Please double-click on the English subtitles below to play the video.
00:07
Feifei: Hello and welcome to The English
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We Speak with me, Feifei...
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00:11
Rob: ...and me, Rob. Thanks for joining
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me in the kitchen today, Feifei, for the
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unveiling of my new cake.
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Feifei: It's just a cake, Rob, but if it's
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good, I'm happy to try a slice.
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Rob: Well, let's get it out
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of the oven now...
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There we go...
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Ta da!
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Feifei: Err... looks great, Rob,
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but let's try it...
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It's a bit stodgy,
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heavy... even lumpy.
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Rob: Right. So you don't actually like it!
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I followed the recipe exactly, although
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perhaps I forgot
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to do something to the flour. I seem to ...
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Oh I seem to have a memory like a...
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00:57
Feifei: A sieve.
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Rob: That's it! I didn't sieve the flour - that
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explains the lumps.
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01:03
Feifei: No, Rob, I meant you have
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a memory like a sieve. When we say
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someone has a memory
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like a sieve, we mean they have
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a very bad memory and forget
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things easily! Your memory
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is bad, Rob - you can't forget things
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when you're cooking.
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01:19
Rob: Well, I'm not the only one.
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Listen to these examples.
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I've been making my own lunch to take
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to work, but I've got a memory
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like a sieve and I keep
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leaving it at home!
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My husband's got a memory
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like a sieve - he keeps going out and
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leaving the iron switched on.
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I've got a memory like a sieve - I left
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the house without my keys
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this morning and now
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I'm locked out!
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01:51
Feifei: You're listening to The English
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01:53
We Speak from
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BBC Learning English, and
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we're talking about the phrase
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'to have a memory like a sieve'.
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It basically means bits of information
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fall through your memory
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and get forgotten, just
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like flour falling through the sieve
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that Rob should have used
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when baking a cake! So
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are you going to try again, Rob?
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Rob: No, I think my baking days are over,
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but luckily I bought one from the shop just
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in case.
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Feifei: That's OK. A shop-bought cake will
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do - so get it out and I'll put the kettle on.
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Rob: Great... err...Now where did I put it?
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I know it's around here somewhere?
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Feifei: Memory like a sieve again, Rob?
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Rob: Looks like it. I've got a lot
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on my mind, Feifei.
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Feifei: Don't worry, I've found it - it's
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here in the fridge with the milk!
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02:42
Rob: Honestly, I'd forget
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my own name sometimes!
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02:45
Feifei: Bye, Rob.
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Rob: Ah that's it! Bye!
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