Dawei was late because he went to the airport to pick up a friend and there was a bad traffic jam. He was more than half an hour late. Xiaoli had been waiting at the bank entrance for half an hour (double 了 = she was still waiting). Dawei was stuck for a quarter-hour before picking up his friend, then another half hour after.
2
场景对话二 · Dialogue 2
老王对什么感兴趣？他们的俱乐部多久聚一次？老王还对什么感兴趣？
What is Old Wang interested in? How often does their club meet? What else is Old Wang interested in?
Old Wang is extremely interested in reading; he used to read every day and has been reading economics books for half a year (double 了 = still reading). The club is also interested in Chinese history and meets every half month, for anywhere from a quarter of an hour to two hours. Old Wang is also very interested in Chinese music and wants to know if anyone else in the club shares that interest.
3
场景对话三 · Dialogue 3
谁要结婚了？他们认识了多久？小红对结婚这件事是什么态度？
Who is getting married? How long have they known each other? What is Xiaohong's attitude toward getting married?
Manager Li and Accountant Zhang at the bank are about to get married. They've known each other for three years (double 了 = the relationship spans three years to now); they were good friends before and were already interested in each other. Xiaohong says of course she's interested in getting married, but right now she's even more interested in her career. She's been working at the bank for two years and still has much to learn.
4
白话短文 · Narrative Essay
短文中的"我"几点到公司？下午做了什么？为什么对工作越来越感兴趣？
What time did the narrator arrive at the company? What did the narrator do in the afternoon? Why is the narrator becoming more and more interested in the work?
The narrator arrived at the company at five to eight (= 7:55), without being late. In the afternoon the narrator went to the airport to pick up a client from Shanghai, waiting a quarter of an hour, then gave the client a bank tour. They'd been talking for half an hour (double 了 = still talking). The narrator has been working at the bank for two years and is more and more interested in the job because there are new challenges every day.
The text has several duration sentences. Find one "single 了 sentence" (action completed) and one "double 了 sentence" (action ongoing), and explain their difference.
Single 了 (completed): "I waited on the road for a quarter-hour" (waiting is over); "They chatted about wedding plans for half an hour" (conversation ended); "He worked at the bank for five years" (no longer there). Double 了 (ongoing): "I've been waiting for you at the bank for half an hour!" (still waiting now); "They've known each other for three years" (still know each other); "I've been working here for two years" (still working). The difference: the sentence-final 了 in double-了 sentences signals that the action continues right up to the present moment.