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HSK 4 · Upper Int.

排队文化

Páiduì wénhuà
Queuing Culture · 153 words · ~3 min
zài中国Zhōngguóde大城市dà chéngshì,排队páiduìshì生活shēnghuózhōngzuì普遍pǔbiànde事情shìqing:买东西mǎi dōngxiyào排队páiduì,坐车zuò chēyào排队páiduì,医院yīyuànyào排队páiduì
In China's big cities, queuing is one of the most common things in life: you queue to shop, you queue for the bus, and you queue at the hospital too.
有的人yǒude rén排队páiduìde时候shíhouhěnyǒu耐心nàixīn,一边yìbiānkàn手机shǒujī,一边yìbiān慢慢mànmànděng
Some people are very patient in line, looking at their phones while slowly waiting.
但是dànshì有人yǒu rén不想bù xiǎngděng,看见kànjiàn前面qiánmiànrénduō,jiù直接zhíjiē插队chāduì
But some people don't want to wait: seeing many people ahead, they simply cut in line.
插队chāduìderén也许yěxǔ觉得juéde自己zìjǐ聪明cōngming,其实qíshí大家dàjiādōuzài心里xīnliduìyǒu意见yìjiàn
People who cut in line may think they are clever, but actually everyone silently resents them.
见过jiànguo一位yí wèi老人lǎorén礼貌lǐmàodeduì插队chāduìde年轻人niánqīngrénshuō:大家dàjiādōuzàiděng,qǐngdào后面hòumiàn,好吗hǎo ma?
I once saw an elderly man politely say to a young man who had cut in line: "We are all waiting — would you please go to the back?"
那个nàge年轻人niánqīngrénliǎn红了hóngle,说了shuōle一声yì shēng对不起duìbuqǐ,马上mǎshàng站到zhàndàole队伍duìwude最后zuìhòu
The young man blushed, said "sorry," and immediately went to stand at the end of the line.
排队páiduì看起来kàn qǐlaishì小事xiǎoshì,其实qíshízuìnéng说明shuōmíng一个yí gè地方dìfangde文明wénmíng水平shuǐpíng
Queuing seems like a small matter, but it actually best shows a place's level of civility.
愿意yuànyìděngsān分钟fēnzhōng,别人biérénhuì愿意yuànyìwèiděngsān分钟fēnzhōng
If you are willing to wait three minutes, others will be willing to wait three minutes for you too.
🔊 Audio uses your device's Chinese voice for now — teacher recordings are coming. Tap any word to see its meaning.

Key words 生词

排队páiduìto queue; line up
耐心nàixīnpatience
插队chāduìto cut in line
礼貌lǐmàopolite; manners
队伍duìwuline; queue
文明wénmíngcivility; civilization

Grammar note 语法点

一边……一边……

'doing A while doing B' — two actions happening at the same time.

一边看手机,一边慢慢等。
看起来……其实……

'it seems... but actually...' — contrasts appearance with reality.

排队看起来是小事,其实最能说明一个地方的文明水平。

Check yourself 小测验

1. 大家对插队的人有什么想法?
2. 听了老人的话,年轻人做了什么?
3. 作者觉得排队最能说明什么?