七楼 · 第十六天
The Seventh Floor, Episode 16: The Granddaughter in Guangzhou
Name: ________________ Date: ________
昨天晚上，宁宁在七楼的快递上找到了半个“邹”字。这时候，邹爷爷来了。他站在门口，问箱子上写的是谁的名字。
乔安把箱子拿给他看：“没有名字，只有半个字。宁宁说，是‘邹’。”
他看着箱子，看了很久。他慢慢地走进来，坐在邹奶奶的桌子旁边，一句话也不说。
过了一会儿，他小声说：“我有一个孙女，在广州。”
大家都不说话了。宁宁和罗师傅都看着乔安。
她说：“可是刚才在七楼，您说家里没有人在广州。”
“五年了，”他说，“我都不知道孙女现在多高了。”
“五年前，我和儿子说了很多不好听的话。现在想想，就是一件小事。可是我们两个都不说‘对不起’。后来，他带着一家人去了南方，我们就再也不打电话了。”
她又问：“孙女小时候常来这儿吗？”
“常来。她最喜欢跟奶奶在七楼种花。她们两个坐在花中间，一坐就是一下午。”
宁宁问：“那您为什么不给她打电话？”
邹爷爷看着自己脚上的那双旧鞋。“我是爷爷，我觉得他们应该先给我打电话。我每天都想：明天再打电话。一天又一天，就这样过了五年。”
她小声说：“可是您的孙女每个月都给您寄种子。她没忘记您，也没忘记七楼。”
他没有回答。可是她看见，他的眼睛红了。
宁宁走到她旁边，小声说：“今天的面包，我不要了。给爷爷买一个大面包。”
这时候，罗师傅的手机响了。他看了看手机，说：“明天还有一个七楼的快递，也是从广州寄来的。”他停了一下：“很大。这么多年了，这么大的快递，我还是第一次看见。”
邹爷爷一下子站了起来。“明天，我自己来拿。”他看着乔安，又说：“不是晚上十二点。我白天来。”
Key words
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 楼 | lóu | building (with more than one story) |
| 站 | zhàn | station; stop |
| 门口 | ménkǒu | doorway; entrance; gate |
| 拿 | ná | to take; to hold; to carry |
| 着 | zhe | durative 着: ongoing or continuous state — "-ing", "while" |
| 地 | de | ground; floor; land; place |
| 走 | zǒu | to go; to leave |
| 进来 | jìnlai | to come in; to enter |
| 旁边 | pángbiān | beside; next to; nearby |
| 一会儿 | yíhuìr | a moment; a while |
| 高 | gāo | high; tall |
| 箱子 | xiāngzi | box; chest; suitcase |
Questions
邹爷爷为什么五年没有给孙女打电话？
Why hasn't Grandpa Zou called his granddaughter in five years?
孙女小时候常和奶奶在七楼做什么？
What did the granddaughter often do with grandma on the seventh floor as a child?
罗师傅说明天会有什么？
What does Master Luo say will come tomorrow?
Lesson plan: 45 minutes (for the teacher)
HSK 3 · The Seventh Floor, Episode 16: The Granddaughter in Guangzhou. By the end, students can read it aloud, say what it is about and use 箱子 and 楼 in sentences of their own.
Warm-up 5 min
Write 七楼 · 第十六天 on the board. Ask what the class thinks it is about, then give the English: “The Seventh Floor, Episode 16: The Granddaughter in Guangzhou”.
Key words 10 min
Teach 箱子 (xiāngzi, box; chest; suitcase), 楼 (lóu, building (with more than one story)), 站 (zhàn, station; stop), 门口 (ménkǒu, doorway; entrance; gate), 拿 (ná, to take; to hold; to carry), 着 (zhe, durative 着: ongoing or continuous state — "-ing", "while"). Say each one, the class says it back, then ask for its meaning with the word covered. The rest are in the handout’s table.
Listen 10 min
Play it read aloud from mandarinthewild.com/library/read/the-seventh-floor-episode-16-the-granddaughter-in-guangzhou: once with the text face down, once reading along. Students tap any word there for its meaning.
Read and check 10 min
Students read it alone, then answer the 3 questions on the handout. Go through them together; the answers and the line that proves each are on the teacher’s page.
Use it 10 min
In pairs, each student writes two sentences of their own, one with 箱子 and one with 楼, and reads one to the class.
Homework. Students read it again at home and Review its words. Put it in a free class (mandarinthewild.com/teachers/class) and you see who read it.
English (for the teacher)
Last night, Ningning found half of the character “Zou” on the seventh-floor parcel. Just then, Zou Yeye came. He stood in the doorway and asked whose name was written on the box.
Qiao An showed him the box: “There's no name, only half a character. Ningning says it's ‘Zou’.”
He looked at the box for a long time. He slowly walked in and sat down beside Zou Nainai's desk without saying a word.
After a while, he said quietly, “I have a granddaughter, in Guangzhou.”
Everyone went quiet. Ningning and Mr Luo both looked at Qiao An.
She said, “But just now on the seventh floor, you said no one in your family was in Guangzhou.”
“It's been five years,” he said. “I don't even know how tall my granddaughter is now.”
“Five years ago, my son and I said a lot of ugly things to each other. Thinking about it now, it was only a small thing. But neither of us would say ‘sorry’. Later he took the whole family down south, and after that we never phoned each other again.”
Then she asked, “Did your granddaughter come here often when she was little?”
“All the time. She loved planting flowers with her grandma on the seventh floor. The two of them would sit among the flowers, and once they sat down, they'd stay the whole afternoon.”
Ningning asked, “Then why don't you call her?”
Zou Yeye looked at the old shoes on his feet. “I'm the grandfather, so I felt they should call me first. Every day I thought: I'll call tomorrow. Day after day, five years went by like that.”
She said quietly, “But your granddaughter sends you seeds every month. She hasn't forgotten you, and she hasn't forgotten the seventh floor.”
He didn't answer. But she saw that his eyes had turned red.
Ningning came over to her and whispered, “I don't want today's bread anymore. Buy Grandpa a big loaf instead.”
Just then, Mr Luo's phone rang. He looked at his phone and said, “There's another seventh-floor parcel tomorrow, also sent from Guangzhou.” He paused: “It's big. In all these years, I've never seen a parcel this big.”
Zou Yeye suddenly stood up. “Tomorrow, I'll come and get it myself.” He looked at Qiao An and added, “Not at midnight. I'll come in the daytime.”
Answers
- B. 他觉得他们应该先给他打电话: 我是爷爷，我觉得他们应该先给我打电话。
- A. 种花: 她最喜欢跟奶奶在七楼种花。
- C. 一个很大的快递: 明天还有一个七楼的快递，也是从广州寄来的。