生活英語情景主題:大家族

S: does your family have a record of your ancestors?
N: sure. My mom has been working on our family tree for years. She’s always updating it.
S: do you have a copy of your family tree in your house? I’d love to see it.
N: I can show it to you now, if you like. I think it goes back about 8 generations so far.
S: that’s amazing. Do you have a large extended family?
N: I’ve got 30 cousins on my mom’s side and 10 cousins on my dad’s side.
S: are you very close to your first-cousins?
N: the ones that are my age are close relatives. Now that I’m older, I don’t spend as much time with them as I used to, so I don’t know my younger cousins as well as the older ones.
S: I see. who’s the head of your household?
N: it’s definitely my mother. And, her mother is definitely the matriarch of the bigger family.
S: that’s interesting. What does your grandfather think of your step-mother?
N: at first, she was quite critical of her, but now that they’ve been married for a few years, she’s starting to accept the fact that my father divorced my mother.
S: that’s pretty much how you feel about your step-mother. Like grandmother, like grandson.

你們家有家譜嗎？
當然有了。我媽媽這些年來一直在整理家譜，而且保持更新。
你家裏有副本嗎？我很想看一看。
如果你想看，我現在就可以拿給你。我想這本大概能追溯到8代前。
這太有意思了，你們家族很龐大嗎？
在我母親那邊我大概有30個堂兄弟姐妹，我父親這邊大概有10個。
你和你的堂兄弟姐妹關係走的近嗎？
跟我年齡相近的幾個是近親。既然我們一起長大，不會像以前那樣有很多時間和他們一起玩。所以那些年紀很小或很老的親戚，我都不怎麼認識。
明白了。誰是你家的一家之主？
當然是我母親。而她的母親算是這個大家庭的族長。
這真有趣。你奶奶是怎麼看你繼母的？
原來她好像總是挑她的刺，後來他們結婚的年頭久了，她似乎開始接受我父親和我母親離婚的這個現實了。
這大概也是你對你繼母的感覺吧。真是有其祖母，必有其孫子。

China no longer has families where four generations live under the same roof.
中國現在很少再有四世同堂的大家庭了。

Like father, like son.
有其父必有其子。

First cousins are close relatives.
堂表兄弟是近親。

It was difficult at first. I think my step-mother was often quite critical of me.
起初的日子很難熬，總覺得繼母對我的要求過於嚴苛。

Relative 親戚
Take after 長得像
Family tree 家譜
Patriarch 族長
Financially independent 經濟獨立
Retirement home 養老院
Cousin 表兄弟姐妹
Kinsmen by family 姻親
Reuion 團聚
Mother-in-law 岳母，婆婆