Learn five things that will help you make the most out of your travels in Pakistan
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Eric: Hi everybody, Eric here. Welcome back to UrduPod101.com. This is All About, lesson 6 – Can You Answer These Five Questions About Pakistan? |
| Afrah: Assalam u alaikum dosto. Mera naam Afrah hai. In this lesson, we have something very special. |
| Eric: It’s a quiz, which may have some of you thinking ‘oh no’! But don’t worry, this will be a fun one. |
| Afrah: We are not going to test your Urdu skills or anything like that. |
| Eric: No. These questions are all about Pakistan itself, the society, geography, and culture. So you can see how much you know about Pakistan. |
| Afrah: Yes, because learning Urdu is much more than just learning a language. |
| Eric: Right, along with that, you learn about people, life, society, and all that good stuff. |
| Afrah: If you pass, you can go to the next lesson. |
| Eric: And if you don’t pass, you can still go on to the next lesson. So no pressure! |
| Afrah: (laughs) Everybody, are you ready? |
| Eric: All right, let’s get started. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Afrah: Eric, you’ll be taking the test along with our listeners, right? |
| Eric: Me? Well, okay, I’ll try to do my best. |
| Afrah: So here’s the first question, and it’s about geography. Where is Pakistan located? |
| A South Asia. |
| B Southeast Asia. |
| C The Middle East. |
| We actually mentioned this in All About, lesson 1, didn’t we? |
| Eric: Yes we did. And I remember that Pakistan is located in South Asia. |
| Afrah: That’s correct! Do you know which city is the capital? |
| Eric: Well, that’s got to be Islamabad, right? |
| Afrah: Correct. Islamabad is the capital city of Pakistan. Okay, now let’s move to the next question. This question is about travel. I’m going to give you three popular tourist sites in Pakistan. Eric, you’ve got to tell me which one is not located in Lahore. |
| A. Anarkali |
| B. Badshahi Mosque |
| C. Faisal Masjid |
| Eric: Does everyone know the answer? Let’s see, both Anarkali and Badshahi Mosque are located in Lahore. So the answer must be Faisal Mosque. |
| Afrah: That’s correct. Faisal Masjid is not in Lahore. |
| Eric: Is Badshahi Mosque located along the border with India? |
| Afrah: Yes, and that’s where Lahore is. You can get there by airplane, which takes around an hour from the capital city Islamabad, or by overnight bus or train. Have you ever been to Badshahi Mosque? |
| Eric: No I haven’t, but I really hope I can go some day. |
| Afrah: It’s one of the biggest mosques in Pakistan. It’s known for its architecture and the old red brick building. If you happen to go to Lahore, be sure to go to Badshahi Mosque. |
| Eric: Okay, now let’s move on to a question about politics. |
| Afrah: Eric, do you know the current Pakistani political system? Is it... |
| A A monarchy. |
| B A socialist republic or |
| C A parliamentary democracy. |
| Eric: Hmm, I saw on the news that a new president of Pakistan has been elected and you have a prime minister. So it seems like a parliamentary democracy. |
| Afrah: Wow! You know a lot about Pakistan. Well, what’s your final answer? |
| Eric: I’ll still stick with parliamentary democracy. |
| Afrah: That’s correct. The legislature of Pakistan is a bicameral parliament, which consists of the upper house called the Senate and the lower house called the National Assembly. |
| Eric: So Pakistan operates under a Westminster-style parliamentary system. Okay, now we’re moving on to a question about the economy. |
| Afrah: As you might know, the Pakistani economy is amongst the fastest growing economies in the world in terms of output. Do you know which sector contributes most to the GDP? I will give you three options. |
| A The service sector. |
| B The industrial sector. |
| C The agricultural sector. |
| Eric: Hmm, this one is very difficult. |
| Afrah: Yeah, I know. So let me help you out. The agricultural sector accounts for 24% of the GDP, while the service and industrial sectors make up 53% and 23% respectively. |
| Eric: Oh, I see! So you mean the answer is a) the service sector? |
| Afrah: That’s correct. Now let’s move to the next question, which is a true or false question. This time, we’re going to debunk a myth about Pakistan. |
| Eric: Sounds fun! |
| Afrah: So here it is. Pakistan’s main staple food is Chicken tikka masala. Is that true or false? |
| Eric: That isn’t really true, is it? |
| Afrah: You’re right, it’s false. Most Pakistanis eat rice or products derived from wheat. |
| Eric: So Afrah, how often do you eat rice? |
| Afrah: Well, since I’m from the southern parts of Pakistan, I eat rice almost everyday for lunch or dinner, but most people from the north or the central western parts of Pakistan don’t eat rice so often. They mostly eat chapati or paratas, which is a flatbread made from wheat. |
| Eric: Is it white rice, like some other Asian countries eat? |
| Afrah: There are actually lot of different varieties and ways to prepare rice. And there are an equal number of varieties of mouthwatering paratas. |
| Eric: For example? |
| Afrah: Most people in southern parts of Pakistan eat rice with pulse curry, which means a curry made of dried lentils and beans, and it’s called Daal Chawal. They eat it mostly with their hands. There are many varieties of rice popular all over Pakistan like Biryani, Tomato rice, pulao, and so on. In the Northern and central parts, people more often eat flat bread made from wheat, which is called chapati or parata. |
| Eric: What about noodles? |
| Afrah: Some people eat noodles for lunch. It’s so funny – some people say that noodles are not rice, so they don’t feel full after having noodles. |
| Eric: Wow! I haven’t heard that before. |
| Afrah: All right. That’s all for our quiz. |
| Eric: And we hope you had fun and that you learned something. You should try asking your friends and family these questions and see how they do! |
| Afrah: Good idea! You can teach other people what you have just learned about Pakistan. |
| Eric: And this is only the beginning of all of the interesting you will learn about Pakistan as you learn the language and experience the culture first hand. |
Outro |
| Eric: Okay, that’s all for this lesson. Thank you for listening, everyone, and we’ll see you next time! |
| Afrah:. پهر ملیں گ. phr milenge |
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