Vocabulary Challenge 28: https://tw.voicetube.com/everyday/20190904
Script:
What? Ocean currents? We’re going to talk about ocean currents today? Why?
Ocean currents have a direct influence on our lives. They determine our climate, so they can even influence what clothes you wear every season.
Yes, the ocean currents and wind systems transport heat from the equator to the poles and operate like a large-scale circulation system. Without them, certain places would have very long winters.
Do ocean currents have any other functions? Hmm…we’ll go over them in break time.
Ocean currents are driven by a range of sources: the wind, tides, changes in water density, and the rotation of the Earth.
海流因受不同來源而驅動，風力、潮汐、水密度變化及地球自轉。
So let’s say this sentence again.
Ocean currents are driven by a range of sources: the wind, tides, changes in water density, and the rotation of the Earth.
Faster
Ocean currents are driven by a range of sources: the wind, tides, changes in water density, and the rotation of the Earth.
OK, you know this game. What are the possible thought groups? 「字組」
Ocean currents (1)
are driven by a range of sources: (2)
the wind, (3)
tides, (4)
changes in water density, (5)
and the rotation of the Earth.(6)
So many pauses?! Listen to the original speaker, you hardly paused between any of the thought groups. You could pause a tiny bit longer before you give the list but that’s all.
How about intonation? 語調
Ocean currents (fall rise)
are driven by a range of sources: (fall)
the wind, (rise)
tides, (rise)
changes in water density,(rise)
and the rotation of the Earth.(fall)
What about the sentence stress? 句子的重音 You could say:
Ocean currents
are driven by a range of sources:
the wind,
tides,
changes in water density,
and the rotation of the Earth.
Lots of stressed words here since the sentence contains so much important information.
OK, it’s grammar time!!! 大家最愛的文法時間到了!!!
Today’s sentence pattern is
Ocean currents are driven by a range of sources: the wind, tides, changes in water density, and the rotation of the Earth.
“are driven by”
So why do we use the passive voice here? If you use a grammar correction site like Grammarly, it usually asks you to rewrite passive sentences to active ones? Let’s think.
We could say
The wind, tides, changes in water density, and the rotation of the Earth are factors that drive/affect ocean currents.
But why don’t we do this?
Well, when writing or speaking, we have to consider coherence and cohesion.
The previous sentence states
Quite the opposite, the ducks have since washed up all over the world, and researchers have used their paths to chart abetter understanding of ocean currents.
So the speaker uses ocean currents in this sentence to connect the two, to put the emphasis on “ocean currents.” You might think this is a bit repetitive but you should also remember speech is different than writing. It is very possible that listeners did not hear your points clearly or they might have forgotten it; thus, the speaker keeps their focus on “ocean currents” by mentioning it again. Of course, we do not want to overdo this, but here, it makes the speaker’s talk on ocean currents, easier to understand.
Thus, the passive voice can even be used sometimes to add coherence and cohesion.
So, why are ocean currents important? They directly determine our weather, our climate, and much more.
In the oceans, there are numerous important currents.
For example, the Gulf Stream (墨西哥灣暖流) is very important for the European climate.
It’s a warm and swift Atlantic ocean current that originates in the Gulf of Mexico and and follows the eastern coastlines of the United States and Newfoundland before crossing the Atlantic Ocean.
Its length of 10,000 km makes it one of the largest and fastest currents on Earth. At roughly 2 m/s it brings up to 100,000 m³ of water per second from the Gulf of Mexico to Europe, bringing warmer water and warm air to northern areas. In addition to making the weather warm for norther areas, countless species of animals also use the gulf stream to travel, yes, like that Disney movie, Finding Nemo. So as you can, ocean currents and specifically the gulf stream are very important, because without them, we would have long cold winters in Europe, less bio-diversity, and no Disney movies about Nemo! NOOOO!!!!
OK, let’s go back to vocabulary learning and go over some new words.
| Word | Form |
| Word of the day!
1. current a movement of water, air, or electricity in a particular direction 水流；氣流；電流 to swim against/with the current 逆流／順流而遊 He was swept out to sea by the strong current. 他被急流沖到了海裡。 Switch off the electric current before changing the bulb. 換燈泡前先把電源切斷。 |
(n.) |
| 2. hemisphere
one of two halves of the earth, especially above or below the equator （尤指地球的）半球 In the northern hemisphere, December is a winter month. |
(n.) |
| 3. circulation
the movement of liquid, air etc in a system 循環，環流；運行[U][S] 溫鹽環流（英文：thermohaline (thermos-heyline) circulation) the ocean conveyor belt 大洋輸送帶 |
(n.) |
| 4. loop
the curved shape made when something long and thin, such as a piece of string, bends until one part of it nearly touches or crosses another part of it 圓圈，環形 a shape like a curve or circle made by a line curving right round and crossing itself The road went in a huge loop around the lake. loop (v.) loop around |
(n.)
|
| 5. clockwise in the direction in which the hands (= thin parts that point) of a clock move 順時針方向的 Turn the knob clockwise/in a clockwise direction. 按順時針方向轉動旋鈕。 Counterclockwise 逆時針方向的 |
(adv.) |