Pronunciation ChallengeWhat If All Insects Disappeared?

day 623

NOTE:
Hi, everyone! Welcome to today’s pronunciation challenge. This’s your host Estelle. I know the Monday blues maybe hit you hard right now, I know. We had a 4-day break in Taiwan last week, because it was our National Day. And I am still in the holiday mood. I can barely recover from my 4-day break of double tenth day. I was so excited that I finally got relaxed and get some rest.

What do you usually do during your day offs(days off?)? Other than going out, or staying in bed all day, we still have to do some chores that we’re too busy to do on weekdays such as doing the laundry and cleaning the house. You know what I hate the most when I’m cleaning my kitchen? cockroaches, especially the ones that can fly. They are just nasty. I wish that they didn’t exist most of the time. But according to today’s video, some really bad things might happen if all the cockroaches disappeared. The video also describes a worst-case scenario([sɪˋnɛrɪ͵o]事態) of what could happen if we lost all the insects in the world. Maybe you’ll be more grateful for cockroaches after watching it. Wait, but for now, we have to take look at the sentence of the day.

“Over 500 species of these grisly undertakers live worldwide, devouring dead flash until nothing but bone remains.”

+undertaker (n.) 殯儀員，喪葬承辦人/ a person whose job is to prepare dead bodies that are going to be buried or cremated (= burned) and to organize funerals.

+ flesh (n.) (人或動物或蔬果的)肉/ the soft part of the body of a person or animal that is between the skin and the bones, or the soft inside partof a fruit or vegetable.

1. species [ˋspiʃiz ] (n.) 物種(單複數同形)
It means a set of animals or plants in which the members have similar characteristics to each other and can breed with each other. The singular form and the pleural form for the word are the same, both are species.
*Formosan black bears are an endangered species.
*There are 16,000 species of trees in the Amazon rainforest.

2-1. grisly [ˋgrɪzlɪ ] (adj.) 令人厭惡的，恐怖的；可怕的
It means inspiring horror or intense fear, or inspiring disgust or distaste(厭惡).
* The family of the murder victim grieved over his grisly death.
+ grieve (v.) 悲傷/ grief (n.) 悲傷

2-2. grizzly [ˋgrɪzlɪ ] (adj) 有灰斑的
It means freckled(斑點的), or strip with grey.
* a grizzly bear 北美大灰熊

Don’t get them wrong. Although they may sound exactly the same, their meanings are totally different.

3-1. worldwide [ˋwɝld͵waɪd ] (adv.) 全世界
It means throughout the world.
* A fear of terrorism has spread worldwide since the attacks took place.

3-2. worldwide [ˋwɝld͵waɪd ] (adj.) 全世界的
It means extended throughout or involving the entire world.
* The severe violent(暴力的) clashes(衝突) during the demonstration(示威) has drawn worldwide attention.
示威期間的嚴重暴力引起全世界的關注

4-1. devour [dɪˋvaʊr ] (v.) 狼吞虎嚥，吞噬；毀滅
It means to eat something eagerly and in large amounts so that nothing is left.
* The birthday boy is devouring his big slice of chocolate cake.

4-2. Devour can also mean to destroy something completely.
* The tsunami ruthlessly(無情地) devoured the entire fishing village.

4-3. The phrase “to be devoured by something” means to feel an emotion, especially a bad emotion, very strongly so that it strongly influences your behavior.
* The widow(寡婦) has been devoured by grief since the death of her loving husband.

5-1. There is an interesting usage in today’s sentence, which is “nothing but…” . “Nothing but …” equals to only (只是，只有)
* My family provides me with nothing but unconditional love.

5-2. And for now, I’m going to add in some similar usage. The first one is “anything but…”. “anything but …” can be rephrased using “not at all” or “in no way” (根本不, 絕對不)
* You must have misunderstood(誤解) him, because as far as I know, he is anything but a bully.

5-3. Next is “everything but… “. The meaning of “everything but …” is quite literal. It means everything except, or everything with the exception of. 除了某物以外全部都是，唯獨不
* She is good at everything but math.

5-4. all but… 幾乎，差不多
“All but…” means almost or nearly.
* It is all but impossible for a woman to work during her pregnancy.

So insects really are important to our planet earth. I can’t imagine surviving without insects now. Well, I hope all insects can live well but not in my house.
All right, that’s today’s episode. What do you think of insects? Do you have any tips to keeping them out of your house? Leave comments, let me know. And don’t forget to record your own challenge. Thank you for listening, see you next time.

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