Rob:
Mmm! A quick sip of my coffee to get me in the mood for today’s
programme! Welcome to 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English. I’m
Rob.
Finn
:
And I’m
Finn
. Rob, yo
u seem to be enjoying that cup
of coffee...
Rob:
Yes
, indeed
. I love all styles of coffee
– that’s coffee made in different
ways
– you could say I am a coffee
addict
.
Finn
:
An
addict
. That’s
someone who likes
doing a
particular
activity very much
and they can’t stop doing it. And if you have a strong need to keep
drinking coffee then we could say you have an
addiction
.
Rob
:
That’s me! And that’s
what we'
re talking about today
– coffee addiction
–
and
we’ll be
talking about
the dangers of drinking too much.
Finn
:
Another word for drinking
here
is
consuming
. We'
ll look
at some other
coffee
-related language in today’s programme
, too. But first
, Rob, how
about a question?
Rob
:
Yes
, of course.
I have a coffee
-related question to ask you.
Do you
know
which country drink
s the most coffee per person? Is it:
a)
Egypt
b)
Finland
c)
Italy
Finn
:
I think they're all coffee-
dri nking countries but I’ll
say b) Finland.
Rob
:
OK.
As always, I will
let you
know
the answer at
the end of the
programme. OK Finn
, I haven’t asked you yet if you drink
coffee.
So do
you?
Finn
:
I do Rob, yes, but
only
in moderation
– so
that
mean
s not too much
. I
love the taste and the smell
especially
– we
could call that
the
aroma
–
but it'
s the
caffeine
contained in the drink
that
can have
a bad effect.
If I
drink too much i
t can
give me headaches.
Rob
:
Right
. Well, for me, it'
s the caffeine that keeps me awake. It stimulates
my brain
– it makes me
more alert
– that'
s why we call caffeine
a
stimulant
. Caffeine can also be found in energy and cola drinks and even
in tea.
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Finn
:
The
New Scientist
magazine says caffeine is a ‘
psychoactive
drug
’ and
that
90%
of people in the United States consume it every day.
Rob
:
Psychoactive
drug
– so
what does that mean?
Finn
:
It' s a drug that
affects
how
a person feels and sometimes how they
behave.
The drug can be found i
n food like waffles and chewing gum,
surprisingly
– not just in drinks.
Rob
:
That’s why scientists who study public health are worried people don’t
know how much caffeine they are taking.
Finn
:
Indeed
. Too much caffeine can lead to
insomnia
.
Rob
:
So t
hat’s when you can’t sleep.
Finn
:
And
indigestion
.
Rob:
So t
hat’s a pain in your stomach when
it can’t process the food
that
you've
just eaten.
Finn
:
And finally,
high blood pressure
.
Rob
:
So blood flowing around your body at
a high
er pressure
than
is normal
.
That'
s dangerous. Well
, sometimes drinking coffee
does
stop me sleeping
and sometimes I feel very alert and then very
lethargic
– you know,
that's
not having any energy.
But I
still
can’t give up!
Finn
:
And Rob, y
ou'
re not alone.
We asked peop
le on our BBC Learning English
Facebook page how they felt about coffee, and we had a lot of responses.
Rob
:
Yumiko says
: “My happiest time is smelling coffe
e bean
s just after
grinding it.
Fresh roasted coffee has
a really good fragrance!
” Fragrance
is
a word usually associated with perfume
– but I think she
just
means the
good
smell.
Finn
:
Samuele says
: “One cup of good es
presso is the da
ily energy for my body
and mind”.
Rob:
And
Rasha claims
: “A cup of coffee every
day is useful for
our
health
”.
Fin
n:
Ahmed loves coffee too
, but he says
: “Be aware
that
too much coffee
is
not good for your health”.
So t
here seem to be some good effects and
some
bad
– or negative
– effects of drinking coffee
, Rob.
Rob:
Well,
I find that if I try to give up drinking cof
fee, I
’ll also get headaches
and feel tired.
Finn
:
And t
hese are what we call
withdrawal symptoms
– the nasty physical
and mental effects of stopping.
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Rob
:
Well
, I may drink lots of coffee but not as much
as people in another
country. Finn, e
arlier I ask
ed you if you knew the people of which country
drink the most coffee
?
Finn
:
And I said b) Finland.
Rob:
And guess what
– you were right
! Yes, t
he people of Finland
consume an
incredible 12 kilograms of coffee per person every year. That compares
with th
e average consumpti
on of 1.3 kilograms per person.
OK
Finn
, before we go
, there’s just time for you to remind us of some of
the words
that
we h
eard today.
Finn
:
We heard:
addict
consuming
in moderation
aroma
caffeine
stimulant
psychoactive drug
insom
nia
indigestion
high blood pressure
lethargic
withdrawal symptoms
Rob:
Thanks
, Finn.
Finn:
Thank you
, Rob
.
Rob:
Do join us again for another edition of 6 Minute English from BBC Learning
English. Bye for n