Why would you like to go abroad?
I would like to further my study in Britain. There are a lot of famous universities in Britain. World-renowned universities like Cambridge and Oxford are all in Britain. I believe I can receive first-class education in Britain. I don’t like the weather there.
I would like to further my study in Britain for the reason that there are a lot of famous universities there, especially some world-renowned universities like Cambridge and Oxford. For this reason, I believe I can receive first-class education in Britain in spite of the fact that I hate the weather there.
Are you a student or are you working now?
I am a college student studying Business with the major in Finance, which is also the area I’d like to further study in Britain.
What kinds of leisure activities are popular in China?
Well, that’s quite an interesting question. Uh…how can I put it? Maybe I can put it this way.
In truth I would have to say that it really depends.
For young people like me, I guess the most popular leisure activity would be playing online games.
Take the famous online game WOW as an example, as far as I know, the game has more than 20 million users in China.
Whereas on the other hand, for the older generation like my parents, I assume their favorite pastime would be playing Mah-jong, because as you know, this traditional Chinese game is often regarded not only as a game but also a good way to socialize with family members or neighbors in China.
What kinds of sports/physical activities are popular among college students in China?
Well, that’s quite an interesting question. Uh…How can I put it? Maybe I can put it this way.
In truth I would have to say that it really depends.
For guys like me, I guess the most popular sports activity would be playing basketball.
You know, in campus, if you play basketball really well, chances are that some pretty girls might be attracted to you and a case in point is that campus basketball stars always have the most attractive girlfriends.
Whereas on the other hand, for girl students, I assume their favorite physical activity would be doing YOGA，because as you know, almost all the girls I know believe they are overweight and they regard YOGA as an excellent way to keep their body shape slim.
Describe your idol.
My idol is Jay. He is a Taiwanese pop singer and he has a lot of crazy fans all over Asia.
My idol is Jay, who is a Taiwanese pop singer having huge number of die-hard fans all over Asia，whose songs are mostly written by himself.
Can you tell me something about your grandparents?
My grandfather is turning 86 this year
My grandfather is retired and enjoying life at home.
My grandfather, who is turning 86 this year, is retired and enjoying the life at home at the moment.
My mother’s father passed away when I was only 2 years old, which means that I do not have a clear, distinct memory of him.
Describe a day that is special to you.
Valentine’s Day is the day I hate the most in a year, when I am always surrounded by loneliness.
At what age do people in your country get married?
In China, most people tie the knot between the age 25 and 28, when both parts of the couple are generally financially capable and mentally ready for the marriage.
Talk about a shopping center you are familiar with.
For boys, there are shops highlighting football, where you can buy pillows with Manchester United and AC Milan’s emblem on them.
There are also special shops featuring DIY, where you can do a range of things from hammering your own silver necklace to making soap and perfumes.
Describe a sport star you like.
(1). David Beckham is a football player. (2). David Beckham is famous for his handsomeness.
(3). David Beckham is enjoying great popularity in China.
David Beckham, who is famous for his handsomeness, is a football player enjoying great popularity in China.
Describe a person who is controversial
Lu Yang is a super model. In China, she is regarded as ugly. But on the stage of the world, she is shining.
Lu Yang, who is regarded as ugly in China, is a supermodel shining on the stage of the world.
Do people take as much exercise as in the past?
Most people are stressed out and no longer taking as much as exercise as in the past because they are facing the ever-increasing working pressure.
Facing the ever-increasing working pressure, most people are stressed out and no longer taking as much exercise as in the past.
Describe a kind of bird.
Magpies enjoy great popularity in China because they are often regarded as the symbol of happiness in Chinese culture.
Often regarded as the symbol of happiness in Chinese culture, magpies enjoy great popularity in China.
Describe an embarrassing experience.
Describe a city you have visited.
There are numerous attractive scenic spots in Sydney, with the Sydney Opera being the most impressive in my opinion.
Describe a band group that you like.
I like a band group called May Day from Taiwan.
Influenced by my sister, I started to be interested in a band group called May Day from Taiwan.
Influenced by my sister, who is crazy about pop music, I started to be interested in a band group called May Day from Taiwan.
Influenced by my sister, who is a crazy about pop music, I started to be interested in a group band called May Day from Taiwan, whose members are all passionate young men
Influenced by my sister, who is a crazy about pop music, I started to be interested in a group band called May Day from Taiwan, whose members are all passionate young men, with one group member Nicknamed Monster being my favorite one.
What’s your name?
My Chinese name is Yu Weiguo, which was given by my grandfather, meaning a great and prosperous country in Chinese.
Where are you from?
I am a local resident in Shanghai, where I have been living since I was born.
I am from Dalian, which is a coastal city in the north east China famous for seafood.
Tell me about your hometown.
Well, I think today’s Shanghai is totally different from what it was hundreds of years ago.
In the past, Shanghai used to be a small village on the east coast of China whose incomes exclusively come from fishing.
Nowadays, however, as one of the biggest cities in China, Shanghai has become the financial hub in the country and boasts for its convenient transportation and services.
Well, as you can probably guess, I come from Beijing, where I have been living all my life. Although at the moment I am studying in another city-Tianjing.
I suppose if I have to describe Beijing, the first thing I would say is that it is absolutely enormous, maybe even one of the biggest cities in Asia I guess. It is so big that even the locals have problems finding their way around.
Another significant characteristic is that it offers examples of both classical and contemporary architecture. Actually some of the China’s most renowned landmarks like Forbidden City are ‘slap-bang’ in the middle of Beijing.
Are you a student or are you working now?
I am a senior majoring in Chinese in Shanghai University, which is also the school where current mayor of Shanghai graduated.
What are you studying?
Well, you know as a college student majoring in legal English, I have to study both English and law courses.
For English courses, I study listening, speaking and translation courses, in which I believe I’m doing quite well because I have been interested in English since I was kid.
(In fact, representing my university, I took part in the national English speech contest and managed to finish the competition as the runner-up, which might be seen as a proof of my English level.)
(To be more specific, I am quite confident of my pronunciation, which is commented as authentic British accent by my friends from UK.)
Where in contrast, I must admit that my performance in law courses, which include international law and domestic law, is quite unsatisfactory due to the fact that I find it hard to make myself interested in this section, which is actually quite boring from what I see.
Tell me about your job.
OK then, I could start off by saying that I’m an English teacher in a secondary school.
In fact, being a teacher always gives me a feeling of fulfillment for the simple reason that you would probably feel proud of yourself when your students achieve academic progress under your instruction.
In addition to what I have just said, I can add that sometimes it is not an easy task to be a teacher, especially when you teach some naughty kids who simply don’t listen to what you say at all.
This means that I will have to rack my brain to think of some ways to ‘take care of’ them.
Do you like listening to music?
Well to be quite honest, in general I would say that I’m totally mad about music, specifically RAP, which rocks me up whenever I listen to it.
As well as this, I am also a fan of classical music, in particular some world class masterpieces by Mozart or Beethoven.
Listening to the classical works, you feel like being indulged in a melody paradise.
And only in such time would I feel fully relaxed from the heavy working stress.
What kinds of restaurants are popular in your country?
OK, certainly there are quite a range of widespread restaurants in China, with restaurants which serve Sichuan food enjoying the greatest popularity.
I assume they are so popular because Sichuan food, which is often quite spicy, is to the Chinese people’s taste as well as economical.
In fact, it is quite common that people have to stand in queue waiting for about 2 or 3 hours before they could guarantee a seat in some most ‘hot’ Sichuan restaurants in Shanghai.
In addition, another kind of trendy restaurant would be Japanese restaurant.
And the unique aspect of Japanese restaurant is that the food there is often served in an “all-you-can-eat” style, which means you can enjoy unlimited amount of delicious Sashimi, Sushi and etc as long as you have a big enough stomach.
What is your favorite spare time activity?
Well, in this case I think I have to say my answer really depends.
Like for instance, if the weather is fine, I would probably invite my friends to have a cup of coffee in Starbucks, where we could chat over coffee and kill time.
On the contrary, if it is raining outside, I would be happy to be a ‘couch potato’ watching American TV series like Prison Break, by doing so I can improve my English as well as get to know a lot about the United States.
Is fast food popular in your country?
Alright, I guess that on the one hand, fast food enjoys great popularity among young people and this is definitely the case when you see that majority of the customers in restaurants like KFC or McDonald are young guys of my age.
But you also have to understand that to older generation like my parents, it is a totally different story for the reason that older people in China often prefer traditional food like chicken soup, which is more nutritious according to them.
So on the whole, I suppose the answer has to be Yes and No.
Do you get on well with your family members?
Well, I guess on the one hand, I bound with my mother.
It seems that I can always find something in common to talk with her, who is also a pretty talkative person like me.
We almost talk about everything ranging from recent events to gossip news.
While on the other hand, I have to admit that the connection between my father and I doesn’t seem to be that close.
I think this is mainly due to the fact that my father is a quite reserved person, which means he would prefer to conceal his feelings instead of speaking out.
Would you like to be in a film?
Well, quite honestly I don’t think I’ve ever thought about that, but I guess I would probably consider playing a role in a film, especially when I had the chance to be a character in a Hollywood movie.
You know, if I played a role in a Hollywood movie I would have the opportunity to get to know some world-famous movie stars like Tom Cruise or Brad Pitt, who have been my idol since I was a kid and chances are that my talent in acting might be discovered by the professional talent scouts, which means I could be a superstar myself someday in the future.
Describe a singer or musician that you admire
Who the person is
What type of music/songs he she plays/sings
Why you admire this person
Whether this person is popular in your country
So, to start with I will talk about who the person is, and the one I’d pick is Jay, who is a pop singer from Taiwan.
Continuing then with the next point of what type of songs he sings, and what I need to emphasize here is that his music is an excellent mixture of modern pop music and traditional Chinese style, which is so unique that his music could be easily distinguished from other types of music.
Progressing to the subject of why I admire him, I would like to explain that it is his versatile talent in music that deeply attracts me; you know, he writes most of his songs all by himself as well as being able to sing.
As a final point, if time permits, I’d like to bring in the position of whether he is popular in China and I should say not only does he enjoy great popularity in China but also he has huge number of fans all over the world.
Describe a successful businessman you admire
Who the person is
What makes him/her a good leader?
Why you admire this person
Whether this person has influenced you
So I suppose I should commence with the first aspect which is who the person is, and I’d probably select Jack Ma, the current director of Yahoo.com.
Regarding the theme of what makes him successful, and the thing that needs to be highlighted here is that his success should mostly be attributed to some priceless qualities he possesses such as entrepreneurship, leadership and the courage to take risks.
This also explains the reason why I admire him, you know, he is a successful entrepreneur who started from the scratch.
When he set up his company, all he had was a budget of 50,000 Yuan and merely 5 staff.
Hard as the condition was, he managed to lead his team to achieve business success one after another just like the King Midas.
To cut a long story short, as my very last point, with reference to the question of whether he has influenced me, I have to say so deeply has his legendary story influenced me that I have made up my mind to set up my own company after I graduate following his steps.
Describe a public event you have attended
What the event was
When and where was the event held?
What you felt about it
Would you like to attend the same event again?
Alright, in response to the first question of what the event was, and I’d have to go for the 5th Asian musical festival, which took place in Shanghai 2 years ago, when I took part in the event as an interpreter for the organizing committee throughout.
Continuing then with the next point of what I felt about it, and what I need to emphasize here is that I have mixed feelings towards the festival.
Obviously, there are lots of exciting aspects
Especially when you realize that you can meet the super stars, who generally could be seen only on televisions, face to face.
In addition, I have to say I also tasted a sense of hardship due to the fact that working as an interpreter for the organizing committee was extremely busy and tiring.
Having interpreted and translated continuously for at least 12 hours a day, you inevitably feel exhausted, losing energy and motivation to keep working.
And so finally then, if I have time, in answer to the question of whether I’d like to attend the same event again, really I should mention that tiring as attending the event might be, I would definitely participate in the festival again should I have the chance.
Describe a person who is controversial
You should say
Who the person is
what does he/she do
Why is he/she controversial
what do you think of him/her
Well, actually, when it comes to the topic of a controversial person, a lot of names would immediately come to my mind.
Anyway, if I do have to choose a typical one, I guess I would have to pick a woman called Lu Yan.
You know, Lu Yan, who is actually regarded as ugly by most Chinese people, is a supermodel shining on the stage of the world, which means her appearance is the main reason why she is controversial.
You know, in the eyes of most Chinese people, girls like Lu Yan, who have big round face with small eyes, flat nose and thick lips are often labeled as the least popular type.
On the contrary, astonishingly, judged by the appreciation of the aesthetics from the majority of westerners, she is purely a fair lady.
I guess the major explanation for the controversy on her appearance lies in the different perceptions of beauty between the West and the East.
According to most Chinese people, a truly gorgeous woman should have an oval face, long and thick eyelashes, willow leaf-shaped eyebrows, long black straight hair, slender legs and smooth skin.
On the other hand, however, from the standards of many westerners, it is girls like Lu Yan that distinctively represents the typical image of eastern beauties, whose appearances are so different and convey a feeling of mystery, which I guess is highly appreciated by the people in western countries.
Describe a website you have used
What the website is
What you used it for
How you found about it
Whether you have used other websites similar this one.
Ok, then, I guess I could begin by saying something about what the website is, and I think I would have to choose Sina.com, which is one of the most popular websites featuring news in China.
Going on to my next point which is what I used it for, I really need to add that providing a range of news from global update to entertainment or sports news, the website really entitles me to the access to what is going on around the globe.
For example, when the earth quake in Sichuan happened in May 12th, it was just through this website that I knew about the natural disaster.
And now with reference to how I found about it, the point I want to make here is that the website is actually so famous here that you simply don’t have to ‘find’ it.
You know, just like AOL.com in USA, it is a website that everyone knows.
And so finally then, if I have time, in answer to the question of whether I have used other similar websites, really I should mention that I used to visit other similar websites like SOHU.com, which was actually established earlier than SINA, for checking news Hardly had SINA.com been established when I immediately switched to the latter For the reason that the former one is obviously inferior to SINA.com when it comes to the quality of the news.
Are the ways in which people become famous nowadays the same way that people became famous 100 years ago?
Well obviously there are a number of underlying differences here.
However, I guess that the most significant would be that it is much easier for people today to become well-known than 100 years ago.
I think this should mainly be attributed to the development of different types of media like the internet, which entitles people to be easily known by others all over the world. On the other hand, people living in the world one century ago would find it hard to be a celebrity due to the lack of efficient media.
In addition, a second key distinction would be that contemporary people can be famous as long as you have certain unique characteristic.
Say if you are extremely funny, or even ridiculous, chances are that your unique attribute would be appreciated by a lot of people.
And the fact that a woman nicknamed ‘Sister Lotus’, who is known for her extreme narcissism, enjoys great popularity among natives in China is a case in point.
While on the other hand, 100 years ago, only the people who are distinguished in a certain aspect may be discovered and got to know by others.
What is the difference between the way children and adults make friends?
Obviously there are quite a lot of differences in the way kids and adults make friends, with the following two characteristics being the most evident from my point of view.
Firstly, I think a major difference lies in the motive of making friends.
Children tend to make friends purely out of intuition, which means the sole criteria for them is the so called ‘chemistry’ whilst for adults, often driven by a specific purpose; they tend to make friends with those people who could potentially benefit them.
What’s more, I guess another distinct difference is the stability of the friendship.
You know, children start their friendship with others very quickly, but they also tend to forget their friends easily.
While I think for adults, they cherish their friendship more seriously for they are perfectly aware of what a significant role good interpersonal relationship plays in the contemporary world to achieve success.
What are the advantages of spending time in a foreign country?
Well I suppose that there are quite a few clear benefits.
But it goes without saying that the most apparent would be that living in a foreign country helps us master the language there in a relatively short period of time.
This is without doubt beneficial because surrounded by native speakers, one has a lot of chances to listen to and speak the language, so I guess big progress could be easily made.
At the same time a second bonus might be that you can travel throughout the country you live in.
This is definitely valuable since by doing so, you can have a taste of different culture and have your horizon broadened.
What are the major problems related to using computers?
Well, to be honest, there are indeed quite a few problems associated with using computers, with security risks obviously being the most prominent.
You know, sometimes so vulnerable is your computer under attacks from hackers that it could potentially reveal your privacy.
Actually, I think the recent case of Hong Kong star Edison’s erotic pictures being uploaded on the internet may serve as a convincing example.
In addition, it is just due to using computers that some health problems are caused as well.
You know, it is generally believed that computers release a kind of radiation, which deteriorates people’s immune systems, leading to terrible diseases including cancer.
What is your opinion on one child policy?
Generally speaking, I think one child policy could be regarded either as a blessing or a curse.
For the positive side, the practice is definitely beneficial for the control of the population in China, which is estimated to have exceeded 1.4 billion.
For the negative side, spoiled by the parents, the only child in a family is likely to lose certain crucial qualities they should have possessed.
For example, they tend to be more dependent on their parents and often lack of practical hands-on abilities.
What do you think ‘real love’ means?
Well, that’s a difficult question, especially for someone who has never actually been in love like me.
I think the concept of ‘real love’, or ‘true love’ has various meanings to different people.
Some people might define it as a kind of mania in which people indulge in.
From what I see, however, real love means not only a pleasure, not also loyalty and obligation, which indicates that so indispensable does a person mean to you that you are willing to sacrifice everything you have for his or her well being.
What problems are associated with overcrowded cities?
This issue is weighed down with a few problems.
Essentially, one fundamental concern is probably the overcrowded population in a city is likely to contribute to high unemployment rate.
This is clearly alarming because it is evident that the more people there are in a city, the more difficult it is to find a job.
Additionally, another major cause for concern has to be the fact that the over population tends to result in more traffic jams.
And the underlying repercussion of this is that people would have to spend much more time on traveling between home and company.
What are the solutions to this problem?
In my view we could go about this in a number of ways.
In reaction to the initial issue, the most effective way to get to the root of the problem would be that the government should provide some skill training courses to the unemployed to help them improve the professional skills and find a decent job.
Taking on the second problem, the most successful way to confront this would be to restrict the use of private cars by the means like raising the prices of license plates or something like that, which I think is a great way to relieve the problem to a certain extent.
Describe a TV program
What the name of the program is
When you watched it
What it talked about
Why you like this program
I guess I could begin by saying something about the name of the program, and I think I would have to choose The Apprentice, which is an American reality show held by real estate tycoon Donald Trump, featuring business competition.
Going on to my next point which is when I watched it, I really need to add that it was just in this summer vacation that I watched the latest season of the show.
And now with reference to the content of the program, the point I want to make here is that the show is actually a competition testing the candidates’ practical business skills, in which 20 candidates would be divided randomly into 2 teams competing each other, with one candidate in the losing team being ‘fired’ by Donald Trump due to the worst performance or the least contribution in each episode.
And so finally then, if I have time, in answer to the question of why I like this program, really I should mention that I do have learned a lot, from which you learn authentic English expressions as well as business skills.
What influence do TV programs have on children and older people?
Well, obviously TV programs have varied influence on children and older people.
For children, it is just through TV programs that kids, who have limited access to the society, get to know about the outside world.