Q2e Listening & Speaking 4: Audio Script Unit 5

Unit 5: Nutrition
NOTE-TAKING SKILL
The Q Classroom
Activity A., Page 105
Activity B., Page 109
Professor: Hello, everyone! Today, I am going
Teacher: We’re going to talk about the science
to be talking about the study of zootherapy,
of food, so let’s start off with the Unit Question,
which simply means using food in place of
“How has science changed the food we eat?”
medicine. Traditionally, in many cultures
Yuna, what do you think?
around the world, people have used food to
Yuna: Science has changed packaged food a lot.
cure illnesses.
They add vitamins because they’re good for us,
For instance, in China, one famous and delicious
and they use less fat and things that aren’t
dish is Peking Duck. Have any of you ever tried
good for us.
it? Have you ever wondered how it gets that
Teacher: What do you think, Felix? How has
beautiful red color? Well, it is also very healthy
science changed the food we eat?
because the skin of the duck is colored with red
Felix: Well, I think it’s because of science that
rice powder that contains a natural chemical
people eat so much packaged food. They’ve
that lowers cholesterol. Maybe this is one
discovered ways to create food that people like,
reason why fewer people have heart disease in
usually by adding a lot of salt or sugar. It’s not
China than in many other countries. Perhaps
healthy at all.
doctors in China advise their patients with heart
Teacher: How else has science changed the
problems to eat more Peking Duck.
food we eat? Marcus?
Another example of using food for good health
Marcus: They’ve learned to make all kinds of
comes from Brazil. Some of the indigenous, or
things out of corn. They use corn syrup to
native, populations that live near water use
sweeten sodas and candy, and corn oil for
specific kinds of fish as medicine. For example,
frying. Corn is cheap to grow, so a lot of food is
they use the oil from the liver of a shark called a
less expensive, like fast food. But I agree with
hammerhead to cure asthma. So, when
Felix—it’s not healthy.
someone is having an asthma attack and they
Teacher: Sophy, do you have any other answers
have trouble breathing, they may drink shark
to this question? How else has science changed
liver oil. Now that these traditional cultures
the way we eat?
have more access to modern medicine, their
Sophy: Well, science has changed the plants
use of fish as a source of medicine, especially
and animals we eat. A long time ago, corn was a
fish that are endangered, like the hammerhead,
small plant, but now it’s a huge one. And the
is decreasing. Nowadays, people are more likely
animals are bigger, too, because they’ve figured
to visit a doctor than to go fishing for their
out just the right diet to feed them to make
medicine. However, even as the practice of
them larger.
using food as medicine seems to be
Teacher: Some of you feel that science has
disappearing in some places, modern drug
made food less healthy. Do you think science
companies are looking to traditional foods for
has done anything good for our diets?
new medicines. Right now, researchers are
Sophy: Absolutely. Because of science, we’re
testing new asthma drugs that contain oil from
able to grow more food and feed more people.
other sharks, like nurse sharks and blue sharks.
Less hunger in the world is a very good thing.
In your text, you will read more examples of

© Copyright Oxford University Press Page 1 of 5

Q2e Listening & Speaking 4: Audio Script
food being used in medicine. Please open to
page 271.
LISTENING 1: Food Additives Linked to
Hyperactivity in Kids
From “Food additives may cause hyperactivity:
study” by Maggie Fox, September 5, 2007,
Reuters. All rights reserved. Republication or
redistribution of Thomson Reuters content,
including by framing or similar means, is
expressly prohibited without the prior written
consent of Thomson Reuters. Thomson Reuters
and its logo are registered trademarks or
trademarks of the Thomson Reuters group of
companies around the world. © Thomson
Reuters 2009. Thomson Reuters journalists are
subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires
fair presentation and disclosure of relevant
interests.
Activity A., D., Page 107, 108
Reporter: The controversy about food additives
and children’s behavior continues, this time
with a study linking food additives and a
common preservative to hyperactivity. But not
everyone is convinced this latest research is
definite. Certain artificial food colorings and
other additives can worsen hyperactive
behaviors in children aged 3 to 9, UK
researchers report. Tests on more than 300
children showed significant differences in their
behavior when they drank fruit drinks
mixed with food colorings and preservatives,
say Professor Jim Stevenson and colleagues at
the University of Southampton.
“These findings show that adverse effects are
not just seen in children with extreme
hyperactivity but can also be seen in the general
population,” the researchers write. Stevenson’s
team, which has been studying the effects of
food additives in children for years, made up
© Copyright Oxford University Press
Unit 5
drinks to test in a group of 3-year-olds and a
second group of children aged 8 and 9. Children
received ordinary fruit juice or a drink identical
in look and taste that contained common
additives. Some children were given a drink
containing colorings typically found in a couple
of 50 gram bags of candy. Others were given a
higher level of colorings, equal to consuming
the additives in four of these bags. Parents,
teachers, and the researchers then studied the
children’s behavior. Both mixtures significantly
affected the older children, when compared
with the regular drink. “Although the use of
artificial coloring in food might seem
superfluous, the same cannot be said for
sodium benzoate, which has an important
preservative function,” the researchers write.
“The changes to food additive rules could be
substantial.”
The issue of whether food additives can affect
children’s behavior has been controversial for
decades. Dr. Benjamin Feingold has written
books arguing that not only do artificial colors,
flavors, and preservatives affect children, but so
do natural chemicals found in some fruits and
vegetables.
Several studies have contradicted this notion.
And some have only found an effect of food
additives on the behavior of children
diagnosed with extreme hyperactivity. In this
latest research, children generally reacted
poorly to the mixtures.
“We have found an adverse effect of food
additives on the hyperactive behavior of 3-year-
old and 8- to 9-year-old children,” the
researchers write.
Stevenson has this message for parents:
“Parents should not think that simply taking
these additives out of food will prevent all
hyperactive disorders. We know that many
other influences are at work, but this at
least is one a child can avoid,” he says.
Page 2 of 5
Q2e Listening & Speaking 4: Audio Script
Dr. Sue Baic says that the study is well-designed
and “potentially very important.”
“It supports what scientists have known for a
long time: that feeding children on diets that
mainly consist of heavily processed foods which
may also be high in fat, salt, or sugar is not
optimal for health.”
Others disagree. “The paper is not a
demonstration of cause and effect,” says Dr.
Paul Illing.
Listening Skill: Understanding bias in a
presentation
Activity A., Page 110
Speaker: Don’t Believe the Organic Hype.
For too many people, eating healthier means
buying organic food.
People think that just because the label says
“organic” that the food is better for them.
However, a quick look at the list of ingredients
of many organic products shows that they can
be just as high in salt, calories, and fat as
normal foods. Just because some potato chips
are made from organic potatoes doesn’t mean
it’s a healthy choice to eat the whole bag.
Furthermore, research shows that the dangers
associated with eating too much high-calorie
food are worse than eating food with additives
or artificial coloring.
Activity B., Page 110
Excerpt 1:
As the sale of fast food increases
internationally, people’s weights are increasing,
too. Several important international
organizations, including the World Health
Organization, are very concerned about the
growing rate of obesity around the world.
Scientists believe that fast food restaurants play
a substantial role in more and more people
becoming overweight.
© Copyright Oxford University Press
Unit 5
Excerpt 2:
Can it really hurt your heart to drink one soda a
day? A recent study published by the American
Heart Association says it can. The report
suggests that drinking even one soda a day can
increase your chances of getting heart disease.
Excerpt 3:
Tea is one of the world’s oldest and most
popular drinks. In spite of the recent popularity
of fancy coffee in parts of Asia, most people in
China still look forward to the peace and calm
they associate with the ancient practice of
drinking tea.
Excerpt 4:
Can we believe what the food labels claim?
Labels say things like “all-natural” or “helps
build healthy bones” or “made with real fruit”
or “contains real chocolate,” or “helps burn
fat.” But research shows that food labels can
often be confusing. Or they try to make you
believe something that isn’t quite true.
LISTENING 2: The “Flavr Savr” Tomato
Activity A., C., Page 117
Announcer: Turning now to the world of
science, genetically altered food may soon be
available at your local vegetable stand. The
“Flavr Savr” tomato is already on sale in the
United States. It’s supposed to stay riper,
fresher, and more flavorful than an ordinary
tomato. It’s also one of the first foods to be
produced by biotechnology. But not everyone is
a fan. As Nina Winham reports, consumers
often have an uneasy reaction to scientifically
improved food.
Nina Winham: At the Kensington Fruit Market
in Toronto, tables are piled high with everything
from rutabagas to radicchio. People are picking
through the produce, comparing prices and
freshness. Ask them about genetically
engineered vegetables.
Page 3 of 5
Q2e Listening & Speaking 4: Audio Script
Speaker 1: Oh, no. No, I wouldn’t go for
genetically altered. I wouldn’t go for it.
Winham: Yeah, and if it…
Speaker 1: If it would be sweeter and maybe
more tastier, but I wouldn’t go for it.
Speaker 2: I guess, to begin with, you would
want to know what goes into it, to see whether
it is going to affect us.
Speaker 3: I feel that if you tamper with nature,
there’s bound to be a rebound.
Speaker 4: I think most people are scared of
what, if something can be altered that much, is
it really going to be good for them in the long
run?
Winham: Genetic engineering is when scientists
alter the chemical blueprint of an organism.
They can make it develop the traits they want,
sometimes by adding a part of the blueprint
from a completely different species. To some,
the process seems fantastic, but to others, it’s
disturbing. Professor Robert Strong studies the
ethics of biotechnology at the University of
Redding.
Robert Strong: People think that um, certain,
many aspects of our modern lifestyle are
unnatural, and that is, sort of, colored with
moral overtones. Because it’s unnatural, it must
be bad.
Winham: But society has already accepted
some genetic engineering, especially for
medical uses. Insulin for diabetics, human
growth hormone for underdeveloped children
are two widely used products of biotechnology.
It’s when the science lab produces food that
people start to back away. Steven Burke is vice
president of the North Carolina Biotechnology
Center.
Steven Burke: With food biotechnology, the
issues are, in many cases, compounded. Not
only are we concerned, or at least interested in
the application of the techniques and in the
movement of different genes between different
© Copyright Oxford University Press
Unit 5
organisms, we are doubly interested because
we are, ourselves, ingesting the result.
Winham: Burke says the biotechnology industry
is realizing people have moral and cultural
reactions to food, and so this very personal
commodity may be the area where the debate
over the ethics of biotechnology comes to a
head. Susan Harlander is director of research
with Land o’ Lakes Dairies. She says the key for
food producers will be to underline the benefits
of biotechnology, such as higher-quality
foods. And she says that people need to see the
science done in a lab as a continuation of the
science that has long been a part of farming.
Susan Harlander: I think most people don’t
understand breeding and selection and how
much modification of the food supply has gone
on with traditional agriculture, and how little
we can actually control what’s happening in a
traditional breeding experiment versus what we
can control with genetic engineering.
Winham: Back at the Kensington Market, Linda
Arugio is busy helping customers at the
checkout counter. She says genetically
engineered foods aren’t that different from
other hybrid products she’s sold in the past. She
remembers a lettuce, a cross between two
varieties, that people just wouldn’t buy. But she
says watermelon with no seeds has caught on
and has loyal fans.
Linda Arugio: Most people get used to trying
different things, and they start thinking that it’s
all right or even accepting that it’s all right,
or knowing that it’s all right, they’ll start buying
it and getting more into it.
Winham: The uncertain reaction of consumers
is only part of the hurdle faced by food
producers. Genetically engineered foods
are expected to cost considerably more than
their old-fashioned counterparts, and people
here will tell you that may be the ultimate
turn-off.
Page 4 of 5
Q2e Listening & Speaking 4: Audio Script Unit 5

Marc: Yeah, and the cheese is amazing! It tastes

PRONUNCIATION: Other common intonation nothing like what we buy in the grocery stores
patterns here.
Examples, Page 120 Faisal: That’s interesting. I feel that way about
This tomato is genetically altered? Saudi Arabian food here, too. It’s not quite the
You eat five sandwiches a day? same.
I ate eggs, toast, and cereal.
Would you like coffee?
Would you like coffee or iced tea?
Activity A., Page 120
1. What? You’ve never eaten a tomato?
2. Do you prefer water or juice?
3. My favorite foods are rice, yams, and pizza.
4. What did you say? You don’t like ice cream?
5. Are you hungry? Do you want some bread
and cheese?

SPEAKING SKILL: Expressing interest during a

conversation
Activity A., Page 121
Faisal: Hey, Marc. Is this seat free? Do you mind
if I sit here?
Marc: Not at all! How are you doing?
Faisal: I’m absolutely starving!
Marc: Really? Why?
Faisal: I went to the gym this morning before
school, and by 11:00, my stomach was growling
in class.
Marc: Wow, that had to be embarrassing.
Faisal: Definitely. So, what did you get for
lunch?
Marc: Well, they’re serving French onion soup
today, so I got some of that. It’s not bad, but
not like home!
Faisal: Yeah! French food is famous around the
world, but I’ve never had it.
Marc: Well, I am from Provence, in the south of
France. People take food very seriously there.
Faisal: Mm-hmm.
Marc: People buy fresh fruit and vegetables
from the market every day.
Faisal: Every day!

© Copyright Oxford University Press Page 5 of 5