跟读练习: Megacities: London - 通过YouTube学习英语口语
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London, a thriving cosmopolitan metropolis.
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London, a thriving cosmopolitan metropolis.
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A city that's open round the clock.
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It is one of the world's oldest and greatest cities.
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a cultural, economic and political hub that continues to grow.
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So how does London, the largest city in Western Europe, function?
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Let's take a look at the city's vital statistics.
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The significance of its location,
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the causes of growth, employment,
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housing availability and service provision.
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The United Kingdom.
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Looking at the globe, we can see that the British Isles in the North Atlantic are geographically close to continental Europe.
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London, the capital of the United Kingdom,
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is located in the south-east of Great Britain at the estuary of the River Thames.
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Its history extends back to Roman times,
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where it began as a settlement at one of the river's shallow crossing points.
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It wasn't an easy city to settle as there was so much marsh and low-lying wetland.
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The city was first sighted around what is now London Bridge and became a place that attracted market traders.
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Perfectly located for trade with the continent,
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more and more goods began to arrive by sea and as the port grew,
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London became a thriving commercial center.
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By the 3rd century AD,
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it replaced Colchester as the provincial capital and was the commercial and administrative center of Roman Britain.
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Historically, colonialism and the expansion of the British Empire led to maps being created with an Anglo-
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or Eurocentric view of the world.
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and the Greenwich Meridian at the centre point,
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with all time zones and lines of longitude radiating from there.
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London's time zone plays a big part in driving its economic activity.
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Those working in London's huge financial and services sectors can trade with Asia,
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which is 5 to 7 hours ahead,
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and Australia 8 to 10 hours ahead,
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then later that same day,
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New York, which is 5 hours behind.
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Heathrow is the world's second biggest international airport.
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If we add together the number of international passengers at all five of London's airports,
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It is by far the world's largest international air hub.
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Situated 51 degrees north of the equator,
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London's climate is temperate maritime,
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meaning temperatures are generally moderate.
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Despite some occasional cold winters,
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it rarely receives significant snowfalls because of the heat from surrounding buildings,
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known as the urban heat island effect.
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Regionally, London's economic growth is also due to its location in the UK.
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able to trade with Europe by sea more quickly than other British cities,
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simply because it's closer than cities further north or west.
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And even when the large industrial cities of the Midlands and the North rapidly expanded during the Industrial Revolution,
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London had a larger population, economy, and port.
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Let's look at other reasons why people moved to London over the centuries.
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London has always been a diverse city,
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attracting people from all over the globe.
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The 15th and 16th centuries brought Protestants seeking religious freedom and Jews escaping persecution.
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And there have been many waves of migration since then,
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particularly in the 20th and more recently the 21st century.
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Today London's knowledge economy has attracted many migrants,
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with an estimated 1.6 million Europeans currently living there,
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although Brexit could ultimately reduce this figure.
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Students from over 200 countries attend London's schools,
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and every major language is spoken in the city.
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London's population is now growing faster than at any time in its history.
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In recent years, London was home to 8.6 million people,
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its highest population ever.
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The reason for the recent rapid population growth is migration primarily from overseas but also from within the country.
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1.9 million economic migrants settled in London from overseas between 2000 and 2013.
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International migration consists of two groups of workers, skilled and unskilled.
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Many skilled workers take up well-paid jobs in London's knowledge economy,
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in sectors including finance, law,
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management, advertising, media and technology.
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Skilled workers are recruited from overseas as there simply aren't enough British workers to fill certain jobs.
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Most in this category are white,
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highly qualified professionals from Europe,
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the United States, South Africa and Australia.
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London has a significant share of total UK employment in the following sectors.
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Financial, which accounts for 30% of the UK's workforce in this sector.
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Public Administration, Health and Education, 29%.
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Business Services, 23%.
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Transport and Communications, 20%.
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Many unskilled migrants do jobs UK workers don't want to do,
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like rubbish collection, commercial cleaning, childcare, and pizza delivery.
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London's construction and hospitality industries would also struggle without them.
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Many of these unskilled workers come from Europe,
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India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and West Africa.
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Some work in the informal economy,
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which comprises approximately 10% of the UK's total economy,
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which cost the nation about £150 billion a year in uncollected taxes.
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These workers also have no holiday entitlement,
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sick pay, or health benefits.
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About 60% of Britain's illegal immigrants live and work in London.
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The city has many distinct ethnic communities which have emerged for many reasons.
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These include the growth of places of religious worship or shops selling ethnic foods.
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It also preserves cultural identity and provides some protection from discrimination.
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Some communities stage cultural festivals celebrating their heritage,
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like the annual Notting Hill Carnival.
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Rapid population growth poses many challenges and opportunities.
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In 2012, over 2 million people in London lived in poverty,
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28% of the population.
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That's 7% higher than the rest of England.
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The cause is inequality in incomes,
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which is greater in London than any other part of the United Kingdom.
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One million of the UK's poorest people and one million of its wealthiest live in London.
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While parts of London are booming and wealthy, some are very deprived.
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The UK government gathers information on employment,
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health, education, housing and services to produce an index of multiple deprivation.
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A close link has been found between deprivation and life expectancy.
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An important aspect of quality of life is housing availability and affordability.
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Home ownership, for so long a major aspiration of the UK's population,
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has become a distant dream for many because house prices are so high.
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One contributing factor is overseas investors buying property in London,
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which is regarded as a safe haven.
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Many streets in some of London's smartest addresses are empty at night because so few people live there.
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Houses have been purchased simply as an investment.
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The average rate of home ownership in the UK is about 65%,
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but in inner London it's less than 40%.
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In one of London's wealthiest boroughs,
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Richmond, 69% own their property,
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16% rent privately, and 15% rent social housing.
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But in the East London Borough of Newham,
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one of London's poorest, 32% own their own home,
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35% rent privately, and 32% rent social housing,
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despite relatively lower house prices.
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Some housing projects that claim to be affordable often aren't,
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because the land they are building on costs so much.
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For example, 50% of the East Village project in Stratford on the edge of Olympic Park is labeled as affordable,
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but to qualify for a house there,
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your salary could be up to £60,000.
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Other efforts have been made to increase housing.
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Since the 1980s,
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the Docklands regeneration on the site of London's former port has created over 21 square kilometers of space for housing
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and commercial development.
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The regeneration of other brownfield sites,
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such as the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park,
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has also helped improve London's image as a good city to live and work.
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London's population growth also places pressure on the city's services,
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which are critical to keep the city functioning.
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Transport is one of London's success stories,
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but services struggle to keep up with increasing demand as the city's population and economy continue to grow.
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London's road congestion is worse than anywhere else in the United Kingdom,
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so people are actively discouraged from driving into the city to work.
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In 2003, a congestion charge was introduced in an effort to reduce traffic entering central London to cut congestion and reduce pollution.
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Motorists pay a fee for daytime travel into central London on weekdays.
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This raised £1.2 billion in the first decade,
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some of which was used to fund improvements to London's buses,
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resulting in a 6% increase in bus passenger numbers.
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And since 2012, all new London buses must be hybrid,
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with a conventional engine and an electric motor,
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making them cleaner and more fuel efficient.
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Finally, education.
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Government investment between 1997 and 2010 has seen most London schools rebuild.
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results have improved dramatically.
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In London's poorest areas, three times the number of students now complete qualifications compared with the late 1990s.
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But there is pressure on education in some boroughs.
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Schools in Newham in East London are struggling to meet the increasing demand caused by higher than average birth rate.
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As this snapshot of London's vital statistics show there are many challenges and opportunities facing the city as it continues to grow.
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为什么要通过这个视频练习口语？
在学习英语的过程中，通过视频练习口语是一种有效的方法。《Megacities: London》这段视频展示了伦敦作为一个繁荣的国际大都市的各个方面。通过模仿和重复视频中的对话，学习者不仅能提高自己的发音技巧，还能加深对城市历史及文化背景的理解。与他人分享这些信息时，您会发现自己的口语表达更加流利。因此，通过练习说出视频内容，您能够掌握更多实际应用的英语表达方式，提高英语发音，增强自信心。
语法与表达到的上下文
在视频中，演讲者使用了几种关键的语法结构，这些结构可以帮助学习者理解英语的使用方式：
- 过去时态：演讲者提到“它的历史可以追溯到罗马时代”，这个句子展示了如何描述历史事件和时间背景。
- 被动语态：例如“伦敦成为一个繁荣的商业中心”，强调了城市发展的成果，而不特定于谁造成了这些变化。
- 条件句：“如果我们将所有国际乘客加在一起，将会发现…”这个句子可以帮助学习者理解如何用条件句表达假设。
- 比较级：使用“比其他城市更快”，让学习者学习如何比较事物的不同特性。
常见发音陷阱
在视频中，有一些发音上比较困难的单词和短语需要注意，以帮助学习者避免常见的发音错误：
- “Metropolis”：这个词可能在发音上有些棘手，学习者需要注意重音的位置。
- “Estuary”：它的发音与拼写有较大区别，平时练习时可以多加注意，以确保发音清晰。
- “Commercial Center”：这个短语的连读常常被忽视，因此在练习时可以多次重复以提高流利度。
通过这些技巧，学习者可以在口语练习中应用shadowspeak和shadow speech的方法，更有效地提高自己在英语口语中的流利度与准确性。
什么是跟读法？
跟读法 (Shadowing) 是一种有科学依据的语言学习技巧，最初开发用于专业口译员的培训，并由多语言者Alexander Arguelles博士普及。这个方法简单而强大：您在听英语母语原声的同时立即大声重复——就像是一个延迟1-2秒紧跟说话者的影子。与被动听力或语法练习不同，跟读法强迫您的大脑和口腔肌肉同时处理并模仿真实的讲话模式。研究表明它能显着提高发音准确性，语调，节奏，连读，听力理解和口语流利度——使其成为雅思口语备考和真实英语交流最有效的方法之一。