English Lesson Pets

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The Bob and Rob Show Study GuideLesson 101: Exotic Pets

date: Sept 03, 2007file name: bobrob 09-03-07

Show notesSome people do have strange pets. If this study guide is a bit late, sorry, but my pet python broke mycomputer. Or just blame Rob, that’s what Bob usually does!

Phrasal Verbs and IdiomsTo keep up1. to continue without stopping eg: The rain kept up all morning .2. to move or work at the same speed eg: My friend was running so fast I could barely keep up with him / I can't keep up in school.

3. to rise at the same rate eg: Pay raises help workers keep up with inflation.

4. to continue at the same high level eg: The study guides look great, Rob. Keep up the good work.

5. to prevent from falling down eg: A belt keeps your pants up / keep your spirits up, don't get depression.

Idioms: “dog eat dog”

fierce, ruthless competition e.g:

I don’t like that dog eat dog atmosphere. It just promotes greed..

Bonus Idiom: “fat cat”

a person who has a lot more money than other people (disapproving) e.g:

I tell you, all these fat cat billionaires who take vacations on their yachts and never pay a dime in taxes! It's not

fair.

AJESSThis week we looked at some expressions for disagreement, from mild to strong:

Rob, do you plan to get a fish tank for your sons? Probably not.

Bob, would you eat a snake if you had the chance? I don't think so.

Rob, do you think you'll get a pet dog someday? I doubt it.

Bob, would you ever eat a dog? Never in a million years! Would you eat your own pet if you were really hungry? Not on your life!

Rob, would you eat whale meat? Not even if you paid me!

Email Bag‘Teacher’s pet’ means that you were liked or favored by your teacher. It is a derogatory remark.

Both Sides of the Pond(US) a dog and pony show (UK) farcical event(US) doggone (UK) ruddy/bloody/damn(US) crazy as a loon (UK) have bats in the belfry(US) hogtied (UK) restrained(US) pig out (UK) make a pig of oneself

Song“my pet fly” by sounddoc. See more at http://www.podshow.com



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QuotesI loathe people who keep dogs. They are cowards who haven't got the guts to bite people themselves.

August Strindberg (1849 - 1912),

Animals are such agreeable friends - they ask no questions, they pass no criticisms.

George Eliot (1819 - 1880),

I like pigs. Dogs look up to us. Cats look down on us. Pigs treat us as equals.

Sir Winston Churchill (1874 - 1965)

Show transcriptBOB

Hi, it's the Bob and Rob Show. This is Bob.

ROB

And this is Rob.

BOB

Hey, hey, hey, we're talking about pets today.

ROB

Pets, pets, pets.

BOB

We all love pets.

ROB

Do you have any pets, Bob?

BOB

No, not really.

ROB

You use to have tropical fish, didn't you?

BOB

I did, but it's too hard to maintain a fish tank ...like when you travel a lot. So, we ate the fish. You don't havepets either, do you?

ROB

I've actually got a gold fish, but in our apartment block1 we're not allowed pets, officially. Anyway, so that's

my excuse.

BOB

Well, a pet is an animal kept for companionship and enjoyment. As opposed to livestock, or laboratoryanimals, sport animals.

ROB

Working animals.

BOB

Which are kept for economic reasons. The most popular pets are noted for their loyal or playfulcharacteristics, for their attractive appearance, or for their song

2. Pets, they provide people with health

benefits, I think. They help release stress ... and companionship, so pets I think are really important for people, especially for older people.

ROBI agree. Yeah, yeah, I think that's true.

BOB

I would love to get a pet pig. You laugh, but pigs are actually smarter than dogs, and I think they're evencleaner. I raised pigs when I was a kid: I was in what we call FH. It's a club where you raise animals and you



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take them to the state fair, and you sell them at an auction. I had pigs that I would raise and they're very cleananimals. They're often perceived

3 as being muddy ...

ROB

Yeah, that's their image.

BOB

Because they're forced to live in a muddy pen4... environment but for example, pigs always crap in the same

place. They're very clean about that, they always go to the bathroom in the same place, just like people.

ROB

That's interesting. And do they also bring you the paper in the morning?

BOB

They probably would, you could train them to do that. Obviously, they're not as friendly as a dog is, but theyare smarter, and in some ways they're cleaner.

ROBThere was a great movie called Babe

5.

BOB

Oh, that was fantastic! I loved that.

ROB

About a pet pig which becomes a sheep dog.

BOB

And then, we should probably talk about exotic pets like reptiles, snakes ... are considered exotic pets, right?

ROB

That's right. And this may change in the future exotic pet ownership is increasing rapidly6.

BOB

So it might not be considered exotic anymore?

ROBRight, yeah, and such animals, for example, iguanas, or large mono ? lizard species these do not makesuitable pets for the average person. They really require extensive housing and diet.

BOB

And then people end up letting them go.

ROB

Yeah, that's the real problem. So these exotic mammals they're becoming so popular. For example, thedomesticated hedgehog has been ...

BOB

People keep those as pets?

ROB

Yeah, they've been bred selectively to the point that its physical characteristics are no longer .... they don'teven match its wild European or ...

BOB

It's such irresponsibility.

ROB

It's mad.

BOB

You know, a lot of animal species - there's a reason they're not pets, and that's because they're difficult to

handle, and generally, they're just not worth the trouble. Like you need to be a specialist, you need to have alot of time and money on your hands. Like large cats cannot become pets, tigers because they don't reliablyrestrain

7 their impulses

8.



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ROB

Sure. They'll eat their owner, eventually.

BOB

Large bears for similar reasons don't have good impulse control, cats maybe don't but they're not that scary.Small monkeys can be human companions but they're notoriously unable to confer their curiosity

9 which can

lead to much destruction.

ROBYeah, they'll smash everything up.

BOB

I mean, I know, I do a show with one. Sorry, Rob.

ROB

Thanks, Bob. Yeah, animal protection advocates10

they call attention to the pet overpopulation crisis.

BOB

Can you hear our pet crow in the background?

ROB

Yep, that's our pet crow, back there. And they refer to it as a crisis in America. According to the HumaneSociety ...

BOB

That's an organization in America?

ROBYeah, an animal organization. And the Humane Society of the United States - about three to four million dogsand cats are euthanized every year.

BOB

What does "euthanized" mean?

ROBIt means to be "exterminated," "to be killed off."

BOB

That's a lot.

ROB

That's a lot, yeah. And of course, there are many more which are you know, they're confined to cages andshelters. It's very sad.

BOB

The thing is, I think what they say is that if you have a pet you need to be responsible and get it "neutered,"which means "stops its ability to reproduce." And you know, you need to be responsible because in an

average year, apparently, a fertile cat can produce three litters of kittens, with up to four to six kittens in eachlitter

11. Based on these numbers, one female cat and her offspring, could produce up to four-hundred and

twenty-thousand cats over a seven year period, if not spayed or neutered.

ROB

Wow! That's a lot of cats.

BOB

Speaking of being irresponsible with pets, we've got a really good story. You might’ve heard about this, Rob.

ROB

Is this the one from CNN?

BOBThe guy in New York. Why don't we read this story to our audience; this is quite a story; this is an amazingstory. Okay, do you want to start reading it?



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ROB

Sure. There's a tiger, a gator, removed from Harlem apartment.

BOB

So that's the headline: Tiger, Gator, Removed From Harlem Apartment.

ROB

And gator is obviously short for alligator. And so, the police -Tenant charged with reckless endangerment.

Wow. So police commissioner Raymond Kelley said, "The tale began Wednesday when police officersresponded to a call of a dog bite at a nineteenth story block public housing apartment building. And they found Antwon Yates, 31, in the lobby with injuries to his right arm and right leg that he told police had been causedby a pit bull

12," Kelly said.

BOB

When police returned Saturday to the apartment building to investigate a resident told them the tenantsincluded a tiger. Yates, who had checked himself out of the hospital, was nowhere to be found. Police talkedwith a neighbor who said the man in the apartment owned the tiger. A fourth floor resident complained that the"urine," which means "pee," had seeped through her ceiling from Yates’ apartment Kelley said.

ROB

Though still trying to determine what they were dealing with police cut a hole in Yates' door. An officer who

was guarding the apartment looked through the hole, and indeed saw the large tiger pass by the open hall.

BOB

This is in New York in an apartment.

ROB

The police said the apartment was so cluttered they felt they had no choice but to repel13

from above andshoot a tranquilizer dart from outside. Incredible.

BOB

Officer Martin got the job, lowering himself from a seventh floor apartment armed with a tranquilizer gun and aM4 rifle. Once at the window he tapped on it with his shoe to get the tigers attention.

ROB And the tiger lunged - He said, "I got pretty nervous I'm not going to lie. Duffy told the reporters later he brokethe glass when he charged. Duffy fired one dart into the animal and was then lowered to the ground. Asecond officer repelled down the side of the building a few minutes later to insure the animal was sedated

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before police entered the apartment before the door. They found the animal unconscious atop a pile of furniture.

BOB

The alligator was near by. Both animals were taken to an animal shelter. So he had an alligator and he had atiger in his apartment. That's nuts!

ROB

That's incredible, yeah. That's an incredible story.

BOB

I don't know why anybody would want a tiger ...

ROB

And an alligator.

BOB

In a New York City apartment.

ROB

What reason possibly could you have? You have to be responsible and obviously this man wasn't. I hope theyarrested him.

BOBI'm sure they did.



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INTERVIEW:

So have you ever had a pet? "I've had pets in the past." Yeah, and did you eat them? "Most of them."Seriously though, what kinds of pets have you had? "My family is a dog family." A dog family, okay. And thatmeans that you had a lot of dogs in the house. "That's right. The first dog I can remember was a St. Bernard."Now, those are huge dogs. "That's right. My family actually had two of them and they were called Brutus andBrandy." Do you know how much food you need to feed those kinds of dogs? Like I don't know probably a kiloa day." So I take it you didn't have any cats around with those huge dogs. "No, no, we didn't. Then we had an

Afghan." That's a kind of dog? "That's right. With a very unintelligent dog." The Afghan's unintelligent? So

basically, you were just a dog family? "That's right. Then we had Poodles, Dalmatians ... " You hadDalmatians? Wow! "Just one." Okay, so you had a lot of dogs. At the same time? "No, no, always one or twoat a time." Did you cry when they passed on? "Actually, only one passed on." They're all still alive. "No, no,they were given - well, now they've probably passed on - but my family gave them away." They gave your pets away? "Because, I had allergies." Oh, so it was your fault. "Basically, yeah." It must have been hard tosee the dogs go. Did you feel guilty? "I didn't know the reason, at the time." I see. When you found out thereason did it make you feel angry, or did you resent

15 your parents, or do you resent your parents for doing

that? "No, no." You understand. "The allergies made me very sick." I see, okay. Do you want to get any petsin the future; are you thinking of getting here in Japan? "I'm interested in exotic pets, now." Oh, yeah, likewhat? "Something that's easy to keep, but is unusual." How about a snake? "No, that's too common." Toocommon, okay, well what do you have in mind? "I will give you a hint." Okay. "This animal lives in the jungle."Okay, that narrows it down to about half a million. Easy to keep. "Easy to keep." A frog? "No, another hint - avery good hint - it is very slow." A snail? "No, no, no." A turtle? "No, no, it lives in the trees." It's very slow and

it lives in the trees. I feel really stupid right now. I don't know, you're going to have to tell me. "The name of this animal means "lazy." Oh, a sloth? "That's right." Can you keep sloths? "Why not, they won't run away."That's true. And then, you'll have someone to identify with. "That's right, yes. Everyone, needs a sloth." Yes, Ihave my sloth days as well. Well, thank you, for talking with me. "Oh, you're welcome."

BOB

Okay, well, moving along: phrasal verbs and idioms. What's our idiom, today? I mean, what's our phrasalverb, today?

ROB

It's "to keep up." There are many, many, meanings for "keep up," so we're just going to focus on several.

BOB

And I guess the reason we're going to focus on "keep" is because, you keep pets.

ROB

That's right, yeah.

BOBSo we're using a phrasal verb that has "keep" in it, "to keep up." It means "to continue without stopping," so"the rain kept up all morning."

ROB

Yeah, that means "it rained all morning," it can also mean "to move," or "work at the same speed." So for example, "My friend was running so fast I could barely keep up with him."

BOBOr also, "I can't keep up in school."

ROBRight, that means it's getting more difficult, you can't maintain the same level.

BOB

Also, it means to rise at the same rate, so "Pay raises help workers keep up with inflation16

."

ROB

Good one. It can also mean "to continue at the same high level."

BOB

Like - the study guides look great, Rob, keep up the good work."

ROB



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Oh, thanks, Bob. It can also be "to prevent something from falling down." For example, "a belt keeps up your pants," or in Britain, we would say, "a belt keeps up your trousers."

BOB

"Keep your spirits up, don't get depressed."

ROB

Yeah, right, good one.

BOBIdioms.

ROB

So, pets and animals - "dog eat dog."

BOB

That means like "fierce, ruthless" competition.

ROB

Yeah, it's dog eat dog. Some people dislike the American style capitalism ...

BOB

Rob.

ROB

Yeah, I'm not a fan of capitalism.

BOB

Why?

ROB

It's the ultimate evil.

BOB

Because, they see it as a dog eat dog system which promotes inequality.

ROB

Right, yes.

BOB

I don't know if I agree with you, totally, Rob.

ROB

Okay, no problem.

BOB

I think it's been pretty good for the world.

ROBI have to disagree. So anyway ...

BOBLet's go on to the bonus.

ROB

What's the bonus today, Bob?

BOB

"A fat cat."

ROB

"A fat cat." Okay, so this is going to be in the study guide, so we're not going to tell you the answer today, butwe'll give you an example, "I tell you, all these fat cat billionaires who take vacations on their yachts, andnever pay a dime in taxes, it's not fair."



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BOB

That's a good example. So check out the study guides for the bonus idioms. Ancient Japanese English StudySecret.

ROB Ancient Japanese English Study Secret.

BOB

Today, we're going to look at expressions for disagreement ... from mild to strong. We'll give you someexamples first: "Probably not,"

ROB

"I don't think so,"

BOB

"I doubt it,"

ROB

then a bit stronger, "never in a million years,"

BOB

"not on your life,"

ROB

"not even if you paid me."

BOB

I'll ask Rob a few questions and he can disagree from mild to strong. We'll both alternate17

. Rob, do you planto get a fish tank for your two sons?

ROB

Probably not. So, Bob, would you eat a snake if you had the chance?

BOB

I don't think so. Rob, do you think you'll get a pet dog, someday?

ROB

I doubt it. And so, Bob, would you ever eat a dog?

BOBOkay, a little stronger here - Never in a million years! Would you eat your own pet if you were ever reallyhungry?

ROB

Not on your life.

BOB

Rob, would you eat whale meat?

ROB

Not even if you paid me.

BOB

You don't think they should be hunted for food?

ROB

Actually, that's just an example, but it does taste quite nice. But yes, we shouldn't really eat whales ‘causethey are an endangered species

18.

BOB

Are they?

ROB



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Yeah, yeah.

BOB

Some are, some aren't.

ROBThat's true.

BOB

I think they're beautiful creatures. You can't farm them, they're not livestock, you can't raise them. Anyway,that's a little different story. We'll do something in our whaling show.

ROB

Right, good idea. Some good expressions for disagreement there. Ancient Japanese English Study Secret.

BOB

Okay, email bag today. Got a letter from a listener - writes, "Dear Bob and Rob, When I was a junior highschool student in America my classmates used to call me 'teacher's pet.' What did they mean? Signed, WellBehaved."

ROB

That's an interesting email.

BOB

So what did they mean when they were calling her "teacher's pet"?

ROB

Well, Well Behaved, your classmates meant that you were liked or favored by your teacher. Were you theteacher's favorite student?

BOB

Probably, yeah.

ROB

Generally, we treat our pets very well, so that's where the term "teacher's pet" comes from ... so usuallystudents are jealous of the teacher's pet.

BOB

Were you a teacher's pet?

ROB

No, I don't think so.

BOB

I wasn't either.

ROB

And there's the image of the teacher's pet leaving the apple on the teacher's desk.

BOB

Right. An apple polisher. We don't ever get apples here, do we?

ROB

No, I get chocolate, sometimes.

BOB

Yeah, that's right. You get chocolates, huh?

ROB

Yeah, sometimes.

BOBOn Valentine's Day?



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ROB

No, even just on other days, as well. If they have some spare cookies or biscuits, and some chocolates,sometimes.

BOBThat's a shame, ‘cause you don't really eat chocolate.

ROB

That's right, I always give it to my sons or my wife.

BOB

Well, thank you, Well Behaved, hope we answered your question.

ROB

Okay, now some Both Sides of the Pond.

BOBWe're talking about pets today and why don't we look at some animal words. And we've got our crow crowingin the background. It could be our pet crow. In the states we have an idiom called, "a dog and pony show"which means - well, let me give you an example - A number of years ago we had the O.J. Simpson trial, whichwas kind of like a media circus, and you might say that's "a dog and pony show." Do you have that expression

in the UK?

ROB

I don't think we would use that expression, but we would perhaps say something like "it was a farcical event."

BOB

Something really ludicrous.

ROB

Or ridiculous or ludicrous.

BOB

I think the O.J. Simpson trial ... or Paris Hilton going to jail ... that's just a dog and pony show, a silly media

event. A lot of times in English, to mean "damn," we might say, "doggone," like "doggone it" which means"darn it." It's just an expression of ...

ROB

Frustration? An exclamation of frustration, I guess.

BOB

Exactly, like ... Dammit!

ROB

Yeah, dammit. In the UK, yeah, we don't really say, "doggone it", but we say, "Oh, ruddy hell!" Or maybe,bloody hell, or damn.

BOB"Crazy as a loon," loon's a bird. Do you say, "crazy as a loon"?

ROBWell, yeah, I think we do, but we also have an expression, "to have bats in the belfry." "He's got bats in thebelfry." And from that we can also say, "He's batty."

BOB

Another kind of idiom is "hogtied." When you hogtie someone you ... hogtie comes from the way people usedto tie hogs

19. They tie their hooves together, and when you hogtie like a person you tie their feet and hands

together, and then tie their feet to their hands. So "hogtied" is an expression we used .... do you use theidiom?

ROBHogtied? No.



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BOB

It means kind of like you're restrained or you can't do anything, you have no power. So "He's really hogtied,he won't be able to help you out." We use it as an idiom .... we don't mean he's actually tied up, just that ...

ROB

Not, literally ..

BOB

He has no power.

ROB

Figuratively.

BOB

Do you say, "hogtied," in the UK?

ROB

Not in the UK, no. We would just perhaps say, "tied up"; the phrasal verb "tied up," or just "restrained."

BOB

So like "I'm sorry, I can't help you," you wouldn't say "I'm hogtied."

ROBNot in the UK, but we understand what it means.

BOB

Speaking of hogs, in the US we would say, "pig-out20

," to really eat a lot, or to overeat. "I pigged out, I ate alot." Do you say "pig-out"?

ROB

We understand that phrasal verb, but we probably say, "Ah, he made a right pig of himself." I guess another one is the difference between hog and pig. We don't says "hog," we say, "pig."

BOB

We say both hog or pig. Okay, announcements - thanks, as always, for your donations, and please consider

becoming a regular listener. Doesn't have to be a lot, any support is greatly appreciated. And if you'reinterested in receiving our detailed study guides and transcripts, consider becoming a Bob and Rob Showmember.

ROB

Please go to our blog to check out the store. We've got a store, and lots of great goodies on the store.

BOB

And as always, we're at thebobandrobshow.com, you can send us a voice message or a question. If youknow anyone that might be interested in the Bob and Rob Show, please be sure to tell them about it, and itwould be nice to get a review too ... from some of our listeners.

ROB

Yeah, that would be nice if they could write a review on iTunes.

BOB

Yeah, please do that.

ROB

That would help the Bob and Rob Show's ratings go up. And so, some quotations, some pets quotations. Goahead, Bob.

BOB

This is by, August Strenburg, a nineteenth century person - August Strenburg, 1849 - 1912, says, "I loathepeople who keep dogs, they are cowards who haven't got the guts to bite people themselves." I like that.

ROBGeorge Elliot, who lived from 1819 - 1880 ...



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BOB

A famous British writer, a woman too, right? I think that was her pen name, George Elliot. What did she say?

ROB

She said, "Animals are such agreeable friends, they ask no questions, they pass no criticisms."

BOB

Sir Winston Churchill has a wonderful quote here that I agree with: "I like pigs. Dogs look up to us, cats lookdown on us, pigs treat us as equals."

ROB

That's why you want a pig, don't you, Bob?

BOB

And so, we have a song today, and this is by, Sound Dock. And this song is called, "My Pet Fly."

ROB

Now that's kind of a funny sounding title, isn't it?

BOB

My pet fly wakes me in the morning / Buzzing and kicking like a small child. Searching for morsels left on theground / Searching for morsels sticking in brown.

ROB

Interesting.

BOB

I think that's going be a funny song for you.

ROB

And we got this song from Podshow, if you want to learn more about the artist, please go towww.music.podshow.com.

BOB

And I can't hear our pet crow outside anymore, I think we'd better go feed it. So we're going to go feed our pet

crow. And thank you for joining us again. Right?

ROB

Yeah. Good luck with all your studies and we'll see you next time

BOBOkay, bye, bye.

ROB

Bye.

SONG:

My pet fly waits for me to come home, buzzing excitedly in the stairwell, following me into my room, following

me into the kitchen, My pet fly, he's a survivor, sucking up what I leave behind, My pet fly likes Ramennoodles, stains and dishes, he'll eat well tonightBuzz, Buzz, lick, lickBuzz, Buzz, lick, lickBuzz, Buzz, lick, lickFly, flyMy pet fly wakes me up in the morning, buzzing and kicking like a small childSearching for morsels

21 left on the ground, searching for morsels sticky and brown

He hangs out on the TV antenna, ?My pet fly with me forever, buzzing and landing wherever he pleasesChorus



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Extension and Review Study*note: we encourage you to respond to the questions and readings by posting on the discussion board (Loginusing your Bob and Rob Show membership username and password )http://englishcaster.com/discussionboard/

1/ Do you have or have you ever owned a pet? Tell us about them. Do you think people should be allowed toown exotic pets? Try to support your opinion with reasons.

2/ Are there any idioms using animals in your native language? Have you ever pigged out? Try to use some of

the expressions and phrasal verbs covered this week in meaningful sentences.

Glossary 1 apartment block = The British expression is ‘a block of flats’.2 Song = the noise or sounds that they make.3 Perceived = believed to be, or thought of as.4 Pen = name of the place where pigs usually stay. Also known as a ‘sty’.5 Babe = see more here: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112431/6 Rapidly = quickly.7 Restrain = a synonymous expression is ‘keep in check’.8 Impulses = urges, instincts.9

Curiosity = an idiom is ‘curiosity killed the cat’.10 Advocates = people who recommend policy.

11 Litter = this noun describes the name of the group of baby cats.

12 pit bull = a rather dangerous breed of dog.

13 Repel = abseil (with a rope).

14 Sedated = asleep due to a tranquilizer or drugs.

15 Resent = hate.

16 Inflation = the antonym is ‘deflation’.

17 Alternate = take turns.

18 endangered species = very few of the animals exist. The next stage is extinction eg: the dodo became

extinct last century.19 Hogs = pigs.

20 pig-out = another animal idiom referring to food is I could eat a horse, which means to be very hungry.

21 Morsels = tiny pieces of food.

Documents

English Lesson Pets