A:Does your family have a record of your ancestors?你们家有家谱吗?
B:Sure. My mom has been working on our family tree for years. She’s always updating it.当然有了。我妈妈这些年来一直在整理家谱,而且保持更新。
A:Do you have a copy of your family tree in your house? I’d love to see it.你家里有副本吗?我很想看一看。
B:I can show it to you now, if you like. I think it goes back about 8 generations so far.如果你想看,我现在就可以拿给你。我想这本大概能追溯到8代前。
A:That’s amazing. Do you have a large extended family?这太有意思了,你们家族很庞大吗?
B:I’ve got 30 cousins on my mom’s side and 10 cousins on my dad’s side.在我母亲那边我大概有30个堂兄弟姐妹,我父亲这边大概有10个。
A:Are you very close to your first-cousins?你和你的堂兄弟姐妹关系走的近吗?
B: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.跟我年龄相近的几个是近亲。既然我们一起长大,不会像以前那样有很多时间和他们一起玩。所以那些年纪很小或很老的亲戚,我都不怎么认识。
A:I see. who’s the head of your household?明白了。谁是你家的一家之主?
B:It’s definitely my mother. And, her mother is definitely the matriarch of the bigger family.当然是我母亲。而她的母亲算是这个大家庭的族长。
A:That’s interesting. What does your grandfather think of your step-mother?这真有趣。你奶奶是怎么看你继母的?
B: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.原来她好像总是挑她的刺,后来他们结婚的年头久了,她似乎开始接受我父亲和我母亲离婚的这个现实了。
A:That’s pretty much how you feel about your step-mother. Like grandmother, like grandson.这大概也是你对你继母的感觉吧。真是有其祖母,必有其孙子。