シャドーイング練習: What’s in the air you breathe? - Amy Hrdina and Jesse Kroll - YouTubeで英語スピーキングを学ぶ
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Take a deep breath.
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Take a deep breath.
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In that single intake of air, your lungs swelled with roughly 25 sextillion molecules, ranging from compounds produced days ago, to those formed billions of years in the past.
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In fact, many of the molecules you’re breathing were likely exhaled by members of ancient civilizations and innumerable humans since.
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But what exactly are we all breathing?
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Roughly 78% of Earth’s atmosphere is composed of nitrogen generated by volcanic activity deep beneath the planet’s crust.
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The next major ingredient is oxygen, accounting for 21% of Earth’s air.
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While oxygen molecules have been around as long as Earth’s oceans, oxygen gas didn’t appear until ocean dwelling microorganisms evolved to produce it.
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Finally, .93% of our air is argon, a molecule formed from the radioactive decay of potassium in Earth’s atmosphere, crust, and core.
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Together, all these dry gases make up 99.93% of each breath you take.
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Depending on when and where you are, the air may also contain some water vapor.
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But even more variable is that remaining .07%, which contains a world of possibilities.
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This small slice of air is composed of numerous small particles including pollen, fungal spores, and liquid droplets, alongside trace gases like methane and carbon dioxide.
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The specific cocktail of natural and man-made compounds changes dramatically from place to place.
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But no matter where you are, .07% of every breath you take likely contains man-made pollutants— potentially including toxic compounds that can cause lung disease, cancer, and even DNA damage.
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There’s a wide variety of known pollutants but they all fall into two categories.
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The first are primary pollutants.
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These toxic compounds are directly emitted from a man-made or naturally occurring source.
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However, they don't always come from the places you'd expect.
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Some large factories mostly generate water vapor, with only small quantities of pollutants mixed in.
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Conversely, burning wood or dung can create polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons; dangerous compounds that have been linked to several types of cancer, as well as long-term DNA damage.
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In all cases, pollutants interact with regional weather patterns and topography, which can keep compounds local or spread them kilometers away.
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When these molecules travel through the air, a transformation occurs.
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Natural compounds called oxidants, formed by oxygen and sunlight, break down the pollutants.
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Sometimes, these reactions make pollutants more easily washed out by rain.
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But in other cases, they result in even more toxic secondary pollutants.
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For example, when factories burn coal, they release high concentrations of sulfur oxides.
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These molecules oxidize to form sulfates, which condense with water vapor in the air to form a blanket of fine particles that impair visibility and cause severe lung damage.
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This so-called sulfurous smog was well-known in 20th century London and continues to plague cities like Beijing.
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Since the advent of cars, another secondary pollutant has taken center stage.
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Exhaust from fossil fuel-burning vehicles releases nitrogen oxides and hydrocarbons which react to form ozone.
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And while some ozone in the upper atmosphere helps shield us from ultraviolet rays, on the ground, this gas can form alongside secondary particles and create photochemical smog.
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This brown fog can be found covering densely packed cities, making seeing difficult and breathing hazardous.
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It also contributes to climate change by trapping heat in the atmosphere.
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In recent decades, industrial activity has contributed to a huge spike in various trace gas emissions, fundamentally changing the air we all breathe.
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Many places have already responded with countermeasures.
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Most cars produced since the 1980′s are equipped with catalytic converters that reduce the emission of carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides.
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And today, places like Beijing are battling smog by electrifying their energy infrastructure and limiting automobile emissions altogether.
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But while moving away from fossil fuels is essential, there's no universal remedy for air pollution.
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Different regions need to respond with unique regulations that account for their local pollutants.
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Because no matter where you live, we all share the same air.
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この動画で話す練習をする理由は？
「What’s in the air you breathe?」という動画は、私たちが毎日吸っている空気についての深い知識を提供します。この内容を通じて、英語スピーキング練習や英語シャドーイングを行うことで、科学的な語彙を習得し、会話力を高めることができます。様々な分野の専門用語に触れることで、IELTS スピーキング対策にも役立ちます。特に、英語での講演やディスカッションの際に自信を持って話せるようになるでしょう。
文法と表現の文脈
- ～の間に(While): 「While oxygen molecules have been around as long as Earth’s oceans」という文は、時間や条件の一部を示しています。この構文は、比較や対比をする際に非常に便利です。
- （名詞）を構成する(composed of): 「Roughly 78% of Earth’s atmosphere is composed of nitrogen」という表現は、成分を説明するのに使えます。名詞を説明する際の重要なフレーズです。
- （主語）が（動詞）しなかった(as well as): 「They interact with regional weather patterns and topography, which can keep compounds local or spread them kilometers away.」このフレーズは「および」と「または」を用いて、文をつなげるときに役立ちます。
一般的な発音の罠
動画に含まれる専門用語の中には注意が必要な単語があります。例えば、「sulfurous」は日本語で「硫黄性の」と訳されますが、発音は「サルファラス」となり、母音が強調されるため、英語での発音に苦労するかもしれません。また、「photochemical」という単語も、音節が多いため滑らかに発音するのが難しいです。これらの単語をshadowspeakすることで、日常的な会話の中でも自然に使えるようになります。
様々な発音や文法のポイントを練習することによって、英語スピーキング練習に役立つだけでなく、特定のトピックについて語る力も高まります。これらの要素を組み合わせて、自分自身の表現力を向上させていきましょう。
シャドーイングとは？英語上達に効果的な理由
シャドーイング（Shadowing）は、もともとプロの通訳者養成プログラムで開発された言語学習法で、多言語習得者として知られるDr. Alexander Arguelles によって広く普及されました。方法はシンプルですが非常に効果的：ネイティブスピーカーの英語を聞きながら、1〜2秒の遅延で声に出してすぐに繰り返す——まるで「影（shadow）」のように話者を追いかけます。文法ドリルや受動的なリスニングと異なり、シャドーイングは脳と口の筋肉が同時にリアルタイムで英語を処理・再現することを強制します。研究により、発音精度、抑揚、リズム、連音、リスニング力、そして会話の流暢さが大幅に向上することが確認されています。IELTSスピーキング対策や自然な英語コミュニケーションを目指す方に特におすすめです。