Dialogue 1
Jingjing: So, Mark, have you decorated your house with rats for the coming new year?
京晶：嗨，马克，迎接鼠年，你用各种老鼠装饰家里了吗?
Mark: Well, I'm on the lookout for a plush Jerry toy—you know, from Tom and Jerry.
马克：嗯，我正在找一个杰瑞鼠的毛绒玩偶，你知道的，《猫和老鼠》里面的。
Jingjing: That one's pretty adorable. Jerry's a mouse, though, isn't he?
京晶：那个很可爱啊。杰瑞是个老鼠，不是吗?
Mark: Yeah, he is. Mice are considered cuter. Americans expect to see rats only in poor areas of a city.
马克：是的,它就是。人们觉得小家鼠更可爱。美国人觉得田鼠之类只会出现在城市的贫困地区。
Jingjing: Really? Rats aren't omens of good luck in the west?
京晶：真的吗?老鼠在西方不是好运气的象征吗?
Mark: Definitely not. They're not really bad luck either. It's not like when you see a black cat. Some people even keep rats as pets, but not many. Most people prefer hamsters, even mice.
马克：当然不是啊。他们也不代表霉运。它不像你看到的黑猫。有些人甚至养老鼠当宠物，但不普遍。大多数人更喜欢仓鼠，甚至小老鼠。
Jingjing: Yeah, hamsters are lovely. A friend of mine had one. She thought it was getting fat. But it turned out to be pregnant and had a lot of babies. She still doesn't know how that happened.
京晶：是的，仓鼠很可爱。我的一个朋友养了一只。她以为仓鼠长胖了，结果竟然是怀孕了还生了很多小崽。她一直都不知道怎么回事。
Mark: A wild hamster could have paid a visit during the night.
马克：可能是一只野生小仓鼠在晚上来拜访过吧。
Jingjing: A wild hamster? That's a hoot! Let's get back to talking about rats as symbols. Did you ever see Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles? That movie has a rat as the master of four heroes.
京晶：一只野仓鼠？太有意思啦。让我们说回到老鼠的象征意义吧。你看过《忍者神龟》吗?那部电影里有一只老鼠是四个英雄的师父。
Mark: Right, it's kind of ironic that a rat would turn into a wise old character. I think the key word there is mutant.
马克：是的，有点讽刺老鼠竟然会变成一个睿智长者的角色。我认为重点是突变体。
Jingjing: Yeah, I guess that's an odd case. What about the rat in Charlotte's Web? You know that story by E.B. White?
京晶：是的，我想这是有点离奇。那夏洛的网里面的老鼠呢?你知道E.B.怀特写的那个故事吗?
Mark: Yeah, I read the book as a kid. I was pretty happy with the movie too—the one with Julia Roberts. Steve Buscemi did the voice of Templeton, the rat.
马克：知道，我小时候就读过这本书。我对改编的电影也很满意——就是有茱莉亚·罗伯茨的那部。史蒂夫·巴斯米为老鼠坦普尔顿配音。
Jingjing: So, is that more along the lines of how westerners see rats, as pesky and selfish?
京晶：那么，这是否更符合西方人对老鼠的看法，讨厌又自私?
Mark: That's a more common conception. Now that I think of it, though, there are a few other famous stories that put rats in a very positive light.
马克：那是一个更普遍的概念。既然我现在想到了，还是有一些其他著名的故事把老鼠塑造成非常积极正面的角色。
Jingjing: Are you suggesting them to me?
京晶：你在给我推荐吗？
Mark: I will. Let me do a quick IMDB search and grab a cup of coffee. I'll be right back.
马克：我会的。让我赶快去IMDB（互联网电影资料库）搜一下，还要去弄杯咖啡。马上就回来。
Jingjing: Ok. See you in a few.
京晶：好的，一会见。


New words : 习语短语
on the lookout 寻找
looking for something
omen 预兆；征兆
a symbol, often unexpected, seen as
good or bad luck
That's a hoot. 有趣的，好玩的
That's very funny.
Ironic 讽刺的，反语的
when something is the opposite of
what people expect, often in a funny
and thought-provoking way
along the lines of 类似于
like something (people think of A along
the lines of B; people think A is like B)

Dialogue 2
Jingjing: There you are with your steaming coffee, Mark. Did you find out anything about those movies you wanted to recommend?
京晶：马克，哟，热气腾腾的咖啡喝上了。你找到那些你想推荐的电影了吗?
Mark: Yeah, and I'm glad I checked. I would have given you the wrong information otherwise.
马克：是的，我很高兴我核对过了。否则我就会给你错误的信息了。
Jingjing: It sounds like you're pretty serious about them.
京晶：听起来你对这件事很认真。
Mark: They're both kids' stories, but good for adults also. The first is one of my favorite cartoons. I think it's the best cartoon feature film from before digital animation.
马克：它们都是儿童故事，也适合成年人读。第一个是我最喜欢的卡通之一。我认为这是数字动画出现之前最好的卡通电影。
Jingjing: Alright. I'm ready for you to tell me the title.
京晶：好吧。我已经准备好听你告诉我它的名字了。
Mark: It's called the Secret of NIMH. It's about these rats that were super smart and had a huge city underground, and how they helped a family of common field mice.
马克：名字叫《勇敢鼠妈妈》（鼠谭秘奇）。讲的是一群超级聪明的老鼠生活在一个巨大的地下城市，它们如何帮助一个普通的田鼠家庭。
Jingjing: I'll have to look for that. I haven't heard of it. Is it a Disney movie?
京晶：我得找来看看。我没听说过。是迪斯尼的电影吗?
Mark: Nope. It was made by Don Bluth Productions in 1982.
马克：不。它是由唐·布鲁斯制作公司1982年出品的。
Jingjing: That's an old movie. But some cartoons don't show their age. What's the other one?
京晶：那是老电影啊。但有些动画看不出年龄。另一个是什么?
Mark: It hasn't been made into a major movie. It's a great book, though: Wind in the Willows.
马克：它还没有被改编成大电影。但它是一本伟大的书:《柳林风声》。
Jingjing: And it has a rat as one of the characters?
京晶：那其中有老鼠的角色吗？
Mark: Yeah. There are four friends: a mole, a rat, a badger and a toad. The rat is smart and practical.
马克：有啊，有四个朋友:一只鼹鼠，一只水鼠，一只獾和一只蟾蜍。老鼠聪明又实际。
Jingjing: Well, it sounds like those two stories give rats a good image.
京晶：听起来这两个故事都给赋予了老鼠一个好形象。
Mark: They do. They're not as cute as mice, but noble in their own way.
马克：的确是这样。它们没有小家鼠那么可爱，但有自己的高尚之处。
Jingjing: As for mice, I still like Stewart Little.
京晶：至于小老鼠，我还是喜欢精灵鼠小弟。
Mark: Oh, I totally forgot about that one. What a delightful book and movie!
马克：哦，我完全忘了那一部。真是一部非常有趣的书和电影啊!

New words : 习语短语
digital animation数码动画 数字动画
cartoons and realistic videos made with computer software
noble 卓越的 高贵的
honest and good to others, well-educated