Could you cope with just a handful of sugar and one egg a week? | BBC Ideas – YouTube Dictation Transcript & Vocabulary
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Interactive Transcript & Highlights for Dictation
1.If you're watching this whilst tucking into a lunchtime sandwich made with avocados from Peru and prawns from Thailand, it's probably hard to imagine a scenario where Britain could only eat food grown in the country
2.On top of that, you were limited to one egg a week and just a handful of sugar
3.But that's the diet that was tested by two nutritionists in a unique experiment devised during the early days of the Second World War
4.And arguably, it was healthier than the average diet today
5.In the late 1930s, Britain imported 70% of its food from overseas, often relying on shipping routes vulnerable to German U-boat attack
💡 Tap the highlighted words to see definitions and examples
Key Vocabulary (CEFR B2)
maintained
A2To support (someone), to back up or assist (someone) in an action.
Example:
"confirming that health and fitness could be maintained"
confirming
A2To strengthen; to make firm or resolute.
Example:
"confirming that health and fitness could be maintained"
influence
B2The power to affect, control or manipulate something or someone; the ability to change the development of fluctuating things such as conduct, thoughts or decisions.
Example:
"and their findings were a key influence"
themselves
A2The reflexive case of they, the third-person plural personal pronoun. The group of people, animals or objects previously mentioned, as the object of a verb or following a preposition (also used for emphasis).
Example:
"even going so far as injecting themselves"
available
A2Such as one may avail oneself of; capable of being used for the accomplishment of a purpose.
Example:
"Together, they calculated the amount of food that would be available"
british-grown
B1A B1-level word commonly used in this context.
Example:
"British-grown vegetables and bread weren't restricted,"
cauliflower
B1Brassica oleracea var. botrytis, an annual variety of cabbage, of which the cluster of young flower stalks and buds is eaten as a vegetable.
Example:
"a mix of swede, turnip and cauliflower"
blandness
B2The state, quality, or characteristic of being bland.
Example:
"Blandness wasn't the only issue."
scientists
A2One whose activities make use of the scientific method to answer questions regarding the measurable universe. A scientist may be involved in original research, or make use of the results of the research of others.
Example:
"When she died, Widdowson left money to enable female scientists"
supporting
A2To keep from falling.
Example:
"supporting the next generation of pioneering women"
| Word | CEFR | Definition |
|---|---|---|
| maintained | A2 | To support (someone), to back up or assist (someone) in an action. |
| confirming | A2 | To strengthen; to make firm or resolute. |
| influence | B2 | The power to affect, control or manipulate something or someone; the ability to change the development of fluctuating things such as conduct, thoughts or decisions. |
| themselves | A2 | The reflexive case of they, the third-person plural personal pronoun. The group of people, animals or objects previously mentioned, as the object of a verb or following a preposition (also used for emphasis). |
| available | A2 | Such as one may avail oneself of; capable of being used for the accomplishment of a purpose. |
| british-grown | B1 | A B1-level word commonly used in this context. |
| cauliflower | B1 | Brassica oleracea var. botrytis, an annual variety of cabbage, of which the cluster of young flower stalks and buds is eaten as a vegetable. |
| blandness | B2 | The state, quality, or characteristic of being bland. |
| scientists | A2 | One whose activities make use of the scientific method to answer questions regarding the measurable universe. A scientist may be involved in original research, or make use of the results of the research of others. |
| supporting | A2 | To keep from falling. |
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