Latest / Spotlight English: Advanced / The Plastic Problem (Advanced Program)

Transcript

The Plastic Problem (Advanced Program) · Spotlight English: Advanced

• 0:03
  Speaker 1: Welcome to Spotlight Advanced. I'm Gillian Woodward.
• 0:07
  Speaker 2: And I'm Rob Queering. Spotlight uses a special English method
• 0:12
  Speaker 2: of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand no
• 0:16
  Speaker 2: matter where in the world they live.
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: In March of 2019, scientists found a dying whale in
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: the Davao Gulf in the Philippines. The large sea creature
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: was thin and bleeding. When it died, experts opened its stomach.
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: They found 36 kilograms, or 88 pounds, of plastic. The
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: animal had eaten so much that it could not eat
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: real food. It starved, though its stomach was full.
• 0:59
  Speaker 2: Plastic waste is everywhere on Earth. It is in the oceans,
• 1:05
  Speaker 2: in the cities, and in some of the most remote
• 1:08
  Speaker 2: areas in the world. Experts have found microplastics, pieces of
• 1:14
  Speaker 2: plastic less than 5 millimeters long, on the tallest mountains
• 1:18
  Speaker 2: on Earth. Japanese scientists once examined water in the clouds
• 1:23
  Speaker 2: above Mount Fuji. Their findings suggest that there is plastic
• 1:29
  Speaker 2: in the air we breathe. Microplastics are probably in all
• 1:33
  Speaker 2: of us. We eat them and drink them just like
• 1:37
  Speaker 2: the whale that died in Davao Gulf.
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: None of us eat plastic bags, but the microplastics that
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: we do take in are of growing concern to experts.
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: We do not yet know how much or how little
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: these small pollutants will change our lives. But doctors are
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: already coming to understand their negative influence on our health.
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: Today's Spotlight discusses the plastic problem.
• 2:07
  Speaker 2: Plastic is a new substance on Earth. Alexander Parks was
• 2:13
  Speaker 2: a British inventor. He created the first man-made plastic in 1862,
• 2:18
  Speaker 2: less than two centuries ago. Today, industries use plastic in
• 2:26
  Speaker 2: almost everything. It helped create modern medicine and computer technology.
• 2:31
  Speaker 2: Ian Jamie is a manager at Steger Clear Packaging, a
• 2:36
  Speaker 2: company in the United Kingdom. He told the British Broadcasting Corporation.
• 2:41
  Speaker 3: Plastic is an amazing substance, an amazing invention. It is lightweight,
• 2:47
  Speaker 3: it is strong, you can see through it.
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: But plastic's success is also part of the problems. The
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: world creates about 450 million tonnes of plastic every year.
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: Most people do not recycle their plastic or save it
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: for other uses. One million to two million tonnes of
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: plastic enter the ocean every year. Much more goes to landfills,
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: large mountains of waste far away from where humans live.
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: Most other materials decay over time, but not plastic. It
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: just breaks down into smaller parts. A plastic bottle will
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: take 450 years to decay. A plastic toothbrush may take
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: over 500.
• 3:36
  Speaker 2: Even when plastic disappears, it is not fully gone. Most
• 3:41
  Speaker 2: plastics just turn into smaller microplastics. Experts have found microplastics
• 3:48
  Speaker 2: all over the earth. But they have also found these
• 3:52
  Speaker 2: in our bodies. Experts have found microplastics in different organs
• 3:57
  Speaker 2: such as the liver, kidneys and brain. Scientists in China
• 4:03
  Speaker 2: even found microplastics inside human bones.
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: The amount of microplastics in human bodies is also increasing
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: over time. Microplastics in the brain are particularly concerning. Experts
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: say that patients who die from brain diseases seem to
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: have more microplastics in their brains than others. Experts do
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: not know if microplastics cause diseases of the mind, but
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: most are concerned. Matthew Campin studies poisons at the University
• 4:36
  Speaker 1: of New Mexico. He told Smithsonian Magazine.
• 4:40
  Speaker 4: I have yet to find a single human being who says...
• 4:46
  Speaker 4: There is a lot of plastic in my brain. I
• 4:49
  Speaker 4: am totally fine with that.
• 4:54
  Speaker 2: Plastics are not usually harmful to people outside the body,
• 4:59
  Speaker 2: but experts still do not know what plastic does inside
• 5:03
  Speaker 2: the human body. Many plastics are made from dangerous chemicals.
• 5:07
  Speaker 2: Some are like the chemicals found in motor oil. These
• 5:11
  Speaker 2: chemicals may leak from plastics into some environments. Many are
• 5:16
  Speaker 2: poisonous to humans. A small amount of chemicals may add up,
• 5:21
  Speaker 2: harming people.
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: One area where experts can show a health connection to
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: microplastics is heart disease. People who have heart disease often
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: have blocked arteries, which bring blood to different parts of
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: the body. Substances can be built in these arteries over time.
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: These cause inflammation, making the arteries shrink even more. Microplastics
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: seem to cause both inflammation and blockage in arteries.
• 5:53
  Speaker 2: Microplastics may also hurt other areas of the body. Over time,
• 5:59
  Speaker 2: layers of these materials may block an organ from working correctly.
• 6:05
  Speaker 2: They may cause cancer and other diseases. But microplastics may
• 6:10
  Speaker 2: also be dangerous for another reason. Faye Causero is a
• 6:15
  Speaker 2: teacher of environmental science at the University of Portsmouth. She
• 6:20
  Speaker 2: told the.
• 6:20
  Speaker 3: BBC, Microplastics are not going to immediately cause harm. but
• 6:27
  Speaker 3: it is more likely that they are going to damage
• 6:30
  Speaker 3: your cells. They will create a problem with your overall well-being.
• 6:36
  Speaker 3: This makes you more likely to get illnesses.
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: The problem with microplastics may seem overwhelming. There is already
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: so much plastic in the environment, it is difficult to avoid.
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: There are microplastics in even the cleanest places in the world.
• 6:55
  Speaker 1: How can you avoid them?
• 6:58
  Speaker 2: Sadly, there is no good answer to this question. Microplastics
• 7:03
  Speaker 2: have been in our bodies longer than we know. Experts
• 7:07
  Speaker 2: think that most of us have enough plastic in our
• 7:11
  Speaker 2: brains to equal the amount in a plastic spoon. We
• 7:16
  Speaker 2: do not know what this will do. It will be
• 7:19
  Speaker 2: a problem many of us will have to face in
• 7:22
  Speaker 2: the future.
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: However, there are ways that you can reduce the number
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: of microplastics in your environment. One of the best ways
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: is to use less plastic yourself. Eating and drinking from
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: plastic containers means more microplastics in your body.
• 7:43
  Speaker 2: Eating less meat may also reduce your exposure to microplastics.
• 7:49
  Speaker 2: Animals eat microplastics just like humans do. Animals get these
• 7:54
  Speaker 2: from the plants and animals they eat. Vegetables, fruits, and
• 7:59
  Speaker 2: grain do not contain as many.
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: Reducing the amount of plastic you use is another way
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: of reducing microplastics. This may not affect you directly, but
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: it will reduce the overall level of microplastics in the environment.
• 8:16
  Speaker 1: Efforts like recycling and reusing plastic also reduce the need
• 8:21
  Speaker 1: for new plastic.
• 8:24
  Speaker 2: Finally, you can talk to your government about the plastic problem.
• 8:29
  Speaker 2: These issues affect people everywhere on Earth. Speaking up may
• 8:34
  Speaker 2: encourage governments to reduce the amount of plastic in the environment.
• 8:40
  Speaker 1: Today, Microplastics are unavoidable. All we can do is reduce
• 8:45
  Speaker 1: our exposure and reduce plastic in the environment. While these
• 8:50
  Speaker 1: issues may seem impossible to deal with, they are not. Together,
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: we can make our world a better one for every person.
• 9:04
  Speaker 2: Do you fear microplastics? Do you think this kind of
• 9:08
  Speaker 2: fear is helpful? How would you deal with the plastic problems?
• 9:13
  Speaker 2: you can leave a comment on our website at www.spotlightenglish.com.
• 9:19
  Speaker 2: You can also find us on YouTube, Facebook, TikTok, Instagram,
• 9:25
  Speaker 2: and X. You can also get Spotlight episodes delivered directly
• 9:29
  Speaker 2: to your Android or Apple device through our free official
• 9:33
  Speaker 2: Spotlight English app.
• 9:36
  Speaker 1: The writer of this program was Dan Christman. The producer
• 9:40
  Speaker 1: was Mitch Yozaki. All quotes were adapted for this episode
• 9:44
  Speaker 1: and voiced by Spotlight. No AI or artificial intelligence was
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: used in this episode. Spotlight episodes are written, voiced and
• 9:55
  Speaker 1: produced by real people for real people, no matter where
• 9:59
  Speaker 1: in the world. This episode is called The Plastic Problem.
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: We hope you can join us again for the next
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: Spotlight episode.
• 9:55
  Speaker 3: Goodbye.