Shadowing Practice: What If Gravity Was 10% Stronger? - Learn English Speaking with Video
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14 sentences
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1
Let's turn up Earth's gravity.
2
Even with a 10% increase, the first thing you notice is that blood gets pulled to your feet, making you dizzy, and for people with weak hearts, the extra strain could be fatal.
3
Around the world, full elevator cabins carry 10% more weight and begin falling.
4
Old balconies and suspension bridges collapse too, while 12,000 satellites would be dragged into the atmosphere and catch fire.
5
Anyone already in the sky is about to have a bad day.
6
will open at the wrong time, while high-altitude planes are suddenly overweight and can't stay airborne.
7
Gravity also pulls the whole atmosphere down on top of us.
8
At sea level, this means more oxygen to ignite forest fires, and even though you get more in every breath, the denser air is harder to breathe.
9
For submarines at 500 meters below sea level, the extra pressure is like diving another 50 meters down, making some implode.
10
But wait, there's more.
11
Catastrophic earthquakes begin to ripple across the Earth as brittle fort
12
lines in the half molten sandwich of our planet are squeezed a little tighter and slip.
13
But at least the stronger gravity would put pressure on carbon
14
minerals at shallower depths underground to give us a few more diamonds.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This C1 speaking lesson is built on the video “What If Gravity Was 10% Stronger?”. This video has 14 sentences and 207 words to shadow. The speech runs for 1:08. The speaker talks fast, about 182 words per minute, so expect linked and reduced sounds. Only 75% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is demanding.
Key vocabulary in this video
The 15 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| meter noun | /ˈmitəɹ/ | A device that measures things. |
| brittle adjective | /ˈbɹɪtəl/ | Inflexible; liable to break, snap, or shatter easily under stress, pressure, or impact. |
| ignite verb | /ɪɡˈnaɪt/ | To set fire to (something), to light (something) |
| implode verb | To collapse or burst inward violently. | |
| ripple noun | /ˈɹɪp(ə)l/ | A moving disturbance, or undulation, in the surface of a fluid. |
| catastrophic adjective | /ˌkætəˈstɹɑfɪk/ | Of or pertaining to a catastrophe. |
| airborne adjective | In or carried by the air. | |
| overweight adjective | /ˌoʊvɚˈweɪt/ | Having a higher weight, especially body fat, than what is generally considered healthy for a given body type and height. |
| balcony noun | /ˈbælkəni/ | An accessible structure extending from a building, especially outside a window. |
| submarine noun | /sʌb.məˈɹiːn/ | A boat that can go underwater. |
| altitude noun | /ˈælt.ɪˌtjuːd/ | The absolute height of a location, usually measured from sea level. |
| squeeze verb | /skwiːz/ | To apply pressure (to something) from two or more sides at once. |
| elevator noun | /ˈɛləˌveɪtɚ/ | Anything that raises or uplifts. |
| melt verb | /mɛlt/ | To change (or to be changed) from a solid state to a liquid state, usually by a gradual heat. |
| dense adjective | /ˈdɛns/ | Having relatively high density. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| turn up verb | To show up; to appear suddenly or unexpectedly. |
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 | would be dragged · are squeezed |
Pronunciation to watch
- Long words — get the stress right: catastrophic /ˌkætəˈstɹɑfɪk/, elevator /ˈɛləˌveɪtɚ/
How to practise with this video
- Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
- Start at 0.75× speed, shadow it sentence by sentence, then go back to normal speed once it feels easy.
- Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like meter, brittle, ignite.
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.