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Pet Fish
简体
Pet Fish
宠物鱼

Learn Modal Verbs

Date: Oct 04 2011

Themes: Pets

Grammar: Modal Verbs

Intro

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2. Read and Prepare - Read the introduction and prepare to hear the audio.

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Kittens are cute. Dogs are loyal. Even lizards and snakes can at least be held. But fish? All you can do is look at them. They’re the one pet you can’t actually pet.

Still, lots of people love having pet fish. Some will even spend tons of money on rare exotic fish and high tech tanks. Find out if Devan and Jason have any pet fish.

猫咪十分可爱,狗很忠诚,甚至蜥蜴和蛇也可以作为宠物饲养。那么鱼呢?你所能做的一切就是静静地观赏它们。它们是一种不能实际触摸的宠物。
但是,依然有很多人喜欢养宠物鱼。有些人甚至不惜花巨资购买罕见的奇特鱼类和高科技水箱。看看德凡和詹森是否饲养宠物鱼。

Dialog

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2. Study - Read the dialog again to see how the vocab words are used.

Jason

Jason

Devan

Devan

Jason:  I was at the state fair last week, and you could win goldfish in some of the games.

Devan:  Oh yeah. Those never last long.

Jason:  I know, it’s so sad. I had one when I was a kid and it only lived like a day.

Devan:  Yeah, see, I’ve always felt about pet fish that they’re more like decoration than they are like pets, because they don’t really love you, you can’t interact with them or play with them. They’re like a painting or something.

Jason:  You can tap on the glass and observe their personality and behavior and stuff like that. Right?

Devan:  I guess. I’m not very good at keeping them alive either.

Jason:  Oh no!

Devan:  I have the same problem with houseplants, where any time a friend asks me to watch their fish or watch their houseplants while they’re out of town, it’s guaranteed they’re gonna come back to no fish or no houseplants, usually.

Jason:  I think the trick to keeping the fish alive might be having a really great tank, you know? Like you gotta have one with the pump that provides enough oxygen and keeps the water clean. You kinda have to invest in your fish.

Devan:  It’s true. The other lesson I learned is you can overfeed them. Who knew? I certainly didn’t.

 

Grammar Point

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Discussion

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Jason was recently at a fair where you could play a game to win a goldfish. He has a pet goldfish as a kid, but it didn’t live very long.

Devan says pet fish never live very long, especially when they’re in her care. She sees fish more as decoration than pets because you can’t interact with them or play with them like other pets.

Jason thinks that the way to keep pet fish alive is to buy them an expensive tank. A high tech tank can give them the kind of environment they need to survive.

Have you ever had a pet fish? Do you think fish make good pets?

 

Comments

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JimaIsJima

China

I just get some fishes yet.Fish are lovely,they never say sth bad to others,better than some people.

10:08 AM Jan 20 2013 |

Nina__smith

Australia

i like thm too my brother has 7 fishes they are very nice and they have many colores.

01:19 PM Oct 20 2012 |

bonniewang99

China

I have a pet fish which like it very much. But it dead in my trip.

01:33 AM Jan 13 2012 |

bowbowbowbow

China



10:59 AM Oct 11 2011 |

alexd

Venezuela

i bought a pet fish to my dougther and it has around three months… she have really takes care of it, she feeds it and is carefull with its things…

11:48 PM Oct 09 2011 |

Rita2589

Taiwan

when I was kid ,my dad bought some fishes 、tortoise and small shrimps ,But ,one night  they die,  i don’t know why???? It horrible…....only one tortoise be alive! and whe i was graduated from school ,my mom put that tortoise in my school pool. So every time I passed through the school , it remind me of my tortoise


 

07:24 AM Oct 08 2011 |

4EVER

4EVER

United Arab Emirates

i love pets,especially cats and dogs ,
i will have a cute cat soon,,:)

08:01 PM Oct 06 2011 |

vivian xixi

China

When I was a kid my grandfather bought some little fish to me. I was bathed them….so….

01:53 PM Oct 06 2011 |

coldwind94

Viet Nam

I want to have a pet but my family are busy so can take care them

01:34 PM Oct 06 2011 |

Maria del Alba

Spain

I’ve never had a pet fish, but I know people who have them, and it’s very difficult to keep fish alive (specially hot water’s fish). They usually last for a month or two, even taking care of them daily, they start to swim in a strange way and die. It’s a pity because you miss them if they die, otherwise you have to be an expert in the field.

07:34 PM Oct 05 2011 |

lynn lam

lynn lam

China

fish—a quiet friends,sometimes we cant stand the busy and rowdy life,we do really  need a people to talk,talk about  another stuff that make us feel comfortable,but no everyone can have a people to talk,so the fish will be a good partner。。。

10:45 AM Oct 05 2011 |

david yun

South Korea

I really want to have pet, but my mom has a disease like that it’s not good for my mom’s health to have pet ‘cause the pet’s hair will be caused a bad thing to my mom’s body. So I can’t raise them in my house. That’s one of my concernings. Anyhow, I will have them someday when I grow up and get married.


I have a friend who has a dog and has raised it for over 10years. As you know, dog’s life-span is about 14years. So, the dog doesn’t move and just lies down in his bed all day, and also he doesn’t eat food very well. My friend and I think he is too old… when my friend took his dog to the pet-hospital, the doctor said he would die soon because he was too old and his health was not good. So my friend just watches him and takes care of him. My friend is just waiting for the day.. I feel sad..

11:57 PM Oct 04 2011 |

Caramella

Caramella

Egypt

i had a cat and dogs as pets before when i was young but have never had a fish as pet before actually 
Fishes r so lovely but as pets i prefer dogs or cats coz the pet most react with u :) and fish never does it  


08:16 PM Oct 04 2011 |

mangojoy

mangojoy

United States

Young children can be curious by nature. When I was about 6 years old I had a couple of pet goldfish I believe. I got this crazy curiosity about what would happen if I took it out of the fish bowl and put it on the floor. As most of us are older, I think you can imagine the results. It flopped around for a few minutes and it’s flopping decreased. It stopped moving. I didn’t foresee that my curiosity would end it’s life. I felt sad and bad too about having done it. I had to flush it down the toilet. I only did it with one of my two fish. The other fish I kept around until it died of dirty water. Hmmmmmm. That was about 28 years ago. I haven’t had a desire to get any more pet fish since.


On a different note, I do find fish to be beautiful and enjoy seeing them in other people’s tanks, ponds, etc. I think they could make good pets if you don’t mind investing the time and energy (feeding, clean-up).

07:57 PM Oct 04 2011 |

Successfulliving

Latvia

I agree that fish as a pet is like a painting- it isn’t a pet’’.


So I would love to have some if I had a big tank- but althought i prefer dogs or cats.

07:22 PM Oct 04 2011 |

Successfulliving

Latvia

I agree that fish as a pet is like a painting- it isn’t a pet’’.


So I would love to have some if I had a big tank- but althought i prefer dogs or cats.

07:22 PM Oct 04 2011 |

qq_baby

qq_babySuper Member!

Taiwan

I had many pet fish when i was little!

05:44 PM Oct 04 2011 |

SÉRGIO

SÉRGIO

Brazil

Pet fish’s so boring! seeing them in their natural habitat is much better!

05:22 PM Oct 04 2011 |

Nickå

Nickå

Svalbard and Jan Mayen

Ever since I watched Baz Luhrmann’s “Romeo + Juliet”, I always wanted to have an entire wall in my house that was a fish tank. Anyone who has seen the film will know what I’m talking about.


Obviously, for me, the fish would be purely for decoration (and entertainment). It would look absolutely stunning with sunshine during the day and artificial coloured lights at night.


As of yet, I’m still working on becoming a millionaire so I can have my fish wall.

04:25 PM Oct 04 2011 |

sedra mohammed

Yemen

thank u  so much

03:55 PM Oct 04 2011 |

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