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Answer to the Chinese Test

Learn the Most Common Chinese Words – “拖后腿 (Tuō hòu tuĭ )”

Analysis:

The correct answer for this quiz is C.

Li Mei is climbing the mountain with her friends. She is a little fat and moves much slower than the others.

                Děng deng wŏ, děng deng wŏ.
     Li Mei:    等      等   我, 等      等   我。    
                Wait for me! Wait for me!

                 Kuài diănr ba. Nĭ yòu tuō dà jiā hòu tuĭ le.
Zhou Hui:    快  点儿 吧。你  又   拖  大 家  后  腿 了。   
                 Be quick. You are holding us back again.

In the dialogue, Li Mei is very slow in climbing the mountain. Zhou Hui felt she was holding back others. So Zhou Hui said, “你又拖大家拖腿了。(Nĭ yòu tuō dà jiā hòu tuĭ.) You are holding us back again.”

Now we’re going to learn how to use the popular Chinese phrase - “拖后腿 (Tuō hòu tuĭ).”

"拖后腿 (Tuō hòu tuĭ)” or “拖 (tuō) sb./sth. 后腿 (hòu tuĭ)” literally means drag or hold the hind legs. It’s often used as a predicate to express “hindering/impeding something or someone; to hold sb. back.”

For example, Li Ming has always got good grades in school but he is not very good at math. You can say,

Tā nă kē dōu hăo, jiùshì shùxué tuō hòu tuĭ.
他 哪 科   都   好,就是   数学    拖   后   腿。     
He does well in all subjects except math.

If you have a new partner who is incompetent at work, you might say,

Tā zŏng shì zài gōngzuò shang tuō wŏ hòu tuĭ!
他   总    是 在     工作      上      拖  我  后   腿!     
He is always holding me back from my work!