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English from BBC learning english hello I'm Catherine welcome to 6 minute
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English where we engage in some lively debate and discuss six stimulating items
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of vocabulary and let's start here's your cup of coffee Rob ah thanks but
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what took you so long Catherine oh sorry Rob I bumped into someone I
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knew in the cafe and we stopped for a chat
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okay well that fits well with today's show where we're talking about cafes or
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coffee houses did you know Catherine that coffee houses were originally a
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meeting place for lively debate and intellectual discussion really I didn't
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know that Rob and a debate by the way means a discussion that a lot of people
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take part in so how long ago was this debate in society well the first coffee
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house was set up in Oxford in 1650 but they quickly became popular and soon
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they were all over London - you paid a penny to get in and this included access
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to newspapers and stimulating conversation if something is stimulating
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it encourages ideas and enthusiasm and I expect the coffee held without a bit did
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it no it certainly helps me first thing in the morning which brings me on to
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today's question Rob how many cups of coffee do we consume in coffee shops or
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stores in the UK every year consumed by the way is another word for eat or drink
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so is the answer A 2.3 million B 23 million or C 23 billion mmm oh I don't
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mean oh but it's got to be a lot so I'm gonna go for C 23 billion that sounds
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like a lot of coffee but I buy several cups a week and I expect you do -
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Catherine I do indeed but I have to say while I was getting our coffees earlier
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there was nobody as in the cafe talking except me my friend
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everybody else was sitting on their own tapping away on their laptops let's
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listen now to Douglas Fraser BBC Scotland's business and economy editor
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describing the vibe or atmosphere in a typical 21st century cafe
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ten or so in the morning the cafe has five people at tables with their backs
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to the wall each staring into a screen plugged in ears plugged the flow of
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bytes through this coffee shops free Wi-Fi is transporting these customers to
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diverse destinations far from the person beside them collaborative working
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research grant application a potential blockbuster novel and inevitably someone
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distracted by kitten pictures on social media so the spirit of those 17th
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century coffee houses had disappeared then no more lively debate and
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intellectual discussion seems so Rob as Douglas Frazer says many people sit
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alone plugged into their laptops and they're all doing different things
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working writing messing about on social media and I think the cafe owners should
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turn off the free Wi-Fi and force these cafe squatters to move on I don't think
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people should be allowed to sit all day using the internet hogging tables and
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not talking to anybody especially when some of them don't even buy coffee
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that's a bit extreme Rob cafe owners need customers and they encourage people
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to stay by having comfy sofas and newspapers to read and the free Wi-Fi a
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squatter by the way is someone who lives in an empty building without paying rent
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and if you hog something you use most or all of it in a selfish way I suppose
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you're right Katherine now how about telling us the answer to today's
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question then okay so I asked how many cups of coffee do we consume in cafes or
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stores in the UK every year is it A 2.3 million B 23 million or C 23
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billion like hooch in a cafe using their free Wi-Fi to search the answer but I
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had a guess and I say 23 billion well you didn't need that free Wi-Fi Rob
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because you were absolutely right ah 23 billion coffees per year works out on
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average at forty five cups per adult in the UK okay I think it's time we look
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back at the words we learned today our first word is debate a discussion that a
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lot of people take part in For example, I took part in a number of stimulating
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debates at school number two if something is stimulating it encourages
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new ideas and enthusiasm for example it's hard to have a stimulating
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conversation with someone who's looking at their phone all the time
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that's very true let me just slide my phone in my pocket our next word is
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consume another word for eating or drinking but it can also mean to use for
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example my car consumes a lot of petrol or how do I calculate my car's fuel
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consumption so consumption there is the noun number four is vibe which means the
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mood or atmosphere in a place for example Oxford is a city but it has a
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small-town vibe well I'm getting bad vibes from our next word which is
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squatter that's someone who lives in an empty building without paying rent the
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building is called a squat so for example I lived in a squat for two years
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really you squatted in a squat Rob no no no it's just an example I am NOT a
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squatter oh so you've never squatted it's no I now look we're wasting time here we
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need to move on to our final word hog if you hog something you use all or most of
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it in a selfish way for example Rob you've hugged the only comfy chair
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that's so selfish I admit it Katherine I'm a chair hog that's the noun okay
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well before we head off for another cup of coffee please remember to check out
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our Facebook Twitter and YouTube pages bye bye bye
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six minutes English from BBC learning english