Pronunciation ChallengeCNN10: Inflation / Aviation / Plastic

【Transcript】

Inflation in the U.S.

The news today is about inflation, is it good for the economy? Well, it depends. Inflation, simply put, is when prices go up and your money doesn't buy as much furniture, airplane tickets, cars, food, or personal care items like soap. These have all become more expensive in the U.S. since March 2021. One reason is that gasoline prices have been skyrocketing, they were 22 and a half percent higher this March than the March of 2020. This is cutting into family budgets, the cost of living, and makes it more expensive to ship the items we buy. When more people were staying home and businesses were shut down, demand for gasoline dropped, and so did its price. With people getting back to the office, back to traveling, and businesses reopening, gas prices are shooting upward; supply and demand also became factors. Many Americans are in the market for new homes, new bicycles, and many other goods. But the inventory of these things is exceptionally low, so that's driving prices up. But if they go up too much too fast, people may pull back on spending and buy less, which can hurt the economy.

Many banking officials are comfortable with an inflation rate of two percent per year. They believe this is just the right amount to keep price-rises moderate, but also to keep the economy growing. But between last and this year of March, consumer prices rose by 2.6 percent, more than half a percentage point higher than bankers' comfort zone. However, is this inflation just temporary and likely to deflate as the year goes on? Or is it actually a warning for more sustained inflation ahead? One thing economists do agree on is that the cost of goods will probably keep rising through the summer. Parents, watch out!


Aviation Industry Revival in the U.S.

With the inflation occurring in the U.S., plane tickets are also on the rise. Aviation is a huge industry in America. In a normal year, it accounts for more than five percent of America's gross domestic product (GDP). As you know, the industry took a tremendous hit during the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic. In 2020, experts say international travel decreased more than 80 percent from 2019, and a dramatic drop in business bookings, which typically make more money for airlines than leisure bookings do, was a major reason why the industry lost billions of dollars last year. Now, as airplane flights are gradually getting back to normal, booking numbers surged, which has brought a big challenge for the industry. Airline companies and their mechanic teams are conducting maintenance work with their aircraft. American Airlines says their pilots will be thoroughly rechecked in classrooms and simulators before coming back on the job. United Airlines just said they will hire new pilots for the first time in more than a year, while thousands of existing pilots will be coming back from pandemic time off.



Plastic Waste from the COVID-19 Pandemic

Moving on to our final news of today’s show, and yes, it’s still Covid-related. A proliferation of plastic waste is a side effect of the coronavirus pandemic. With to-go orders increasing, restaurants had to resort to plastic takeout containers instead of washable dishes. And then there's the issue of personal protective equipment or PPE. In the early days of COVID-19, the dire shortage of PPE left many frontline healthcare workers painfully vulnerable. But now, so many masks are made each year they could even cover an area the size of Switzerland. Now, everybody is aware of PPE and everybody in health care is being asked to use more PPE. Manufacturers went into overdrive to produce billions of pieces of PPE. Things like gloves, garments, masks, beard nets, hair covers, shoe covers. Personal protective equipment has always been around, but due to COVID, it's now become a disaster. Waste coming from certain areas, like hospitals, does qualify as hazardous waste in many cases, which means people can't touch it, and even recyclers are afraid to collect material from hospitals, becoming a new side effect of COVID-19 and a big problem for the authorities.


【Sentence of the day】

American Airlines says its pilots will be thoroughly rechecked in classrooms and simulators before coming back on the job.

【Vocabulary】

1. pilot
a person who flies an aircraft

Ex: It is Tim’s biggest dream to become a pilot when he grows up.

2. thoroughly
in a detailed and careful way
Ex: We went through the report thoroughly but couldn't find the information anywhere.
3. simulator
a piece of equipment that is designed to represent real conditions

Ex: People learning to fly often practice on a flight simulator.


【Epilogue】

Alright, that’s all the time we have for today.
A big shout out to VoiceTuber, Eason, for sending me a private message,
Giving me some ideas for the CNN10 show,
There was news about the cross-strait tensions a week ago,
And it would be really meaningful to listen to Taiwan-related news.
So folks, if you find anything interesting in CNN10 videos or news that’s Taiwan-related,
Feel free to let me know, we might have a chance to include that in our show.

Thanks for joining, this is Ken Miao, and I’ll see you guys again next week.
Bye~

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