And now a break from all the intermediate and advanced exercises I've been posting lately. This one is a straightforward beginner Chinese diary-style essay about a student whose mother is displeased with his (or her, it's never clarified) homework. 

<img src="http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/20120503-INLINE.jpg" alt="Beginner Chinese Reading Materials: Learn Chinese Reading for Beginners" title="Easy Chinese Passages: Easy Chinese Essays" width="100" height="100" class="imgborder alignleft" /> There's only one thing that particularly stands out to me as confusing here, which is when the mother says: 可能是<strong>有了</strong>小妹妹，我这段时间对你关心少了。 Literally, this translates as "Maybe it's have small sister, I during this time towards you care little." The last clause we can translate into less literal and more readable English as "I haven't looked after you much during this time," but the first bit, "<strong><em>have </em></strong>small sister" (有了), is confusing. Why "have" 有了? 

In this case, that could be translated as, "Maybe it's because we have your little sister," or "It's because I had your little sister [to look after]", though "because" is never actually used in the sentence, it becomes that much harder to read. 

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<h3>Chinese text</h3>
9月24日星期六

今天，开完家长会，妈妈<strong>闷闷不乐</strong>，我小心地问：“妈妈，您<strong>怎么了</strong>？”妈妈看着我，<strong>叹</strong>了口气说：“你<strong>暑假</strong>作业完成的不好，字也写的不好。我想，可能是有了小妹妹，我这段时间对你关心少了。”我听了，不好意思地低下了头。

看着妈妈<strong>自责</strong>的样子，我心里特别难过，我对妈妈说：“妈妈，您不要自责了，这<strong>根本</strong>就不是你的错，而是我自己不<strong>努力</strong>，请您不要生气了，从现在开始，我一定认真完成老师交给的每项作业，争取取得好成绩。请您相信我！”妈妈<strong>盯</strong>着我的眼睛，<strong>攥</strong>着我的手说：“好孩子，妈妈相信你，让我们<strong>共同</strong>努力！”
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September 24, Saturday

Today, after my parent-teacher conference, mama looked moody, and I carefully asked her, "Mama, what's wrong?" Looking at me, mother sighed and said: "Your summer vacation homework is not close to being done, and your writing is poor. I think, because [I've been spending so much time with] your little sister, I haven't been paying as much attention to you during this time." As I listened, I hung my head in embarrassment. 

When I saw the self-blame on mama's face, I was very sad, and I said to mama: "Mama, don't blame yourself, it isn't your fault at all, it's that I haven't worked hard enough, so please don't be angry, starting now, I'll earnestly finish all the homework teacher gave me, and I'll fight to get good grades. Please believe me!" Mama stared into my eyes, grasped my hand and said, "Good child, mother believes you, let us work hard together." 
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