动物园 At the Zoo in Chinese

星期六xīngqīliù，我wǒ和hé儿子érzi一起yìqǐ去qù动物园dòngwùyuán玩wán。

On Saturday, my son and I went to the zoo together.

我们wǒmen先xiān看kàn了le大象dàxiàng，儿子érzi说shuō大象dàxiàng的de鼻子bízi真zhēn长cháng。

We first looked at the elephant, and my son said the elephant's nose was really long.

然后ránhòu我们wǒmen去qù看kàn熊猫xióngmāo，熊猫xióngmāo正在zhèngzài吃chī竹子zhúzi，很hěn可爱kě'ài。

Then we went to see the panda, which was eating bamboo — very cute.

儿子érzi最zuì喜欢xǐhuan老虎lǎohǔ，他tā说shuō老虎lǎohǔ跑pǎo得de很hěn快kuài，像xiàng风fēng一样yíyàng。

My son liked the tiger the most; he said the tiger ran very fast, like the wind.

中午zhōngwǔ，我们wǒmen在zài那里nàlǐ的de饭馆fànguǎn吃chī了le午饭wǔfàn，休息xiūxi了le一会儿yíhuìr。

At noon, we ate lunch at a restaurant there and rested for a while.

下午xiàwǔ，我们wǒmen又yòu看kàn了le很多hěn duō鸟niǎo和hé鱼yú，儿子érzi拍pāi了le不少bù shǎo照片zhàopiàn。

In the afternoon, we saw many more birds and fish, and my son took quite a few photos.

天黑tiān hēi以前yǐqián，我们wǒmen才cái回家huíjiā，儿子érzi说shuō这zhè是shì他tā最zuì开心kāixīn的de一天yì tiān。

Before it got dark, we finally went home, and my son said this was his happiest day.

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Key words 生词

动物园dòngwùyuánzoo

大象dàxiàngelephant

熊猫xióngmāopanda

老虎lǎohǔtiger

竹子zhúzibamboo

可爱kě'àicute; lovable

正在 + verb (in the middle of doing)

正在 before a verb shows an action is happening right now, ongoing at that moment.

熊猫正在吃竹子，很可爱。 — The panda was eating bamboo — very cute.

像……一样 (to be like...)

像 + noun + 一样 compares something to another thing, meaning 'just like...'.

老虎跑得很快，像风一样。 — The tiger ran very fast, like the wind.

……以前，才…… (not until before X)

……以前 marks a point in time; 才 before the verb shows the action only happened at or right before that point, not earlier.

天黑以前，我们才回家。 — Before it got dark, we finally went home.

1. Which animal has a very long nose, according to the son?

2. What was the panda doing?

3. What did the son say about his day at the end?

After this reading

I'm Fei, and I teach Mandarin one-on-one on Preply. Bring this text to a trial lesson — we'll fix your tones and turn it into a real conversation.