IELTS Preparation Series 2, Episode 12: Cane Toads

(Bấm vào đây để chọn bài học kế tiếp)

Xem lời thoại bên dưới:

0:00

Hello. I'm

0:14

Margot Politis. Welcome to Study English, IELTS preparation.

0:18

Today, we're going to talk about expressing attitude, and using the words so and such.

0:26

And we're going to find out about some nasty creatures called cane toads, and all the trouble

0:31

they can cause.

0:33

Curious? Let's watch the clip.

0:34

You can see these large glands he's got behind his eyes, which contain a lot of toxin. It's

0:42

got various compounds in there but basically what it does is give you a heart attack. The

0:45

toxin's actually all throughout the skin but the main concentration is in these glands.

0:49

So basically, something bites it, if it gets into its bloodstream, there's a good chance

0:53

it will be killed very quickly.

0:55

We found a dead freshwater crocodile, which was apparently killed. Certainly a one death

1:00

adder, which is a venomous snake, quite an important Australian snake, we found one of

1:03

those freshly dead with a small toad in its mouth. And even to small children, if a child

1:08

was to put them in their mouth, the toxin is quite severe.

1:12

The flip side of that is that there are a whole lot of animals which will be out-competed

1:15

by cane toads. So they're other animals, which eat insects for instance, 'cause cane toads

1:20

are so numerous that they suck up all the insects from the biota, like big vacuum cleaners

1:25

and so they can actually cause other animals to starve.

1:27

Why are we literally sitting back and watching the cane toad invasion move further and further

1:34

up through Kakadu and through the Northern Territory?

1:35

Well there has actually been quite a lot done, in fact, over a period of perhaps 10 years

1:39

prior to this, a huge amount of effort and money has already been spent on looking at

1:43

some way and means of controlling cane toads. All that work has come to nothing, and most

1:48

people understand that now.

1:49

What we have to do is wait on the big guns in Canberra with their genetic engineering

1:54

and biological control work. That's the only hope there is.

1:58

Cane toads are such prolific breeders, each female would produce 50 thousand eggs. There

2:04

will be millions of cane toads out there.

2:09

Unfortunately, cane toads are a big environmental problem in Australia. They're a species that

2:15

was introduced from another country. We'll use their story to talk about attitude or,

2:21

more specifically, attitude markers.

2:25

Attitude markers can indicate the attitude of someone to what they are saying or what

2:31

others have said.

2:33

I just used one. I said: Unfortunately', cane toads are a big environmental problem.

2:39

The word unfortunately indicates my attitude to cane toads.

2:45

Other words that are attitude markers include:

2:49

actually

2:50

in fact

2:51

certainly

2:53

of course

2:54

really and

2:56

surprisingly

2:57

Let's listen to a Wildlife Ranger, Greg Miles, answering a reporter's question. Listen for

3:04

attitude markers.

3:07

Why are we literally sitting back and watching the cane toad invasion move further and further

3:11

up through Kakadu and through the Northern Territory?

3:13

Well there has actually been quite a lot done, in fact, over a period of perhaps 10 years

3:18

prior to this, a huge amount of effort and money has already been spent on looking at

3:22

some way and means of controlling cane toads.

3:26

Greg Miles says: There has actually been quite a lot done in fact.

3:32

He uses the attitude markers, actually and in fact to show that he disagrees with the

3:38

reporter, and to advance his own view.

3:42

It's a polite way of expressing an opposing opinion.

3:46

Other examples of words and phrases that are used to do this include:

3:51

as a matter of fact

3:53

to tell the truth, or well

3:57

Let's see some examples.

4:00

Cane toads look harmless, but as a matter of fact, they're dangerous.

4:06

I thought you liked cane toads? Well, I don't.

4:11

Can you hear the attitude expressed in these phrases?

4:15

Now here's ecologist, James Smith again.

4:18

You can see these large glands he's got behind his eyes, which contain a lot of toxin. The

4:24

toxin's actually all throughout the skin but the main concentration is in these glands.

4:29

James uses actually here to introduce details. Because the details of the toxins are surprising

4:37

in nature, and perhaps unexpected, 'actually' provides this subtlety of meaning.

4:45

Now here's Greg Miles again. He uses two other attitude markers.

4:49

We found a dead freshwater crocodile, which was apparently killed. Certainly, one death

4:55

adder, which is a venomous snake, quite an important Australian snake, we found one of

4:59

those freshly dead with a small toad in its mouth.

5:02

He says: apparently and certainly.

5:07

He says: the crocodile was apparently killed.

5:10

He uses apparently because he got his information from someone else, and he's not certain that

5:17

it's true. Based on appearances, it looks like the crocodile was killed by the cane

5:23

toad.

5:25

Greg says: certainly one death adder was found dead.

5:29

Here, Greg is emphasising that there's no doubt that this is true, that the death adder

5:36

was killed by the toxins in the cane toad.

5:40

From the use of these attitude markers, we can tell that he's not completely sure the

5:45

crocodile was killed by a cane toad, but he's definitely sure the death adder was killed

5:52

by one.

5:52

Okay. Let's turn our attention to another way you can express subtleties of meaning

6:02

in English.

6:04

They're corelative subordinating conjunctions.

6:09

The words themselves are short and simple:

6:11

so that and

6:14

such that

6:15

Listen to Greg Miles talking about the number of cane toads eating insects.

6:22

The flip side of that is that there's a whole lot of animals which will be out-competed

6:25

by cane toads. So they're other animals, which eat insects for instance, 'cause cane toads

6:30

are so numerous that they suck up all the insects from the biota, like big vacuum cleaners.

6:34

Greg says: Cane toads are so numerous that they suck up all the insects from the biota.

6:44

This means that cane toads are numerous enough to suck up all the insects from the biota.

6:50

There are enough of them to do that.

6:54

So that is called an amount construction. It expresses a meaning similar to enough,

7:01

which means an adequate number or amount.

7:05

But this construction also adds a meaning of result, using the 'that-clause'.

7:11

Let's study a sentence to see how this construction works.

7:17

Cane toads are numerous.

7:20

How numerous?

7:22

So numerous.

7:24

With what result?

7:27

That they suck up all the insects from the biota.

7:32

Cane toads are so numerous that they suck up all the insects from the biota.

7:39

The sentence uses the amount structure 'so that' to define an amount and a result.

7:47

Here's another example: Have you seen the film Cane Toads?

7:53

The film was so good that we went to see it twice.

7:58

So tells us how good the film was.

8:01

That tells us the result: We went to see it twice.

8:06

Let's listen to how Professor Madsen expresses amount in relation to cane toads.

8:14

Cane toads are such prolific breeders, each female would produce 50 thousand eggs. There

8:20

will be millions of cane toads out there.

8:23

He uses another construction to express the amount. He says such:

8:31

Cane toads are such prolific breeders.

8:34

He adds the result clause there will be millions of them, but without using the word that.

8:43

'That' is sometimes omitted in informal English. It is understood without being stated. More

8:50

formally he would have said:

8:52

Cane toads are such prolific breeders that there will be millions of them.

8:59

So and such in these constructions also provide emotive emphasis.

9:05

For example:

9:07

Cane toads are so ugly!

9:10

Cane toads are such a pest!

9:13

So today we've looked at attitude markers and language for expressing emotion.

9:19

We've also talked about the degree or amount constructions so and such.

9:26

Using these language features will make your language more interesting, and will show an

9:31

appreciation of subtleties of meaning.

9:33

And it's time for me to go, but you'll find today's story and a lot more on our Study

9:39

English website.

9:41

I'll see you next time. Bye bye.

#II22Ieltsprepseries2