Learn English With News: Exploring English Vocabulary, Idioms, and Phrases With Bill Gates

Hi! I’m Rachel from Rachel’s English and  today I’m going to teach you some of the  

more advanced vocabulary and idioms that were  used in an interview early this year. Anderson  

Cooper interviewing Bill Gates on innovation and  global warming. Some pretty interesting phrases  

came up. As a non-native speaker, learning  these words, phrases and idioms will help  

you sound more sophisticated in your everyday  English. We’ll help you express yourself better.  

So helpful in English conversations but also  preparing to take the IELTS or TOEFL exam.  

Let’s learn these vocabulary  words and phrases together today.

To start, Bill Gates is talking about what  needs to happen to stop global warming.  

You’ll see on-screen texts like this:

This will highlight words or phrases that we’ll  learn about at the end of this 13-second clip.

And it needs a level of cooperation  that would be unprecedented.

That doesn’t sound feasible.

No, it’s not easy but hey,

That sounds impossible.

In 30 years, we have more  educated people than ever,  

we have a generation that's  speaking out on this topic.

Unprecedented is a great vocabulary word.  

It’s an adjective and it means never done  before, never known before. Gates thinks to  

stop global warming it’s about cooperation.  And a level of cooperation around the world  

that we’ve never seen before that’s never  happen before. Unprecedented cooperation.

And it needs a level of cooperation  that would be unprecedented.

That doesn’t sound feasible.

No, that’s not easy.

That doesn’t sound feasible. What do you  think this word means? It’s another adjective  

and it means possible to do easily  or conveniently, likely or probable.

Anderson Cooper doesn’t think this  kind of cooperation will be easy  

and he’s right. I mean we just heard Bill Gates  describe it as unprecedented. But not feasible  

doesn’t necessarily mean it  can’t happen. It just means  

very hard to make happen.  Will we be able to do it?

That doesn’t sound feasible.

No, it’s not easy.

We’ll, Gates points out that we have a  generation that’s speaking out on this  

topic. Speaking out is a phrasal verb and  it means to express your feelings or opinion  

usually publicly. If you don’t like  to policies of government, speak out.  

This is similar to speak up. Speak up has  2 different definitions and one of them  

is this one. Just like speak out. To express one’s  opinions frankly and openly. But more frequently,  

we use speak up to mean speak louder. Speak up.  I can’t hear you. The opposite of that is not  

speak down, it’s quiet down. Quiet down, you're  being way too loud. Gates said a generation is  

speaking out, is voicing their opinions that  we need to do more to address global warming.

We have more educated people than ever, we have  a generation that's speaking out on this topic.

Let’s keep going.

You know I got to participate in the miracle  of the personal computer and the internet.

Participate in the miracle. I love  this way of describing his life.  

He’s not taking credit. He’s saying  he participated in what happened.  

He’s saying he got to take part in it. In  the amazing creation. The miracle of personal  

computers and the internet. 2 things that  absolutely changed, transformed human life.

You know I got to participate in the miracle of  the personal computer and the internet and so  

yes, I have a bias to believe  innovation can do these things.

Bias has a couple of different definitions.  Here it means prejudiced. In favor of or  

against something usually considered to be  unfair. For example, as a parent I have a  

bias to think of my kids are the cutest kids  on Earth. I’m not neutral. I have a bias. Bill  

Gates has a bias to believe that innovation  is the answer because of his background.

So I have a bias to believe  innovation can do these things.

Now we’ll skip ahead in the  interview. To see the whole interview,  

see the link in the video description.

This next clip we’ll study is 15 seconds long.

He supports President Biden’s decision  to rejoin the Paris climate agreement  

but is asking the administration to  massively increase the budget for  

climate and clean energy research  to 35 billion dollars a year.

You’ve said that government need to do the hard  stuff but not just go after the low-hanging  

fruit. Massively is an adverb and it means on  a vast scale, a very great extent extremely.  

Massively increase the budget. This  means you can’t just add a little bit  

more money to this project. It has  to be greatly, extremely increased.

He supports President Biden’s decision to  rejoin the Paris climate agreement but is  

asking the administration to massively increase  the budget for climate and clean energy research.

Low-hanging fruit. This idiom  has nothing to do with fruit or  

food. See if its definition becomes  clearer as they discuss it further.

You’ve said that the government  need to do the hard stuff  

but not just go after the low hanging  fruit. What’s the low-hanging fruit?

Passenger cars, part of the electric generation with renewables. The things that everybody knows about  

that’s getting almost all the money not the  hard parts which is the industrial piece  

including the steel and cement. Those  pieces we've hardly started to work on.

Low-hanging fruit. The things that are the easiest  to do first. The things you’ll be able to get with  

little effort. Gates says we have to go beyond  that. Not just do the easy things but tackle the big  

difficult parts of carbon emissions as well.  

We’ll skip ahead again as they discuss  the research Gates is funding.

It kind of blows my mind, you know  what’s the cost of making that stuff?

Gates regularly consults with a funds  team of top scientists and entrepreneurs  

which so far invested in 50 companies with  cutting edge ideas to reduce carbon emissions.

Blows my mind. Ouch! Do you know this  phrase? It basically means to amaze someone.  

If you blow someone’s mind, it’s like  

Wow! They never thought of that. They had no idea  that was possible. It’s usually a good thing.

It kind of blows my mind, you know  what’s the cost of making that stuff?

We also heard Gates regularly consults. To consult  is a verb. It means to ask the opinion of advice  

of someone usually an expert. I’m going to consult  a lawyer before I sign this contract. For example.

Gates regularly consults with a funds  team of top scientists and entrepreneurs  

which so far invested in 50 companies with  cutting edge ideas to reduce carbon emissions.

In the clip, we also heard the phrase “cutting  edge ideas.” Cutting edge means the most advanced.  

Cutting edge ideas, notice that flap T in cutting.  Cutting, cutting edge. These are ideas that are  

at the forefront, ahead of everything else, the  most advanced ideas on how to solve this problem.

Gates regularly consults with a funds team of  top scientists and entrepreneurs which so far  

invested in 50 companies with cutting  edge ideas to reduce carbon emissions.

Cutting edge ideas. Sometimes, they are far-flung.

What’s like to most far-flung idea you've backed?

Far-flung means distant or remote. He’s moving to  some far-flung town and I’ll never see him again.  

A far-flung idea is one that seems so crazy. We’re  just not sure it could work. You could also say  

far-fetched. A far-fetched idea or an outlandish  idea. Let’s see how they talk about it.

What’s like to most far-flung idea you've backed?

There’s one that’s so crazy  it’s even hard to describe.

(laughing) Wait a minute. It’s so crazy it’s hard to describe.

Yeah. How do you pitch that to investors?

How do you pitch that to investors? Pitch is a  word with a lot of meanings but the one that’s  

most known is the US is probably the verb.  Pitching a baseball to a batter. But we also  

use it to pitch an idea. To introduce an idea  that we hope someone will like. Let’s say you’re  

renovating your house. The contractor ran into a  problem. There was a pipe where it wasn’t expected  

and you’re trying to figure out what to do. You’ve  looked at a couple of options and your designer  

could say “Let me pitch another option to you.”  If you pitch investors that means you’re telling  

them about a business you hope they want to invest  in. Have you ever seen the show “Shark Tank”? In  

each episode, several small business owners pitch  their businesses to a panel of investors hoping  

that someone will think their business is good  enough to invest in. When you invest in  

something, you’re backing it. Listen to  how that verb, to back a company is used.

But forming the vegetables used to make  many meat alternatives emits gases as well.  

So Gates is also backing a company that’s  created an entirely new food source.

If you back a company, you’re investing in that  company. You’re giving it money to help it grow  

and you hope to make money from that investment.

is also backing a company that’s  created an entirely new food source.

So how does Gates decide what companies to back,  what companies to pitch to other investors.

So 15 years ago, Gates started  educating himself on climate change,  

bringing scientists and engineers to his office in Seattle for what he calls learning  

sessions. He also reads voraciously. Books  and binders full of scientific research.

He knows by educating himself by reading  voraciously. Voracious is an adjective  

that means having a huge appetite. A kid going  through a growth spurt might eat voraciously.  

But we also use it for books. He’s a voracious  reader, always in a middle of several books.

He also reads voraciously. Books and  binders full of scientific research.

He describes new technologies  that he’s helping fund.  

Here, he’s talking about a new kind of nuclear powerplant.

Nuclear power can be done in a way  that none of those failures of the past  

would recur because just the  physics of how it’s built.

Recur is a verb that means to come up again, to  occur again in an interval of time. For example,  

my online school, Rachel’s  English Academy is a subscription.  

That means every month you pay. Unless you cancel  of course. It’s a recurring payment. Gates says  

problems of the past would not  recur, would not happen again.

none of those failures of the past would recur

In the meantime, how is Gates solving the  problem of his own gigantic carbon footprint?

And so I’m offsetting my personal emissions.

Those are called carbon offset.

Right. You know, so it’s causing $400  a ton, it’s like seven million dollars.

So you’re paying seven million dollars  a year to offset your carbon footprint?

Yup.

Offsetting and offset. Offset has a couple  of different meanings. Here it means  

a counterbalance. To counteract something  with an opposing force or effect. He puts  

all those carbon into the atmosphere by for  example, flying in a plane and he offsets that  

by doing things that reduce carbon in the  atmosphere by planting trees. Offset can also mean  

to bring something out of line.  For example, this mark is offset.

So you’re paying seven million dollars  a year to offset your carbon footprint?

Yup.

Of course, most people can afford to offset  their carbon footprint. Where does that leave us?

It just seems overwhelming if every  aspect of our daily life has to change

It can seem overwhelming.

But you were optimistic.

Yeah. There are days when it looks very hard.  

If people think it’s easy, they’re wrong. If  people think it’s impossible, they’re wrong.

It’s possible.

It’s possible but it’ll be the most  amazing thing mankind has ever done.

If something is overwhelming, that means there’s  so much of something, you can’t really deal with it. 

There’s an overwhelming amount of sick people  needing care. The hospitals are overwhelmed. That  

happens driving Covid-19. Many hospitals  where overwhelmed. There were more patients  

than the hospitals could really handle. It’s used  a lot with your emotions too or state of mind.  

I have so much work to do, I am overwhelmed. I’m  having problems starting any of my projects.  

In this case, it can be overwhelming. Thinking  about all the things we needed to do to change,  

to reduce carbon emissions. There  are so many things to change,  

it can be hard taking it all in and  figuring out what specifically to do.

It just seems overwhelming if every  aspect of our daily life has to change

It can seem overwhelming.

But you were optimistic.

Yeah.

If you’re optimistic, you’re hopeful  and confident about the future.  

In this case, Bill Gates does think that we can  do, what we need to do to stop global warming.

It’s possible but it’ll be the most  amazing thing mankind has ever done.

That’s what it has to be.

Yeah, it’s an all-out effort. You know, like a  world war but it’s us against greenhouse gases.  

All-out means using all of one’s strength  or resources. In an all-out effort,  

you use everything you have, every resource,  

you don’t hold anything back. You don’t  save anything or reserve anything.

It’s an all-out effort. You know, like a world  war but it’s us against greenhouse gases.

I appreciate the optimism that Bill  Gates has and the investment he’s  

making by researching and backing companies  who are looking into far-flung ideas that may  

transform our future. I hope you learn  some new vocabulary and enjoyed this lesson  

learning English through interviews,  through news. This is from the news show  

“60 Minutes” and you can find the link to  the whole interview in the video description.

I make new videos on the  English language every Tuesday,  

please subscribe and keep your learning  right now with this video, I love having  

you as my student. That’s it and thanks so  much for using Rachel’s English.