[BBC Learning English] Deep-sea mining : Good or bad for the planet?

[Today I Learn]

*dream up :생각해내다

*lumps : 덩어리

*amongst : [전] among

*outline : [동] 윤곽을 나타내다 / 보여주다 [명] 개요, 윤곽

*conundrum : [명] 난제, 수수께끼

*grid : [명] 격자무늬, 기준선망, 배전망, (자동차 경주) 출발점, 인터넷 망

*in particular : 특히

 

disagree, disagree about, disagree on, disagree over, disagree with

Disagree is an intransitive verb and so does not require a direct object to complete its meaning. When a prepositional phrase is introduced to add details concerning the parties involved in the disagreement or the topic of the disagreement, the preposition always used is with. When other prepositions such as about, on and over are used, they provide information complementary to the parties involved, stated or implied. Thus, about, on and over are interchangeable in nearly all contexts.

• Intransitive verb: As children, my brother and I always disagreed.
• As children, my brother and I always disagreed (with each other) about everything.
• The general public and the media disagreed with the verdict rendered by the jury.
• Spicy food often disagrees with me, so I now choose milder dishes.
• The New Democrats have often disagreed with the Progressive Conservatives and the Liberals about government spending and social programs.
• We agree on the goals but disagree (with each other) on the means of achieving them.
• Canada and the United States disagree over the proposal to lift the ban.

 

 

[Full Scripts]

Neil
Hello. This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English. I’m Neil.

 

Sam
And I’m Sam. Here at Six Minute English, we often discuss the new inventions and ideas scientists dream up to fight climate change – technologies like geo-engineering which could reduce global warming by reflecting sunlight back into space.

 

Neil
Often these ideas are controversial because scientists disagree over whether the technology is possible, and whether, in some cases, it could do more harm than good.

 

Sam
In this programme, we’ll be finding out about a new idea to collect lumps of precious metals, called nodules, from the bottom of the ocean. The idea, known as deep-sea mining, could provide the metals like copper, nickel and cobalt which are needed for the green technology used in electric car batteries and other renewable energy. But could deep-sea mining actually damage delicate ocean ecosystems as well?

 

Neil
We’ll be hearing from two experts and learning some new vocabulary soon, but first I have a question for you, Sam. Mammals like dolphins and whales represent a tiny amount of all marine biodiversity - the thousands of animal species living in the sea. Even all the different types of fish combined make up less than 3% of all living things in the ocean. So, according to recent estimates by Unesco oceanographers, how many different marine species have their home in the ocean? Is it:

a)    70,000?
b)    170,000?
c)    700,000?

 

Sam
I’ll guess there are around 170,000 animal species living in the sea.

 

Neil
OK, Sam, I’ll reveal the answer at the end of the programme. Deep-sea mining is supported by some scientists because it could provide the raw materials, especially metals, needed to power electric cars. Amongst them is, Bramley Murton, a professor of marine biology at Southampton’s National Oceanographic Centre. Here he outlines the problem to BBC World Service’s, Science in Action.

 

*amongst : [전] among

*outline : [동] 윤곽을 나타내다 / 보여주다 [명] 개요, 윤곽

 

Bramley Murton
As in so many things in life, there's a real kind of paradox or a conundrum. The global grid capacity by 2050 will have to increase by three times. Electrical car ownership is set to increase by a factor of 25. Solar and wind generation is going to grow by a factor of a hundred. All of these things which we need to do to decarbonise are going to require raw materials and metals in particular. So, as a society we’re faced with this conundrum. We need to decarbonise.

 

*conundrum : [명] 난제, 수수께끼

*grid : [명] 격자무늬, 기준선망, 배전망, (자동차 경주) 출발점, 인터넷 망

*in particular : 특히

 

Sam
Professor Murton describes the situation using two words. Firstly, he calls it a conundrum – a problem that is very difficult to solve. He also calls it a paradox – a situation that seems impossible because it contains two opposite ideas. Deep-sea mining could damage the ocean, but paradoxically it might provide rare metals needed to decarbonise the planet.

 

Neil
At the heart of the problem is that, in the future, green activities like driving electric cars and using solar power is going to increase by a factor of a hundred. If something increases by a factor of a certain number, it becomes multiplied that many times.

 

Sam
But another marine biologist, Helen Scales, isn’t convinced. Here she explains her doubts to BBC World Service’s, Science in Action.

 

Helen Scales
My concern at this point is that deep-sea mining and deep-sea nodules in particular are being seen as a silver bullet to solve the climate crisis, and in such a way as well that I think, that we can hopefully rely on life carrying on pretty much as normal. My concern is that it really will be opening a door to something much more than those tests – it’s leading down a rather slippery slope I think, towards this getting permission for deep-sea mining to be open on a commercial scale.

---

$be being pp : 현재 진행 수동

your car is being repaired

A building is being built

(Being) surprised, i told him not to do that

$have been pp : 수동태의 현재 완료

He has taught English to me for theree years (현재완료) --> English has been taught to me by him for three years

$have been being pp : 수동태 문장의 현재완료 진행 의미

The car is repaired by me (수동태)

The car is being repaired by me (현재 진행 수동)

The car has been being repaired by me since 9 am (현재완료 진행 수동태, 9시부터 쭉 수리되고 있는 중..)

 

*carry on: 계속 가다 , (구어) 휴대하다

*slippery slope: a situation or course of action that is difficult to stop and is likely to get worse and worse

 

*in such a way that ~

- in such a way as to V : ~ 하는 (그런) 식으로,  ~하여 (결과적으로) .. 하다 

- in such a way that ... VS : so that (that 절에는 결과와 그 결과를 얻는 방식이 복합적으로 서술됨)

Steve dresses in such a way as to attract no attention

John worded the letter in such a way as to confuse everyone

In particular, it should be designed in such a way as to satisfy certain desirable objectives

He realizes that he must act in such a way that (if death should strike him now), his life will have been significant and worth-while

 

*as well : 또한 역시

 

Neil
Helen worries that deep-sea mining will be seen as a silver bullet to the climate crisis – a simple and instant solution to a complicated problem. She thinks the tests which have been permitted to assess the difficulty of mining underwater could open the door to mining on a large scale which would damage fragile marine eco-systems beyond repair. If you open the door to something, you allow something new to start, or make it possible.

 

*beyond repair : 수리 불가능한

 

Sam
Helen thinks starting deep-sea mining leads down a slippery slope – a situation or habit that is difficult to stop and is likely to get worse and worse. And that could spell the end for thousands of marine animal and plant species.

 

---

*be likely to : ~ 할 것 같다, ~ 할 가능성이 있다

1) likely 가 형용사로 쓰이는 경우 : 있음직한 가능하다고 생각되는, 할 것 같은 , ~듯한

2) likely 가 부사로 쓰이는 경우: 아마, 십중팔구 (very, quite, most, highly, extremely 등 강조 부사와 함께 쓰임, 비교급: more likely)

 

He is likely to marry her soon

The new boss will highly likely to increase the profits of the company

She is more likely to accept the proposal than he is

It is likely that the economy will recover with the economic stimulus package

부정형태  'not likely'

She is not likely to arrive by 7 for the ceremony

It is not likely that he will win the singing contest

be 동사 대신 seem, appear 등과도 쓰임

It seems likely that he will remember what to do for the presentation

The wound seems likely to heal quickly

반대표현으로 unlikely 가 있음

She is unlikley to get the position

비슷한 표현으로 probable , possible

It is probabel / possible that ~  ( be probable (possible) to 형태로는 쓸 수 없음 )

 

*spell: [동] 철자를 말하다, 철자에 맞게 쓰다, (나쁜 결과를) 가져오다, (다른 사람이 휴식하도록) 교대하다  

 

Neil
Yes, our oceans need protection as much as our land and skies - which reminds me of my question, Sam.

 

Sam
Yes, you asked how many different marine species live in the ocean and I guessed it was b) 170,000.

 

Neil
Which was the wrong answer, I’m afraid! There are estimated to be around 700,000 marine species, only about 226,000 of which have been identified so far. OK, let’s recap the vocabulary we’ve learned from the programme, starting with conundrum – a problem that’s very difficult to fix.

 

*There are estimated : ~ 추정(추산) 된다 

In Serbia there are estimated to be up to 900,000 illicit firearms, mostly AK-type military weapons.

The stars there are estimated to have formed almost 13 billion years ago

 

Sam
A paradox describes a situation that seems impossible because it contains two opposite ideas.

 

Neil
If something grows by a factor of ten, it becomes multiplied ten times.

 

*multiplied

Those concerns will be multiplied many times over should the chancellor's latest proposals come to fruition.

All of them would have been multiplied many times had AIG failed too.  (if AIG had failed too)

Solidarity's demands multiplied and Soviet misgivings intensified

 

Sam
The term, a silver bullet, means a simple solution to a complicated problem - often a solution that doesn’t actually exist.

 

Neil
A slippery slope is a situation or course of action that is difficult to stop and is likely to get worse and worse

 

*course of action: a plan; a set of intended actions, through which one intends to achieve a goal

- Everyone would prefer that course of action

- Appraisal is a difficult course of action

 

Sam
And finally, the idiom to open the door to something means to allow something new to start or to make it possible.