跟讀練習: Are we too Materialistic? - 通過影片學習英語口語

選擇練習模式

每種模式都會開啟全屏練習室。

43 句

如果句子過短或過長，請點選 Edit 進行調整。

It doesn't seem to make sense to suggest that there might be such a thing as good materialism.

After all, isn't materialism just plain bad, always?

It can seem as if we're faced with a stark choice.

Either you can be materialistic, and that means obsessed with money and possessions, shallow and selfish, or you can reject materialism,

be good and focus on more important matters of the spirit.

But in truth, most of us are, in our hearts, stuck somewhere between these two choices, which is pretty uncomfortable.

We're still enmeshed in the desire to possess, but we're encouraged to feel rather bad about it.

Yet, crucially, it's not actually materialism, the pure fact of buying things and getting excited by possessions, that's ever really the problem.

We're failing to make a clear distinction between good and bad versions of materialism.

Let's try to understand good materialism through a slightly unusual route – religion.

Because we see them as focused exclusively on spiritual things, it can be surprising to note how much use religions have made of material things.

They've spent a lot of time making and thinking about scrolls to hang in your house,

shrines, temples, monasteries, artworks, clothes, ceremonies.

However, they've cared about these things for one reason only

because they've wanted material things to serve the highest and noblest purpose – the development of our souls.

It's just that they've recognised that we are incarnate, sensory, bodily beings and that the way to get through to our souls has to be,

at least in part, through our bodies rather than merely through the intellect.

The importance of material things was for centuries at the core of Christianity

which proposed that Jesus was both the highest spiritual being and a flesh and blood person.

He was the spirit incarnate, holiness embodied.

In the Catholic mass, great significance is accorded to the bread and the wine, which are believed to be transubstantiations of Christ,

that is, material objects which simultaneously have a spiritual identity, just as Jesus himself combined the spiritual and the bodily while on earth.

This can all sound like a very weird and arcane point, entirely removed from the local shopping mall.

But exactly the same concept actually applies outside of religions.

Many good material possessions can be said to involve a kind of transubstantiation, whereby they are both practical and physical,

and also embody or allude to a positive personality or spirit.

Take this watch by the designer Dieter Rams.

To the outer eye, it's an ordinary timepiece, but at a psychological level, it's also a kind of transubstantiation.

It tells the time, but it also hints at a more psychological or even spiritual side, with ideals of purity, simplicity and harmony floating around it.

It tells us how long there is till lunch, but it's also trying to nudge us towards being a certain sort of person.

Or take this chair.

It, too, transubstantiates a set of important values straightforwardness, strength, honesty and elegance.

By getting closer to the chair we stand to become a little more like it, which is an important piece of inner evolution.

Material objects can therefore be said to play a positive psychological or spiritual role in our lives when higher,

more positive ideals are materialized in them, and so when buying and using them daily gives us a chance to get closer to our better selves.

When they're contained in physical things,

valuable psychological qualities that are otherwise often intermittent in our thoughts and conduct can become more stable and resilient.

This isn't to say that all consumerism just conveniently turns out to be great.

It depends on what a given material object stands for.

An object can transubstantiate the very worst sides of human nature, greed, callousness, the desire to triumph, as much as it can the best sides.

So, we must be careful not to decry or celebrate all material consumption just like that.

We have to ensure that the objects we invest in

and tire ourselves and the planet by making are those that lend most encouragement to our higher, better natures.

下載應用

流利口語所需的一切

AI 發音評分逐句打分

音標練習掌握每個音

詞彙學習建立你的詞庫

詞彙遊戲邊玩邊學

掃碼

Download on theApp Store Get it onGoogle Play

同頻道

FOR YOU

本課的詞彙與口語要點

這節口語課以影片“Are we too Materialistic?”為素材。影片中反覆出現的詞有：material, materialism, spiritual, object, psychological。這段影片共有 43 個句子、686 個單詞可供跟讀。講話部分時長為 4:24。說話人語速自然，每分鐘約 156 個詞，接近日常對話。只有 80% 的單詞屬於英語最常用的 3,000 詞，詞彙難度較高。

影片中的重點詞彙

影片中 15 個值得學習的單詞，附發音和釋義：

單詞	發音	釋義
spiritual 形容詞	/ˈspɪɹɪt͡ʃuəl/	精神
possession 名詞	/pəˈzɛʃn̩/	所有物, 財產 /財產
ideal 形容詞	/aɪˈdi(ə)l/	理想的
bodily 形容詞	/ˈbɑdɪli/	身體的 /身體的
practical 形容詞	/ˈpɹæk.tɪ.kəl/	使用的, 實用 /實用
stable 名詞	/ˈsteɪ.bəl/	馬廄, 馬棚 /馬棚
encourage 動詞	/ɪnˈkʌɹ.ɪd͡ʒ/	鼓勵 /鼓勵, 激勵 /激勵
temple 名詞	/ˈtɛm.pl̩/	寺廟 /寺廟, 寺
unusual 形容詞	/ʌnˈjuːʒ(u)əl/	稀有
plain 名詞	/pleɪn/	平原, 平野
ceremony 名詞	/ˈsɛɹ.əˌmoʊ.ni/	儀式 /儀式, 祭
designer 名詞	/dɪˈzaɪnɚ/	設計師 /設計師, 設計家 /設計家
ordinary 形容詞	/ˈɔɹdɪnɛɹi/	普通, 平常
evolution 名詞	/ˌiːvəˈluːʃ(ə)n/	演變 /演變, 變遷 /變遷
merely 副詞	/ˈmɪəli/	只是, 只不過 /只不過

影片中的語法

說話人最常用的結構，並附上影片中的原話：

結構	影片中的用法
現在完成時 have/has + 過去分詞 — 過去發生但與現在仍有關聯的事	have made · They've spent · they've cared
被動語態 be + 過去分詞 — 強調發生了什麼，而不是誰做的	is accorded · can be said · be said
定語從句 who / which + 從句 — 補充說明人或事物	choices, which is · wine, which are

需要注意的發音

說話人用了 12 次縮略和弱讀形式，例如 they've, we're, isn't。請按聽到的簡短形式來說。

“sh” 和 “zh” 音: possession /pəˈzɛʃn̩/, unusual /ʌnˈjuːʒ(u)əl/, evolution /ˌiːvəˈluːʃ(ə)n/, consumption /kənˈsʌmp.ʃən/, flesh /flɛʃ/
長單詞——注意重音位置: psychological /ˌsaɪ.kəˈlɑː.d͡ʒɪ.kl̩/, unusual /ʌnˈjuːʒ(u)əl/, ceremony /ˈsɛɹ.əˌmoʊ.ni/, ordinary /ˈɔɹdɪnɛɹi/, evolution /ˌiːvəˈluːʃ(ə)n/

中文母語者容易讀錯的音：

/v/ — 不要讀成 /w/，上齒輕觸下唇: evolution /ˌiːvəˈluːʃ(ə)n/, invest /ɪnˈvɛst/, involve /ɪnˈvɑlv/, exclusively /ɪkˈskluːsɪvli/, conveniently /kənˈvinjəntli/
詞尾子音 — 要讀清楚，後面不要加母音: encourage /ɪnˈkʌɹ.ɪd͡ʒ/, invest /ɪnˈvɛst/, involve /ɪnˈvɑlv/, depend /dɪˈpɛnd/, flesh /flɛʃ/
/r/ 和 /l/ 的區別: spiritual /ˈspɪɹɪt͡ʃuəl/, practical /ˈpɹæk.tɪ.kəl/, scroll /skɹoʊl/, materialism /məˈtɪɹiəlɪzəm/, crucially /ˈkɹuːʃəli/

如何用這段影片練習

先完整聽一遍影片，不要開口，記下不認識的單詞。
先用 0.75 倍速逐句跟讀，熟練之後再回到正常速度。
錄下自己的聲音並與原聲對比，特別注意 spiritual, possession, ideal 這類單詞。

什麼是跟讀法？

跟讀法 (Shadowing) 是一種有科學依據的語言學習技巧，最初開發用於專業口譯員的培訓，並由多語言者Alexander Arguelles博士普及。這個方法簡單而強大：您在聽英語母語原聲的同時立即大聲重複——就像是一個延遲1-2秒緊跟說話者的影子。與被動聽力或語法練習不同，跟讀法強迫您的大腦和口腔肌肉同時處理並模模擬實的講話模式。研究表明它能顯著提高發音準確性，語調，節奏，連讀，聽力理解和口語流利度——使其成為雅思口語備考和真實英語交流最有效的方法之一。

影子跟讀法: 閱讀完整分步指南 →

跟讀練習: Are we too Materialistic? - 通過影片學習英語口語

選擇練習模式

下載應用

The Secret to a Calm Life

PHILOSOPHY - Schopenhauer

Why Love NEVER Lasts FOREVER

PLATO ON: The Allegory of the Cave

Life is Not About Being Happy

Success at School vs Success in Life

Why Socrates Hated Democracy

Why We Go Cold On Our Partners

Are We Rejecting Them Because They’re Wrong—or Because We’re Unwell?

PLATO ON: The Forms

How to Find Out What's Really on Your Mind

POLITICAL THEORY - Karl Marx

Why Unloved People Hate Themselves #shorts #selfcare

How To Get Over Rejection

2 Unexpected Ways to Stop Sabotaging Yourself

How to Stop Feeling Nostalgic for an Ex

How to Get Over Someone

What True Love Really Is

How to Parent Yourself

Should I Choose Passion or Duty?

The Disturbing Philosophy of Overconsumption Explained

Why Religious Tools Don't Work For Women

Some brains are built for philosophy. Is yours?

HISTORY OF IDEAS - Loneliness

🇬🇧 Real English Conversation - Money 🇬🇧 Intermediate English Listening Practice B1/B2

Is Religion Good or Evil? | Richard Dawkins vs Mehdi Hasan

With All You Heart, Soul, and Mind – Bishop Barron's Sunday Sermon

Epictetus' Secret to Breaking Bad Habits

Why Have We Become So Mean?

“Optimization” Is Destroying Humanity

Money, happiness and eternal life - Greed (1/2) | DW Documentary