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Views #888 | Low Intermediate 4

National Icons

Brian and Fanny talks about some iconic creatures from their countries.

Script
Vocab
Quiz



Fanny	Brian

Fanny: Brian, my last question seems too serious.

Brian: It was. It was a very academic kind of question.

Fanny: Yeah.

Brian: You're testing me Fanny.

Fanny: Sorry for that. I would also like to ask you some funny questions.

Brian: OK, hit me.

Fanny: Have you ever seen a polar bear?

Brian: Have I seen a polar bear? Unfortunately, I have not.

Fanny: No, really?

Brian: I think you need to go really far to the north.

Fanny: North. Yeah.

Brian: Like, up around, like the North Pole maybe because I think the polar bears live like only on the ice, and this is like really far from any kind of like, you know, city or civilization, and I've never been up to like such a remote kind of place.

Fanny: OK, I see.

Brian: Unfortunately no polar bears. I've seen other bears, but no polar bears.

Fanny: OK, me either.

Brian: No polar bears in China?

Fanny: I don't think so.

Brian: No.

Fanny: I don't think it's cold enough to have polar bear there.

Brian: How about Panda? I've heard there are some Pandas in China.

Fanny: Yeah, I saw Panda for several times.

Brian: In the wild or in a zoo?

Fanny: In the zoo.

Brian: Oh, OK.

Fanny: And on TV. I just joking. I just saw some pandas by myself in the zoos, but I don't think they are the, you know, how do you say, because I think in the wild we can see the Pandas. We can see their activities more.

Brian: Right.

Fanny: How should I put that?

Brian: It's more natural maybe.

Fanny: Natural, yeah. It's very natural, but in the, you know, in the zoos the pandas are always sleeping. They're... or they're just eating something.

Brian: Lazy animals.

Fanny: No, the cannot do some, you know, outdoor activities.

Brian: Right.

Fanny: Poor pandas.

Brian: It's a shame.

Fanny: Yeah, it is.

Learn Vocabulary from the Lesson

You're testing me

Brian says "You're testing me Fanny".

Here, the idiom 'you're testing me' has a different meaning than, for example, a test at school, but in each case, we want to know what someone knows or what his reaction will be. Notice the following:

It sounds like you're testing me.
After so many questions the teacher asked, "are you testing me"?

hit me

Fanny wants to ask more questions and Brian says "hit me".

We say 'hit me' when we are confident that we can correctly answer a question from someone who is testing us. It's very informal. Notice the following:

Go ahead and hit me with another question.
Questions about my country? Sure, hit me.

In the wild

In the wild or in a zoo?

Animals that live in the wild are found in the forest, jungle, deserts, mountains, anywhere in nature. Notice the following:

These days, not many pandas live in the wild.
The habitat for animals in the wild is decreasing.

How should I put that?

Fanny asks "How should I put that?"

We use the phrase ' how should I put that' when we need a moment to think about a correct word or phrase to use in a given situation. Notice the following:

There's not that much - how should I put that, physical contact between men and women on campus in my country.
Bangkok is slowly becoming a modern city, but there's still a lot of - how should I put that, poverty in Thailand.

It's a shame

It's a shame that pandas can't do more outside activities.

We use the phrase 'it's a shame' when we feel sad about a situation. Notice the following: