       nín hǎo
A：您  好！
       nǐ men hǎo
B：你  们  好！


HSK Standard Course Level 1 Audio of the textbook

Lesson 1 text 2

CONNIE: Oh! What a beautiful cat. What do you think?
GARY: I think I’d rather get a dog. Dogs are more loyal than cats.
CONNIE: Yes, but they’re so much work! Would you be willing to walk 
it every single day? And clean up after it?
GARY: Hmm. Good point. What about a bird? Or a fish?
CONNIE: We’d have to invest a lot of money in a cage or a fish tank. 
And I don’t really know how to take care of a bird or a fish!
GARY: Well, we’re obviously not ready to get a pet yet.
CONNIE: Yeah, you’re right. Let’s go grab some coffee and talk 
about it.


LANGUAGE NOTES
• Oh! What a beautiful cat “Oh!” is used to show surprise or excitement. “What a …” is 
an expression that means “I think this is a very …” “What a(n) …” is followed by an 
adjective, which is usually emphasized. Notice the emphasis on “beautiful” here.
• Dogs are more loyal than cats. Two things are being compared here (dogs and 
cats). Notice the structure of the sentences: (noun/s) plus “is/are more” plus 
(adjective) plus “than” plus (noun/s). The nouns and the adjective are content words 
here, so they are all emphasized.
• Every single day Notice that each word here is stressed. The speaker wants to make 
a point, so she emphasizes each word equally. “Every single day” is a lot!
• Good point here means “I agree with you.”
• Take care of This phrase is used with animals, people and things. It can mean 
“watch a child while her parents are away,” “feed and house someone or 
something,” or “make sure things work properly.” (I always take care of my baby 
brother./ I take care of my bird by feeding it and cleaning its cage./ I need to take 
care of the broken sink.)
• Yeah, you’re right. Notice the pronunciation of this expression — the words all 
blend together here. This casual expression is used to agree with someone that you 
know well.

English Conversation practice (30-day challenge)

Day 26: At the pet store

Going into hospital
• You go to your doctor feeling very unwell.
• She examines you, and arranges for you to see a consultant.
• You may have tests, X-rays•, or scans2 and the nurses may take blood samples
The consultant decides how to treat you.
• You may have an operation3 immediately if it is an emergency.
• The consultant explains the benefits and risks to you, the patient4.
• After the operation, nurses care for you while you recover.
• The operation is successful.
• When you are well enough, you can go home to recover completely.

English Mini Lessons

Hospital

In questo nuovo episodio parleremo della Pasqua e delle tradizioni ad essa collegate. 

Italiano Chiaro - Cultura e Tradizioni 

La Pasqua

我们来看看道德经的第三章。

不上贤，使民不争；不贵难得之货，使民不为盗；不见可欲，使民不乱。是以圣人之治也，虚其心，实其腹，弱其志，强其骨，恒使民无知、无欲也。使夫知不敢、弗为而已，则无不治矣。

第三章的内容，对许多人来说都是有争议的。Some people may not understand this chapter, because we tend to think intellects are good. 然而，老子看到了有才德的人的问题。In my understanding of this chapter, it means intellects bring about ego, which is not align with Tao. 表面上突出的事物会带来争斗。老子追求的是顺其自然，无为而治。竞争和欲望可以导致战乱，When I said the sage weakens people’s ambition, you may disagree, because our time is the age of ambition and everyone want to become better. But this also makes people anxious and overload. Lao Tzu advocates letting go and non-doing, go with how things are. 当所有人都满足于自己的生活，天下就会太平，不会有争斗。

感谢收听，我们下次见~

Wisdom From the Past 古典智慧拾贝

古典智慧拾贝之道德经第三章 Tao Te Ching Chapter Three

Ciao, buongiorno, buon lunedì primo giorno di luglio.
Non volevo fare il podcast questa settimana, ma poi non ho resistito.
E semplicemente ho inziato a parlare.
E questo è il risultato.
Non c’è la trascrizione.
Non ci sono esercizi.
Per un momento mi sono sentita una speaker radiofonica.
Ma ci sono delle espressioni carine - “NON FATE I VAGHI”.
E la nuova parola è NEGHITTAGGINE.
Vi abbraccio virtualmente tutti e so che festeggerete un po’ con me.

Questo è il link all’elenco dei Festival in Italia.
https://www.festivalsbackpack.it/festival-musicali-italiani-2024/ 
Simona



la Rubrica di Simona

LUGLIO

How do you usually help your friends with their problems?

Listen to how I answer this particular question, and get some short English explanations about some vocabulary and expressions I use in my answer.  Try to answer the questions in the vocabulary examples using the new vocabulary and expressions.

Speak English With Muki

Episode 10: Supporting Friends

Today we're looking at some interesting, higher level vocabulary that we can use when there are too many things trying to get our attention or take up our time. I hope you find them useful!

DAILY Business English VOCABULARY builder

Hide! We're being bombarded! 

🐷Los tres cerditos🐷

Había una vez tres cerditos que decidieron construir sus propias casas. El primero, perezoso pero rápido, hizo su casa de paja; el segundo, un poco más cuidadoso, usó madera; y el tercero, el más trabajador, construyó su casa con ladrillos. Un día, el lobo feroz llegó y sopló con fuerza la casa de paja, derribándola en segundos. El cerdito corrió a la casa de su hermano, pero el lobo también sopló y destruyó la de madera. Desesperados, los dos huyeron a la casa del tercer cerdito.

El lobo intentó soplar con todas sus fuerzas, pero la casa de ladrillos no se movió. Frustrado, intentó entrar por la chimenea, sin saber que el cerdito más astuto había encendido un caldero de agua hirviendo. Cuando el lobo cayó dentro, salió disparado y huyó, prometiendo nunca volver. Los tres cerditos celebraron su victoria y aprendieron que el esfuerzo y la dedicación siempre valen la pena.