ARC Plus: Companion to Newsletter #208
Chatting about Yao Ming's tall daughter and Mo Yan on marriage
The ARC Plus Goodness Continues!
Remember, for all of July 2025 we’ll be sharing premium ARC dialogues and audio resources with all of our subscribers in the form of the ARC Plus newsletter. This will be paid content in the future, but we hope you enjoy this sample, share it with your friends and Chinese teachers, and leave us thoughtful comments on the newsletter.
～John & Pete
Inspired by this week’s reading, “姚明15岁女儿罕露面，身高近2米”
We suggest listening once without reading the script below. On a second listen, you can follow with the text to catch any words you missed the first time.
Dialogue 1: 姚明的女儿
A: 老朱，你看到新闻了吗？姚沁蕾才15岁，身高快两米了。
B: 看到了，看到了！真是福气，她这样高，肯定能打进国家队。
A: 可她还只是个孩子，这样高很难融入同龄人啊。
B: 这算什么！她有这样身高，要当明星教练都求着她。
A: 但是每天被人围观、拍照，难道不会很累很紧张？
B: 你心太软！别怕，这种日子她过久了就习惯了。
A: 她上学会不会被同学当焦点，觉得自己跟别人很不一样？
B: 傻！有了名气和身高，她倒是不用为人气担心。
A: 想象一下，放学路上人人看你，那种孤独感你体会不到。
B: 这点小事算什么？奥运会给她站台，人家都羡慕！
A: 可她压力也大，每一个目光都可能让她紧张又害怕。
B: 哎哟！压力会变成动力，她有这么好的条件，还怕干什么？
A: 我只希望她能找到真正懂她的朋友，不然很容易寂寞。
B: 你别再多愁善感了，人家好日子还在后头呢！
Vocabulary Notes:
福气 (fúqì) good fortune; blessing
融入 (róngrù) to blend in; to integrate
同龄人 (tónglíngrén) peers; people of the same age
围观 (wéiguān) to gather around and watch
焦点 (jiāodiǎn) focal point; center of attention
孤独感 (gūdúgǎn) sense of loneliness
多愁善感 (duōchóu shàngǎn) sentimental; easily moved emotionally
Dialogue 2: 姚明的女儿
A: 王冰海，你看了6月30日那篇文章吗？说姚明带着他15岁的女儿姚沁蕾在上海机场罕露面，她的身高几乎到他肩头，感觉都快2米了。
B: 看了看了，真是惊人。15岁的女孩能长成这样，一定不容易。人群围观的时候，她又紧张又尴尬。
A: 对啊，我都替她捏一把汗。大家都拿着手机拍照，她肯定觉得有点压力，想躲也躲不掉。
B: 幸好姚明一直牵着她的手安慰，一看就很亲密。但我想这压迫感太强了，走在大街上肯定总有人盯着看。
A: 是啊，小女孩还在成长阶段，身高和外貌都和别人太不同了。上学会不会被同学投来异样目光？
B: 而且，她继承了姚明的基因，骨骼发育得这么快，穿校服也许都要特别定制，生活习惯得完全配合。
A: 我能想象她内心肯定会有矛盾，一方面骄傲，一方面又想融入人群，不想总被当“鹤立鸡群”那样突出。
B: 真希望她能找到和自己身高相仿的朋友，也许参加篮球队更能让她自在一些，不用时刻注意自己和别人不同。
Vocabulary Notes:
罕露面 (hǎn lùmiàn) rare appearance
捏一把汗 (niē yì bǎ hàn) to break into a cold sweat (out of worry for someone)
压迫感 (yāpògǎn) sense of oppression
投来 (tóu lái) to cast (a look)
异样 (yìyàng) strange; unusual
骨骼 (gǔgé) skeleton; bone structure
定制 (dìngzhì) custom-made; tailor-made
鹤立鸡群 (hèlì-jīqún) to stand out from the crowd
相仿 (xiāngfǎng) similar
自在 (zìzai) comfortable; at ease
Are you noticing the repetition of certain words and phrases? Don’t be overwhelmed; you don’t need to memorize every single word and expression. Picking up a few new words is enough (focus on the ones that repeat, if you’re not already familiar with them).
Mini-Podcast: 莫言谈婚姻
This podcast is entirely in Chinese. The hosts are a bit 啰嗦 (luōsuo)—long-winded— and make some rather obvious comments. This makes it easy for learners to follow.
Please leave a comment and let us know about ARC Plus so far. Feel free to make your own suggestions and preferences. You can also send us emails at arc@allsetlearning.com
By reinforcing the more formal, advanced Chinese of our free ARC newsletter with more colloquial dialog-based Chinese language, you’re building a more fluent all-around foundation. Hopefully you can also have conversations in Chinese to reinforce your speaking as well. (Don’t forget that AllSet Learning is also here for that.)
Thanks for joining us for ARC Plus, and we’ll see you next week!
~ John and Pete
Disclaimer: The dialogues in this newsletter are original creations, developed through a combination of human ingenuity and AI tools. All AI tools were used in accordance with their commercial licenses.