Today's dialogue is somewhat inspired by real life. The short version is that our cat Squeak has taken a fancy to crawling out our apartment window onto a narrow ledge from which unaided return is basically impossible. We're not sure if this a form of escapism, a product of deep-seated unhappiness with life, or if the animal is just plain dumb. Any tips on how to stop him from trying to kill himself are of course welcome.

Learning Chinese? Our dialogue today moves quickly, and our two grammar points aren't trivial either, making this one of the more challenging lessons we've put up at the elementary level. If you're working towards intermediate status give it a listen and see how much you understand. And if you have any questions or comments please leave them below or send your feedback directly to podcasters gail@popupchinese.com or brendan@popupchinese.com. We'd love to hear from you.
ckw4y
 said on
January 25, 2011
There was a study done on survival rates of cats falling from skyscrapers in Manhattan that found the survival rate of falls from the 9th floor or higher were 90%, but the 3rd floor to the 8th floor had much higher mortality rates. The suspected reason is that after the cat reaches terminal velocity, it will relax and spread out, which causes it to slow down. Impacting the ground in a relaxed state also helps spread the impact out. Most cats falling from the 9th story and up only suffered minor injuries such as cracked ribs, broken teeth, or broken legs.
Echo
 said on
January 25, 2011
@ckw4y,

I heard the reason is because they will have time to adjust their gesture and use paws to land.

--Echo

echo@popupchinese.com
Benrose
 said on
January 25, 2011
Only yesterday a woman in Buenos Aires jumped of the 23th floor of a building and lived! I guess that kinda raises the bar for the cats on the 9th...

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/argentina/110124/argentina-woman-23-floors-hotel
prjh
 said on
January 26, 2011
make arrangements i am tired of cats and dogs fighting, i wish to find the well that gives me life
wibbleypig2003
 said on
February 6, 2011
Quick question -

Could you say 热极了 to say the opposite of 热透了? Like - It's SO HOT, in a good way.

Thanks!
Echo
 said on
February 8, 2011
@wibbleypig2003,

In Chinese, 热 is not a commendatory word itself, so when you say 热极了, it still means "extremely hot".

If you would like to say warm in a good way, you can use 暖和 instead of 热.

--Echo

echo@popupchinese.com