有一天，小明的爸爸给了小明两封信，还给了他一些钱，让他买两张邮票把信寄出去。
过了十分钟，小明回来了。
他高兴地对爸爸说：”爸爸，我把你给我的两封信寄出去了，而且只花了一半半的钱！
”爸爸很惊讶地问小明：”你是怎么用一半的钱把两封信寄出去的呢？
”小明得意地说：”我把一封信放在另一封信里面，这样只需要一张邮票就可以寄两封信了。
爸爸，我既完成了你给我的任务，又帮你省下了一半半的钱，是不是是很聪明？
”
Hover a word for its pinyin & meaning; click to pin it.
narration saved locally, offline — from https://download.mandarinbean.com/audio?source=aHR0cHM6Ly90cmFmZmljLmxpYnN5bi5jb20vbGVhcm5jaGluZXNlL1R3b19MZXR0ZXJzLTMwNDkubXAz&filename=Two-Letters.mp3&signature=8e35f71c477ba021c889a1ed4ad6bbe81c84608beb86972a7fa724ca0c829bae
| Chinese | Pinyin | English |
|---|---|---|
| 有 | yǒu | to have; there is |
| 一 | yī | one / single / a (article) |
| 天 | tiān | day |
| 小明 | xiǎo míng | a placeholder personal name, literally “Little Ming”; often used like “John Doe” in examples |
| 的 | de | possessive particle (of; 's) / modifying particle (used after an attribute to modify a noun or to form a nominal expression) |
| 爸爸 | bà ba | (coll.) father; dad |
| 给 | gěi | to give |
| 了 | le | (completed action marker) / (modal particle indicating change of state, situation now) |
| 两 | liǎng | two / both / some / a few |
| 封 | fēng | classifier for sealed objects, esp. letters |
| 信 | xìn | letter / mail |
| 还 | huán | to pay back / to return |
| 他 | tā | he; him; his |
| 一些 | yī xiē | some; a few; a little; (following an adjective) slightly ...er |
| 钱 | qián | coin / money / unit of weight, one tenth of a tael |
| 让 | ràng | to permit / to let sb do sth / to have sb do sth / to make sb (feel sad etc) |
| 买 | mǎi | to buy / to purchase |
| 张 | zhāng | classifier for flat objects, sheet / classifier for votes |
| 邮票 | yóu piào | (postage) stamp |
| 把 | bǎ | (used to put the object before the verb: 把[ba3] + {noun} + {verb}) |
| 寄 | jì | to entrust; to place in sb's care / (bound form) to depend on; to attach oneself to; to reside temporarily / to send by post; to mail |
| 出去 | chū qù | to go out |
| 过 | guò | to cross / to go over / to pass (time) / to celebrate (a holiday) / to live / to get along |
| 十 | shí | ten / 10 |
| 分钟 | fēn zhōng | minute |
| 回来 | huí lái | to return; to come back |
| 高兴 | gāo xìng | happy / glad / in a cheerful mood |
| 地 | de | -ly / structural particle: used before a verb or adjective, linking it to preceding modifying adverbial adjunct |
| 对 | duì | towards; at; for / concerning; regarding |
| 说 | shuō | to speak; to talk; to say |
| 我 | wǒ | I; me; my |
| 你 | nǐ | you |
| 而且 | ér qiě | (not only ...) but also / moreover / in addition / furthermore |
| 只 | zhǐ | only; merely; just |
| 花 | huā | to spend (money, time) |
| 一半 | yī bàn | half |
| 半 | bàn | (after a number) and a half |
| 很 | hěn | very; quite |
| 惊讶 | jīng yà | amazed / astonished |
| 问 | wèn | to ask; to inquire |
| 是 | shì | indeed (used for emphasis) |
| 怎么 | zěn me | how? / what? / why? |
| 用 | yòng | to use; to make use of; to employ / (coverb) with; using |
| 呢 | ne | (sentence-final particle) used in questions to link back to prior discourse or context ("what about...?", "and...?") |
| 得意 | dé yì | proud of oneself / pleased with oneself / complacent |
| 放 | fàng | to put / to place |
| 在 | zài | (of sb or sth) to be (located) at |
| 另 | lìng | other / another / separate |
| 里面 | lǐ miàn | inside / interior |
| 这样 | zhè yàng | this way; like this; so |
| 需要 | xū yào | to need; to want; to demand; to require |
| 就 | jiù | in that case; then |
| 可以 | kě yǐ | can / may / possible / able to |
| 既 | jì | already |
| 完成 | wán chéng | to complete; to accomplish |
| 任务 | rèn wu | mission; assignment; task; duty; role |
| 又 | yòu | (once) again |
| 帮 | bāng | to help / to assist / to support / for sb (i.e. as a help) |
| 省 | shěng | to save; to economize; to be frugal / to omit; to delete; to leave out |
| 下 | xià | down / downwards / below |
| 不是 | bù shì | is not |
| 聪明 | cōng míng | intelligent; clever; bright / acute (of sight and hearing) |