Rob: Welcome to 6 Minute English, where
we introduce a refreshing topic and
six related items of vocabulary. I'm Rob.
Neil: And I’m Neil… And today we’re
talking about water – there’s nothing
more refreshing than an ice-cold bottle
of water straight out of the vending machine…
Ah!
Rob: OK. Refreshing in this context means
making you feel cool again after being hot.
So has that cooled you down, Neil?
Neil: Yes, I feel very refreshed now, thanks.
Rob: Can I ask you though – why didn’t
you just get a glass of water from the
kitchen tap? That water is cool and refreshing too
– and it’s free!
Neil: Well, I like this brand of bottled water
better – it’s enriched with salts and
minerals that are very beneficial
to your health. Enriched means improving
the quality of something by adding to it.
Rob: Enriched!! Honestly, Neil!
Neil: It tastes better, Rob.
Rob: Yeah…
Neil: And I’m not the only one who
thinks so. For the first time in the UK,
bottled water is more popular than cola.
In fact, can you tell me how many litres
of bottled water were sold in the UK in 2016?
Was it… a) 2.9 billion litres, b) 29 million litres
or c) 2.9 million litres?
Rob: Right. Well, I’m going to say
29 million litres.
Neil: OK. We’ll find out later
if you got that right or wrong. But seriously,
Rob, don’t you think it’s a good thing
that people are choosing to buy
bottled water at the supermarket
rather than fizzy drinks?
Rob: Yes, of course. But as I said to you
earlier, why don’t people just drink
tap water? Let’s listen to Natalie Fee,
founder of City to Sea, which campaigns
against plastic pollution – and of course,
bottled water causes a huge amount of that.
Here’s Natalie now, talking about
how drinks manufacturers have
persuaded people that bottled water
is better for them.
Natalie Fee, founder of City to Sea: They
manufactured the demand for bottled water
and they spent millions of pounds on
adverts sort of scaring us off of tap water.
The bottled water companies set out
to make us believe that tap water
wasn’t healthy. And yet,
tap water is way more regulated than
bottled water is, and in taste tests, tap water
comes up trumps most times.
Neil: If you manufacture something, you
make it in large amounts in a factory.
But here Natalie says the drinks companies
‘manufactured the demand for bottled water’…
Rob: Which means they made adverts
to persuade people that tap water wasn’t
healthy – and bottled water was.
Neil: Hmm – To scare people off –
What does that mean, Rob?
Rob: Well, if you scare somebody off,
you make them go away by frightening them.
So some advertisers may have suggested,
for example, that tap water
was unsafe to drink …
Neil: Whereas bottled water was safer,
and tasted better too!
Rob: You’re catching on! However,
Natalie Fee claims that tap water is more
regulated than bottled water is.
Neil: Regulated means controlled.
Natalie also says that in taste tests
tap water comes up trumps. What does
she mean by that?
Rob: Well, a taste test is where you
ask people to try several very similar products
without knowing which one is which, and then
you grade them according to which you
like the best.
And if something comes up trumps –
it means it produces a good result, often unexpectedly.
Neil: So tap water comes up trumps, eh?
Rob: Yup. Perhaps you should try a
taste test now, Neil? It would be interesting
to see if your enriched bottled water
comes up trumps of not!
Neil: I tell you what, let’s leave that
until later and hear the answer to
today's quiz question instead.
Rob: OK.
Neil: I asked you: How many litres of
bottled water were sold in the UK in 2016?
Was it… a) 2.9 billion litres, b) 29 million litres
or c) 2.9 million litres?
Rob: Yeah. And I said 29 million litres.
Neil: And the answer is… 2.9 billion litres.
Rob: Wow!
Neil: You can buy many different brands
of bottled water with a range
of price tags.
At the top end, there’s water from
a 4,000 year-old Norwegian iceberg.
Rob: How much does that cost?
Neil: Around £80 a bottle.
Rob: As cheap as that? I’ll pop out
and get some later. OK let’s review
the words we learned today.
The first one was ‘refreshing’,
which means making you feel cool again
after being hot.
Neil: “I enjoyed a refreshing cup of tea.”
Rob: We British like to say that,
don’t we? Though I don’t understand how
a hot drink can be refreshing. OK –
number two – ‘enriched’, which means improving
the quality of something by adding to it.
For example, “Did you know that many types
of breakfast cereal are enriched
with vitamins and minerals, Neil?”
Neil: No, I didn’t, Rob. You learn
something new every day.
Number three is ‘manufacture’
– to make something in large amounts
in a factory. “This company manufactures
wellington boots.”
Rob: “I am a wellington boot manufacturer.”
That has a nice ring to it. Anyway, when you
scare someone off you make them go away
by frightening them. “The dog barked
fiercely and scared off the two burglars.”
Neil: Down, Rob, down!
Number five – ‘regulated’ – or controlled –
for example, “The sale of tobacco
is tightly regulated by the government.”
Rob: And finally – if something
‘comes up trumps’ it produces a good result,
often unexpectedly.
Neil: “My lottery ticket
came up trumps again! I can’t believe it!”
Rob: You’re a lucky man, Neil. OK –
it’s time to do that taste test now.
If you have an opinion on bottled water
or anything else, please tell us about it
on our Twitter, Instagram,
Facebook, or YouTube pages.
Neil: OK
This one definitely tastes better.
Rob: And how about this one?
Neil: Yeah, definitely.
Rob: That’s the tap water, Neil.
Neil: No, no, no. I refuse to believe it!