Food and Drink (1)
Six Minute English from BBC Learning English.
Hello and welcome to 6 Minute English! I'm Neil and I'm Catherine. Catherine,
I'm going to start this program with a quick test just for you! Oh, I love tests! Complete this
phrase - wake up and smell the ... Coffee! Coffee, Neil, it's coffee! I have to say that I love
coffee, it's great. Yeah, okay, so do you drink much? Well, just a couple of cups, you know. Uh,
every day? No, no, every hour! I love coffee, don't you like coffee, Neil?
I do. Maybe not as much as you! What's the best thing about it? Oh, it's the smell,
it's got to be the smell. You know when you open the packet, it's great, isn't it?
Uh, yes, but it never quite tastes as good as it smells, does it? Well, no. It's always a bit
disappointing. I live in hope. Another cup, I think it'll be better. I might change brands,
actually, try a different one. Yeah, okay. You've had quite a lot of coffee today, haven't you? Oh,
just the usual six cups. Well, our topic is the smell of coffee and coffee is also the
subject of today's question: the world's biggest producer of coffee is.... Brazil, Brazil. Yes,
yes, but that's not the question. The question is: Brazil is the biggest coffee producer - which is
the second largest coffee producing country? Is it a) Colombia, b) Vietnam or c) Ethiopia? Right,
so it's not Brazil but I bet it's another South American country so I'm gonna go for Colombia.
Colombia is that right? Okay, we'll have the answer later in the program by which time maybe
the caffeine will have left your body, Catherine. Tim Hayward is a coffee shop owner. He appeared
in the BBC radio 4 program, the Kitchen Cabinet. How important does he say the smell of coffee is?
Absolutely vital, it's the key thing and you when you walk into the coffee shop in the
morning and that smell hits you, you're getting physiological responses. So, how important is it?
I'm feeling a bit calmer now. Tim Hayward says the smell of coffee is vital. That means it's
very important, it's perhaps the most important thing. And he backs this up by saying that it's
the key thing. Something that's key is essential, it's really important. And, he says that when you
experience the smell, when the smell hits you, you get a physiological response. This phrase
means your body has a reaction to the smell of coffee - perhaps your mouth begins to water in
anticipation. Catherine, when you get a coffee do you normally have it there or take it away?
Well, I usually take it away, although if I'm feeling really in need of a coffee hit,
I might have one there and then get another one to take with me. Can you describe the container that
you're given when you have a coffee to go? Yes, it's in a tall paper cup with a lid and the lid
has a hole in it so that I can drink that lovely coffee. Don't you think that's a problem? I mean,
we know how important the smell is, so what's the effect of the lid on that experience? The effect
of the lid? Yeah, well, here's Tim Hayward again, talking about coffee being served with lids. What
baffles me is how many of the large coffee chains actually sell a product in a cup that removes the
smell. So, you walk into the coffee shop, you get the smell but when you actually take the
drink out, you're drinking it from something that's designed to deliver the hot liquid
directly past your tongue but stop any smell coming up to your nose. That's just weird. So,
what is it he's describing there? I see, yes, he's talking about the big coffee chains.
A chain is a company that has lots of its stores in towns and cities, sometimes around the world.
I think we can all think of a few well-known coffee chains, and he says that by putting a
lid on takeaway cups, you're actually blocking the smell. That smell that is really important
to the coffee experience. Yes, and he says he finds that weird, which is a way of saying he
finds it unusual - thinks it's strange, odd. So much so, that he says it baffles him. If you are
baffled by something you find it confusing. You can't really understand it. Here's Tim
Hayward again. What baffles me is how many of the large coffee chains actually sell a product
in a cup that removes the smell. So, you walk into the coffee shop, you get the smell but when
you actually take the drink out you're drinking it from something that's designed to deliver the
hot liquid directly past your tongue but stop any smell coming up to your nose. That's just
weird. That was coffee shop owner Tim Hayward. Right, before we have another cup of this week's
vocabulary, let's get the answer to the question. After Brazil, which country produces most coffee?
Is it a) Colombia, b) Vietnam or c) Ethiopia? Catherine, you said... I said it was a) Colombia.
Ah, sorry, no extra coffee for you today. The answer is Vietnam. And now on to the vocabulary
we looked at. Take it away, Catherine. So, the first word was vital, which is an adjective that
means very important. And another word with a very similar meaning was key, meaning essential. Next,
we had the phrase, physiological responses. Physiological refers to what our bodies do
and a response is a reaction. So, a physiological response is a reaction your body has to something,
like the smell of coffee. Something that baffles you confuses you. You don't understand it. You
might find something that baffles you to be weird. This adjective means unusual or strange.
And finally, a chain is a group of shops from the same company with the same name.
Well, that is the end of our program. For more from us check out Instagram, Facebook, Twitter,
Youtube and our app and, of course, the website bbclearningenglish.com. See you soon, goodbye.
Bye! Fancy a coffee? I think you've had too much! 6 Minute English from bbclearningenglish.com
Welcome to 6 Minute English where we introduce a refreshing topic and six related items of
vocabulary. I'm Rob and I'm Neil and today we're talking about water. There's nothing
more refreshing than an ice cold bottle of water straight out of the vending machine.
Hmm, okay, refreshing in this context means making you feel cool again after being hot
so has that cooled you down, Neil? Yes, I feel very refreshed now, thanks. Can I ask you though
why didn't you just get a glass of water from the kitchen tap? That water is cool and refreshing
too, and it's free! Well, I like this brand of bottled water better. It's enriched with salts and
minerals that are very beneficial to your health. Enriched means improving the quality of something
by adding to it. Enriched, honestly, Neil! It tastes better, Rob and I'm not the only one who
thinks so. For the first time in the UK, bottled water is more popular than cola. In fact, can you
tell me how many litres of bottled water was sold in the UK in 2016? Was it a) 2.9 billion, litres
b) 29 million litres or c 2.9 million litres? Um, right. well, I'm going to say 29 million litres.
OK, we'll find out later if you got that right or wrong. But seriously, Rob, don't you think it's a
good thing that people are choosing to buy bottled water at the supermarket rather than fizzy drinks?
Yes, of course, but as I said to you earlier, why don't people just drink tap water?
Let's listen to Natalie Fee, founder of City to Sea, which campaigns again plastic pollution. And,
of course, bottled water causes a huge amount of that. Here's Natalie now talking
about how drinks manufacturers have persuaded people that bottled water is better for them.
They manufactured the demand for bottled water and they spent millions of pounds on adverts,
sort of scaring us off of tap water. The bottled water companies set out to make us believe
that tap water wasn't healthy and yet tap water is way more regulated than bottled water is
and in taste tests tap water comes up trump most times.
If you manufacture something you make it in large amounts in a factory.
But here Natalie says the drinks companies manufactured the demand for bottled water, which
means they made adverts to persuade people that tap water wasn't healthy and bottled water was.
To scare people off - what does that mean, Rob? Well, if you scare somebody off you
make them go away by frightening them. S,o some advertisers may have suggested, for example,
that tap water was unsafe to drink, whereas bottled water was safer and tasted better too.
You're catching on! However, Natalie Fee claims that tap water is more regulated than bottled
water is. Regulated means controlled. Natalie also says that in taste tests, tap water comes
up trumps. What does she mean by that? Well, a taste test is where you ask people to try several
very similar products without knowing which one is which and then you grade them according to
which you like the best. And if something comes up trumps, it means it produces a good result, often
unexpectedly. So tap water comes up trump's, eh? Yep. Perhaps we should try a taste test now, Neil?
It would be interesting to see if your enriched bottled water comes up trumps or not. I tell you
what, let's leave that until later and hear the answer to today's quiz question instead. Okay,
I asked you: how many litres of bottled water were sold in the UK in 2016? Was it a) 2.9 billion
litres, b) 29 million litres or c) 2.9 million litres? Yeah, and I said 29 million litres. And
the answer is... 2.9 billion litres. Wow! You can buy many different brands of bottled water with a
range of price tags. At the top end, there's water from a 4,00 year-old Norwegian iceberg.
How much does that cost? Around £80 a bottle. Oh, as cheap as that - I'll pop out and get some
later. Okay, let's review the words we learned today. The first one was refreshing, which means
making you feel cool again after being hot. I enjoyed a refreshing cup of tea. Hmm, well we
British like to say that, don't we? Though I don't understand how a hot drink can be refreshing. OK,
number two - enriched, which means improving the quality of something by adding to it. For example,
did you know that many types of breakfast cereal are enriched with vitamins and minerals, Neil?
No, I didn't, Rob. You learn something new every day. Number three is manufacture - to
make something in large amounts in a factory. This company manufactures wellington boots I'm
a wellington boot manufacturer - that has a nice ring to it. Anyway, when you scare someone off
you make them go away by frightening them. The dog barked fiercely and scared off the two burglars.
Down, Rob, down number. Five - regulated or controlled. For example, the sale of tobacco is
tightly regulated by the government. And finally - if something comes up trumps it produces a
good result, often unexpectedly. My lottery ticket came up trumps again, I can't believe it! You're a
lucky man, Neil. Okay, it's time to do that taste test now. If you have an opinion on bottled water
or anything else, please tell us about it on our Twitter, Instagram, Facebook or Youtube pages.
Okay, this one definitely tastes better. And how about this one?
Yeah, definitely - that's the tap water, Neil. No, no, no - I refuse to believe it!
6 Minute English from BBC Learning English.
