七楼 · 第二十天
The Seventh Floor, Episode 20: The Voice on the Phone
Name: ________________ Date: ________
昨天晚上，他们在七楼找到了邹奶奶的信。最后一张上写着：“老头子，如果是你看到了这些信，就别等了，先给孩子打电话吧。”邹爷爷没有孙女的电话号码，可是乔安的手机里有。
她把手机拿给邹爷爷。他看了很久，手一直在动，可是没有打电话。
“你先打吧，”他小声说，“五年了，我不知道第一句要说什么。”
乔安拿着手机走下小楼梯，站在铁门旁边。这儿听不见雨，很安静。宁宁和罗师傅还在上面，和邹爷爷在一起。
电话响了很久，她的心跳得很快。终于，有人接了，可是没有说话。
“请你先听我说完，好吗？”乔安马上说，“我想告诉你七楼的事。”
“你寄来的种子，爷爷都种了。现在，有五个花盆长出了小绿叶。今天晚上有大风大雨，我们把它们都搬进了小房间，一片叶子也没坏。”
“你寄来的新椅子，就放在那把旧椅子旁边。爷爷每天晚上都上去看看。”
电话那边还是没有声音。过了一会儿，她听见了一个很小的声音。那个女人在哭。
“而且，我们还找到了很多信，是你奶奶写给你的。第一张上面写着：‘孙女，你最近好吗？’”
过了很久，那个女人才说：“对不起，那天我说了‘你打错了’。”
“那些快递，都是我寄的。”
“小时候，我每年春天都跟奶奶在七楼种花。我怕爷爷知道是我，就不要了，所以不写名字，也不写电话号码。”
她问：“那次为什么写了电话号码？”
“我想，可能会有人打电话来。可是你真的打电话来了，我又害怕了。”
乔安说：“爷爷就在上面。他也很想跟你说话。”
电话那边一下子安静了。
“不，现在还不行。”那个女人说，“你能先帮我一个忙吗？可是这件事，请你先别告诉我爷爷。”
乔安不知道怎么回答。就在这时候，她听见后面有声音。她转过身一看，是邹爷爷。他站在小楼梯上面，一直看着她。
“是她吗？”他问，“她说什么了？”
Key words
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 最后 | zuìhòu | finally; in the end; last; final |
| 张 | zhāng | classifier for flat objects (paper, tables, beds, faces) |
| 信 | xìn | letter |
| 先 | xiān | first; in advance |
| 可是 | kěshì | but; however |
| 久 | jiǔ | long (time) |
| 一直 | yìzhí | all along; continuously; straight (ahead) |
| 楼梯 | lóutī | stairs; staircase |
| 安静 | ānjìng | quiet; peaceful; calm |
| 终于 | zhōngyú | finally; at last |
| 接 | jiē | to receive; to accept |
| 马上 | mǎshàng | right away; immediately |
Lesson plan: 45 minutes (for the teacher)
HSK 3 · The Seventh Floor, Episode 20: The Voice on the Phone. By the end, students can read it aloud, say what it is about and use 最后 and 张 in sentences of their own.
Warm-up 5 min
Write 七楼 · 第二十天 on the board. Ask what the class thinks it is about, then give the English: “The Seventh Floor, Episode 20: The Voice on the Phone”.
Key words 10 min
Teach 最后 (zuìhòu, finally; in the end; last; final), 张 (zhāng, classifier for flat objects (paper, tables, beds, faces)), 信 (xìn, letter), 先 (xiān, first; in advance), 可是 (kěshì, but; however), 久 (jiǔ, long (time)). 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-20-the-voice-on-the-phone: 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 tell a partner in two sentences of Chinese what it says.
Use it 10 min
In pairs, each student writes two sentences of their own, one with 最后 and one with 张, 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, up on the seventh floor, they found Zou Nainai's letters. The last one said: "Old man, if it's you who finds these letters, don't wait any longer, call the child first." Zou Yeye didn't have his granddaughter's phone number, but Qiao An had it on her phone.
She handed her phone to Zou Yeye. He looked at it for a long time, his hand shaking, but he didn't make the call.
"You call first," he said quietly. "It's been five years, and I don't know what my first words should be."
Qiao An took the phone down the little staircase and stood by the iron door. Down here she couldn't hear the rain, and it was very quiet. Ningning and Mr Luo were still upstairs with Zou Yeye.
The phone rang for a long time, and her heart was racing. At last someone answered, but said nothing.
"Please hear me out first, all right?" Qiao An said at once, "I want to tell you about the seventh floor."
"Grandpa planted all the seeds you sent. Now five of the pots have little green leaves. Tonight there's a big storm, so we carried them all into the little room, and not one leaf was damaged."
"The new chair you sent is right next to the old one. Grandpa goes up there every night to have a look."
There was still no sound from the other end. After a while, she heard a very small sound. The woman was crying.
"And we found lots of letters too, ones your grandma wrote to you. The first one says: 'Granddaughter, how have you been lately?'"
After a long time, the woman said, "I'm sorry I said 'wrong number' that day."
"Those parcels were all from me."
"When I was little, every spring I planted flowers with Grandma on the seventh floor. I was afraid that if Grandpa knew it was me, he wouldn't want them, so I didn't write my name or my phone number."
She asked, "So why did you write your number that one time?"
"I thought someone might call. But when you really did call, I got scared again."
Qiao An said, "Grandpa is just upstairs. He really wants to talk to you too."
The line suddenly went silent.
"No, not yet." The woman said, "Could you do me a favour first? But please don't tell my grandpa about it yet."
Qiao An didn't know how to answer. Just then, she heard a sound behind her. She turned around, and it was Zou Yeye. He was standing at the top of the little staircase, his eyes on her.
"Is it her?" he asked. "What did she say?"