Level 6 · Lesson 16

社会和世界
Society and the world

我觉得变化很大，因为发展得很快。

Discussion register: state an opinion with 我觉得, back it with 因为, and let abstract nouns be your subjects.

听 · Listen

社会在变
 安娜 —  李明，你觉得中国这几年的变化大吗？ 
Li Ming, do you think China has changed a lot in the last few years?  
 李明 —  变化很大。我觉得学校、公司、家里，什么都在变。 
A lot. Schools, companies, homes — I think everything is changing.  
 安娜 —  那环境呢？发展快，环境也会好吗？ 
And the environment? If development is fast, does the environment get better too?  
 李明 —  我觉得不一定。虽然发展很快，但是环境的问题也不少。 
Not necessarily, I think. Development is fast, but there are plenty of environmental problems too.  
 安娜 —  我也这么想。世界上很多地方都有这个问题，不只是中国。 
I think so too. Many places in the world have this problem, not just China.  
 李明 —  对。所以我觉得，一个社会不但要发展，而且要有干净的环境。 
Right. So in my view a society has to develop and to have a clean environment as well.  
 安娜 —  说得好。这个问题我们可以讨论一个下午。 
Well put. We could discuss this for a whole afternoon.  
 李明 —  那下次接着说吧。 
Let's pick it up next time, then.  

讲解 · Explanation

我觉得变化很大，因为发展得很快。

This is the whole discussion move in one line: 我觉得 opens the opinion, a comma closes it, and 因为 opens the reason. Note the order — in l06-01 the cause came first (因为……，所以……), but when you have already said 我觉得, the reason follows the claim instead. Both are correct Chinese; what you may not do is drop 我觉得 and simply assert. 我觉得 is what makes an opinion sound like an opinion rather than a verdict, and Chinese speakers use it far more often than English speakers use 'I think'.

中国发展得很快。中国的发展很快。

Two sentences, one word, no change of form. In the first, 发展 is the verb and 得很快 is the complement you learned in l05-10. In the second, 的 turns 中国发展 into a noun phrase — 中国的发展, 'China's development' — and that abstract noun becomes the subject. Chinese never adds an ending to make a noun out of a verb; it just moves the word and, if needed, adds 的. 变化 works the same way: 社会在变化 and 社会的变化很大.

其实我觉得不一定。不过你说的也对。

Disagreeing politely uses the adverbs from l06-09 and the connectives from l06-02. 其实 signals that you are about to correct an impression, 不一定 is the softest possible 'no', and 不过 concedes the other side before you go on. String them together and you can disagree with anyone without ever sounding sharp: 其实……不过……

生词 · Vocabulary

词	Meaning	注 · Note
社会	society	一个社会; 社会的变化
世界	world	世界上 = in the world
环境	environment, surroundings	环境很好; 环境的问题
发展	to develop; development	verb and noun alike: 发展得很快 / 中国的发展
变化	to change; a change	变化很大; 有很大的变化

练习 · Practice

我觉得社会的变化很大，______发展得很快。 Which connective belongs in the gap?

中国的发展 Which sentence makes 'development' the subject, not the verb?

我觉得______的问题很大，因为很多地方都不干净。 Fill in the word for 'environment'.

排一排。 Arrange the words: 'I think the changes in society are big.'

社会、世界、环境、发展、变化 Match each word to its meaning.

用一用 · Use it

你住的地方这几年有什么变化？说三句：我觉得……，因为……

Say three opinions aloud about where you live, each one built the same way: 我觉得 + claim + 因为 + reason. Make one about 社会, one about 环境, one about 发展 — for example 我觉得我们这儿的环境比以前好，因为路上的车少了. Then answer yourself from the other side, starting 其实……不过……, and you have had both halves of a real discussion.