IELTS Preparation Series 1, Episode 17: Water and ageing
(Bấm vào đây để xem/nghe bài kế tiếp)
Xem lời thoại bên dưới:
0:00
Hello and welcome to Study English. I'm Margot Politis.
0:18
Today on Study English, we're going to look at some of the features of formal, written
0:24
English.
0:26
In our clip, we'll hear from a man who believes that drinking water is the key to being healthy
0:31
and living a long time.
0:33
He's going to talk about how he came to his conclusion, and how he tried to get some support
0:37
for his project.
0:39
How does nature do it? What keeps body cells going and how can we improve on that process
0:44
so that we eliminate disease altogether and we live a long and healthy life? I don't think
0:48
death and disease is inevitable.
0:51
We stumbled on the fact that they weren't actually getting rid of carbon dioxide out
0:54
of their bodies, they were neutralising the carbon dioxide in their bodies, and we found
0:58
out it was from the water they were drinking.
1:02
When we looked at these animals and saw what they were doing, it was exactly as we'd hypothesised
1:06
and that was a great feeling, a real feeling of elation.
1:09
I tried and I tried and I tried to be conventional in that sense. I went to one hundred people.
1:16
I wrote one thousand letters. I spoke to the Australian Academy of Science. I spoke to
1:20
the American Academy of Science. I spoke to hospitals. I spoke to professors of medicine,
1:24
because I wanted to do work independently. I couldn't get anywhere, so I had to do it
1:29
other ways.
1:30
This is a food substance, this is something that's been drunk for thousands of years.
1:34
This is probably where the mythology of the fountain of youth came from. There would have
1:38
been natural springs somewhere bubbling out magnesium bicarbonate at an alkaline pH value.
1:43
And people that drank these springs lived longer.
1:46
But I want everybody to have the opportunity to live a long and healthy life, and that's
1:49
been my life's work, and we're getting somewhere, we're getting somewhere.
1:56
One of the most important areas for students to master is the difference between informal
2:01
spoken language and formal written English, including academic language.
2:08
There are many differences between formal and informal English.
2:11
Firstly, in written language, all words must be spelt correctly. There should be no words
2:19
in written English that you can't find in a dictionary.
2:22
Another important difference is that contractions are not used in formal written English. We
2:29
only use contractions in written English if we're trying to represent the way that people
2:34
speak.
2:35
The clip we've heard today is, of course, spoken English. Listen to part of it again
2:40
and see if you can identify the features of informal English.
2:45
But I want everybody to have the opportunity to live a long and healthy life, and that's
2:49
been my life's work, and we're getting somewhere, we're getting somewhere.
2:56
When Dr Beckett is speaking he uses a number of contractions.
3:00
He says, "That's been my life's work", and "We're getting somewhere".
3:05
That's is short for that is, and we're is short for we are.
3:13
So if we were writing these statements, we'd write:
3:17
That has been my life's work.
3:20
We are getting somewhere.
3:24
There are many common contractions. By using them in your spoken language, you will sound
3:29
more natural. But be careful to write them out in full in formal situations. Watch for
3:34
'not' words like:
3:37
couldn't, could not
3:39
wouldn't, would not
3:42
shouldn't, should not
3:44
won't, will not and
3:47
don't, do not
3:54
Another common feature of informal English is the use of phrasal verbs, or two word verbs.
4:02
Phrasal verbs consist of a verb and a preposition. They are commonly used in spoken English,
4:08
and their meanings are idiomatic, giving the verb a special, new meaning.
4:13
Listen for some phrasal verbs in this clip.
4:17
We stumbled on the fact that they weren't actually getting rid of carbon dioxide out
4:21
of their bodies. They were neutralising the carbon dioxide in their bodies, and we found
4:25
out it was from the water they were drinking.
4:27
This is probably where the mythology of the fountain of youth came from.
4:31
He uses the phrasal verbs "stumbled on, get rid of, found out and came from.
4:39
In formal written English, it's best to use single word verbs.
4:43
So instead of saying:
4:45
They weren't getting rid of carbon dioxide,
4:48
we would write:
4:49
They weren't eliminating carbon dioxide,
4:53
and then we'd get rid of the contraction, so it would read:
4:57
They were not eliminating carbon dioxide.
5:00
Instead of saying:
5:02
We found out it was from the water,
5:05
we would write:
5:06
We discovered it was from the water.
5:08
This is probably where the myth came from.
5:13
This is probably where the myth originated.
5:15
Let's look at some other examples of common phrasal verbs.
5:20
Instead of look into, we would write investigate.
5:24
Instead of cut down, we would write reduce.
5:30
Keep on could be continue.
5:33
Point out could be indicate.
5:37
All of these words are more formal than using phrasal verbs.
5:41
Another important part of formal written English, is understanding how to use conjunctions.
5:48
Short sentences are less formal than compound or complex sentences. If you can, it's good
5:55
to try to link short sentences together.
5:57
Listen to this clip, then we'll try to turn it into good formal English using coordinating
6:04
conjunctions.
6:05
I went to one hundred people. I wrote a thousand letters. I spoke to the Australian Academy
6:10
of Science. I spoke to the American Academy of Science. I spoke to hospitals. I spoke
6:15
to professors of Medicine, because I wanted to do work independently. I couldn't get anywhere.
6:20
He uses a number of simple sentences in a row.
6:25
I spoke to the Australian Academy of Science. I spoke to the American Academy of Science.
6:31
I spoke to hospitals. I spoke to professors of Medicine.
6:36
These could become:
6:38
I spoke to the Australian Academy of Science, the American Academy of Science and hospitals.
6:47
I also spoke to professors of Medicine.
6:51
There are some rules to be aware of when you're using conjunctions.
6:54
In formal English, we don't start sentences with coordinating conjunctions.
7:00
Words like 'and' and 'but' are joining words. They are not used to begin sentences.
7:06
Listen to Dr Bechett again. Notice how he uses conjunctions to start his sentences.
7:13
There would have been natural springs somewhere bubbling out magnesium bicarbonate at an alkaline
7:18
pH value. And people that drank these springs lived longer. But I want everybody to have
7:22
the opportunity to live a long and healthy life, and that's been my life's work.
7:27
He uses the word 'and' to begin a sentence.
7:32
If we were writing a formal report or essay, we would have to find other words to replace
7:37
'and'.
7:38
We could begin the sentence with:
7:42
furthermore
7:42
in addition, or
7:44
moreover
7:46
We could replace the word 'but' with the word 'however'.
7:50
You should make lists of these alternative words, so you use a variety of them in your
7:55
written language.
7:57
It's important to avoid repetition in your formal written English.
8:01
Of course repetition can be used to add emphasis in spoken English.
8:05
You might hear people say things like I really, really like that.
8:09
But in formal academic writing, you should find other ways of adding emphasis.
8:15
Listen to the way Russell uses repetition.
8:18
I tried and I tried and I tried to be conventional in that sense. I went to one hundred people.
8:25
I wrote one thousand letters. I spoke to the Australian Academy of Science. I spoke to
8:29
the American Academy of Science. I spoke to hospitals. I spoke to professors of medicine,
8:34
because I wanted to do work independently. I couldn't get anywhere.
8:37
Russell says, "I tried and I tried and I tried".
8:42
To make this sentence more formal, you could either just drop the repeated verb, or use
8:47
an adverb like repeatedly.
8:50
We could just write:
8:52
I tried or,
8:54
I tried repeatedly
8:57
Another way you can make your language more formal is to use the prefix re- to indicate
9:02
a repeated action. This doesn't apply to all verbs.
9:06
Look at this sentence.
9:08
He played and played the song again and again.
9:13
We could write formally:
9:15
He replayed the song repeatedly.
9:19
And why don't you try practising ways of making spoken language more formal, or looking at
9:24
ways that you can take formal, written language, and turn it into conversational English!
9:30
That's all for today, I hope I'll see you next time on Study English. Bye bye.