每日口說挑戰【TED-Ed】從馬鈴薯看世界歷史- Leo Bear-McGuinness (History through the eyes of the potato - Leo Bear-McGuinness)

What’s up, VoiceTubers? Leila here. Quick question: Where do potatoes come from?
Uh, Ireland?
Try again.
Uh, China?
Still wrong.
Uh, the store?
Nope. ...well, I mean, sure, maybe, but that’s not where potatoes originally came from. If ya wanna know the real answer, you’ll have to watch today’s video if you haven’t already. Potatoes are pretty common all over the world today, so common in fact that it’s interesting to think that there was a time when potatoes would have been new to a group of people--like, a whole nation--and that because potatoes were so strange and new, they would feel unsure about eating them.

Which leads me to the Sentence of the Day.


Sentence:

So instead of consuming them, they used potatoes as decorative garden plants.
所以他們選擇不將馬鈴薯吃下肚，而是作為一種庭園裝飾植物來運用


Pronunciation tips:

1. “instead” + “of” = /insteaduv/
2. “potato” sounds like “poh-tay-doh” in an American accent


Vocabulary:

1. consume (n.) KK: /kənˈsjuːm/ IPA: /kənˈsuːm/
to eat or drink, especially a lot of something
（尤指大量地）吃，喝
Hold on, you consumed the entire wheel of cheese? I’m not even mad--that’s just amazing.
等等，你把整個起司都吃光了？ 我沒有生氣，只是覺得太驚訝了。


2. decorative (adj.) KK: /ˈdɛk(ə)rətɪv/ IPA: /ˈdek.ər.ə.t̬ɪv/
made to look attractive
裝飾性的，用作裝潢的
The chili peppers in this dish aren’t that hot. In fact, they’re mostly just decorative.
這道菜裡的辣椒沒有那麼辣。 事實上，它們大多只是裝飾用的。


3. garden (n.) KK: /ˈɡɑːd(ə)n/ IPA: /ˈɡɑːr.dən/
a piece of land next to and belonging to a house, where flowers and other plants are grown, and often containing an area of grass
（住宅旁的）花園
You must’ve put in hours of work because the front garden looks amazing!
你一定已經投入了很多時間打理，因為前院花園看起來很棒！



It’s pretty cool looking at history from the perspective of a potato. I mean, it sure beats memorizing dates in history class just to pass a test, doesn’t it? In this year, so-and-so did this thing, and in that year, so-and-so invaded this place. Learning history by way of timelines and dry facts made it all seem so...well, boring, to be perfectly honest. What a shame! What if we taught history with more context?

This video reminds me of an excellent history book I read once called A History of the World in 6 Glasses by Tom Standage. Just like how this video presented a bit of history from the perspective of the humble potato, Standage’s book talks about world history as it developed thanks to beer, wine, spirits, coffee, tea, and Coca-Cola. You don’t even have to drink those beverages to appreciate the way they’ve affected human history. I mean, I don’t drink any soda pop and I think it’s still pretty darn interesting to learn the way that one soda company globalized the market.

I think it just goes to show that any subject can be interesting and relevant to our everyday lives if a person--a writer or a teacher, for example--knows how to tell a good story. What about you? What’s something that seemed incredibly boring in school but now thanks to a new perspective seems kinda cool? Let me know in the comments. And as always, hit that record button when you’re ready with your sentence. Catch ya next time.

☺So instead of consuming them, they used potatoes as decorative garden plants.
所以他們不把馬鈴薯當食物，而是拿來當作庭院的裝飾植物。
【心得】We use couch potatoes as decorative house plants;)
■consume [kənˋsjum] (vt.) (尤指大量地)消費、消耗；(尤指大量地)吃、喝；燒毀、毀滅；使全神貫注、使著迷、使憔悴、充滿(某種強烈的感情)[(+with)]
(vi.&vt.)耗盡(生命；(被)燒毀、毀滅
■decorative [ˋdɛkərətɪv] (adj.) 裝飾性的、裝潢用的
■garden [ˋgɑrdn] (n.C)花園；菜園；果園；庭院；露天飲食店
(n.P) 遊樂場；公園；(用於地名中)園、街、廣場
(vi.) 從事園藝、在園中種植
(vt.) 使成為花園、使園林化
(adj.) 花園的；庭院的；生長在園中的、栽培的；園圃中使用的

I like to be couch potato.

What’s up, VoiceTubers? Leila here. Quick question: Where do potatoes come from? Uh, Ireland? Try again. Uh, China? Still wrong. Uh, the store? Nope. ...well, I mean, sure, maybe, but that’s not where potatoes originally(起源adv.) came from. If ya wanna know the real answer, you’ll have to watch today’s video if you haven’t already. Potatoes are pretty common all over the world today, so common(常見的) in fact that it’s interesting to think that there was a time(一段時光) when potatoes would have been new to a group of people--like, a whole nation(國家)--and that because potatoes were so strange(奇怪的) and new, they would feel unsure about eating them. Which leads me to the Sentence of the Day.

So *instead of(代替,而不是) consuming(/kənˈsuːm/吃v.) them, they used potatoes as decorative(/ˈdek.ər.ə.t̬ɪv/裝飾性的) garden(花園的) plants(植物).
所以他們不吃它們(馬鈴薯)，反而將馬鈴薯使用在庭園裡，做裝飾性植物的用途。

1. consume (v.) /kənˈsuːm/（尤指大量地）吃，喝 to eat or drink, especially a lot of something:
Hold on, you consumed the entire wheel(輪n.) of cheese? I’m not even mad--that’s just amazing. 等等，你把整個起司都吃光了？ 我沒有生氣，只是覺得太驚訝了。

2. decorative (adj.) /ˈdek.ər.ə.t̬ɪv/ 裝飾性的，用作裝潢的 made to look attractive:
The chili peppers in this dish aren’t that hot. In fact, they’re mostly just decorative. 這道菜裡的辣椒沒有那麼辣。 事實上，它們大多只是裝飾用的。

3. garden (n.) /ˈɡɑːr.dən/（住宅旁的）花園 a piece of land next to and belonging to a house, where flowers and other plants are grown, and often containing an area of grass:
You must’ve put in hours of work because the front garden looks amazing! 你一定已經投入了很多時間打理，因為前院花園看起來很棒！

It’s pretty cool looking at history from the perspective(觀點n.) of a potato. I mean, it sure beats(贏v.) memorizing(記住v.) dates(日期) in history class just to pass(通過v.) a test, doesn’t it? In this year(在那一年), so-and-so(某某人n.) did this thing, and in that year, so-and-so invaded(入侵v.) this place. Learning history by way of timelines(時間軸,大事紀) and dry(枯燥乏味的) facts made it all seem so...well, boring, to be perfectly(完全地) honest(誠實). What a shame(太可惜了)! What if we taught history with more context(事件的來龍去脈n.)? This video reminds me of an excellent history book I read once called A History of the World in 6 Glasses by Tom Standage. Just like how this video presented a bit of history from the perspective of the humble(粗糙的) potato, Standage’s book talks about world history as it developed thanks to beer, wine, spirits(烈酒), coffee, tea, and Coca-Cola. You don’t even have to drink those beverages to appreciate the way they’ve affected human history. I mean, I don’t drink any *soda pop(汽水) and I think it’s still pretty darn(強調語氣) interesting to learn the way that one soda company globalized(/ˈɡloʊ.bəl.aɪz/全球化v.) the market. I think it just goes to show(顯示v.) that any subject(主題n.) can be interesting and relevant(/ˈrel.ə.vənt/相關的,切題的) to our everyday lives if a person--a writer or a teacher, for example--knows how to tell a good story. What about you? What’s something that seemed incredibly(極為adv.) boring in school but now thanks to a new perspective seems kinda cool? Let me know in the comments. And as always, hit that record button when you’re ready with your sentence. Catch ya next time.

◆ so-and-so (n.) (informal) 某某人；某某東西
She always keeps me up to date with the latest gossip - you know, so-and-so from down the road is having a baby and so-and-so's just bought a car. 她總會把最新的小道消息及時告訴我——你知道嗎，馬路那邊的某某人懷了孕，某某人剛買了汽車。

令人討厭的人，令人不快的人
Mr Baker was such a so-and-so - he was always really mean! 貝克先生真是個討厭的傢夥——他總是十分刻薄！

哈哈忽然好想吃薯條喔～
其實每個科目都可以很有趣～但以前教科書真的都好無聊～！連音樂課都可以被上的很無聊

DAY 1002
So instead of consuming them, they used potatoes as decorative garden plants.

So instead of consuming them, they used potatoes as the decorative garden plants.