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Sweeping the Tomb 清明节

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IN THIS LESSON
ID: 2865 Upper Intermediate
  Tomb-Sweeping festival is just around the corner (April 4th). For most people, this means a national holiday and a chance to commemorate their ancestors by going to their grave/s and making sure everything is clean and tidy. Watch this lesson and learn some useful language surrounding this act of cleaning the tomb: 扫墓 sǎomù.
Thu Mar 31 2016 | Constance Fang, Fiona Tian
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SIMPLIFIED PINYIN ENGLISH  
拔草 bácǎo to pull weeds
孝心 xiàoxīn filial
枉费 wǎngfèi in vain
土葬 tǔzàng earth burial
每年都这样来扫墓，明明交了管理费，还是得自己在这边拔草，好浪费时间。
měinián dōu zhèyàng lái sǎomù ，míngmíng jiāo le guǎnlǐ fèi ，háishì děi zìjǐ zài zhèbiān bácǎo ，hǎo làngfèi shíjiān 。
Every time we come to observe Tomb Sweeping Day we have to pull up the weeds ourselves,despite clearly having paid the maintenance fees, what a waste of time.
这是对爸妈的孝心啊，连这点儿时间力气都不愿意花，枉费老爸老妈养你几十年。
zhè shì duì bàmā de xiàoxīn ā ，lián zhèdiǎnr shíjiān lìqi dōu bù yuànyì huā ，wǎngfèi lǎobà lǎomā yǎng nǐ jǐshínián 。
This shows your filial piety towards your parents. If you're not even willing to spend such a small amount of time and effort, it seems like mum and dad wasted several decades raising you.
我不是这个意思，我们纪念父母是应该的，不过现代人生活形态跟以前不一样了，再加上人口增加、土地越来越宝贵，土葬真的是很不环保的一种方式。
wǒ bùshì zhè ge yìsi ，wǒmen jìniàn fùmǔ shì yīnggāi de ，bùguò xiàndài rén shēnghuóxíngtài gēn yǐqián bù yīyàng le ，zài jiāshang rénkǒu zēngjiā 、tǔdì yuèláiyuè bǎoguì ，tǔzàng zhēnde shì hěnbù huánbǎo de yīzhǒng fāngshì 。
I didn't mean that, we should remember our parents, but people's lifestyles these days aren't like before. As the population expands and land becomes more and more valuable, burial is really not very environmentally friendly.
可是土葬是爸妈的心愿啊，人死了就是要入土为安，我们做子女的本来就该体贴父母的心意。
kěshì tǔzàng shì bàmā de xīnyuàn ā ，rén sǐ le jiùshì yào rù tǔ wèi ān ，wǒmen zuò zǐnǚ de běnlái jiù gāi tǐtiē fùmǔ de xīnyì 。
But mum and dad wanted to be buried. People can only rest in peace when they're put in the ground. As sons and daughters, we have to consider the wishes of our parents.
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