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Feifei: Hello I'm Feifei and welcome to The English
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We Speak - and joining me is Rob.
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Rob: Hello everyone.
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Feifei: So Rob, I hear you have a new a hobby?
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Rob: Yes that's right - it's very exciting -
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let me show you...
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Feifei: Arghh! Bees! I don't like them - shut the door!
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So you're new hobby is bee keeping?
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Rob: Yes I'm a bee keeper - and I love it -
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but there is a sting in the tail.
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Feifei: Of course there's a sting in the tail -
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bees sting - and it hurts, that's why I don't like bees.
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Rob: They only sting when they're angry Feifei -
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and anyway, when I said 'there's a sting in the tail'
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I wasn't referring to the bees.
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I meant something unpleasant
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comes with something that is meant to be pleasurable.
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Feifei: Yes, as I said - looking after bees means
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you're likely to get stung.
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Rob: That's true - but what I meant was bee keeping is
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fun but I wasn't expecting it to cost so much money -
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I had to buy all these hives
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and these special protective clothes.
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Feifei: Yes, you do look silly! So you're saying
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bee keeping is fun but the unexpected
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cost of it is the sting in the tail?
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Rob: Exactly. Let's hear some examples
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while I go and get some honey...
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Examples: We had a great holiday
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but it had a sting in the tail - when we got home
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we discovered our house had been broken into.
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I love her new book - the story is funny and romantic -
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but there's a sting in the tail when someone dies.
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Yeah, we all got a pay rise this month,
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but there's a sting in the tail -
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we're expected to work longer hours.
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Feifei: So that's 'a sting in the tail' -
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a phrase that means something unpleasant and
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sometimes unexpected happens
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when doing something good or fun.
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Rob: OK Feifei, one of the good things about bee
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keeping is you get this delicious honey
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- and that's free - go on Feifei, try some.
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Feifei: Hmmm honey, delicious!
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Oh no, you've brought something else with you...
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it's a bee!
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Rob: Don't panic - I'll try to catch it... ouch! That hurt.
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Feifei: Oh dear - it looks like bee keeping
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has more than one sting in the tail!
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Rob: Very funny!
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Feifei: Bye!