Shadowing Practice: TOEFL Listening Practice | Lecture | Diabetes - Learn English Speaking with Video
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67 sentences
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Many individuals suffering from the medical condition known as diabetes rely on artificial insulin to maintain good health.
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The principal means of delivering insulin to the body is via injection,
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but work is being done to develop other reliable means of administering it without having to use a syringe.
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Charlotte Newman reports.
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Diabetes is a condition in which the body does not release or properly respond to insulin, a hormone produced in the pancreas.
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Many diabetics require regular insulin injections to regulate their blood glucose levels, in some cases, as many as 10 or more shots a day.
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Although insulin injections allow diabetics to live full and active lives, the treatment does have inherent disadvantages.
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But at Syracuse University in New York, a new delivery method is currently under development.
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Insulin chewing gum.
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Chemist Max Garcia is here to tell us more.
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Well, while many diabetics inject themselves regularly without any real discomfort, some do experience pain and itching where the needle breaks the skin.
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A condition known as lipodystrophy in which the skin puckers can even develop at the site of multiple injections.
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At affected areas, the absorption of insulin may be impaired, making it difficult to calculate the correct dosage.
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Oral delivery of insulin would, therefore, be a preferable treatment.
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But the development of pills
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and capsules has been hampered by various problems relating to the physical and chemical stability of the hormone.
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One major challenge has been to find a way to protect insulin from the hostile conditions in the digestive system.
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Apparently, insulin molecules delivered by mouth will be broken down by the high acidity they encounter in the digestive tract.
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Scientists have tried various strategies to overcome this obstacle.
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And now the team at Syracuse has come up with a potential solution.
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That's right.
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Using their knowledge of the digestive system,
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our scientists realized that the body has a mechanism to protect valuable molecules as they pass through the digestive system.
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So the team decided to chemically bind insulin molecules to vitamin B12,
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A protein called haptocorin, present in the saliva in the mouth,
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joins with this particular vitamin to ensure its safe passage through the stomach to the intestine.
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The research team's idea was simply for the insulin to hitch a ride, as it were, along with a protected vitamin.
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This particular vitamin seems to be a very good choice once
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the b12 reaches the intestine intact another chemical takes over from the haptocorin to help it enter the bloodstream
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so by binding insulin to vitamin b12 the chances of it
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being absorbed into the bloodstream are optimized early tests with rats indicate
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that the researchers are on the right track in these tests the new treatment was administered in liquid form
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but chewing gum would probably be a more efficient medium for human beings.
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Through the chewing action, we could ensure sufficient haptocorin is produced.
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If this solution proves feasible and viable,
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diabetics might one day be able to throw away their syringes and reach for a pack of 1.
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What is one reason why researchers want to find an alternative delivery system for insulin?
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Number 2.
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What difficulty has impeded attempts to develop an oral insulin treatment?
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Number 3.
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What breakthrough did the chemists at Syracuse University make?
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Number 4.
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In which part of the body does haptocorin's protective function end?
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5. What is the current status of the research into chewing gum as a medium for insolent?
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Number 1.
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What is one reason why researchers want to find an alternative delivery system for insulin?
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Well, while many diabetics inject themselves regularly without any real discomfort, some do experience pain and itching where the needle breaks the skin.
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A condition known as lipodystrophy, in which the skin puckers can even develop at the site of multiple injections.
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Number 2.
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What difficulty has impeded attempts to develop an oral insulin treatment?
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Apparently, insulin molecules delivered by mouth will be broken down by the high acidity they encounter in the digestive tract.
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Scientists have tried various strategies to overcome this obstacle, and now the team at Syracuse has come up with a potential solution.
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Number three.
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What breakthrough did the chemists at Syracuse University make?
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that's right using their knowledge of the digestive system our scientists realized
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that the body has a mechanism to protect valuable molecules as they pass through the digestive system
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so the team decided to chemically bind insulin molecules to vitamin b12 a protein called haptocorin,
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present in the saliva in the mouth, joins with this particular vitamin to ensure its safe passage through the stomach to the intestine.
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Number 4.
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In which part of the body does haptocorin's protective function end?
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Once the B12 reaches the intestine intact, another chemical takes over from the haptocorin to help it enter the bloodstream.
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So by binding insulin to vitamin B12, the chances of it being absorbed into the bloodstream are optimized.
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Number 5.
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What is the current status of the research into chewing gum as a medium for insulin?
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Early tests with rats indicate that the researchers are on the right track.
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In these tests, the new treatment was administered in liquid form, but chewing gum would probably be a more efficient medium for human beings.
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Through the chewing action, we could ensure sufficient haptochorin is produced.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This speaking lesson is built on the video “TOEFL Listening Practice”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: insulin, vitamin, digestive, chewing, molecules. This video has 67 sentences and 876 words to shadow. The speech runs for 8:29. The speaker talks slowly, about 103 words per minute, so there is time to copy every sound. Only 74% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is demanding.
Key vocabulary in this video
15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| insulin noun | /ˈɪnsəlɪn/ | A polypeptide hormone that regulates carbohydrate metabolism (in various animals including humans). |
| vitamin noun | /ˈvɪt.ə.mɪn/ | Any of a specific group of organic compounds essential in small quantities for healthy human growth, metabolism, development, and body function. They are found… |
| chew verb | /tʃuː/ | To crush with the teeth by repeated closing and opening of the jaws; done to food to soften it and break it down by the action of saliva before it is swallowed. |
| molecule noun | /ˈmɑ.lɪ.kjul/ | The smallest particle of a specific element or compound that retains the chemical properties of that element or compound; two or more atoms held together by… |
| injection noun | /ɪnˈd͡ʒɛk.ʃən/ | The act of injecting, or something that is injected. |
| scientist noun | /ˈsaɪəntəst/ | One whose activities make use of the scientific method to answer questions regarding the measurable universe. A scientist may be involved in original research… |
| researcher noun | /ˈɹiˌsɝ.t͡ʃɚ/ | One who researches. |
| bind verb | /ˈbaɪ̯nd/ | To tie; to confine by any ligature. |
| oral adjective | /ˈɔː.ɹəl/ | Relating to the mouth. |
| administer verb | /ədˈmɪn.ɪ.stə/ | To apportion out, distribute. |
| chemist noun | /ˈkɛmɪst/ | A person who specializes in the science of chemistry, especially at a professional level. |
| efficient adjective | /ɪˈfɪʃənt/ | Making good, thorough, or careful use of resources; not consuming extra. Especially, making good use of time or energy. |
| stomach noun | /ˈstʌmək/ | An organ in animals that stores food in the process of digestion. |
| liquid noun | /ˈlɪk.wɪd/ | A substance that is flowing, and keeping no shape, such as water; a substance of which the molecules, while not tending to separate from one another like those… |
| indicate verb | /ˈɪndɪˌkeɪt/ | To point out; to discover; to direct to a knowledge of; to show; to make known. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| break down verb | To stop functioning. |
| come up with verb | To manage to produce, deliver, or present (something) by inventing, creating, thinking of, or obtaining it. |
| pass through verb | To go through, to travel through, to transit or lie across a place or from one place to another. |
| throw away verb | To discard (trash, garbage, or the like), to toss out, to put in the trash. |
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | being done · may be impaired · has been hampered |
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | has been hampered · has been · have tried |
Pronunciation to watch
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: injection /ɪnˈd͡ʒɛk.ʃən/, efficient /ɪˈfɪʃənt/, sufficient /səˈfɪʃənt/, artificial /ˌɑː.tɪˈfɪʃ.əl/, absorption /æbˈsɔɹp.ʃn̩/
- Long words — get the stress right: administer /ədˈmɪn.ɪ.stə/, difficulty /ˈdɪfɪkəlti/, mechanism /ˈmɛk.ə.nɪ.zəm/, stability /stəˈbɪlɪti/, artificial /ˌɑː.tɪˈfɪʃ.əl/
How to practise with this video
- Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
- Shadow it sentence by sentence at normal speed, repeating each one until your rhythm matches the speaker.
- Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like insulin, vitamin, chew.
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.