Improve Your English Fluency with Everyday Words | Read The NEWS In English

Did you hear that a zoo in China was  taking dogs and painting them to make  

them look like pandas and calling them panda dogs?

Well, that's what we'll review in this  Learn English with the News lesson so  

you can expand your vocabulary with 57  expressions that you can use every day.

Welcome back to JForrest English.

Of course, I'm Jennifer.

Let's get started.

Here's the headline.

Zoo comes clean that their  pandas are painted dogs.

So here are the panda dogs.

What do you think?

Cute or just weird?

You can share your choice in the comments.

Do you know what it means to come clean?

To come clean Zoo comes clean.

This is an idiom that means to admit the  truth, but usually after first hiding it.

We generally use this with the  statement I need to come clean.

I need to come clean with you.

And then you would omit whatever the  truth is that you didn't want me to know.

Maybe you would say I need to come clean with you,  Jennifer, I haven't subscribed to your channel.

So that's the truth.

You want to admit it doesn't  have to be something devastating.

It could be something small and simple like that.

But you feel bad about it because maybe  you said, oh, yeah, I've subscribed.

I subscribed.

But then, oh, I need to come clean with you.

I haven't subscribed.

If that describes you well then  make sure you describe so the zoo  

comes clean that their pandas are painted dogs.

The zoo admits, but they were first hiding it.

And don't worry about taking any notes because  I summarize everything in a free lesson PDF.

You can find the link in the description.

Now let's continue and learn  about these panda dogs.

A Chinese zoo has admitted so you  could replace this with has come clean.

Now remember come is the verb,  so you would conjugate it.

Here it's in the present simple  with the S because the zoo is the  

subject it here it's in the infinitive to  come because it follows the first verb.

So you need to conjugate it.

So here it would be in what verb tense?

The present perfect, a Chinese  zoo has admitted has come clean  

that the pandas in their exhibits  were in fact painted docks.

Now notice this in fact, and  notice it's between two commas.

Because it's between two commas, it  tells me that I can delete this part.

I can remove it, and the sentence  will still be grammatically correct.

Pandas in their exhibits were painted dogs.

In fact is there to emphasize  the factual truth of this.

So here I have a complete sentence.

Learning English with the news.

What you're doing right now is a great method.

Now, if I want to emphasize this,  simply make it sound stronger.

I can add in fact, and I'll add  it after the verb to be because  

I want to emphasize that the existence of this.

So the verb to be is in fact and notice  I separate it between commas to show that  

I can remove this information entirely and  the sentence is still grammatically correct.

So now it sounds more emphasized, more dramatic.

Learning English with the news  is in fact a great method.

Do you agree with that?

If you do, then put.

That's right.

That's right, But that's right in the comments.

So I know that you enjoy this method  according to the New York Post.

Now notice here, it's according to someone or  something, The New York Post is media outlets.

So you could say according to the  journalist, according to Jennifer,  

according to the New York Post, but don't  forget that preposition to according to  

according to the New York Post, visitors at the  Shanwei Zoo realize they were being bamboozled.

Oh, bamboozled.

Have you ever heard this word before?

We're being bamboozled.

This has the same meaning as  being tricked or being deceived.

And just make sure you know  this is done on purpose.

This isn't accidentally sharing  information that isn't correct.

You're doing this on purpose to deceive someone.

Bamboozled.

Now bamboozled isn't the most common word.

Tricked or deceived would be more commonly used.

Perhaps this article chose to use it  because pandas eat bamboo and bamboozled.

You hear the word bamboo, Perhaps you  can use it, but it's not the most common.

So you could say she was bamboozled into  telling them her credit card number.

Again, it would be more common to  say she was tricked into she was  

deceived into telling them her credit card number.

Now notice what type of sentence is this?

An active or a passive?

She's receiving it.

She's not doing it.

She's not doing.

She's not the one tricking, she's  the one receiving the trick.

The bamboozle as an active sentence.

What would we say?

Well, we need to find our subject.

We have them.

So they bamboozled.

That would be just the past simple of the word.

They bamboozled her into telling  them her credit card number,  

so just this first part of  the sentence would change.

This is commonly used in the  active to talk about receiving  

the action bamboozled when the so-called pandas.

Do you know why they added the  word so-called in front of pandas?

The so-called pandas?

When you add so-called before a  noun, it adds skepticism or doubt,  

disbelief, or it sounds like that  noun is being misrepresented.

So there's misrepresentation of the noun.

They're claiming that they're pandas, but their  so-called pandas, they're not actually pandas.

So there's a misrepresentation.

Going back to our bamboozled example I wrote  here, I was bamboozled by the so-called volunteer.

So maybe someone knocked at my door and said I'm  

a volunteer and I'm raising  money for an animal shelter.

Would you like to donate?

Sure, I'd love to.

Here's my credit card information.

Now this person claims they're  a volunteer, but they are not.

So it was a misrepresentation and  you can use this if you're not sure.

So it's more you want to add some doubt.

I was bamboozled by the so-called volunteer.

So let's come back to the article.

Visitors at the zoo realized  they were being bamboozled,  

tricked or deceived on purpose when the  so-called pandas began panting and barking.

You probably know what barking is.

Ruff Ruff, Ruff, Ruff.

Pandas don't bark as far as I know and panting.

So that's what dogs do to cool  themselves, but people can do that too.

We generally don't do it in the same way  that dogs do, but it is possible to pant.

If you're for example, running a marathon  or just after running a marathon,  

you might collapse at the the finish line  and start panting because you're so hot.

Hopefully you also don't stop barking.

Pandas are native to China and an  international symbol of the country.

This should be easy for you to  understand the meaning because  

you know about your native language  or understanding native speakers.

So native in this context means  originally from our native to China.

So you can talk about animals or plants or  other things as being native to a country.

So what about your country?

What animal or plant is native to your country  and would be well known to many other people,  

perhaps from Canada geese, Canadian geese.

Geese are native to Canada.

Beavers are native to Canada.

Moose are native to Canada.

Those are might be animals that people  think of when they think of Canada.

Maple trees.

That's an easy 1.

Maple trees are native to Canada.

So share one example from your  country just to help everyone  

also learn about your country at the  same time for the sentence structure.

Notice we have the something now because  we're not talking about one all panda.

We're talking about the category  pandas in general, trees in general,  

Maple trees in general, geese or moose in general.

Moose is the plural noun, moose in general.

So that's why we have the verb  to be are and then native to.

Don't forget this too.

And then include your country name.

You could include your city or province  or specific part of the country as well.

So share that in the comments.

Are you enjoying this lesson?

If you are, then I want to tell you  about the Finally Fluent Academy.

This is my premium training program where  we study native English speakers from TV,  

the movies, YouTube, and the news.

So you can improve your listening  skills of fast English, expand your  

vocabulary with natural expressions,  and learn advanced grammar easily.

Plus, you'll have me as your personal coach.

You can look in the description  for the link to learn more,  

or you can go to my website and  click on Finally Fluent Academy.

Now let's continue with our lesson  after visitors publicized the ruse.

OK, first look at this word,  but listen to my pronunciation.

Ruse.

So notice the sound is AZ ruse.

Ruse.

And what is a ruse?

A ruse.

Remember that a ruse is a trick.

It's something that someone does  in order to deceive someone.

Let's look at this example,  the so-called volunteer.

Remember going back, the so-called  volunteer asked for a glass of water,  

but it was a ruse to get my personal information.

So remember that volunteer knocked on my  door to get donations for an animal shelter.

But again, it was a ruse.

It was a trick.

There is no animal shelter.

He's not a volunteer, a so-called volunteer.

And then he said, oh, could  I have a glass of water?

I'm really thirsty.

So I go to get a glass of water.

But then I leave him at my front door and he  

sees my purse and is able to  get my personal information.

So it was a ruse after visitors publicize.

So this means they made it publicly known.

So to publicize something to make it publicly  known, it's not only used in a negative context,  

you can publicize something and  make it known for a positive reason.

In this case, though, it's negative.

They publicized the ruse on social media.

The organizers admitted Came clean, Remember,  Came Clean admitted they'd painted 2 Chow Chows.

So now this is an explanation  of what a Chow Chow is.

If you don't know a fluffy dog breed,  breed represents the type of dog.

So the name of this dog is Chow Chow, a fluffy  dog breed originally from northern China.

So originally from what?

Could you replace this with?

Native to northern China.

Now, because this information is between two  dashes, similar to when we saw in fact between  

two commas, you can remove all this information  and the sentence is grammatically correct.

So I could say the organizers admitted king clean.

They painted 2 Chow Chows with  black and white panda markings.

So they painted the dogs with these markings.

The markings are just the the  patterns on the panda's face,  

how they have black under their eyes.

That would be called the markings.

Since then, then being it was  publicized on social media.

The ruse was publicized on social media.

Since then, visitors have demanded  their money back for false advertising.

If the visitors are demanding their money back, it  means that they're demanding a refund, a refund.

I'm sharing that because we only use this term,  

a refund if money is paid for a product  or service and then that product or  

service is returned or found that you didn't  receive the product or service you wanted.

So that would be a refund.

But in other cases, you wouldn't say refund,  

you would say I want my money back or I in  demanding my money back to sound stronger.

Demand sounds stronger than simply  saying I want I want my money back.

I demand my money back.

Demand sounds a lot stronger than want.

So let's say you gave your friend $20.

You lent your friend $20.

When you lend someone money, it means  you give them money temporarily with  

the expectation that they will  return the money in the future.

So you you could say to your friend, I lent  you $20 weeks ago, I want my money back.

So in this case, it's not a refund.

You can't use that term.

I want my money back.

Now you could also say you need to pay me back.

In this case, when you return money that  someone lent you gave you temporarily,  

that is to pay someone back when you  return it, you need to pay me back.

And notice that lent is the  past simple of the verb to lend.

So the verb is to lend and  in the past simple lent.

Let's continue.

This isn't the first time a Chinese zoo has misled  visitors with claims of housing real pandas.

So if you house an animal at the zoo, it  simply means that that animal lives at the zoo.

But this isn't the first time  a Chinese zoo has misled.

Misled.

Our verb here is to mislead is conjugated  in the present perfect has misled.

So this is the third form, and it's in  the present perfect because we have.

This isn't the first time.

This is a time reference that tells  you you need the present perfect.

Now using mislead, this means to cause  someone to believe something that isn't true.

For example, the advertisement showed  the hotel had a pool and a spa.

So you saw this beautiful  advertisement for this hotel.

There was this gorgeous spa, this luxurious pool.

But then you got there and there was no pool.

Or it was tiny and dirty  and not what you expected.

So you can say it was misleading.

The advertisement was misleading.

So here to be the verb be is the  main verb conjugated in the past.

Simple.

It was misleading.

It misled us.

So this is the active sentence.

The advertisement in the past simple misled  us or you could state we were misled.

This is the passive we, we were  misled and then you could add on.

What would you add on by the  ad if you wanted to include?

Who is misleading?

We were misled, We were misled.

This isn't the first time a Chinese zoo has misled  visitors with claims of housing real pandas.

In May, NBC News reported that a zoo in  Jiangzhou province had also painted chow chows.

Remember, this is a type of dog, a  fluffy dog native to to northern China,  

originally from So this is the breed also painted.

Houch House Zoo representatives initially claimed  that the animals were a rare breed of panda dogs.

So notice how they have initially claimed.

This is the same as first said  first said, initially claimed.

Now we already talked about  breed a type of dog a rare breed.

Adding rare as an adjective  means it's uncommon or unusual.

A rare breed of panda dogs.

This is what the zoo  initially claimed now claimed.

I said previously that the equivalent  would be said, but said as fact.

So if you claim something,  you're not just saying it,  

you're saying this is the fact, this  is the truth, so sad or stated as fact.

So that's what the zoo  representatives initially claimed.

They were a rare, uncommon,  unusual breed of panda dogs.

Now rare.

This is useful to remember and the  definition of it as being uncommon, unusual.

That's slightly applies to the  adverb of frequency rarely,  

because when you rarely do something, it  means it's not part of your normal routine.

It's the opposite of usually.

So if you rarely do something here's never and  then rarely would be a little bit above never.

So you could say she rarely goes to the zoo.

So notice we have this ES because the subject  is she and this is the present simple.

And the sentence structure is subject adverb of  

frequency and then your verb  conjugated with the subject.

So for ** *** it you need to remember to  add that S or ES she rarely goes to the zoo.

Now.

They initially claimed that they're a rare breed  

of panda dogs before admitting  that such animals don't exist.

OK, there is no such thing as a panda  dog everyone because they admitted it.

So when you admit something, you provide  the truth that you previously did not.

So again, remember we could use.

Come clean.

Before coming clean the such animals don't exist.

And this is conjugated in our verb ING even when I  

add coming clean because come is the  verb and before is a preposition.

So we need that verb with ING before coming clean.

The such animals don't exist.

At the time, zoo officials  told Chinese state media they  

have advertised them as panda dogs and  did not intentionally mislead anyone.

Well, we already talked about what it means to  mislead, but notice how they added intentionally.

So it's saying that, OK, maybe the visitors  thought the panda dogs were real pandas,  

a rare breed, but that wasn't our intention.

We didn't do that on purpose.

We didn't intentionally mislead anyone.

So they're admitting that, yes, they shared  false information, but it wasn't their intention.

They didn't do it on purpose to mislead anyone.

Let's continue.

When journalists asked them why, they invented  the idea of panda dogs to cover their tracks.

Oh, I like this to cover their tracks.

If you cover your tracks, it means  you hide or conceal information  

that can reveal a crime or simply a misdeed.

It doesn't have to necessarily  be overly serious like a crime.

Let's review this example sentence.

We need to cover our tracks so she  doesn't know we were in her office.

So you were in your coworker's office  and you didn't have permission.

Maybe you were doing something positive.

Maybe you were trying to find  out what her birthday when her  

birthday is so you can plan a surprise party.

It doesn't necessarily have to be negative,  but if you want to cover your tracks well,  

you need to hide or conceal  that you entered her office.

How could you do that?

Well, if the light was off and then you  turned it on, make sure you turn it back off.

Make sure you put all the  objects exactly where they were.

Make sure you don't leave any  garbage or anything like that.

That's how you would cover your tracks.

So when journalists asked them why they invented  the idea of panda dogs to cover their tracks,  

a zoo representative explained  there are no panda bears at the zoo.

And we wanted to do this as a result.

Simple enough explanation.

At the time, state media and the general public  criticized the zoo for also mistreating the dogs.

To mistreat is to treat poorly.

So in this case, mistreating the dogs, not  treating them very well or treating them poorly.

Zoo officials defended the exhibit.

If you defend something or someone,  

you say something positive when other  people are saying something negative.

So the zoo officials are saying  the exhibit is a good exhibit,  

it is interesting, it provides value,  that's how you would defend it.

Zoo officials defended the exhibit.

The exhibit being the area where you can see  the panda dogs, the so-called panda dogs.

Seeing the dogs had not been harmed, you could  also say had not been mistreated mistreated.

So we would take this which is a verb  mistreating and we would turn it into  

the adjective form had not been mistreated.

One official stated normal people dye  their hair, dogs can dye their hair too.

So remember they dyed the dog's  dye being to put color in.

So the pronunciation is the  same as the verb to dye.

But here to dye one's hair is to  change the color of one's hair.

Is also used as a noun, hair dye.

Hair dye.

You use hair dye to dye your hair.

So normal people dye their hair.

Dogs can dye their hair too.

So this is their statement of defense.

This is how they defended themselves,  justified or supported their actions,  

saying they weren't mistreating  or harming the animals.

And that's the end of this article.

So what I'll do now is I'll read  the article from start to finish  

and this time you can focus on my pronunciation.

Zoo comes clean that their pandas  are painted dogs A Chinese zoo has  

admitted that the pandas in their  exhibits were in fact painted dogs.

According to the New York Post, visitors  at Shanwei Zoo realized they were being  

bamboozled when the so-called  pandas began panting and barking.

Pandas are native to China and an  international symbol of the country.

After visitors publicized the ruse on social  media, the organizers emitted They painted 2 Chow  

Chows, a fluffy dog breed originally from northern  China with black and white panda markings.

Since then, visitors have demanded  their money back for false advertising.

This isn't the first time a Chinese zoo has misled  visitors with claims of housing real pandas.

In May, NBC News reported that a zoo in  Jiangzhou province had also painted Chow chows.

Zoo representatives initially claimed  that the animals were a rare breed  

of panda dogs before admitting  that such animals don't exist.

At the time, zoo officials told Chinese  state media they had advertised them  

as panda dogs and did not  intentionally mislead anyone.

When journalists asked them why they invented  the idea of panda dogs to cover their tracks,  

a zoo representative explained there are no  panda bears at the zoo and we wanted to do this.

As a result, at the time, state media and  

the general public criticized the  zoo for also mistreating the dogs.

Zoo officials defended the exhibit,  saying the dogs had not been harmed.

One official stated normal people dye their hair.

Dogs can dye their hair too.

So did you like this lesson?

Do you want me to make more lessons  where we review the news together?

If you do, then put let's go, let's  go put, let's go in the comments.

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And you can keep expanding your  vocabulary with this lesson right now.