第四篇 Passage 4

Discussing the Schedule in Xi’an

Host： Mr. Silverman, shall we start discussing your program in Xi’an? I’ve worked out a suggested schedule. If you have any objection or suggestion, please let us know.

客： 很好，请讲吧。

H： Today’s Monday and you’ll fly to Shanghai on Friday afternoon, is that right?

客： 是的。我们将于星期五下午4︰15乘东方航空公司的航班飞往上海。

主： Here is the suggested program: If you are not tired, we’ll take you to the Bell Tower, the Drum Tower, the Great Mosque and the Big Wild Goose Pagoda, all this ancient Chinese architecture of different styles.

客： 我们一点也不累，我们在西安想尽可能多地看些地方。

H： We’ll try our best to arrange. At 6:30 this evening, our mayor will host a dinner party to welcome you in the dining hall of Xi’an Hotel. So you are welcome to the party.

客： 非常感谢。我们一定去。

H： Tuesday morning you’ll visit the “Eighth Wonder of the World”, Emperor Qin’s Terra Cotta Warriors and Horses. You’ll have lunch there. On the way back to the hotel in the afternoon, you’ll visit Banpo Museum, where you’ll see how the Chinese people lived and labored some 6000 years ago. You’ll watch an evening performance of Music and Dance in the Tang-dynasty Style at Xi’an Opera House this evening.

客： 那真是太好了。

H： Wednesday morning, you’ll visit the Tang tombs in Qianxian County, 80 kilometers away from Xi’an. There is the joint tomb of the third emperor of Tang Dynasty, Li Zhi and his consort, Wu Zetian, the only empress in Chinese history, and the tombs of their relatives. You’ll have lunch there. In the afternoon you’ll visit Zhaoling tombs, the tomb of the second emperor of Tang Dynasty, Li Shimen and numerous satellite tombs. It will be a tiring day. So there is no arrangement in the evening. However, during the National Day and the Mid-autumn Festival, there are some cultural entertainments such as lantern show on the city wall. If you are interested in them, you can go and watch the lantern show.

Thursday morning, you’ll visit Shaanxi History Museum, one of the four most important museums in China. There you’ll see numerous valuable cultural relics from pre-history period to the Song Dynasty (1127A.D.). In the afternoon, you’ll visit the Xi’an Forest of Steles, the cultural treasure house of ancient China. After that, we’ll take you to Xi’an Art and Handicraft Factory and do shopping in the stores. In the evening, the president of the Xi’an Friendship Association will invite you to a dinner of dumplings; it’s a dinner of Xi’an local flavor.

Friday morning we’ll take you to Northwest University, the oldest comprehensive university in northwest China. We arrange this for you because many of our friends come from schools and wish to visit a university in Xi’an and talk with the students there. You’ll fly to Shanghai Friday afternoon. Well, what do you think of this arrangement?

客： 很好。你们想得真周到，为我们代表团拟定了这样细致的日程。我同意你们的安排。但有一点补充：如果可能的话，我们很想参观一个村子。因为我们听到了很多有关中国农村的经济改革和变化情况，很想亲眼看一看今日中国的农民是如何劳动生活的?；褂幸患?，就是我们希望会长能让我们在星期四晚上请客，而不是由你们再设宴招待我们。

H： We can arrange you a visit to a village. Tuesday morning, after the visit of the Terra Cotta Warriors and Horses, we’ll take you to a village nearby. You can visit the farmer’s homes and talk with them, so that you will have some idea of the farmers’ life in west China today. You know, your former president Mr. Clinton visited a village there.

客：太好了，一切都定下来了。我要说中国人民是世界上最热情好客的人民。我只希望本代表团的成员们不会被宠坏了。不要滥用你们的热情好客。

H： We were warmly received by the American people when we visited Kansas City. The people of our two countries have always been friendly to each other.