Words & phrases
请教
qǐng jiào
ask someone for guidance
讨论
tǎo lùn
discuss; discussion
耐心
nài xīn
patience; patient
Model sentences
教材故事里的老人是一位科学家。
jiào cái gù shì lǐ de lǎo rén shì yí wèi kē xué jiā。
The old man in the textbook story is a scientist.
女孩带着一道数学题来向老人请教。
nǚ hái dài zhe yí dào shù xué tí lái xiàng lǎo rén qǐng jiào。
The girl brings a mathematics problem to ask the old man for guidance.
她先说明自己不懂数学题的哪一步。
tā xiān shuō míng zì jǐ bù dǒng shù xué tí de nǎ yí bù。
She first explains which step of the mathematics problem she does not understand.
老人和女孩一起讨论解题方法。
lǎo rén hé nǚ hái yì qǐ tǎo lùn jiě tí fāng fǎ。
The old man and the girl discuss a way to solve the problem together.
他耐心地听完女孩的问题。
tā nài xīn de tīng wán nǚ hái de wèn tí。
He listens patiently to the girl's whole question.
认真对待别人的问题也是一种尊重。
rèn zhēn duì dài bié rén de wèn tí yě shì yì zhǒng zūn zhòng。
Taking another person's question seriously is also a form of respect.
普林斯顿的老人
A fictional retelling of a learning anecdote featuring Einstein; the dialogue is adapted.
在这则改编故事里，一个女孩在普林斯顿的街上遇见一位头发蓬松的老人，手里还拿着做了一半的数学作业。
zài zhè zé gǎi biān gù shì lǐ， yí ge nǚ hái zài pǔ lín sī dùn de jiē shàng yù jiàn yí wèi tóu fà péng sōng de lǎo rén， shǒu lǐ hái ná zhe zuò le yí bàn de shù xué zuò yè。
In this adapted story, a girl meets an older man with untidy hair on a Princeton street while carrying unfinished maths homework.
老人见她皱着眉，便问：“是不是遇到了什么难题？”
lǎo rén jiàn tā zhòu zhe méi， biàn wèn：“shì bú shì yù dào le shén me nán tí？”
Seeing her frown, the man asks, “Have you come across a difficult problem?”
女孩点点头，把本子打开，说自己已经试了两种办法，却还算不出答案。
nǚ hái diǎn diǎn tóu， bǎ běn zi dǎ kāi， shuō zì jǐ yǐ jīng shì le liǎng zhǒng bàn fǎ， què hái suàn bù chū dá àn。
The girl nods and opens her notebook, explaining that she has tried two methods without finding the answer.
老人没有急着写答案，而是请她先说说每一步为什么这样做。
lǎo rén méi yǒu jí zhe xiě dá àn， ér shì qǐng tā xiān shuō shuō měi yí bù wèi shén me zhè yàng zuò。
Rather than writing the answer immediately, he asks her to explain the reasoning behind each step.
女孩说到一半，发现自己漏看了题目里的一个条件，便重新画了一幅图。
nǚ hái shuō dào yí bàn， fā xiàn zì jǐ lòu kàn le tí mù lǐ de yí ge tiáo jiàn， biàn chóng xīn huà le yì fú tú。
While explaining, she notices a condition she missed and draws a new diagram.
两人一起检查图上的数字，女孩终于找到下一步的办法，脸上的愁容变成了笑容。
liǎng rén yì qǐ jiǎn chá tú shàng de shù zì， nǚ hái zhōng yú zhǎo dào xià yí bù de bàn fǎ， liǎn shàng de chóu róng biàn chéng le xiào róng。
They check the numbers together, and the girl finally finds her next step, replacing her frown with a smile.
后来，她才知道，这位愿意耐心听她提问的老人就是爱因斯坦。
hòu lái， tā cái zhī dào， zhè wèi yuàn yì nài xīn tīng tā tí wèn de lǎo rén jiù shì ài yīn sī tǎn。
Only later does she learn that the patient man who listened to her questions was Einstein.
再遇到不懂的问题时，她不再把本子藏起来，而是先整理自己的想法，再勇敢地请教。
zài yù dào bù dǒng de wèn tí shí， tā bù zài bǎ běn zi cáng qǐ lai， ér shì xiān zhěng lǐ zì jǐ de xiǎng fǎ， zài yǒng gǎn de qǐng jiào。
When she faces another problem, she no longer hides her notebook; she organises her ideas and asks for help.
Conversation
A 你想向老师请教哪一道题？
nǐ xiǎng xiàng lǎo shī qǐng jiào nǎ yí dào tí？
Which question would you like to ask the teacher about?
B 这一道，我已经画了图，还是不明白。
zhè yí dào， wǒ yǐ jīng huà le tú， hái shì bù míng bái。
This one. I have drawn a diagram but still do not understand.
A 你能先说说图里的意思吗？
nǐ néng xiān shuō shuō tú lǐ de yì si ma？
Can you first explain what your diagram means?
B 这里表示一半，可是我不知道下一步怎么做。
zhè lǐ biǎo shì yí bàn， kě shì wǒ bù zhī dào xià yí bù zěn me zuò。
This part shows one half, but I do not know the next step.
A 那我们先从你已经理解的地方开始。
nà wǒ men xiān cóng nǐ yǐ jīng lǐ jiě de dì fang kāi shǐ。
Then let us start with what you already understand.
B 好，我会先解释自己的尝试，再请老师指导。
hǎo， wǒ huì xiān jiě shì zì jǐ de cháng shì， zài qǐng lǎo shī zhǐ dǎo。
All right. I will explain what I have tried, then ask the teacher for guidance.
