A birthday invitation

Reading strategy

Grasp the text's purpose first from its title and type.
Do not stop at unknown words; follow the flow. Hover the underlined key words to jump to the vocabulary track.
Find the clue each question asks about directly in the passage.

Passage

小明:

你好!这个星期六是我的生日,我想请几个好朋友一起庆祝,你一定要来啊!

我打算在家里办一个小小的生日会。时间是星期六下午四点,我家就在学校北边,坐公共汽车很方便,下车以后走五分钟就到了。

那天下午我们可以先一起做蛋糕,然后一边吃东西,一边听音乐、聊天。我还准备了几个有意思的游戏,大家一定会玩得很高兴。晚上想跳舞的人,也可以一起跳。

你不用带礼物,只要你能来,我就很快乐了。如果你想带一点儿吃的东西,那也很好,大家可以一起分享。

我已经请了小红和小龙,他们都说一定来。要是你那天有别的事,也请早一点儿告诉我。

希望星期六能见到你,我们好久没一起好好玩儿了。等你的回信!

小美

Hover the underlined words for their meaning and a link to the vocabulary track.

Sentence structure

Key sentences split into meaning units, showing the role of each part.

你不用带礼物,只要你能来,我就很快乐了。

Clause你不用带礼物buyong = need not

Connective只要as long as (condition)

Clause你能来the condition (you can come)

Connective我就jiu = then (result)

Predicate很快乐了adj predicate + le (change)

"zhiyao A, jiu B" is a conditional meaning "as long as A, then B," with "jiu" introducing the result of the condition. "buyong" is the negative "need not," the opposite of "yao." The sentence-final "le" shows that "kuaile" (happy) has newly come about (a change of state): "I become happy."

我们可以先一起做蛋糕,然后一边吃东西,一边听音乐、聊天。

Subject我们可以subject + modal (we can)

Predicate先一起做蛋糕xian = first (sequence)

Connective然后then

Predicate一边吃东西yibian A (simultaneous 1)

Predicate一边听音乐、聊天yibian B (simultaneous 2)

"xian ... ranhou ..." sets the order of actions (first the cake, then the rest). And "yibian A, yibian B" expresses doing two actions at the same time: "eat while listening to music." It works like the English "while ...," and the key is repeating "yibian" twice.

Questions

Q1When and where is the birthday party?

Q2What does Xiao Mei ask of the guests?

Q3What should Xiao Ming do if he is busy that day?