跟讀練習: Why Plastic Straws Suck - 通過影片學習英語口語

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You've probably seen this video.

That's a plastic straw being pulled out of a sea turtle's nose.

The video went viral in 2015, sparking a public outcry to, quote, say no to plastic straws.

And over the years, the campaign has gained traction.

Starbucks says by 2020 it will eliminate plastic straws, pivoting to biodegradable straws and a newly designed lid.

McDonald's UK, American Airlines, and Marriott hotels have all announced similar changes.

So why do plastic straws suck?

Starbucks says, quote, "...one of the major issues with plastic straws is

that they are too small and lightweight to be captured in modern recycling equipment."

We reached out to various recycling plants across North America to see if that was true.

While some facilities told us they do recycle straws, two of the largest recycling facilities in the U.S.

said its machines don't always catch straws.

So they end up in the trash and eventually in landfills. So frustrating.

I know.

Another place straws tend to end up?

Beaches.

Dr. George Leonard is the chief scientist for Ocean Conservancy.

The data from our 2017 International Coastal Cleanup,

and there were 643,000 plastic straws that were picked up around beaches and waterways all over the world.

To limit the use of straws, Starbucks introduced a new lid that resembles a sippy cup.

These new lids are made from polypropylene, which, according to Starbucks, can be widely recycled.

But there's one major problem.

You know, the objective really was to phase out straws because they're not recyclable.

The shift to this lid really increases the amount of plastic that Starbucks is using per cut.

I think it could be part of a solution, but I don't think it's the whole picture.

Some critics have pointed out that straws only make up a fraction of our plastic waste.

So why is everyone so worked up about them?

I think straws are a bit of a poster child here

for the bigger question of society's kind of over-reliance on single-use plastics

and the fact that a lot of this stuff is ending up in our marine environment.

All plastics ultimately sort of break down and fracture into smaller

and smaller bits of plastic as a result of being tossed around by the waves

and then by the fact that sunlight basically makes the plastic brittle.

And so they create what we call microplastics.

We're finding these flecks of plastic in everything from the forage fish

that are at the base of the food web up through the kinds of fish

that we end up putting on our dinner plate.

If we get the kind of global plastic users

and the major brands like Starbucks and some of these other companies like Coca-Cola

that everybody knows about to really take ownership of their contribution to this problem and alter their business practices,

they can be real leaders here and they can bring the rest of the plastic supply chain along with them.

So how do we start?

We need to be more thoughtful about how we use plastic.

We do know that there's about 8 million metric tons of plastic overall

that ends up in the world's oceans every year

and that's kind of thought to be one garbage truck worth you know per mile a beach per day.

About half of that plastic comes from countries in Southeast Asia that don't have formal waste management systems.

Much of their local waste is disposed in sort of informal ways whether it's behind a house

or at a community dump which is essentially sort of an open pit

or in in some cases directly dumped into the ocean itself.

In countries like the U.S., plastic can also be swept down drains into rivers leading to the sea.

It can be flushed down the toilet or left behind by beach goers.

So what should we be doing differently?

For starters, pay closer attention to your personal habits.

Get into the habit of bringing our own cup, fork, bag, straw.

That's what I have in my bag at all times.

Stop flushing things other than human waste and toilet paper down the toilet.

And remember, anything that goes down the toilet, drain, or into sewers goes to the ocean.

All drains lead to the ocean, kid.

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本課的詞彙與口語要點

這節 B2 級別的口語課以影片“Why Plastic Straws Suck”為素材。影片中反覆出現的詞有：plastic, straw, Starbucks, ocean, lid。這段影片共有 59 個句子、718 個單詞可供跟讀。講話部分時長為 4:33。說話人語速自然，每分鐘約 158 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

影片中最難的 15 個單詞，附發音和釋義：

單詞	發音	釋義
straw 名詞	/stɹɔ/	稈子 /稈子, 秸稈
recycle 動詞	/ɹəˈsaɪkəl/	迴圈再造 /迴圈再造, 回收
flush 動詞	/ˈflʌʃ/	衝水 /沖水
biodegradable 形容詞	/(ˌ)baɪoʊdəˈɡɹeɪdəbl̩/	可生物降解的
brittle 形容詞	/ˈbɹɪtəl/	易碎的, 易損壞的
frustrate 動詞	/ˈfɹʌsˌtɹeɪt/	令人失望, 挫折
landfill 名詞	/ˈlæn(d).fɪl/	填埋地, 垃圾場 /垃圾場
microplastic 名詞		微塑膠
polypropylene 名詞		聚丙烯
recyclable 形容詞		可回收
waterway 名詞	/ˈwɔːtəweɪ/	水路, 航道
sewer 名詞	/ˈsuɚ/	下水道, 滲溝 /滲溝
fracture 名詞	/ˈfɹæk.t͡ʃʰəː/	骨折
resemble 動詞	/ɹɪˈzɛmbəl/	相似
altar 名詞	/ˈɔl.tɚ/	祭壇 /祭壇, 聖壇 /聖壇

影片中出現的短語動詞

單詞	發音	釋義
end up 動詞		到達
break down 動詞		壞了 /壞了, 出故障
go down 動詞		下降, 下去
leave behind 動詞		遺棄 /遺棄
make up 動詞	/ˌmeɪk ˈʌp/	組成 /組成
pick up 動詞		拾取, 撿 /撿
point out 動詞		指, 指出

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	being pulled · be captured · were picked
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	You've probably seen · has gained · have pointed

需要注意的發音

說話人用了 6 次縮略和弱讀形式，例如 don't, they're, we're。請按聽到的簡短形式來說。

“sh” 和 “zh” 音: flush /ˈflʌʃ/, traction /ˈtɹæk.ʃən/, fraction /ˈfɹæk.ʃən/
長單詞——注意重音位置: biodegradable /(ˌ)baɪoʊdəˈɡɹeɪdəbl̩/, eliminate /ɪˈlɪm.ɪ.neɪt/

中文母語者容易讀錯的音：

詞尾子音 — 要讀清楚，後面不要加母音: flush /ˈflʌʃ/, dump /dʌmp/, forage /ˈfoɹɪd͡ʒ/, frustrate /ˈfɹʌsˌtɹeɪt/, dispose /dɪsˈpoʊz/
/r/ 和 /l/ 的區別: recycle /ɹəˈsaɪkəl/, biodegradable /(ˌ)baɪoʊdəˈɡɹeɪdəbl̩/, brittle /ˈbɹɪtəl/, resemble /ɹɪˈzɛmbəl/, reliance /ɹɪˈlaɪ.əns/
/æ/ — 嘴張大，不要讀成 /e/: landfill /ˈlæn(d).fɪl/, fracture /ˈfɹæk.t͡ʃʰəː/, traction /ˈtɹæk.ʃən/, fraction /ˈfɹæk.ʃən/

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 straw, recycle, flush 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: Why Plastic Straws Suck - 通過影片學習英語口語

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