Welcome to this A2 Mandarin lesson! Today, we are discussing a real news story from Taiwan about animal protection. A rare pangolin was illegally caught, tied up, and sold, but luckily, it was rescued by the police. In this dialogue, you will learn essential vocabulary related to animals, police, and the law. This is a great way to practice expressing your feelings and opinions on important social issues in Chinese!
中文單字 Chinese Vocabulary
- 動物 (dòngwù) – Animal
- 穿山甲 (chuānshānjiǎ) – Pangolin
- 保護 (bǎohù) – To protect
- 警察 (jǐngchá) – Police
- 抓 (zhuā) – To catch / To arrest
- 賣 (mài) – To sell
- 可憐 (kělián) – Pitiful / Poor
- 違法 (wéifǎ) – Illegal / To break the law
- 救 (jiù) – To save / To rescue
- 箱子 (xiāngzi) – Box
對話內容 Chinese Conversation / Dialogue
小明(Xiǎomíng): 美美，妳看今天的新聞了嗎？有一隻穿山甲被抓了。
(Měimei, nǐ kàn jīntiān de xīnwén le ma? Yǒu yì zhī chuānshānjiǎ bèi zhuā le.)
Meimei, did you see today’s news? A pangolin was caught.
美美(Měimei): 我看了，那個人把穿山甲綁起來，放在箱子裡，好可憐！
(Wǒ kàn le, nàge rén bǎ chuānshānjiǎ bǎng qǐlái, fàng zài xiāngzi lǐ, hǎo kělián!)
I saw it. That person tied the pangolin up and put it in a box. So pitiful!
小明(Xiǎomíng): 對啊，穿山甲是需要被保護的動物，不能隨便抓。
(Duì a, chuānshānjiǎ shì xūyào bèi bǎohù de dòngwù, bùnéng suíbiàn zhuā.)
Yes, pangolins are animals that need to be protected; they cannot be caught casually.
美美(Měimei): 沒錯，買賣野生動物是違法的。那隻穿山甲後來怎麼了？
(Méicuò, mǎimài yěshēng dòngwù shì wéifǎ de. Nà zhī chuānshānjiǎ hòulái zěnme le?)
Exactly, buying and selling wild animals is illegal. What happened to that pangolin later?
小明(Xiǎomíng): 幸好警察來了，把那個賣動物的人抓起來了。
(Xìnghǎo jǐngchá lái le, bǎ nàge mài dòngwù de rén zhuā qǐlái le.)
Fortunately, the police came and arrested the person selling the animal.
美美(Měimei): 太好了！警察把穿山甲救出來了嗎？
(Tài hǎo le! Jǐngchá bǎ chuānshānjiǎ jiù chūlái le ma?)
That’s great! Did the police rescue the pangolin?
小明(Xiǎomíng): 救出來了，但是牠看起來很不舒服。
(Jiù chūlái le, dànshì tā kàn qǐlái hěn bù shūfú.)
It was rescued, but it looked very uncomfortable.
美美(Měimei): 這些人為了賺錢，讓動物這麼痛苦，真的很過分。
(Zhèxiē rén wèile zhuànqián, ràng dòngwù zhème tòngkǔ, zhēn de hěn guòfèn.)
These people make animals suffer so much just to make money; it’s really too much.
小明(Xiǎomíng): 是啊，我們都應該好好保護動物。
(Shì a, wǒmen dōu yīnggāi hǎohǎo bǎohù dòngwù.)
Yes, we should all protect animals well.
美美(Měimei): 希望這隻穿山甲可以早點回家，回到山上生活。
(Xīwàng zhè zhī chuānshānjiǎ kěyǐ zǎodiǎn huí jiā, huídào shānshàng shēnghuó.)
I hope this pangolin can go home soon and return to live in the mountains.
問題延伸 Chinese Practice Questions
是非題 (True or False Reading Comprehension):
(Please read the statements and decide if they are True [是] or False [非] based on the dialogue.)
- 新聞裡的人賣穿山甲是合法的。 (The person in the news selling the pangolin is doing something legal.)
- 警察最後把那隻穿山甲救出來了。 (The police finally rescued that pangolin.)
- 美美覺得賣動物的人做得很好。 (Meimei thinks the person selling the animal did a good job.)
問題討論 (Discussion Questions):
(Try answering these questions using the vocabulary you just learned!)
- 如果你看到有人在賣野生動物，你會怎麼做？(Rúguǒ nǐ kàndào yǒurén zài mài yěshēng dòngwù, nǐ huì zěnme zuò?)If you saw someone selling wild animals, what would you do?
- 在你的國家，有哪些需要被保護的動物？(Zài nǐ de guójiā, yǒu nǎxiē xūyào bèi bǎohù de dòngwù?)In your country, what are some animals that need to be protected?
