A rainy weekend

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

今天是星期六,可是天气不太好,从早上就开始下雨。

本来我和朋友打算去公园跑步,还想去外面照相。可是雨一直下,我们只好改变计划,决定待在家里。

早上,我先把房间打扫得干干净净,然后坐在窗户旁边看书。外面的雨声让人觉得很安静,也很舒服。看累了,我就听一会儿音乐,喝一杯热茶。

中午,我自己做了简单的饭菜。虽然只有两个菜,但是味道还不错,我吃得很满意。

下午,朋友给我打电话,问我在做什么。我说我在家看电影,她听了也很想看,就来我家一起看。我们一边看电影,一边聊天,过得很愉快。

到了晚上,雨终于停了。窗外的天空慢慢变干净,空气也很新鲜。

虽然今天没能出去玩,但是我觉得这样安安静静的一天也很好。有时候,在家休息也是一种快乐。

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.

早上,我先把房间打扫得干干净净,然后坐在窗户旁边看书。

Modifier早上time (in the morning)

Subject我先subject + xian (first)

Predicate把房间打扫得干干净净ba-construction + degree complement

Connective然后then

Predicate坐在窗户旁边看书serial verbs (sit and read)

The pattern "ba + object + verb + de + complement" is the distinctive Chinese ba-construction, pulling the object "fangjian" before the verb to stress how it was dealt with: "dasao de gan-gan-jing-jing" = cleaned it spotless. After "de" comes a degree complement showing the result, and reduplicating the adjective ("gan-gan-jing-jing") adds vividness.

虽然今天没能出去玩,但是我觉得这样安安静静的一天也很好。

Connective虽然although

Clause今天没能出去玩mei neng = was not able to

Connective但是but

Predicate我觉得I think (that)

Clause这样安安静静的一天也很好object clause of "think"

"suiran ... danshi ..." is a concessive that keeps both connectives (English uses only one). "mei neng" is the past negative of "neng," meaning "was not able to." After "juede" comes a whole object clause, and inside it the reduplicated adjective "an-an-jing-jing de" modifies the noun "yi tian" to mean "such a quiet day."

Questions

Q1What had the two originally planned to do?

Q2What did they do because of the rain?

Q3How did the writer feel about this day?