跟讀練習: We’ll Never Beat the Houthis - 通過影片學習英語口語
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Hello, this is John Mearsheimer.
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As you know, I am now answering questions from channel members.
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And today I have a question that comes from someone who self -identifies as Ed Hod App 6465.
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And Edhadap6465 asked me this question,
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should we go to war against the Houthis, not Iran?
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In general, do you think damaging the Iranian proxies in the region is a worthwhile strategy?
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Let me start by just describing to you what I think
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the basic situation is in the region with regard to the United States, the Houthis, and the Iranians.
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The United States is obviously at war with the Houthis.
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Excuse me.
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The United States is obviously at war with Iran.
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But it's very important to understand that the two sides are not shooting at each other at the moment.
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There's no fighting taking place at the moment between the Iranians on one side and the Americans on the other.
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But we are at war.
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There's just a lull in the fighting.
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With regard to the Houthis, the United States is not at war with the Houthis.
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And the United States is not fighting against the Houthis.
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the houthis are fighting against saudi arabia
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and those people in yemen who are associated or allied with saudi arabia
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so in a very important way we have two different wars taking place here one is a war between iran
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and the united states and the other is a war between the houthis and Saudi Arabia.
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Now, very importantly, you want to remember that after President Trump came to office in January 2025,
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he said that he was going to defeat the Houthis in ways
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that would take them out of the fight in the Middle East.
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So what happens in March of 2025, a few months after president trump is back in the white
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house as he starts a fight with the houthis by may of 2025
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roughly two months later president trump ends the war he declares victory of course
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but the fact is we don't win we were incapable of defeating the houthis this cannot be emphasized enough
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so the point i'm making to you is that
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when you think about fighting against the houthis today you want understand
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that the United States went up against the Houthis once before in Trump's second term in office.
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And we effectively quit that fight because we were losing that fight.
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So the question that I'm being asked to address is whether the United States, which is already at war with Iran,
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although we're not fighting with the Iranians at this juncture, whether we should also go to war against the Houthis.
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And what this means, given that the Houthis and the Saudis are fighting each other,
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is whether or not we should join with the Saudis against the Houthis.
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Now, there's no question that the Houthis are very important strategic actors in the Middle East,
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and they are a threat to the united states
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and the principal reason is that the houthis
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because of the damage they can do to saudi arabia
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and the fact
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that they control the bab al mandab strait puts them in
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a position where they can throttle the flow of oil out of the persian gulf and the red sea
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so it's very important to understand that the houthis are a threat to the united states But again,
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the question on the table is whether we should go to war against the Houthis.
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My response to that is no. The fact is that the United States has no way of defeating the Houthis militarily.
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We went to war against the Houthis once before.
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We couldn't beat them then, and we certainly can't beat them now.
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You want to remember
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that one of the principal reasons President Trump ended the war with the Houthis in May of 2025 is
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because he felt
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that we were expending too many precious munitions fighting against the Houthis in what was ultimately proving to be a lost cause.
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Well, today, after this long war, with iran
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that has been going on since february 28th of this year
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we have even less munitions available to fight against the houthis than we had back in the spring of 2025.
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so if we pick a fight with the houthis two things happen one is we don't win
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and number two we expend more precious munitions.
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So you see, in a very important way, the reason that we're not fighting against the Iranians today,
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we're at war with the Iranians for sure.
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And at some point down the road, the shooting may start again.
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But we're not engaged in a shooting match with the Iranians at the moment
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because we have no way of militarily defeating the Iranians. And furthermore,
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we have a huge shortage of precious munitions well the same basic logic applies to the houthis we don't have
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the munitions that we need to attack the houthis
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and produce victory we also don't have the munitions we need to defend their allies
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and here we're talking mainly about saudi arabia if the houthis retaliate
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so we have no war -winning strategy against the houthis
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but to make matters worse it's very important to understand
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that the houthis have the ability to hit critically important targets in saudi arabia in fact there are reports today
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that that saudi arabia's principal oil line
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that goes from the eastern side of saudi arabia to the
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western side of saudi arabia where oil is then put in the red sea
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and shipped to global markets that
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that pipeline has once again been shut down by the houthis now it's not absolutely certain
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that that's the case
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because one can never be certain about news reports uh coming out of the middle east these days
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but there is good reason to believe
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that the houthis have shut down this pipeline all of this tells you
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that the houthis have the ability to do significant damage to critical saudi infrastructure
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so the point i would make is that if we up the ante against the Houthis.
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We try to defeat them once again.
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We're not likely to succeed.
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And furthermore, we're likely to make a bad situation worse
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because the Houthis will retaliate against targets in Saudi Arabia
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that matter enormously in terms of the flow of oil out of the Gulf
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and into world markets i'd make one final point on this
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if the united states working with the saudis is successful at damaging the houthis military capability
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and it looks like the houthis are on the ropes in other words
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if i'm wrong that when i say that i don't think the united states can bring the Houthis to their knees.
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If I'm wrong, I believe that what would then happen is
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that the Iranians would join the fight with the Houthis against the United States.
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The Iranians have a deep -seated interest in making sure the Houthis don't lose.
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So if we are moving in a direction where it looks like we're going to be successful against the Houthis, I think the Iranians would then come in.
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And we're back to square one
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because the United States does not have military capability to defeat the iranians
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and it would be almost impossible for us to prevent the
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iranians from doing significant damage to saudi oil infrastructure all this in conclusion is a way of saying
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that the united states has no winning strategy in the middle east or in the Persian Gulf region.
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It has no winning strategy against Iran.
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It should be manifestly clear at this point in time.
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Remember, the war started on February 28th, and most of it was supposed to last three or four weeks.
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Here we are many months later, and the United States is not on the verge of achieving victory.
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If anything, the United States is in desperate straits vis -a -vis the Iranians
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and the idea that we can now pick a fight with the Houthis
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and do to the Houthis what we have been unable to
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do with with regard to the Iranians I think is a pipe dream
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and in fact as I've said we fought the Houthis once before
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and the Houthis won and I think that would happen again
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but even if I'm wrong I don't think that solves our problem
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because I think the Iranians would come to the rescue of the Houthis.
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That's really all I have to say on this sad situation.
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Once again, it becomes manifestly clear
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that the United States has gotten itself into a well of a lot of trouble in the Middle East, and it has no easy way out.
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In fact, I think it has no way out, period.
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Thank you very much for listening to this episode, and I look forward to answering the next question from a channel member.
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推薦影片
本課的詞彙與口語要點
這節口語課以影片“We’ll Never Beat the Houthis”為素材。 影片中反覆出現的詞有:houthis, Iranian, saudi, arabia, fighting。 這段影片共有 115 個句子、1483 個單詞可供跟讀。 講話部分時長為 10:37。 說話人語速平穩,每分鐘約 140 個詞,很適合跟讀。 85% 的單詞屬於英語最常用的 3,000 詞,其餘的詞建議在練習前先學一下。
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 |
|---|---|---|
| infrastructure 名詞 | /ˈɪnfɹəˌstɹʌkt͡ʃə/ | 基礎設施 /基礎設施 |
| furthermore 副詞 | /ˈfɜː(ɹ).ðə(ɹ)ˌmɔː(ɹ)/ | 並且 /並且, 而且 |
| ally 名詞 | /ˈæl.aɪ/ | 盟國 /盟國 |
| pipeline 名詞 | /ˈpaɪpˌlaɪn/ | 管道, 管線 /管線 |
| strait 名詞 | /stɹeɪt/ | 海峽 /海峽 |
| rescue 動詞 | /ˈɹɛs.kjuː/ | 拯救, 救援 |
| defend 動詞 | /dɪˈfɪnd/ | 保衛 /保衛, 守衛 /守衛 |
| strategic 形容詞 | /stɹəˈti.dʒɪk/ | 戰略的 /戰略的 |
| solve 動詞 | /sɒlv/ | 解決 /解決 |
| conclusion 名詞 | /kənˈkluːʒən/ | 結束 /結束 |
| associate 名詞 | /əˈsoʊʃi.ət/ | 同行, 同事 |
| knee 名詞 | /ni/ | 膝, 膝蓋 /膝蓋 |
| desperate 形容詞 | /ˈdɛs.p(ə.)ɹɪt/ | 絕望 /絕望 |
| pipe 名詞 | /ˈpaɪp/ | 笛子, 管子 |
| importantly 副詞 | /ɪmˈpɔɹ.tənt.li/ | 重要的是... |
影片中出現的短語動詞
| 單詞 | 釋義 |
|---|---|
| look forward to 動詞 | 期待, 嚮往 |
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 |
|---|---|
| 被動語態 be + 過去分詞 — 強調發生了什麼,而不是誰做的 | are associated · cannot be emphasized · being asked |
| 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 shut · have been · I've said |
| 定語從句 who / which + 從句 — 補充說明人或事物 | someone who self · States, which is |
需要注意的發音
說話人用了 25 次縮略和弱讀形式,例如 we're, don't, I'm。請按聽到的簡短形式來說。
- “th” 音: furthermore /ˈfɜː(ɹ).ðə(ɹ)ˌmɔː(ɹ)/, worthwhile /ˌwɜː(ɹ)θˈwaɪl/, throttle /ˈθɹɔ.tl̩/
- “sh” 和 “zh” 音: conclusion /kənˈkluːʒən/, associate /əˈsoʊʃi.ət/, shortage /ˈʃɔː(ɹ)tɪd͡ʒ/, munition /ˌmjuˈnɪʃən/
- 長單詞——注意重音位置: infrastructure /ˈɪnfɹəˌstɹʌkt͡ʃə/, capability /ˌkeɪ.pəˈbɪl.ɪ.ti/, associate /əˈsoʊʃi.ət/, importantly /ɪmˈpɔɹ.tənt.li/, critically /ˈkɹɪt.ɪ.kə.li/
中文母語者容易讀錯的音:
- /v/ — 不要讀成 /w/,上齒輕觸下唇: solve /sɒlv/, verge /vɜːd͡ʒ/
- 詞尾子音 — 要讀清楚,後面不要加母音: regard /ɹɪˈɡɑːd/, gulf /ɡʌlf/, strait /stɹeɪt/, defend /dɪˈfɪnd/, strategic /stɹəˈti.dʒɪk/
- /r/ 和 /l/ 的區別: roughly /ˈɹʌf.li/, importantly /ɪmˈpɔɹ.tənt.li/, critically /ˈkɹɪt.ɪ.kə.li/, worthwhile /ˌwɜː(ɹ)θˈwaɪl/, militarily /ˌmɪl.ɪˈtɛɹ.ə.li/
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。
- 用正常速度逐句跟讀,每句重複到你的節奏與說話人一致為止。
- 錄下自己的聲音並與原聲對比,特別注意 infrastructure, furthermore, ally 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。






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