S: Does your family have a record of your ancestors?

你家有族谱记录吗？

N: Sure. My mom has been working on our family tree for years. She's always updating it.

当然有。我妈妈这几年一直在做我们的族谱。她总是在更新。

S: Do you have a copy of your family tree in your house? I'd love to see it.

你的房子里有这样一份族谱吗？我好想看看喔。

N: I can show it to you now, if you like. I think it goes back about 8 generations so far.

现在我就可以给看你，如果你愿意看的话。到目前止，我认为它可以追溯到8代人。

S: That's amazing. Do you have a large extended family?

太了不起了。你有一个大家庭吗？

N: I've got 30 cousins on my mom's side and 10 cousins on my dad's side.

在我妈妈这边，我有30个表兄弟，在我父亲这边，我有10个党兄弟。

S: Are you very close to your first-cousins?

你跟你的堂兄妹感情好吗？

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.

那些跟我年龄相仿的和我很亲密。由于我长大了，我不像过去那样有时间和他们相处，所以比我大和比我小的堂兄妹，我都不是很了解了。

S: I see. Who's the head of your household?

我明白了。谁是你们家的领导？

N: It's definitely my mother. And, her mother is definitely the matriarch of the bigger family.

当然是我妈妈了。她的妈妈当然也是这个更大的家庭的女家长。

S: That's interesting. What does your grandmother think of your step-mother？

好有意思哦。你奶奶怎么看待你的继母？

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.

起先，我奶奶对她很挑剔，但是由于他们已经结婚好几年了，她就开始接受我父亲和母亲离婚的事实。

S: That's pretty much how you feel about your step-mother. Like grandmother, like grandson!

那也是你对你继母的感觉，奶奶和孙子的感受都一样。

N: Do you think Chinese families have changed much in the last 50 years?

你认为过去50年中国家庭有很大变化吗？

S: I think families everywhere have changed a lot in the last 5 decades.

我认为在过去的50年中任何地方的家庭都有很大改变。

N: What do you think is the biggest change?

你认为最大的变化是什么？

S: Well, in the past, three or four generations would all live together under the same roof. Nowadays, living in the same city as one's relatives is becoming rare.

唔，过去，三四代人都住在一个屋檐下。如今，亲戚同住一个城市的都变得好少了。

N: That's true. You know, some husbands and wives don't even live in the same city any more.

确实。你知道的，一些夫妻甚至都不住在同一个城市。

S: Would you ever consider having your parents live with you when they get older?

当你父母老了的时候，你考虑过让他们跟你住吗？

N: I guess I'm a bit old-fashioned. I'd rather have my parents live with me than live in a retirement home.

我想我有点过时。我宁可让我的父母跟我住，也不愿意让他们住养老院。

S: That's very respectable, but I could never live with my parents. I usually only see them at our Christmas celebration-and that's enough!

这种行为让人肃然起敬，但是我决不会跟父母住。我通常只要在我们的圣诞节庆典上见到他们――这就足够了！

N: How about your other siblings? Do they spend a lot of time with your parents?

你的其他兄弟姐妹呢？他们跟你父母在一起的时间多吗？

S: Two of my sisters still live at home, even though they have already graduated from university and have good jobs. They enjoy spending their free time with my parents. I guess in that respect, I'm the black sheep of the family.

我还有两个姐妹在家里住，尽管他们已经大学毕业并且有了工作。他们喜欢跟我父母共度闲暇时光。我想在这方面，我是家里的败类。

N: I see. Do you parents ever ask you to come home to visit them more often?

我明白了。你父母有没有叫你更经常一点回去看看他们？

S: They're always asking me to come home, but I think our relationship is better if we keep a distance from each other. Whenever we see each other, all we do is fight.

他们总是叫我回去，但是我认为我们相互保持距离对我们的关系更好。不论何时我们见到彼此，我们都会吵架。

N: Well, you know what they say. You can choose your friends, but not your family.

唔，你听人说过这样一句话吧：你可以选择你的朋友，但是不能选择你的家人。