WEBVTT FILE

1
00:00:00.840 --> 00:00:05.640
Could plastic eating worms help
the world's pollution crisis?

2
00:00:05.640 --> 00:00:08.760
This is News Review
from BBC Learning English.

3
00:00:08.760 --> 00:00:10.920
I'm Neil.
And I'm Beth.

4
00:00:10.920 --> 00:00:15.160
Make sure you watch to the end to learn
vocabulary to talk about this story.

5
00:00:15.160 --> 00:00:18.760
Don't forget to subscribe
to our channel, like this video,

6
00:00:18.760 --> 00:00:21.039
and try the quiz on our website.

7
00:00:21.040 --> 00:00:23.319
Now it's time
for the story

8
00:00:24.400 --> 00:00:28.800
Getting rid of plastic with worm spit.

9
00:00:28.800 --> 00:00:33.760
Spanish scientists have discovered
something in wax worms saliva

10
00:00:33.760 --> 00:00:36.840
which helps them eat plastic.

11
00:00:36.840 --> 00:00:40.720
It's hoped the breakthrough will be
an effective and natural way

12
00:00:40.720 --> 00:00:43.520
of reducing plastic pollution.

13
00:00:43.760 --> 00:00:46.840
One researcher suggests,
in the future,

14
00:00:46.840 --> 00:00:50.560
plastic-eating worm kits
could be used in the home.

15
00:00:52.760 --> 00:00:54.040
You've been looking at the headlines,

16
00:00:54.040 --> 00:00:55.080
Beth, what's the vocabulary?

17
00:00:55.080 --> 00:01:01.280
We have 'gobbling', 'lowly'
and 'humble'.

18
00:01:01.280 --> 00:01:05.160
This is News Review from BBC
Learning English.

19
00:01:11.480 --> 00:01:13.480
Let's have a look
at our first headline.

20
00:01:13.480 --> 00:01:15.920
This one is
from France Twenty Four.

21
00:01:23.959 --> 00:01:25.559
And so the headline is saying

22
00:01:25.560 --> 00:01:30.959
something useful has been found in
the spit of a certain kind of worm,

23
00:01:30.959 --> 00:01:33.719
and it's the enzyme in the spit.

24
00:01:33.720 --> 00:01:39.120
Enzymes are things that help chemical
processes happen more quickly -

25
00:01:39.120 --> 00:01:42.240
in this case, destroying plastic.

26
00:01:42.240 --> 00:01:45.840
But the word that we're interested in
is 'gobbling'.

27
00:01:45.840 --> 00:01:50.280
And 'gobbling' is the word connected
to the noise

28
00:01:50.280 --> 00:01:51.560
a turkey makes.

29
00:01:51.560 --> 00:01:52.760
Yes, you're right.

30
00:01:52.760 --> 00:01:54.760
So, when a turkey gets its food,

31
00:01:54.760 --> 00:01:59.240
it eats very quickly and loudly
and we say this is 'gobble'.

32
00:01:59.240 --> 00:02:02.400
And the headline writer has
turned this into an adjective,

33
00:02:02.400 --> 00:02:04.280
just like the noise
'gobble, gobble'.

34
00:02:04.280 --> 00:02:07.400
And we've got a new word -
'plastic gobbling'.

35
00:02:07.400 --> 00:02:10.800
'Gobble' is a funny word in English

36
00:02:10.800 --> 00:02:13.360
because it sounds like the thing

37
00:02:13.360 --> 00:02:14.840
it is describing.

38
00:02:14.840 --> 00:02:20.399
And, we have a lot of words like that.
For example,

39
00:02:20.400 --> 00:02:22.400
what noise does a cat make?

40
00:02:22.400 --> 00:02:26.160
Miaow.
So, the noise is like that.

41
00:02:26.160 --> 00:02:30.280
And the word to describe that
is 'miaow'.

42
00:02:30.280 --> 00:02:32.919
What about chickens?
Cluck, cluck.

43
00:02:32.919 --> 00:02:36.159
The chickens make a cluck cluck noise
and the word

44
00:02:36.160 --> 00:02:39.600
we write down and say is 'cluck'.

45
00:02:39.600 --> 00:02:44.280
So, the headline makes you imagine
a worm noisely eating plastic.

46
00:02:44.280 --> 00:02:47.720
Just like a turkey gobbling it.

47
00:02:47.720 --> 00:02:49.440
Now, of course, this is an
exaggeration,

48
00:02:49.440 --> 00:02:53.080
but it's quite entertaining
and it gives you a strong mental image.

49
00:02:53.080 --> 00:02:57.400
Yeah. Can you give us some examples
of other words connected to eating

50
00:02:57.400 --> 00:02:59.679
and the noise involved?

51
00:02:59.680 --> 00:03:04.600
Yes, so we have 'gulp'.
OK, so that is 'gulp'.

52
00:03:04.600 --> 00:03:09.240
And that is about eating food
and drinking quickly and loudly.

53
00:03:09.240 --> 00:03:10.960
And we also have 'guzzle'.

54
00:03:10.960 --> 00:03:12.680
But that's only really used
for drink.

55
00:03:12.680 --> 00:03:16.400
Yeah. And we have a word
not connected to sound

56
00:03:16.400 --> 00:03:20.320
but it's got an animal in it,
'to wolf something down',

57
00:03:20.320 --> 00:03:23.079
means to eat it really quickly.

58
00:03:23.080 --> 00:03:26.160
Let's take a look
at that one more time.

59
00:03:32.480 --> 00:03:34.920
Let's take a look
at our next headline.

60
00:03:34.920 --> 00:03:37.520
This one is from Reuters:

61
00:03:43.880 --> 00:03:46.800
The headline is saying
that the saliva -

62
00:03:46.800 --> 00:03:47.960
that's the spit -

63
00:03:47.960 --> 00:03:51.600
another word for 'spit' -
of this certain kind of worm

64
00:03:51.600 --> 00:03:58.560
might boost - that means help - the attempt
to reduce plastic. But the word

65
00:03:58.560 --> 00:04:00.760
we're looking at is 'lowly'.

66
00:04:00.760 --> 00:04:02.520
What can you tell us about lowly?

67
00:04:02.520 --> 00:04:06.080
Well, there's a clue
in this word 'lowly' - low.

68
00:04:06.080 --> 00:04:09.680
It means 'low
in position or importance'.

69
00:04:09.680 --> 00:04:11.280
So, for example, Neil,

70
00:04:11.280 --> 00:04:13.000
when I started in my career,

71
00:04:13.000 --> 00:04:15.360
I wasn't presenting News Review
for the BBC,

72
00:04:15.360 --> 00:04:17.800
I was in a lowly position.

73
00:04:17.800 --> 00:04:21.320
OK, so you mean that you feel
that the job

74
00:04:21.320 --> 00:04:23.680
you were doing wasn't as important
as the one

75
00:04:23.680 --> 00:04:26.839
you're doing now. It was lower.
Exactly.

76
00:04:26.839 --> 00:04:32.479
OK. Now we have heard that this worm is
actually really important -

77
00:04:32.480 --> 00:04:34.920
it's eating plastic.

78
00:04:34.920 --> 00:04:37.880
So, why are we calling it 'lowly'?

79
00:04:37.880 --> 00:04:42.760
Well, wax worms aren't really high up in the
animal kingdom. They're a little bit dirty.

80
00:04:42.760 --> 00:04:46.400
Most people think of them as pests
and they don't really like them.

81
00:04:46.400 --> 00:04:50.080
And so the headline writer uses
the word 'lowly'

82
00:04:50.080 --> 00:04:53.800
because even though this worm
doesn't seem that important,

83
00:04:53.800 --> 00:04:58.000
it's actually doing
a really important job.

84
00:04:58.000 --> 00:05:01.040
Now, do we use this word much
in our everyday English?

85
00:05:01.040 --> 00:05:02.600
Well, yeah.

86
00:05:02.600 --> 00:05:05.879
When we use it, it's always in
a humorous way. We're kind of saying

87
00:05:05.880 --> 00:05:08.960
the thing we're doing,
isn't very important.

88
00:05:08.960 --> 00:05:13.120
Like, I used to be a lowly tea maker
in the office.

89
00:05:13.120 --> 00:05:16.240
Well, you call yourself lowly,

90
00:05:16.240 --> 00:05:18.200
but just like the worm,

91
00:05:18.200 --> 00:05:20.360
you're performing a really
important task.

92
00:05:20.360 --> 00:05:21.360
Everybody loves tea.

93
00:05:21.360 --> 00:05:24.080
It may not be the most glamorous job
in the world,

94
00:05:24.080 --> 00:05:27.440
but it is very important.
OK, let's look at that again.

95
00:05:35.360 --> 00:05:37.720
Let's take a look at our next
headline.

96
00:05:37.720 --> 00:05:39.800
This one is
from the BBC.

97
00:05:45.240 --> 00:05:49.839
And so the headline is saying
the saliva of this type of worm,

98
00:05:49.839 --> 00:05:54.999
this wax worm, can break down,
which means 'destroy' certain types

99
00:05:55.000 --> 00:05:57.040
certain types of plastic.

100
00:05:57.040 --> 00:06:00.400
Tough plastics - ones that are difficult
to break down -

101
00:06:00.400 --> 00:06:02.400
difficult to destroy.

102
00:06:03.240 --> 00:06:06.720
We have another adjective that
we're looking at the which is 'humble'.

103
00:06:06.720 --> 00:06:08.680
What can you tell us about
humble?

104
00:06:08.680 --> 00:06:14.160
So, 'humble' can have the same meaning as
'lowly', meaning 'ordinary' or 'not important',

105
00:06:14.160 --> 00:06:16.000
but it has another meaning too.

106
00:06:16.000 --> 00:06:20.160
So, it can describe
a person who isn't proud,

107
00:06:20.160 --> 00:06:21.960
doesn't believe
that they're important,

108
00:06:21.960 --> 00:06:26.160
even if they are. So, imagine
someone wins an award,

109
00:06:26.160 --> 00:06:29.640
they get on stage to give their speech
and they say this isn't for me,

110
00:06:29.640 --> 00:06:30.800
it's for everyone else.

111
00:06:30.800 --> 00:06:32.560
Thank you everyone who helped me.

112
00:06:32.560 --> 00:06:34.839
They are humble.
What a humble person

113
00:06:34.839 --> 00:06:39.199
and it's a positive thing
to say about someone, isn't it?

114
00:06:39.200 --> 00:06:44.400
So, in this headline, using 'humble'
about this worm is a positive thing.

115
00:06:44.400 --> 00:06:48.800
Exactly, because even though this
worm maybe looks just like a worm,

116
00:06:48.800 --> 00:06:50.439
it's really special and important -

117
00:06:50.440 --> 00:06:53.360
it has plastic-eating abilities.

118
00:06:53.360 --> 00:06:55.600
OK, let's look at that again.

119
00:07:02.440 --> 00:07:05.400
We've had 'gobbling' -
eating quickly

120
00:07:05.400 --> 00:07:06.920
and loudly like a turkey.

121
00:07:06.920 --> 00:07:11.000
'Lowly' - low in position
and importance.

122
00:07:11.000 --> 00:07:13.080
And 'humble' - not proud,

123
00:07:13.080 --> 00:07:14.600
but often important.

124
00:07:14.600 --> 00:07:19.480
Don't forget there's a quiz on our website
at bbcearningenglish.com

125
00:07:19.480 --> 00:07:22.520
Thank you for joining us and goodbye.
Bye.