Dialogue 1

Jingjing: Mark, do you have anything to say about Covid-19?

京晶：马克，关于新冠肺炎你有什么要说的吗?

Mark: Not more than I've said already. But this quarantine period has sure changed the pace of life.

马克：没有更多要说的了。但这段隔离期确实改变了生活节奏。

Jingjing: Yeah, outdoors, everything's quiet and peaceful.

京晶：是的，室外，一切安静祥和。

Mark: Right. Also, people's work schedules are all different.

马克：对。人们的工作日程安排也与以往大不同了。

Jingjing: Not everyone. There are some people with the same schedules as before.

京晶：不是每一个人皆如此。有一些人的工作日程还和以前一样。

Mark: Of course. But for most people, it means a lot of telecommuting.

马克：那是自然。但对大多数人来说，隔离期意味着大量的远程办公。

Jingjing: Do you like it?

京晶：你喜欢远程办公吗？

Mark: Actually, yes. I have a really heavy teaching schedule this semester. But I have time to get all my work done, including paperwork, because I don't have to commute these days.

马克：实际上,我非常喜欢。这学期我的教学工作安排很繁重。但我仍有时间完成所有工作，包括文书工作，因为现在我不用通勤了。

Jingjing: You've got it made, with an extra ten or so hours in your week.

京晶：利用每周多出来的十来个小时，你已经顺利做到了。

Mark: I guess so. Too bad my procrastination habit has gotten worse.

马克：我想是这样。但糟糕的是我的拖延症变得更严重了。

Jingjing: What?! I thought you'd get over it at a time like this.

京晶：什么? ! 我以为你在这样的时期完全克服掉了呢。

Mark: I thought so too. With having to commute, I'd put something off if I didn't have time to finish it before leaving the house. Then, I'd have a mental list of things to do late at night or early in the morning.

马克：我本也这么认为。在不得不通勤工作的时候，如果出门之前没时间做完的工作，我就会推迟完成。然后，在深夜或清晨我会在脑海里列出一份需要完成的事物清单。

Jingjing: Yeah, so, what's it like now?

京晶：对啊，那现在是怎么样的？

Mark: Now, it's hard for me to get started on anything. I know I have plenty of time, so I put things off until right before their deadlines.

马克：现在，对我来说启动任何一项工作都很难。我知道我有足够的时间，所以我把事情都拖到正好最后一刻完成。

Jingjing: You're suffering from typical procrastination, Mark. I hope you don't fall behind on all your work.

京晶：马克，你得的就是典型的拖延症。我希望你没有落下所有的工作呀。

Mark: So far, it's been OK.

马克：目前来看还好。

Jingjing: That reminds me of the sentence that's being bandied about these days: How you spend your quarantine predicts how you will spend the rest of your life.

京晶：这让我想起了最近广为流传的一句话: 你如何度过隔离期，预示着你将如何度过余生。

Mark: Wow, I'd better take heed of that! It's time to get started on some projects!

马克：哇，我得留意这个警示! 是时候开始一些工作项目了!

New words : 习语短语

telecommute 远距离工作 远程办公 家庭办公，远距离工作（通过电话、电子邮件等与办公室、客户等进行联系）

to get work done from home, or somewhere else away from the office

<have/keep/make> a mental list

在脑海中列出将来要做的清单 心中默记出一个要完成的列表

keep something (to do) in mind, remember it (for sometime in the near future)

<be> bandied about 广为传播 传开

talk about something a lot, rather carelessly and spontaneously

Dialogue 2

Jingjing: Mark, do you want to tell me about the projects you'll start during this quarantine period?

京晶：马克，想跟我说说你在隔离期间将要启动的项目吗?

Mark: Not really. If I get something finished, I'll show it to you.

马克：不是太想说。如果我完成了些什么，我会给你看。

Jingjing: OK, then. I'll be looking forward to that.

京晶：好吧。那我就期待了。

Mark: Hey, you haven't told me what your workdays are like.

马克：嘿，你还没告诉我你的工作日是什么样的呢。

Jingjing: Well, they're pretty much the same. I have to go in, to do the live broadcast every day. I'm not bogged down with meetings, though.

京晶：好吧，每天差不多也是一样的。每天我都要上班，做直播节目。但是不会被会议给拖住了。

Mark: I bet that's a relief, Jingjing. I remember you saying you didn't like meetings.

马克：京晶，我敢说你肯定松了口气。我记得你说过你不喜欢开会。

Jingjing: Shush about that, Mark. I don't want my boss to hear. Anyway, few people are particularly fond of meetings.

京晶：嘘，可别说了，马克。我可不想被老板听到这些。不管怎样，很少有人特别喜欢开会吧。

Mark: Some of my colleagues are. They still have lots of meetings online.

马克：我的一些同事就很喜欢。他们仍然还要开很多网络会议。

Jingjing: I have those also. But it's easier to get other work done while I'm technically attending a meeting—that is, when it's online.

京晶：我也有那样的会。当我确实在参加会议的时候反而更容易完成其他工作——那就是，开网络会议时。

Mark: I hope you have a quiet keyboard on your computer.

马克：我希望你电脑上能有一个能静音的键盘。

Jingjing: I do. It's a stealth keyboard.

京晶：我用的就是。它是隐形键盘。

Mark: Ha ha. Did you hear the joke about the guy who was sad when the weekend was ending?

马克：哈哈。你听过那个笑话吗? 说的是一个人在周末快结束时就会很伤心。

Jingjing: Nope. How does it go?

京晶：没有。怎么说的？

Mark: Sunday night, he was grumpy, but then got a message from his boss, that people only had to go to the office on alternate weeks. Fifteen people on, and fifteen people off, every week for the next month or so.

马克：周日晚上,他非常暴躁，然后从老板那里收到一条消息，说大家只需要隔周去办公室。在接下来一个月左右的时间里，每周都有15个人上班，15个人休息。

Jingjing: Oh, so his weekend turned into another week plus a weekend?

京晶：哦，所以他的周末变成了一整个礼拜加一个周末?

Mark: Fantastic news, right?

马克：这消息绝了，对吧？

Jingjing: I bet he was happy. Anyway, most people are self-motivated enough to get their work done and to improve themselves. This spring will probably be enlightening for a lot of people.

京晶：我敢打赌他一定很高兴。无论如何，大多数人能通过足够的自我激励完成工作来提升自己。这个春天可能会启发很多人。

New words : 习语短语

<be/get> bogged down

<with something> 易感染的，易受影响的，善感的

have too much of something to do, so that you feel slow and overwhelmed (like the feeling of walking through a swamp)

shush 嘘（示意安静下来）

be quiet, don't talk about that

<be> particularly fond <of something> 特别喜欢某事物（常用于否定）

like something (this is often used in the negative, to say politely that a person dislikes someone or something: “I'm not particularly fond of seafood.”)

technically <doing something> 做某事时意图做其他事情

can be seen to be doing something, while the person is really paying attention to something else

stealth 隐身 秘密行动

very quiet or invisible

enlightening 启迪 启发

helping someone gain great wisdom