Jennifer: Hello, I'm Jennifer and this is Authentic¹ Real English. I'm with Feifei, and we're here at the zoo!

 

Feifei: 大家好！今天伦敦天气特别好，阳光灿烂，Jen 和我来到了动物园。We've already seen the elephants and penguins² - I love the penguins, they're so funny.

 

Jennifer: We're moving on now to my favourites - the big cats!

 

Feifei: 诶，我看动物园的简介上说，他们有狮子、老虎、美洲狮还有豹子呢。

 

Jennifer: Fantastic - I love leopards⁴. They're so beautiful and they also feature in one of my favourite phrases in English. Can a leopard³ change its spots?

 

Feifei: Let me guess, it's "a leopard can't change its spots"?

 

Jennifer: Absolutely, Feifei. The phrase "a leopard can't change its spots" is used to describe a person's character, particularly if they have some bad habits.

 

Feifei: 就像一只豹子无法改变它身上的豹纹一样，一个人很难改变他的性格。那么这个短语的意思就是积习难改，就是我们常说的“江山易改，本性难移”。

 

Jennifer: Let's hear some examples of how you might use this phrase. John promised me that he would stay out of trouble at school, but don't believe him. A leopard can't change its spots. Katie used to have a reputation for gossiping and spreading rumours⁵. I've heard she's changed now, but I don't trust her: a leopard can't change its spots.

 

Feifei: Great phrase. Let's see if we can find a real life leopard then!

 

Jennifer: Well, the big cat area is over there, according to this map. Oh look! I can see lions... Ah... They have little baby ones too! But where are the leopards?

 

Feifei: Er, Jen...

 

Jennifer: They must be here somewhere, a big spotty cat like that can't be too hard to find.

 

Feifei: (whispering) Jen 我觉得你应该...

 

Jennifer: Hurry, they must be this way. I want to see a leopard right now! A leopard can't change its spots and I can't change the fact that it's my favourite animal in the whole wide world!

 

Feifei: 我说你应该转过身回头看一下！

 

(huge growl⁶ and roar)

 

Jennifer: (terrified) Oh. Hello Mr Leopard. You're a lot bigger in real life...

 

Feifei: (whispering) Join us again for another edition of Authentic Real English from BBC UKChina... Bye!

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