Shadowing Practice: BBE English Podcast 48 - Chủ động luyện nghe Tiếng Anh có phụ đề | I'm Mary - Learn English Speaking with YouTube
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Track 1 Hi, Mina.
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Track 1 Hi, Mina.
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Shall we have a look at the material for our presentation on marriage customs?
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Yeah, sure.
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I've got a lot of information about India.
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How about you?
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Yes, yes.
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I've got material about marriage in the Emirates.
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Shall we get going?
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What about meeting?
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How do people in India meet in the first place?
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Hmm, in traditional Indian families,
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the parents used to arrange the marriage,
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and the couple used to meet for the first time when the boy visited the girl's house.
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But that's changed now.
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Yeah, we used to have arranged marriages in the Emirates too.
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Did the groom have to give anything to the bride's family?
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I mean, did they give them a gift or money?
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Well, in India, in the old days,
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the girl's family used to give the boy's family a gift,
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like money or jewellery.
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But it's not allowed anymore.
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Wow.
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In my country, the groom still has to pay all the expenses.
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Have there been any changes in marriage customs in India in recent years?
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Well, yes.
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I found an article about special websites for finding partners.
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It says that because so many young people from India study abroad these days,
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their families are using websites to find marriage partners for them.
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Oh, okay.
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And where does the couple live when they get married?
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That's another thing that's changing.
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In the past, the bride used to go to live with the family of the groom,
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but these days more and more young couples are setting up their own homes independently.
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What about the Emirates?
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Track 2 Good morning.
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Shall we start by looking at the topic of your project?
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So, what have you decided to research?
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Well, we thought we'd compare festivals in different countries and see if any of them are similar.
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Yeah, you know, like the carnival celebrations in South America and the water festival in Thailand.
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OK.
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What exactly are you planning to study?
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The origins of the festivals?
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The types of celebration?
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People's attitudes towards the festivals?
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We were planning to look at the origins of the festivals and the time of year they're celebrated.
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We're thinking of looking at the connection between the seasons in different countries and the actual festivals,
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and then looking for similarities between countries that are quite far apart.
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Well, that sounds interesting.
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Did you say you've already started researching into the carnival?
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Yes.
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We've already found a connection between the carnival and the seasons.
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For instance, some researchers say that a very long time ago in Europe,
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people used to put on colourful masks and costumes at the beginning of the year to celebrate the end of winter,
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and then they could get ready for spring.
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Track three.
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Right, and then what happened?
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Well, as the years went by,
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the purpose of the carnival changed,
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and it became a religious festival.
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These days there are big carnival celebrations in countries all across the world,
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like Brazil and India and Indonesia.
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But an interesting thing we discovered is that in some countries,
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people celebrate the carnival by throwing water at each other in the street.
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Well, we thought that obviously this is because carnivals celebrated at the hottest time of the year,
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just before the rainy season.
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So splashing people with water is a very good way of cooling them down.
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Track 4 Hmm, yes, that makes sense.
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Um, did you look into any other festivals?
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Yes, we did.
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What we're planning to do is more research into water festivals.
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We found that in Asian countries,
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where there aren't any carnival celebrations,
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there are still festivals that involve people splashing each other with water.
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Actually, we found references to them in Burma,
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Thailand, Vietnam, China and Japan.
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But we also found a reference to a water festival in Mexico.
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So we thought we'd look into that a bit more and see if we can find any similarities between these countries.
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I mean, we realise that water is more than just a way of cooling people down in hot weather.
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It also has a lot of different religious meanings and purposes.
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For instance, we found that in some societies,
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water can mean life or wealth or just luck.
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Yes, and another thing we found out is that these water festivals often celebrate the beginning of the new year,
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just like the original celebrations hundreds of years ago before the carnival.
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So, up to now, we found that the carnival
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and the seasons are linked by ancient traditions and that water plays an important part in the celebrations.
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Track 5 I'm going to start this lecture by describing the structure of an offshore oil rig.
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Well, to be accurate, we should call it an oil platform.
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If you look at the diagram,
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you can see the top part of the platform floating on the surface of the water.
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The tall tower in the centre of the platform is called a derrick.
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That's D-E-R-R-I-C-K.
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The derrick is where the drilling machinery and lifting equipment is installed.
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OK?
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Now, if you look about halfway down the diagram on the right,
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you can see a helicopter.
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It's parked on the helicopter pad.
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Helicopters are used mostly to transport employees to and from the platform when they have free time.
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Now, if you look underneath that,
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at the very bottom of the platform,
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you can see one of the four support towers.
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These support the rest of the platform.
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These metal structures are usually attached to the seabed by long cables.
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Right, now the last part of the platform I'm going to describe is on the other side,
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just above the level of the water.
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It's a crane.
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That's spelt C-R-A-N-E.
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Cranes are used everywhere in construction,
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but this one is specialist equipment for lifting heavy spare parts at sea.
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In fact, apart from the derrick,
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you can see three cranes in the diagram.
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Track 6.
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Some experts believe that if we knew how to control the power of the sea,
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we could generate enough electricity for the whole world.
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But, in this talk, I'm going to focus on the UK and our capacity for generating electricity from wave and tidal energy.
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I'm going to look at how many megawatts we generated before 2008 and how many we expect produce in 2014.
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So if you'd like to look at the chart you'll see
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that before 2008 our capacity was only one megawatt but in 2008
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when oil prices rose there was an increased interest in marine power and our capacity grew quite dramatically to four megawatts.
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Ah now you might have expected this figure to rise consistently over the years,
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but in fact it dropped again in 2009 to only 2 megawatts.
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This was because oil prices fell again,
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so there was less interest in developing alternative power sources.
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But nowadays the cost of oil production is going up again,
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and there's been a renewed interest in marine power.
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As a consequence, capacity has increased steadily since 2009,
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reaching 18 megawatts in 2012.
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This trend is expected to continue in the near future,
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reaching a total capacity of 50 megawatts in 2013 and 60 megawatts in 2014.
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Track 7 Good evening.
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My talk this evening will cover three main themes.
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First, I'll outline a timeline of how deep-sea exploration vessels developed.
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Secondly, I'll describe the most recent of these, the Deep Sea Challenger.
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And finally, I'll look at some of the benefits of this deep-sea research.
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The first manned deep-sea exploration vessel was invented in the 1920s.
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It was called a bathysphere,
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better known as a diving bell.
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It was basically a round metal structure with windows with just enough room for two men to sit in,
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and it was lowered into the ocean on a cable.
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The first descent in the diving bell took place in 1930,
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and in 1934 it went down to a depth of nearly a thousand metres,
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which was impressive for the time.
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The problem with the diving bell was
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that it had no power of its own and there wasn't much room for the researchers to move around.
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So the next development after the diving bell was the Baffy Scaife,
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a small manned submarine invented in the 1940s.
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The difference between the two was that the Bathyscafe had its own power source
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which allowed the scientists to investigate in the depths of the ocean more freely.
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A Bathyscafe called the Trieste reached a record depth of 10,000 metres in 1960.
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Since then, a new record has been set by James Cameron,
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who descended to a depth of 11,000 metres for the first time in 2012.
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Track 8 So let's move on now to look at the submarine that took James Cameron so far down into the ocean.
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If you look at the drawing of the Challenger,
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you can see the pilot's chamber at the very bottom of the submarine.
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It's a very small section where the pilot sits and controls the sub and all the equipment on it.
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Now let's have a look at how the submarine is powered.
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Going up from the pilot's chamber,
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in the middle of the sub,
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on the right-hand side of the drawing,
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you can see a whole section covered in batteries.
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They provide the power source
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that takes the sub all the way to the bottom of the ocean and back up to the surface again.
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Next to that, there's another important part of the sub.
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You probably realise that there's no light at the bottom of the ocean,
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so the sub needs to take its own.
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If you look at the back of the sub,
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in the middle, just next to the batteries,
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you can see the panel of lights.
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They provide the light for filming and taking samples from the seabed.
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And one more part of the sub,
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which is important for navigation and to stop it spinning out of control,
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is the large fin at the back.
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You can see it at the back of the sub,
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at the top of the drawing.
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Okay, to conclude my talk,
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I'm going to ask a couple of questions.
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First, what is the purpose of this deep-sea exploration?
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And second, is it worth the expense?
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I think one of the justifications for spending
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so much money on this kind of research is that it allows scientists to understand more about the surface of the Earth,
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For example, how it was formed and how it behaves.
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This could have important consequences for predicting earthquakes and saving lives through early warning systems.
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Another reason this type of research is considered valuable is that by exploring unknown parts of the ocean,
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we increase our knowledge of the availability of minerals for industry.
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And obviously, this could lead to huge commercial advantages.
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So, the answer is yes.
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In the long run, this kind of exploration can benefit both the ordinary population and industry.
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Why practice speaking with this video?
Engaging with the BBE English Podcast provides a valuable opportunity for english speaking practice. The conversational nature of this episode, focusing on marriage customs and cultural differences, allows learners to immerse themselves in authentic dialogues. When you practice with this video, you're not just listening; you're actively participating in discussions that reflect real-life situations. By shadowing the speakers, you can enhance your pronunciation and intonation, making it easier to communicate your ideas clearly and confidently.
Grammar & Expressions in Context
Throughout the dialogue, several key structures are used that are essential for effective communication. Here are a few notable examples:
- Used to - This phrase is applied to discuss past habits or states that have since changed, as in, "In traditional Indian families, the parents used to arrange the marriage." This structure helps to convey the idea of change over time.
- How about - This expression is frequently used to suggest or inquire about options, making conversations flow more naturally. It's a great way to initiate topics, as seen when the speakers say, "How about meeting?"
- These days - This phrase indicates current trends or practices, which is particularly relevant in discussions about changing social customs, such as "these days, more and more young couples are setting up their own homes independently."
- What about - A useful interrogative phrase for transitioning between topics or asking for more information, demonstrated when questions arise about marriage traditions and practices in different cultures.
Common Pronunciation Traps
While practicing with the video, be aware of certain pronunciation traps that may challenge you:
- Groom - This word can often be pronounced incorrectly due to its silent letters. Pay attention to how the presenters articulate this term during discussions about marriage.
- Couple - This term is commonly mispronounced, especially when it appears at a fast pace in dialogue. Practicing its pronunciation in the context of sentences can help solidify your skills.
- Emirates - Ensure clarity in pronunciation here, as accents and stress can alter the understanding of speakers unfamiliar with the term.
Utilizing the shadowing technique while engaging with this podcast will not only help improve your fluency but also allow you to capture the nuances of English pronunciation. By learning English with YouTube, you'll find a dynamic and effective way to enhance your speaking skills.
What is the Shadowing Technique?
Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.
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