Mark: Hi Jingjing, how's work these days?

马克: 嗨，京晶，最近你工作忙吗?

Jingjing: It's a bit busier than usual, but mostly routine. How about you? Are you all ready for the fall semester to begin?

京晶: 比平时忙一些，但基本上是常规动作。你呢? 你准备好秋季开学了吗?

Mark: Yeah, I think so. I have a pretty crazy schedule. I got light hours from my school, which is great, but scheduled a lot of extra classes.

马克: 我想是的。我这学期的日程安排得相当疯狂。虽然好在我学校的课并不多，负荷较轻，但安排了很多额外课程。

Jingjing: Do you think you have an easier time, as a foreigner, compared to local teachers?

京晶: 作为一个外国人，你觉得和当地老师比，你的工作相对轻松些吗?

Mark: Hmm, that's a can of worms we could open later, when we have more time to talk.

马克: 这可就说来话长了，等有空的时候我们再细聊吧。

Jingjing: Ok. Well, Teacher's Day was earlier this week. Do you think teachers in general are excited this time of year?

京晶: 好吧。对了，这周刚刚过完教师节，你觉得普遍来说，老师们在每年的这个时候都会很兴奋吗?

Mark: It's back to school season. One of the enviable things about a teacher's job is that they have time to step back and reflect.

马克: 这个时候是每年的开学季。教师工作最令人羡慕的一点就是他们有时间(在假期里)回顾和反思过去，新学期重新出发。

Jingjing: Yeah. Hopefully teachers are refreshed and looking forward to the classes they'll have for the next half-year.

京晶: 是这样，希望老师们能焕发精神，对他们下半年的课程充满期待。

Mark: Most of the teachers I know have some flexibility in their schedule. If they want to be very busy, they can.

马克: 我认识的大多数老师在工作时间上都有一定的灵活性。如果他们想非常忙，也是可以做到的。

Jingjing: Right, and if they want to have more time to work carefully, or accompany their family, they can arrange it.

京晶: 嗯，但如果他们想有更多的时间精细地工作，或是陪伴家人，也是可以安排的。

Mark: Teachers work as hard as other people, harder sometimes. I know 6 hours of teaching makes me more tired than 8 to 10 hours of office work.

马克: 老师和其他职业一样辛苦，有时甚至更辛苦。我知道6个小时的教学比8到10个小时的办公室工作更让我感到疲惫。

Jingjing: But it's nice to have long holidays and planning periods, isn't it?

京晶: 但是能有长假和规划期简直太好了，不是吗?

Mark: It definitely is. I'm grateful to be a teacher, and glad that teachers have schedules that make sense for the kind of work they do.

马克: 一点没错。我很感恩能成为一名老师，也很高兴老师的工时安排对他们的工作性质发挥着积极的作用。

New words : 习语短语

light hours 轻负荷

fewer hours of work than usual, in a week

a can of worms 一个说来话长的主题

a topic that would take a long time to discuss

reflect 反思，反省

think about what you've done well, what mistakes you've made

flexibility 灵活性

some freedom to work and play at different times

Dialogue 2

Jingjing: Mark, what do you think of the sayings people have about teachers?

京晶: 马克，你对人们有关老师的言论怎么看?

Mark: None are coming to mind at the moment. Could you give me an example?

马克: 我一时想不起来有什么。你能给我举个例子吗?

Jingjing: Sure. I heard one that goes: The B students work for the C students, and the A students teach.

京晶: 当然。 我听过这样一句话: 成绩得B的学生长大后为成绩得C的学生打工，而得A的优等生后来都成了老师。

Mark: I think we mentioned that before. A students really like mastery learning, and do well at training others. C students have money already and are good at networking. And B students are hard workers.

马克: 我想我们之前提到过这句话。成绩最优秀的学生喜欢精熟学习，并且擅长培训他人。不太用功的学生不差钱，而且又擅长人际关系，适合做老板。而成绩中等的学生则是最勤奋的打工者。

Jingjing: That's a pretty concise interpretation.

京晶: 这个解释很精准。

Mark: Ok; give me another one.

马克: 再给我说一个吧。

Jingjing: Here's a toughy: Those who can, do. And those who can't—they teach.

京晶: 有一句犀利的: 那些能干事业的，都去干事业了。而那些不能干事业的，都去教书了。

Mark: Ha ha, that's a little harsh.

马克: 哈哈，这句确实有点尖锐了。

Jingjing: Do you agree with it?

京晶: 你同意这种说法吗?

Mark: Well, if it suggests that teachers are incompetent members of society, unable to do anything outside of their own classroom, I of course disagree. A lot of teachers I had came from other careers. Some of them got tired of the corporate world and taught business at my university.

马克: 这种说法暗示着老师是社会上无能的人，出了课堂做不了任何事情。我当然不同意。但我知道的许多老师都是从其他行业转行来的。他们中的一些人厌倦了待在企业，所以才来我的大学里教商科。

Jingjing: Was that true for most of them?

京晶: 大多数人都是这样吗?

Mark: I guess not. Then there were others, in the theoretical fields like economics, that held down a teaching position and did research. That's a good combination.

马克: 也不是。在类似经济学这样的理论领域里，有些人一边工作在教学岗位上一边做研究。这是种很好的结合。

Jingjing: What about people who teach young learners?

京晶: 那那些教小孩子的人呢?

Mark: Well, if you're a parent and a teacher of little kids, the skills carry over pretty well.

马克: 如果你为人父母，职业又是小孩的老师，那很多技能都是相通的。

Jingjing: That makes sense. Most of those sayings are thought-provoking.

京晶: 有道理。这些言论大多发人深省。

Mark: Yeah, I don't think you have to agree or disagree fully.

马克: 是的，但我认为你大可不必完全同意或不同意这些观点。

New words : 习语短语

mastery learning 掌握学习法，精通式学习

studying something a lot, fully understanding it and knowing how to apply it

networking 主动积累人脉网

making friends and new business relationships, helping introduce people to each other

a toughy 难以理解的事，难以回答的问题

a hard thing to understand, a difficult question to answer

hold down (a job) 保有（工作）

keep a job, do your work well enough

carry over 蔓延至，应用至，

transfer, apply to both A and B