Learn English with English, baby!

Join for FREE!

Social_nav_masthead_logged_in
 
The Amazing Acro-Cats

English, baby!

The Amazing Acro-Cats

Learn English meaning of ‘The Amazing Acro-Cats’

Date: Jan 20 2017

Themes: Celebrity, Pets, Pop Culture

Grammar: Simple Past Tense

Go Super!

Intro

1. Learn Vocabulary - Learn some new vocabulary before you start the lesson.

Go Super to Listen Go Super!

2. Read and Prepare - Read the introduction and prepare to hear the audio.

Go Super to Listen Go Super!

You may know the famous cats of the internet, such as Grumpy Cat, Hamilton the Hipster Cat, and even Lil Bub. But do you know the most incredible kitty-cat live act? The Amazing Acro-Cats are a famous group of kitties who tour the United States with their owner and trainer, Samantha Martin. They show people what cats can learn from a good trainer with lots of treats.

The Amazing Acro-Cats do many different circus tricks. Some cats walk on ropes. Other cats do incredible jumps. Some cats climb ropes. However, the most famous subset of this group is The Rock Cats, a kitty rock-n-roll band. These cats play a guitar, drum set, keyboard, and cowbell. Their rhythm may be in question, but there is nothing cuter than a kitty plucking a guitar.

Andy thinks the Acro-Cats are ridiculous until Brian tells him how amazing they are. Listen to their conversation in today’s English lesson.

Dialog

1. Listen and Read - Listen to the audio and read the dialog at the same time.

Log in to Listen

2. Study - Read the dialog again to see how the vocab words are used.

Andy_H

Andy_H

 Brian

Brian

Andy_H:  Oh, man, Brian! I was driving back from work the other day. I saw the most ridiculous thing. It’s called The Acro-Cats. It’s this live act with all these cats jumping around. Who would pay good money to see that?

Brian:  Well, I would if I could get tickets.

Andy_H:  Say what?!

Brian:  Do you know how popular The Acro-Cats are?

Andy_H:  I’ve never even heard of them.

Brian:  Have you heard of The Rock Cats?

Andy_H:  I have not heard of them, either.

Brian:  That is a subset of The Acro-Cats, and it is a band, a four-piece band of cats, playing musical instruments.

Andy_H:  Hold on. You’re telling me cats can play… Do they play in rhythm?

Brian:  They have been trained to play the instruments. Rhythm is in question some of the time. But it is adorable and amazing.

Andy_H:  OK!

Brian:  There’s a little drum set, and the drumsticks are on cantilevers. So, they just hit the end of it, and it goes up and smashes down, and then they get fed a treat. There’s a cat plucking at a guitar, and one on keyboard. It is adorable!

Andy_H:  I have to say, I’m a little intrigued. I might need to go and see The Acro-Cats.

 

Grammar Point

Go Super to learn "Simple Past Tense" from this lesson Go Super!

Quizzes

Go Super to take Quiz Go Super!

 

Lesson MP3

Go Super to download full lesson MP3 Go Super!

Go Super to Ask Ebaby! teachers your questions! Go Super!

The iTEP® test

  • Schedule an iTEP® test and take the official English Practice Test.

    Take Now >

Discussion

Go Super to Listen Go Super!

Andy saw an advertisement for The Amazing Acro-Cats. He thinks the idea of a live act with cats is crazy. He tells Brian about this, but Brian thinks The Acro-Cats are incredible. In fact, he has been trying to buy tickets to their show. Brian is surprised that Andy doesn’t know more about these famous circus cats.

Brian tells Andy about The Rock Cats, a popular subset of The Acro-Cats. Andy doesn’t believe it. He asks Brian if these cats can play musical instruments in rhythm. Brian says that they aren’t always in rhythm, but they do play instruments if they get a treat. He tells Andy about the details of the band, and Andy is surprised that he now wants to go see these amazing animals.

Do you have a favorite famous animal? Have you ever trained an animal to do tricks?

 

Comments

Log in to Comment

GrammaristSuper Member!

United Arab Emirates

I used to have a cat called Hayato, a word derived from Arabic that means my life but sounds more slang. Sadly, my society at that time strongly disapproved of domesticating pets, including cats, dogs, and pigeons. However, my family agreed to keep it under several stipulations set by my mother.


Some of my cat’s features were waking me up early in the morning, even before the crack of the dawn, and obediently following some habits and norms I established for him. For example, he would come to me and tap on my hands every time he wanted to pee. I remember the first time he did it in my room, I was upset and hit him gently and took him outside to teach him exactly where to do it next time! If he got it right and went outside on time, he would be rewarded with some delicious food, an associative exercise helping him form a new habit. In fact, he was a fast-paced learner.


I will keep the story short and let you know what happened to him.One day, I opened the door for him to play outside on the grass, and I went to school thinking what a wonderful day he would enjoy outside playing with nature, only to be surprised that he had gone forever!


I miss him.

11:43 PM Jan 21 2017 |

ekremkaya79

Turkey

i would like too feed up a scootish fold but my family doesnt want it :/ i love them :)

09:09 PM Jan 21 2017 |

vanesa207

vanesa207Super Member!

Colombia

I didn’t know anything about Amazong Acro-Cats or Rock Cats I think is an interesting show.


In my life I’ve had two dogs like a pets. The first one was when I was 6 years old, I called it Benji (I got that name from “SuperCampeones Anime”). And the second one was a Dalmatian, I called it Rocky. But I never trained to do tricks :(... Now, I don’t have pet, But I’m in love with my mother’s pet called Candy, (...It doesn’t know tricks either)

10:52 PM Jan 20 2017 |

ola3

ola3Super Member!

Ukraine

I have a cat. Every morning at the same time he wakes me up and only due to him, I still keep the job. He doesn’t let me sleep in a minute. His caterwauling is so loud that it bring you to reality right away. But today I outdone him, woke up 2 hours earlier and gave him food correspondingly earlier. Then went to bed again. And that confused my cat. He became loud at the same designated time and strongly demanded his usual breakfast despite of the fact he ate out of schedule two hours earlier. Habit, acquired instinct turned out stronger… somebody told me a cat will never eat if he doesn’t want to. Partially true, if you don’t mess up his schedule.

01:45 AM Jan 19 2017 |

Likes (5):

See all >

Share this lesson:

  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Bebo
  • Share on Myspace
  • Share on Twitter
  • Email this to a friend
  • Share on Sina

Post Ebaby! lessons on your blog:

Subscribe to Daily Lesson Podcast
Download Lesson Widget

Ebaby! Cast

More English Lessons

English Talk Forum