跟读练习: Why Plastic Straws Suck - 通过视频学习英语口语

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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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本课的词汇与口语要点

这节 B2 级别的口语课以视频“Why Plastic Straws Suck”为素材。视频中反复出现的词有：plastic, straw, Starbucks, ocean, lid。这段视频共有 59 个句子、718 个单词可供跟读。讲话部分时长为 4:33。说话人语速自然，每分钟约 158 个词，接近日常对话。只有 80% 的单词属于英语最常用的 3,000 词，词汇难度较高。

视频中的重点词汇

视频中最难的 15 个单词，附发音和释义：

单词	发音	释义
straw 名词	/stɹɔ/	稈子 /秆子, 秸秆
recycle 动词	/ɹəˈsaɪkəl/	循環再造 /循环再造, 回收
flush 动词	/ˈflʌʃ/	衝水 /冲水
biodegradable 形容词	/(ˌ)baɪoʊdəˈɡɹeɪdəbl̩/	可生物降解的
brittle 形容词	/ˈbɹɪtəl/	易碎的, 易损坏的
frustrate 动词	/ˈfɹʌsˌtɹeɪt/	令人失望, 挫折
landfill 名词	/ˈlæn(d).fɪl/	填埋地, 垃圾場 /垃圾场
microplastic 名词		微塑料
polypropylene 名词		聚丙烯
recyclable 形容词		可回收
waterway 名词	/ˈwɔːtəweɪ/	水路, 航道
sewer 名词	/ˈsuɚ/	下水道, 滲溝 /渗沟
fracture 名词	/ˈfɹæk.t͡ʃʰəː/	骨折
resemble 动词	/ɹɪˈzɛmbəl/	相似
altar 名词	/ˈɔl.tɚ/	祭壇 /祭坛, 聖壇 /圣坛

视频中出现的短语动词

单词	发音	释义
end up 动词		到达
break down 动词		壞了 /坏了, 出故障
go down 动词		下降, 下去
leave behind 动词		遺棄 /遗弃
make up 动词	/ˌmeɪk ˈʌp/	組成 /组成
pick up 动词		拾取, 撿 /捡
point out 动词		指, 指出

视频中的语法

说话人最常用的结构，并附上视频中的原话：

结构	视频中的用法
被动语态 be + 过去分词 — 强调发生了什么，而不是谁做的	being pulled · be captured · were picked
现在完成时 have/has + 过去分词 — 过去发生但与现在仍有关联的事	You've probably seen · has gained · have pointed

需要注意的发音

说话人用了 6 次缩略和弱读形式，例如 don't, they're, we're。请按听到的简短形式来说。

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

中文母语者容易读错的音：

词尾辅音 — 要读清楚，后面不要加元音: flush /ˈflʌʃ/, dump /dʌmp/, forage /ˈfoɹɪd͡ʒ/, frustrate /ˈfɹʌsˌtɹeɪt/, dispose /dɪsˈpoʊz/
/r/ 和 /l/ 的区别: recycle /ɹəˈsaɪkəl/, biodegradable /(ˌ)baɪoʊdəˈɡɹeɪdəbl̩/, brittle /ˈbɹɪtəl/, resemble /ɹɪˈzɛmbəl/, reliance /ɹɪˈlaɪ.əns/
/æ/ — 嘴张大，不要读成 /e/: landfill /ˈlæn(d).fɪl/, fracture /ˈfɹæk.t͡ʃʰəː/, traction /ˈtɹæk.ʃən/, fraction /ˈfɹæk.ʃən/

如何用这段视频练习

先完整听一遍视频，不要开口，记下不认识的单词。
先用 0.75 倍速逐句跟读，熟练之后再回到正常速度。
录下自己的声音并与原声对比，特别注意 straw, recycle, flush 这类单词。

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。

影子跟读法: 阅读完整分步指南 →

跟读练习: Why Plastic Straws Suck - 通过视频学习英语口语

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