Day 127: A Book Report Due Monday
In Tampico, Thiago (A) and his classmate Bárbara (B), two middle school students, split up the work for a book report on José Emilio Pacheco's short novel Las batallas en el desierto, which only she has finished.
How to study this lesson 3 steps
- Read the situation under the title. It says who is talking and how they know each other, which decides how politely they speak.
- Read the dialogue line by line with its translation, until every line makes sense. Point at (or tap) a Spanish word to see what it means.
- Spend at least 30 minutes listening to native Spanish, for example from the Resources page. It doesn't matter if you don't understand it yet.
Dialogue
Audio recordings are on the way. For now, each lesson is the dialogue with its English translation.
Keys: E hide English · ← → previous / next day · point at a word to see its meaning
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A
Oye, ¿nos repartimos el reporte? Yo resumo la primera mitad y tú haces la exposición, ¿va?
Hey, should we split the report? I'll summarize the first half and you do the presentation, OK?
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B
¿No terminaste la novela? La maestra dijo que el lunes nos preguntaría sobre el desenlace.
Didn't you finish the novel? The teacher said she'd ask us about the ending on Monday.
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A
Me brinqué a la última página, que es lo mismo, y queda clarísimo: el narrador se inventó a la mamá de Jim.
I skipped to the last page, which amounts to the same thing, and it's crystal clear: the narrator made up Jim's mom.
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B
No manches. La maestra nos explicó que el final era abierto, que nadie sabía qué había pasado con ella.
No way. The teacher explained to us that the ending was open, that nobody knew what had happened to her.
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A
Por eso: si en el edificio le dicen que ahí nunca vivió, todo fue imaginación de un niño enamorado.
That's just it: if they tell him in the building that she never lived there, it was all the imagination of a boy in love.
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B
Si hubieras leído el capítulo en el cual se le declara, sabrías que se armó tal escándalo que hasta lo cambiaron de escuela.
If you'd read the chapter in which he tells her he loves her, you'd know it caused such a scandal that they even moved him to another school.
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A
O sea, ¿sí existió, pero luego todos se pusieron de acuerdo para borrarla? Eso está más fuerte que mi teoría.
So she did exist, but then everyone agreed to wipe her out? That's even heavier than my theory.
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B
Y según la maestra, de eso trata: de una ciudad que olvida lo que le incomoda. Nos pidió que lo defendiéramos con citas.
And according to the teacher, that's what it's about: a city that forgets whatever makes it uncomfortable. She asked us to back it up with quotations.
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A
Va, tú expones el final y yo la leo este fin. Nomás no le digas a la maestra por qué ya me sé el final.
OK, you present the ending and I'll read it this weekend. Just don't tell the teacher why I already know the ending.
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