Why pay for bottled water? 6 Minute English

Rob: Welcome to 6 Minute English, where

we introduce a refreshing topic and

six related items of vocabulary. I'm Rob.

Neil: And I’m Neil… And today we’re

talking about water – there’s nothing

more refreshing than an ice-cold bottle

of water straight out of the vending machine…

Ah!

Rob: OK. Refreshing in this context means

making you feel cool again after being hot.

So has that cooled you down, Neil?

Neil: Yes, I feel very refreshed now, thanks.

Rob: Can I ask you though – why didn’t

you just get a glass of water from the

kitchen tap? That water is cool and refreshing too

– and it’s free!

Neil: Well, I like this brand of bottled water

better – it’s enriched with salts and

minerals that are very beneficial

to your health. Enriched means improving

the quality of something by adding to it.

Rob: Enriched!! Honestly, Neil!

Neil: It tastes better, Rob.

Rob: Yeah…

Neil: And I’m not the only one who

thinks so. For the first time in the UK,

bottled water is more popular than cola.

In fact, can you tell me how many litres

of bottled water were sold in the UK in 2016?

Was it… a) 2.9 billion litres, b) 29 million litres

or c) 2.9 million litres?

Rob: Right. Well, I’m going to say

29 million litres.

Neil: OK. We’ll find out later

if you got that right or wrong. But seriously,

Rob, don’t you think it’s a good thing

that people are choosing to buy

bottled water at the supermarket

rather than fizzy drinks?

Rob: Yes, of course. But as I said to you

earlier, why don’t people just drink

tap water? Let’s listen to Natalie Fee,

founder of City to Sea, which campaigns

against plastic pollution – and of course,

bottled water causes a huge amount of that.

Here’s Natalie now, talking about

how drinks manufacturers have

persuaded people that bottled water

is better for them.

Natalie Fee, founder of City to Sea: They

manufactured the demand for bottled water

and they spent millions of pounds on

adverts sort of scaring us off of tap water.

The bottled water companies set out

to make us believe that tap water

wasn’t healthy. And yet,

tap water is way more regulated than

bottled water is, and in taste tests, tap water

comes up trumps most times.

Neil: If you manufacture something, you

make it in large amounts in a factory.

But here Natalie says the drinks companies

‘manufactured the demand for bottled water’…

Rob: Which means they made adverts

to persuade people that tap water wasn’t

healthy – and bottled water was.

Neil: Hmm – To scare people off –

What does that mean, Rob?

Rob: Well, if you scare somebody off,

you make them go away by frightening them.

So some advertisers may have suggested,

for example, that tap water

was unsafe to drink …

Neil: Whereas bottled water was safer,

and tasted better too!

Rob: You’re catching on! However,

Natalie Fee claims that tap water is more

regulated than bottled water is.

Neil: Regulated means controlled.

Natalie also says that in taste tests

tap water comes up trumps. What does

she mean by that?

Rob: Well, a taste test is where you

ask people to try several very similar products

without knowing which one is which, and then

you grade them according to which you

like the best.

And if something comes up trumps –

it means it produces a good result, often unexpectedly.

Neil: So tap water comes up trumps, eh?

Rob: Yup. Perhaps you should try a

taste test now, Neil? It would be interesting

to see if your enriched bottled water

comes up trumps of not!

Neil: I tell you what, let’s leave that

until later and hear the answer to

today's quiz question instead.

Rob: OK.

Neil: I asked you: How many litres of

bottled water were sold in the UK in 2016?

Was it… a) 2.9 billion litres, b) 29 million litres

or c) 2.9 million litres?

Rob: Yeah. And I said 29 million litres.

Neil: And the answer is… 2.9 billion litres.

Rob: Wow!

Neil: You can buy many different brands

of bottled water with a range

of price tags.

At the top end, there’s water from

a 4,000 year-old Norwegian iceberg.

Rob: How much does that cost?

Neil: Around £80 a bottle.

Rob: As cheap as that? I’ll pop out

and get some later. OK let’s review

the words we learned today.

The first one was ‘refreshing’,

which means making you feel cool again

after being hot.

Neil: “I enjoyed a refreshing cup of tea.”

Rob: We British like to say that,

don’t we? Though I don’t understand how

a hot drink can be refreshing. OK –

number two – ‘enriched’, which means improving

the quality of something by adding to it.

For example, “Did you know that many types

of breakfast cereal are enriched

with vitamins and minerals, Neil?”

Neil: No, I didn’t, Rob. You learn

something new every day.

Number three is ‘manufacture’

– to make something in large amounts

in a factory. “This company manufactures

wellington boots.”

Rob: “I am a wellington boot manufacturer.”

That has a nice ring to it. Anyway, when you

scare someone off you make them go away

by frightening them. “The dog barked

fiercely and scared off the two burglars.”

Neil: Down, Rob, down!

Number five – ‘regulated’ – or controlled –

for example, “The sale of tobacco

is tightly regulated by the government.”

Rob: And finally – if something

‘comes up trumps’ it produces a good result,

often unexpectedly.

Neil: “My lottery ticket

came up trumps again! I can’t believe it!”

Rob: You’re a lucky man, Neil. OK –

it’s time to do that taste test now.

If you have an opinion on bottled water

or anything else, please tell us about it

on our Twitter, Instagram,

Facebook, or YouTube pages.

Neil: OK

This one definitely tastes better.

Rob: And how about this one?

Neil: Yeah, definitely.

Rob: That’s the tap water, Neil.

Neil: No, no, no. I refuse to believe it!