兄弟三人都是博士，并且都从事太空研究工作。
一天，三兄弟和自己的妻子去母亲家里吃饭，吃完后，他们就开始讨论有关太空研究的问题。
妻子们和母亲在厨房洗碗，其中一个妻子说："他们讨论的事是我完全不懂的，听着会让我觉得自己很笨。
”母亲却讲了一段话，使大家恢复了自信。
她说："刚开始我也觉得自己很笨，可是有一次，他们花了两个小时才做了一碗非常不好吃的面条。
从那以后，我就不再那么想了，因为每个人都有自己的长处和短处。
”
Hover a word for its pinyin & meaning; click to pin it.
narration saved locally, offline — from https://download.mandarinbean.com/audio?source=aHR0cHM6Ly90cmFmZmljLmxpYnN5bi5jb20vbGVhcm5jaGluZXNlL1RocmVlX0RvY3RvcmFsX0Jyb3RoZXJzLTMwNzYubXAz&filename=Three-Doctoral-Brothers.mp3&signature=d19f27e2bf537c83a25854dfb9fe051a7929784c1740fb323d3357ca1bb1c6e6
| Chinese | Pinyin | English |
|---|---|---|
| 兄弟 | xiōng dì | brothers / younger brother / I, me (humble term used by men in public speech) |
| 三 | sān | three / 3 |
| 人 | rén | person; people |
| 都 | dōu | all; both; entirely |
| 是 | shì | to be (followed by substantives only) |
| 博士 | bó shì | doctor (as an academic degree) |
| 并且 | bìng qiě | and; besides; moreover; furthermore; in addition |
| 从事 | cóng shì | to go for / to engage in / to undertake / to deal with / to handle / to do |
| 太空 | tài kōng | outer space |
| 研究 | yán jiū | research / a study |
| 工作 | gōng zuò | job / work / task |
| 一天 | yī tiān | one day; a day |
| 和 | hé | and; together with |
| 自己 | zì jǐ | oneself; (attributive) one's own |
| 的 | de | possessive particle (of; 's) / modifying particle (used after an attribute to modify a noun or to form a nominal expression) |
| 妻子 | qī zi | wife |
| 去 | qù | to go, to go to |
| 母亲 | mǔ qīn | mother |
| 家里 | jiā lǐ | home |
| 吃饭 | chī fàn | to have a meal / to eat |
| 吃 | chī | to eat; to consume / to eat at |
| 完 | wán | to finish / to be over |
| 后 | hòu | afterwards / after |
| 他们 | tā men | they; them |
| 就 | jiù | in that case; then |
| 开始 | kāi shǐ | to begin / to start |
| 讨论 | tǎo lùn | to discuss; to talk over |
| 有关 | yǒu guān | related to / concerning |
| 问题 | wèn tí | question / problem / issue / topic |
| 们 | men | plural marker for pronouns, and nouns referring to individuals |
| 在 | zài | (of sb or sth) to be (located) at |
| 厨房 | chú fáng | kitchen |
| 洗 | xǐ | to wash; to bathe / to develop (photographs) / to shuffle (cards etc) / to erase (a recording) |
| 碗 | wǎn | bowl / cup |
| 其中 | qí zhōng | among / in / included among these |
| 一 | yī | one / single / a (article) |
| 个 | gè | classifier for people or objects in general |
| 说 | shuō | to speak; to talk; to say |
| 事 | shì | matter / thing / item / affair |
| 我 | wǒ | I; me; my |
| 完全 | wán quán | totally; entirely |
| 不 | bù | no; not so |
| 懂 | dǒng | to understand / to comprehend |
| 听 | tīng | to listen to; to hear |
| 着 | zhe | aspect particle indicating action in progress or ongoing state |
| 会 | huì | to be likely to; to be sure to |
| 让 | ràng | to permit / to let sb do sth / to have sb do sth / to make sb (feel sad etc) |
| 觉得 | jué de | to think that ...; to feel that ... |
| 很 | hěn | very; quite |
| 笨 | bèn | stupid / foolish / silly / slow-witted / clumsy |
| 却 | què | but / yet / however / while / nevertheless / even though |
| 讲 | jiǎng | to speak / to explain / to negotiate |
| 了 | le | (completed action marker) / (modal particle indicating change of state, situation now) |
| 段 | duàn | classifier for stories, periods of time, lengths of thread etc |
| 话 | huà | spoken words / speech / talk / words / conversation / what sb said |
| 使 | shǐ | to make / to cause / to enable |
| 大家 | dà jiā | everyone |
| 恢复 | huī fù | to reinstate / to resume / to restore / to recover / to regain / to rehabilitate |
| 自信 | zì xìn | self-confidence |
| 她 | tā | she |
| 刚 | gāng | just / barely / exactly |
| 也 | yě | also; too; as well; (not ...) either |
| 可是 | kě shì | but; however |
| 有 | yǒu | to have; there is |
| 次 | cì | classifier for enumerated events: time |
| 花 | huā | to spend (money, time) |
| 两 | liǎng | two / both / some / a few |
| 小时 | xiǎo shí | hour |
| 才 | cái | then and only then |
| 做 | zuò | to make; to produce |
| 非常 | fēi cháng | very; really |
| 好吃 | hǎo chī | tasty; delicious |
| 面条 | miàn tiáo | noodles |
| 从 | cóng | from; through; via / (bound form) retainer; attendant / (bound form) assistant; auxiliary; subordinate / (bound form) related by common paternal grandfather or earlier ancestor |
| 那 | nà | (specifier) that; the; those / (pronoun) that (referring to persons, things or situations) |
| 以后 | yǐ hòu | after / later / afterwards / following / later on / in the future |
| 不再 | bù zài | no more; no longer |
| 那么 | nà me | like that; in that way; to that extent |
| 想 | xiǎng | to think (about) / to think of; to devise / to think (that); to believe (that) |
| 因为 | yīn wèi | because; owing to; on account of |
| 每 | měi | each / every |
| 长处 | cháng chù | good aspects / strong points |
| 短处 | duǎn chù | shortcoming / defect / fault / one's weak points |