BBC 6-Minute English

Download the podcast from the following link:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/thai/features/6-minute-english/ep-171005

OBJECTIVES:

 Understanding the gist

 Paraphrasing
 Listen for details

WARM UP (15-20’)

Do you play sports?

Do you prefer quiet sports to extreme sports?

Have you ever done bungee jumping?

Do you exercise enough?

Do you think it is easy to get the hang of sports?

Do you have a healthy life?

How many steps do you walk a day?

 Listening for gist.

Instruction: Listen to the Podcast and answer the following questions. (You can
dictate this)

1. What’s the podcast about?

2. What’s the main idea?
3. What’s the purpose of the Podcst?
  Listening for detail

Instruction: Listen to the Podcast a second time and answer the following
questions:

1. What does the following expression mean?:

Sauntering from the sofa to the fridge and back

2. According to Neil, what does exercise lower?

3. What does ‘build something in to something’ mean?

4. What does “brisk” mean in this Podcast?

Instruction: After analysing and discussing the topic of the podcast, evaluate how much
they have grasped by asking them to write a paragraph (TEST). You’ll take it home for
correction. Tell them they must include a minimun of 4 ideas.

ROUNDING UP

In 7 minutes you must write a paragraph stating the main ideas of the conversation. You
must include the following words:

Sauntering – brisk – vigorous – build something in to something.

 SCRIPT

How many steps do you walk a day? Do you know the more the better for your
health. Neil and Rob talk about the need to exercise and teach you some related
vocabulary.

This week's question

How many people aged between 40 and 60 do less than ten minutes brisk walking
every month? Is it…

a) 4%,

b) 14% or

c) 40%?

Listen to the programme to find out the answer.

Vocabulary
vigorous
using a lot of energy to do something

saunter
walk slowly

brisk
quick and energetic (the opposite of sauntering)

build something in (to your day or your life)

include it from the beginning

incrementally
gradually increasing in size

sedentary (job or life)

it involves a lot of sitting and not much exercise

Transcript
Note: This is not a word-for-word transcript
Neil
Hello, I’m Neil. And welcome to 6 Minute English, where we vigorously discuss a
new topic and six related items of vocabulary.

Rob
And hello, I’m Rob. Today we’re discussing vigorous exercise – and whether adults
take enough of it! Vigorous means using a lot of energy to do something.

Neil
So how many steps do you do in a day, Rob?

Rob
How many steps? How should I know, Neil? – It would be pretty hard to count them
all.

Neil
Oh, come on! You can track steps on your phone! I do ten thousand a day – which
is the magic number for keeping fit and healthy, apparently.

Rob
Not if you saunter, Neil, surely? Sauntering from the sofa to the fridge and back –
Or from the house to the car.

Neil
Well I never saunter, Rob. Saunter means to walk slowly. And you’d have to make
a lot of trips to the fridge to clock up ten thousand steps. To get some vigorous
exercise, you need to get out and about – round the park at a brisk pace…

Rob
Briskmeans quick and energetic – the opposite of sauntering. OK, well, perhaps
you can you tell me, Neil, how many people aged between 40 and 60 do less than
ten minutes brisk walking every month? Is it…
a) 4%,
b) 14% or
c) 40%?

Neil
I’m going to say… 4% because ten minutes is such a short amount of time!

Rob
Indeed. Now, I’ve got another question for you, Neil. Why is exercise so important?
Because it sounds pretty boring – counting steps, going to the gym, running on a
machine.

Neil
Well, when you exercise, you stimulate the body’s natural repair system. Your body
will actually stay younger if you exercise!
Rob
That sounds good.

Neil
Exercise also lowers your risk of developing illnesses such as heart disease,
cancer, and diabetes.

Rob
Hmm. I’m getting a bit worried now, Neil. But I don’t have enough time to do a
thousand steps every day… I’m far too busy!

Neil
Well, Rob. Now might be a good time to listen to Julia Bradbury. She’s a TV
presenter and outdoor walking enthusiast who will explain how she builds walking
into her busy life.

INSERT
Julia Bradbury, TV presenter and outdoor walking enthusiast
I will walk to meetings instead of catching a bus, or getting a taxi or a car – into
meetings. And I will also, if I can’t build that into my working day, if it’s a day when I
haven’t got meetings and I’m maybe at home with the kids, I will take the time – I
will take my kids out with the buggy and I will definitely do 30-40 minutes at least
everyday. Going to the park, going to the shops, picking up my things up en route,
and really sort of building it into my life. Taking the stairs and not taking lifts, all of
these kinds of little decisions can incrementally build up to create more walking
time in your day.

Rob
So if you build something in to your day – or your life – you include it from the
beginning.

Neil
And Julia Bradbury has built walking into her day. Even though she’s very busy
too, Rob! You should learn from her!

Rob
So she walks instead of driving or taking the bus. And takes the stairs instead of
the lift. I could do those things.

Neil
You could indeed – before you know it, you’d be doing ten thousand steps –
because the amount of walking you do in a day builds incrementally.

Rob
Incrementally means gradually increasing in size. OK, well, before I think that
over, perhaps I could tell you the answer to today’s quiz question?

Neil
OK. You asked me: How many people aged between 40 and 60 do less than ten
minutes brisk walking every month? The options were:
a) 4%,
b) 14% or
c) 40%?

Rob
And you said 4%. But I’m afraid it’s actually 40%. And that’s according to the
Government body Public Health England here in the UK.

Neil
Oh dear, that’s a lot more people than I expected. But it isn’t that surprising –
people in all age groups are leading more sedentary lifestyles these days. Our job
is very sedentary – which means it involves a lot of sitting and not much exercise!

Rob
Well, I might just run on the spot while we go over the new vocabulary we’ve
learned today!

Neil
Good plan. First up we heard ‘vigorous’ – which means using a lot of energy to do
something.

Rob
OK. “I am running vigorously on the spot!”

Neil
Great example! And good to see you taking some vigorous exercise! Number two –
‘saunter’ – means to walk slowly in a relaxed way. “When I saw Rob, I sauntered
over to say hello.”

Rob
Hi Neil. Number three – ‘brisk’ means quick and energetic.

Neil
“It’s important to take some brisk exercise every day.”

Rob
Yes! And I’m beginning to realise that might be true.

Neil
Yep! I think you've done enough jogging for today, Rob. You’ve probably done
about a hundred steps.

Rob
Is that all? OK, number four – if you ‘build something in to something’ – you include
it from the beginning.

Neil
“It’s important to build regular exercise into your daily routine.”
Rob
Very good advice. Number five is ‘incrementally’ which means gradually increasing
in size.

Neil
Incremental is the adjective. “The company has been making incremental changes
to its pay structure.”

Rob
Does that mean we’re getting a pay rise?

Neil
I doubt it! And finally, number six – ‘sedentary’ means sitting a lot and not taking
much exercise. For example, “It’s bad for your health to lead such a sedentary
lifestyle.”

Rob
Duly noted, Neil! Well, it’s time to go now. But if today’s show has inspired you to
step out and take more exercise, please let us know by visiting our Twitter,
Facebook and YouTube pages and telling us about it!

Neil
Goodbye!

Rob
Bye bye!