新鮮有趣。我現(xiàn)在交了許多新朋友，他們?nèi)撕芎?，給了我很多幫助。但是，我仍然想念您，想念您做的飯菜。一想到那些飯菜，我就忍不住要流口水。好在我有一些朋友，上星期他們邀請(qǐng)我去學(xué)校附近的一家餐館吃了一頓，我發(fā)現(xiàn)他們形容餓的方法很有意思，我得花點(diǎn)時(shí)間去熟悉熟悉。比如如果覺(jué)得餓了，我一般會(huì)說(shuō)：“I’m so hungry”?？墒?，他們有很多古怪的說(shuō)法。像：“I’m starving to death.”“I’m famished.”等等。最有趣的一句是“I’m so hungry, I could eat a horse.”中文中有一句類似的話，我想您是知道的。還有一句話理解起來(lái)可能就有些困難了----“I’m making a pig of myself!”是不是有點(diǎn)糊涂了?不管怎么說(shuō)，您在中國(guó)教英語(yǔ)，這些東西可能會(huì)有用。所以隨信寄去一盤磁帶，好讓您聽(tīng)一聽(tīng)我們的交談，了解一下“真正”的現(xiàn)代美國(guó)口語(yǔ)。

您的女兒

Amber