Shadowing Practice: Why Do We Have More Boys Than Girls? - Learn English Speaking with Video
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28 sentences
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Most parents-to-be assume that the sex of their child comes down to a flip of the chromosomal coin, with an equal chance of having a boy or a girl.
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But in reality, the odds aren't even.
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For every 100 girls born, the world gains about 106 baby boys.
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Currently, that skewed sex ratio comes out to roughly 10 million more baby boys than girls born worldwide each year.
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There are some countries where human meddling stacks the odds even higher in favor of boys, but that doesn't explain the fixed odds everywhere else.
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The intrinsic boy-girl ratio is rigged by Mother Nature.
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In fact, it's even more rigged than birth rates show.
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Human conception results in about 150 male zygotes for every 100 females.
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But there's a rather tragic reason for this big biological boy bias early on.
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Male fetuses are much more likely to be miscarried or stillborn than female fetuses.
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And boys that do make it out of the womb suffer more fatal diseases, take more mortal risks and fall prey to more violence than girls.
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So by the time kids grow up and reach baby-making age, the ratio of males to females is just about one to one.
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But the likelihood of a boy even making it to birth is also influenced by his mom's living conditions during pregnancy.
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For example, when a massive famine struck China in the 1960s, the relative likelihood of having a son suddenly dropped, until the famine ended.
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And male Americans born to billionaires seem to have higher than average odds of fathering sons.
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Somehow, female biology suppresses boy survival in the womb during tough times and boosts it when times are good.
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We've seen the same pattern in other mammals, too.
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When resources are scarce, mothers give birth to fewer males than normal.
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When resources are plentiful, they bear more.
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The best explanation we have for this has to do with sex, the other kind.
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In biological terms, the whole goal of copulation is to reproduce, to pass down your genes to someone who will someday pass them on again.
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Female offspring are almost guaranteed to reproduce, famine or no famine, because male mammals are pretty much always willing to mate.
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Males, on the other hand, have to compete for mating privileges.
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A well-nurtured hunk has a good chance of mating with lots of females, while a male weakened by famine might not score at all.
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So male offspring are a bigger risk in general.
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At all stages, they're more likely to die.
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And even if they live, they might not reproduce.
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But when times are good, boys' potential to father lots and lots of babies make them a biological risk worth taking.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This video has 28 sentences and 452 words to shadow. The speech runs for 2:27. The speaker talks fast, about 184 words per minute, so expect linked and reduced sounds. Only 78% 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 |
|---|---|---|
| famine noun | /ˈfæm.ɪn/ | Extreme shortage of food in a region. |
| odd adjective | /ɑd/ | Differing from what is usual, ordinary or expected. |
| ratio noun | /ˈɹeɪ.ʃoʊ/ | A number representing a comparison between two named things. |
| biological adjective | /ˌbaɪ.əˈlɑ.d͡ʒɪ.kəl/ | Of or relating to biology. |
| reproduce verb | /ˌɹi.pɹəˈdus/ | To produce an image or copy of. |
| resource noun | /ɹɪˈzɔːs/ | Something that one uses to achieve an objective, e.g. raw materials or personnel. |
| likelihood noun | /ˈlaɪklihʊd/ | The probability of a specified outcome; the chance of something happening; probability; the state or degree of being probable. |
| rig noun | /ɹɪɡ/ | The rigging of a sailing ship or other such craft. |
| offspring noun | /ˈɔfspɹɪŋ/ | A person's daughter or son; a person's child. |
| womb noun | /wuːm/ | In female mammals, the organ in which the young are conceived and grow until birth; the uterus. |
| fetus noun | /ˈfiːtəs/ | An unborn or unhatched vertebrate showing signs of the mature animal. |
| relative noun | /ˈɹɛl.ə.tɪv/ | Someone connected by blood, marriage, or adoption; someone in the same family. |
| suffer verb | /ˈsʌfɚ/ | To undergo hardship. |
| explanation noun | /ˌɛkspləˈneɪʃən/ | The act or process of explaining. |
| guarantee noun | /ˌɡæɹ.ənˈtiː/ | Anything that assures a certain outcome. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| come down to verb | To reach by moving down or reducing. |
| grow up verb | To mature and become an adult. |
| pass down verb | To hand over, pass through or transfer to a lower level, next generation, etc. |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 4 contractions and reduced forms, such as aren't, doesn't, they're. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: ratio /ˈɹeɪ.ʃoʊ/, explanation /ˌɛkspləˈneɪʃən/, conception /kənˈsɛpʃən/, copulation /kɒp.jəˈleɪ.ʃən/
- Long words — get the stress right: biological /ˌbaɪ.əˈlɑ.d͡ʒɪ.kəl/, explanation /ˌɛkspləˈneɪʃən/, biology /baɪˈɑ.lə.d͡ʒi/, chromosomal /ˌkɹoʊməˈsoʊməl/, copulation /kɒp.jəˈleɪ.ʃən/
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 famine, odd, ratio.
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.