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Six Minute English from BBC Learning English.
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Hello and welcome to 6 Minute English! I'm Neil and I'm Catherine. Catherine,
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I'm going to start this program with a quick test just for you! Oh, I love tests! Complete this
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phrase - wake up and smell the ... Coffee! Coffee, Neil, it's coffee! I have to say that I love
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coffee, it's great. Yeah, okay, so do you drink much? Well, just a couple of cups, you know. Uh,
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every day? No, no, every hour! I love coffee, don't you like coffee, Neil?
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I do. Maybe not as much as you! What's the best thing about it? Oh, it's the smell,
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it's got to be the smell. You know when you open the packet, it's great, isn't it?
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Uh, yes, but it never quite tastes as good as it smells, does it? Well, no. It's always a bit
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disappointing. I live in hope. Another cup, I think it'll be better. I might change brands,
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actually, try a different one. Yeah, okay. You've had quite a lot of coffee today, haven't you? Oh,
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just the usual six cups. Well, our topic is the smell of coffee and coffee is also the
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subject of today's question: the world's biggest producer of coffee is.... Brazil, Brazil. Yes,
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yes, but that's not the question. The question is: Brazil is the biggest coffee producer - which is
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the second largest coffee producing country? Is it a) Colombia, b) Vietnam or c) Ethiopia? Right,
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so it's not Brazil but I bet it's another South American country so I'm gonna go for Colombia.
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Colombia is that right? Okay, we'll have the answer later in the program by which time maybe
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the caffeine will have left your body, Catherine. Tim Hayward is a coffee shop owner. He appeared
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in the BBC radio 4 program, the Kitchen Cabinet. How important does he say the smell of coffee is?
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Absolutely vital, it's the key thing and you when you walk into the coffee shop in the
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morning and that smell hits you, you're getting physiological responses. So, how important is it?
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I'm feeling a bit calmer now. Tim Hayward says the smell of coffee is vital. That means it's
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very important, it's perhaps the most important thing. And he backs this up by saying that it's
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the key thing. Something that's key is essential, it's really important. And, he says that when you
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experience the smell, when the smell hits you, you get a physiological response. This phrase
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means your body has a reaction to the smell of coffee - perhaps your mouth begins to water in
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anticipation. Catherine, when you get a coffee do you normally have it there or take it away?
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Well, I usually take it away, although if I'm feeling really in need of a coffee hit,
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I might have one there and then get another one to take with me. Can you describe the container that
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you're given when you have a coffee to go? Yes, it's in a tall paper cup with a lid and the lid
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has a hole in it so that I can drink that lovely coffee. Don't you think that's a problem? I mean,
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we know how important the smell is, so what's the effect of the lid on that experience? The effect
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of the lid? Yeah, well, here's Tim Hayward again, talking about coffee being served with lids. What
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baffles me is how many of the large coffee chains actually sell a product in a cup that removes the
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smell. So, you walk into the coffee shop, you get the smell but when you actually take the
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drink out, you're drinking it from something that's designed to deliver the hot liquid
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directly past your tongue but stop any smell coming up to your nose. That's just weird. So,
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what is it he's describing there? I see, yes, he's talking about the big coffee chains.
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A chain is a company that has lots of its stores in towns and cities, sometimes around the world.
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I think we can all think of a few well-known coffee chains, and he says that by putting a
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lid on takeaway cups, you're actually blocking the smell. That smell that is really important
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to the coffee experience. Yes, and he says he finds that weird, which is a way of saying he
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finds it unusual - thinks it's strange, odd. So much so, that he says it baffles him. If you are
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baffled by something you find it confusing. You can't really understand it. Here's Tim
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Hayward again. What baffles me is how many of the large coffee chains actually sell a product
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in a cup that removes the smell. So, you walk into the coffee shop, you get the smell but when
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you actually take the drink out you're drinking it from something that's designed to deliver the
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hot liquid directly past your tongue but stop any smell coming up to your nose. That's just
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weird. That was coffee shop owner Tim Hayward. Right, before we have another cup of this week's
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vocabulary, let's get the answer to the question. After Brazil, which country produces most coffee?
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Is it a) Colombia, b) Vietnam or c) Ethiopia? Catherine, you said... I said it was a) Colombia.
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Ah, sorry, no extra coffee for you today. The answer is Vietnam. And now on to the vocabulary
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we looked at. Take it away, Catherine. So, the first word was vital, which is an adjective that
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means very important. And another word with a very similar meaning was key, meaning essential. Next,
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we had the phrase, physiological responses. Physiological refers to what our bodies do
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and a response is a reaction. So, a physiological response is a reaction your body has to something,
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like the smell of coffee. Something that baffles you confuses you. You don't understand it. You
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might find something that baffles you to be weird. This adjective means unusual or strange.
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And finally, a chain is a group of shops from the same company with the same name.
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Well, that is the end of our program. For more from us check out Instagram, Facebook, Twitter,
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Youtube and our app and, of course, the website bbclearningenglish.com. See you soon, goodbye.
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Bye! Fancy a coffee? I think you've had too much! 6 Minute English from bbclearningenglish.com
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Welcome to 6 Minute English where we introduce a refreshing topic and six related items of
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vocabulary. I'm Rob and I'm Neil and today we're talking about water. There's nothing
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more refreshing than an ice cold bottle of water straight out of the vending machine.
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Hmm, okay, refreshing in this context means making you feel cool again after being hot
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so has that cooled you down, Neil? Yes, I feel very refreshed now, thanks. Can I ask you though
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why didn't you just get a glass of water from the kitchen tap? That water is cool and refreshing
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too, and it's free! Well, I like this brand of bottled water better. It's enriched with salts and
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minerals that are very beneficial to your health. Enriched means improving the quality of something
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by adding to it. Enriched, honestly, Neil! It tastes better, Rob and I'm not the only one who
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thinks so. For the first time in the UK, bottled water is more popular than cola. In fact, can you
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tell me how many litres of bottled water was sold in the UK in 2016? Was it a) 2.9 billion, litres
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b) 29 million litres or c 2.9 million litres? Um, right. well, I'm going to say 29 million litres.
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OK, we'll find out later if you got that right or wrong. But seriously, Rob, don't you think it's a
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good thing that people are choosing to buy bottled water at the supermarket rather than fizzy drinks?
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Yes, of course, but as I said to you earlier, why don't people just drink tap water?
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Let's listen to Natalie Fee, founder of City to Sea, which campaigns again plastic pollution. And,
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of course, bottled water causes a huge amount of that. Here's Natalie now talking
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about how drinks manufacturers have persuaded people that bottled water is better for them.
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They manufactured the demand for bottled water and they spent millions of pounds on adverts,
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sort of scaring us off of tap water. The bottled water companies set out to make us believe
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that tap water wasn't healthy and yet tap water is way more regulated than bottled water is
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and in taste tests tap water comes up trump most times.
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If you manufacture something you make it in large amounts in a factory.
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But here Natalie says the drinks companies manufactured the demand for bottled water, which
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means they made adverts to persuade people that tap water wasn't healthy and bottled water was.
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To scare people off - what does that mean, Rob? Well, if you scare somebody off you
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make them go away by frightening them. S,o some advertisers may have suggested, for example,
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that tap water was unsafe to drink, whereas bottled water was safer and tasted better too.
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You're catching on! However, Natalie Fee claims that tap water is more regulated than bottled
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water is. Regulated means controlled. Natalie also says that in taste tests, tap water comes
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up trumps. What does she mean by that? Well, a taste test is where you ask people to try several
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very similar products without knowing which one is which and then you grade them according to
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which you like the best. And if something comes up trumps, it means it produces a good result, often
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unexpectedly. So tap water comes up trump's, eh? Yep. Perhaps we should try a taste test now, Neil?
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It would be interesting to see if your enriched bottled water comes up trumps or not. I tell you
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what, let's leave that until later and hear the answer to today's quiz question instead. Okay,
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I asked you: how many litres of bottled water were sold in the UK in 2016? Was it a) 2.9 billion
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litres, b) 29 million litres or c) 2.9 million litres? Yeah, and I said 29 million litres. And
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the answer is... 2.9 billion litres. Wow! You can buy many different brands of bottled water with a
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range of price tags. At the top end, there's water from a 4,00 year-old Norwegian iceberg.
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How much does that cost? Around £80 a bottle. Oh, as cheap as that - I'll pop out and get some
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later. Okay, let's review the words we learned today. The first one was refreshing, which means
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making you feel cool again after being hot. I enjoyed a refreshing cup of tea. Hmm, well we
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British like to say that, don't we? Though I don't understand how a hot drink can be refreshing. OK,
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number two - enriched, which means improving the quality of something by adding to it. For example,
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did you know that many types of breakfast cereal are enriched with vitamins and minerals, Neil?
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No, I didn't, Rob. You learn something new every day. Number three is manufacture - to
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make something in large amounts in a factory. This company manufactures wellington boots I'm
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a wellington boot manufacturer - that has a nice ring to it. Anyway, when you scare someone off
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you make them go away by frightening them. The dog barked fiercely and scared off the two burglars.
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Down, Rob, down number. Five - regulated or controlled. For example, the sale of tobacco is
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tightly regulated by the government. And finally - if something comes up trumps it produces a
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good result, often unexpectedly. My lottery ticket came up trumps again, I can't believe it! You're a
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lucky man, Neil. Okay, it's time to do that taste test now. If you have an opinion on bottled water
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or anything else, please tell us about it on our Twitter, Instagram, Facebook or Youtube pages.
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Okay, this one definitely tastes better. And how about this one?
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Yeah, definitely - that's the tap water, Neil. No, no, no - I refuse to believe it!
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6 Minute English from BBC Learning English.
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Hello and welcome to 6 Minute English. I'm Neil and I'm Rob. Now, Rob, you like your food, don't
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you? Oh yes. Yum, yum - food one of my favorite things. And what do you think of street food? Oh,
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I love street food - there are some great places in London where you can find delicious foods
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from all over the world cooked in front of you in market stalls on the street.
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It's quite new though, isn't it? Not really a British tradition. I guess not but it seems to
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be much more popular these days. Well, our topic today is street food but before we tuck into that,
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here is today's question: recently, archaeologists in Jordan discovered what they believe is the
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oldest remains of bread. How old is this bread? Is it a) 18,000 years old, b) 14,000 years old or c)
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5,500 years old? What do you think? I don't know but what I do know is i wouldn't really want to
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try sandwich made from that bread - might be a bit moldy. Yes, uh, anyway ii'm gonna have a guess
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then ii'll go for c) 5500 years old. Right, we will find out the answer later in the programme.
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Mark Laurie is from the nationwide caterers association. He's an expert in the business of
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street food in the UK. He appeared on BBC Radio 4's, The Food Programme and was asked how the
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business of street food has changed in recent years. In his answer, he talks about the areas
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where there is most growth in street food. What are those areas? It's been phenomenal the growth,
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uh, in street foods, it's really taken off, it's really become quite mainstream - part
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of the cultural fabric of the country, really, or so it's beginning to be. Uh,
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certainly in the bigger cities and increasingly in the sort of provinces, if you like.
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So where does he say the popularity of street food is growing? He says that it's in the bigger
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cities and also in the provinces. The provinces is a word which means the parts of a country
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outside of the cities, so essentially he's saying it's getting more popular everywhere. Exactly! In
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fact, he says the growth is phenomenal. This means he thinks the growth is spectacular - really big.
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Yes, he says that it's really taken off. Taken off is one of those phrasal verbs that can be
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used in many different ways. In this sense, when something takes off it means it becomes
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successful and popular. You know, street food isn't really something you associate with Britain.
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Perhaps it's the climate or British food, so street food is something that we're now getting
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used to and enjoying more. In fact, Mark says that it's now becoming mainstream. This means it's no
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longer something that is seen as being unusual or different - it's becoming an accepted part of the
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everyday eating experience. Well, let's listen again to Mark Laurie talking about the growth of
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street food in the UK. It's been phenomenal, the growth in street foods - it's really taken off,
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it's really become quite mainstream - part of the cultural fabric of the country, really, or so it's
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beginning to be. Certainly in the in the bigger cities and increasingly in the sort of provinces,
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if you like. Mark Laurie goes on to talk about why street food has become popular. What kind of
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food does he say it's not like? Yeah, it's just really captured the imagination of the public.
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It's honest food, it's authentic food and it's people that you can trust making it.
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It's not some microwave food or whatever that you might get in your local pub.
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So, street food is many things but what isn't it? Well, he says that it's not like food you
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might get in some pubs. That food, he says, may be some microwave food - which is food
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prepared in a microwave oven. You know I quite like a microwave meal now and then,
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and I reheat my leftovers in the microwave. But I guess if you were paying for a nice meal you
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wouldn't expect reheated leftovers. I think the point he's making is that in many places,
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the food you're served is not freshly made - it may be pre-prepared and finished off in a
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microwave. Street food, he says, is authentic. Yes, authentic - it's real, fresh and cooked
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right in front of you and if it's food from a particular country it's probably being prepared
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by people from that culture. He also says that this has captured the imagination of the public.
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It's something that the public have experienced and thought, yep, you know, I like this. This
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is a great idea. Well, all this sort of food is making me hungry, so let's get the answer to the
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quiz and review today's vocabulary before we head off and grab a bite to eat. We asked about the age
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of bread discovered by archaeologists in Jordan. Was it a) 18,000 years old, b) 14,000 years old
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or c) 5,500 years old? And I said c) 5 500 years old. And I'm afraid it's a lot moldier than that.
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The answer was 14,000 years. Ah, very tasty, I'm sure. Yes, right then the vocabulary - we
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started off with the adjective phenomenal to describe something that is amazing, remarkable
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and extraordinary. Then we had - to take off - a phrasal verb which means to become popular. Street
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food has really taken off in the UK - it's become really popular. And not just in the cities but
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also in the provinces which is a noun to describe areas of a country that aren't the major cities.
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Something which captures the imagination is something which makes you interested and not
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just for a short time. And one thing which has captured the imagination of the British public
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is authentic street food. Something authentic is real - it's genuine. It's not a fake or a copy.
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And finally, we had microwave food - food prepared in a microwave oven and that kind
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of food is not seen by some as authentic. Well, it's time to eat, so that's all we
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have time for today. Join us again next time and remember you can find us on Instagram, Facebook,
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Twitter, Youtube and, of course, on our website: bbclearningenglish.com. See you soon, bye. Bye.
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I'm Rob and welcome to 6 Minute English. We've got a sweet topic today and six tempting items
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of vocabulary. Hello, I'm Neil and we're going to be talking about sugar which many of us find
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tempting. But how much is too much, Rob? I don't know, Neil, but hopefully we'll be finding that
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out. I must admit, though, I have a sweet tooth and that means I like sugary things. Me too
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but something I'm always seeing in the news these days is that we're eating too much sugar. And one
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important factor is that sugars are sometimes hidden in processed foods. Processed food is any
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food that has been changed in some way by freezing it or putting it in tins, or by combining foods or
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adding chemicals. In fact, some of the sugars we eat are hidden in food that we think of as
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healthy, such as yoghurts, low-fat snacks and fruit drinks. Do you check the information on the
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back of food packets, Rob, to see what's in them? Yes, I do, but it can be very confusing - there's
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so much information and I'm not always sure how much of a certain thing is bad. Well,
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that brings me on to today's quiz question. Can you tell me: if a food contains five percent total
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sugars per 100 grams, is it a) high in sugar, b) low in sugar or c) somewhere in the middle?
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I'll say low, Neil. Okay, well, we'll find out later. Some food products have colour coding
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on the packaging to help you understand the information, don't they? Red for high levels
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of sugar, salt or fat, orange for medium and green for low. That sounds helpful. Then you can see at
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a glance what's good or bad for you. At a glance means with a quick look. Okay, let's listen now
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to BBC reporter Rajiv Gupta interviewing a man in Chester in the UK. He's asking him to guess how
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much sugar there is in a pot of fat-free yoghurt. I've actually got a pot of yoghurt in front of me.
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This says fat-free on it and it's been marketed as being quite healthy. If I was to say to you,
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how much sugar is in here what would you say, as I say, a quantity of the tub?
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I'd probably think maybe a couple of teaspoonfuls, you know, it's quite surprising how much there's
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sugars in all these products, isn't there? Well, there's about a third of this yoghurt
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pot is actually sugar. To be honest, that's quite amazing, that. I would never have thought a third
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of that would have been sugar in the... just by looking at it and it does say it's fat-free.
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So the yogurt is fat-free which means it doesn't contain any fat and the man guessed there might be
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two teaspoons of sugar in the yoghurt. That's right, and if something is sugar-free then it
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doesn't contain any sugar. But in this case, a third of the yoghurt's content was sugar. That
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to me sounds like an awful lot -even for someone with a sweet tooth like me. Okay,