Unit 1: Listen Here
Select a unit
- 1 Listen Here
- 2 Unit 2
- 3 Unit 3
- 4 Unit 4
- 5 Unit 5
- 6 Unit 6
- 7 Unit 7
- 8 Unit 8
- 9 Unit 9
- 10 Unit 10
- 11 Unit 11
- 12 Unit 12
- 13 Unit 13
- 14 Unit 14
- 15 Unit 15
- 16 Unit 16
- 17 Unit 17
- 18 Unit 18
- 19 Unit 19
- 20 Unit 20
- 21 Unit 21
- 22 Unit 22
- 23 Unit 23
- 24 Unit 24
- 25 Unit 25
- 26 Unit 26
- 27 Unit 27
- 28 Unit 28
- 29 Unit 29
- 30 Unit 30
- 31 Unit 31
- 32 Unit 32
- 33 Unit 33
- 34 Unit 34
- 35 Unit 35
- 36 Unit 36
- 37 Unit 37
- 38 Unit 38
- 39 Unit 39
- 40 Unit 40
Session 4
How does fat affect the brain? Today we listen to part of a scientific discussion and explain the ideas around this topic.
ስብሒ ብኸመይ ንሓንጎልና ክጸልዎ ይኽእል? ሎሚ ብዛዕባ’ዚ ኣርእስቲ ዝተኻየደ ሳይንሳዊ ዘተን ሓሳባትን ክንገልጽ ኢና።
Activity 1
How does fat affect the brain?
How does fat affect the brain? Today we listen to part of a scientific discussion and explain the ideas around this topic.
ስብሒ ብኸመይ ንሓንጎልና ክጸልዎ ይኽእል? ሎሚ ብዛዕባ እዚ ኣርእስቲ ዝተኻየደ ሳይንሳዊ ዘተን ሓሳባትን ክንገልጽ ኢና።
Before you listen
Consider the following questions:
1) How does eating fat affect your body?
2) What is the purpose of the brain and what is it made from?
Listen to the audio and take the quiz.

ኣቕራቢቋንቋትግርኛ
ሰላም፡ እንቋዕ ናብዚ ሓቀኛ ዛንታት ቋንቋ እንግሊዝ ሰሚዕኩም ክትርድኡ ዝሕግዘኩም መደብ ብደሓን መጻእኩም። ስመይ ተክለማርያም በኪት’ዩ።
Tom
And I’m Tom! Hi again everyone. Today we’re listening to a discussion about the effects of fat on our brains.
ኣቕራቢቋንቋትግርኛ
ናይ ሎሚ መደብና ካብ ቢቢሲ መደብ Bringing up Britain ዝወሰድናዮ እዩ። ሓንቲ ኪኢላ ስነ-መግቢ፡ ብዛዕባ ኣገዳስነት ስብሒታት ኣብ ስርዓተ ኣመጋግባና ‘diet’ እያ ትዛረብ። ‘dietary fats’ ድማ’ዮም ዝበሃሉ። ስለምንታይ’ያ እቶም ስብሕታት ኣገደስቲ ምዃኖም ትጸቅጥ? ነቲ እትጠቕሶ ሚእታዊት ስምዑ።
Insert
I think almost everyone would do better if they were to realise how much impact things like sugar and refined carbohydrates can have. Now, the area of the diet most people absolutely don't understand is to do with dietary fats - the brain, it's 60% fat!
Tom
Wow! Sixty percent of the brain is fat!
ኣቕራቢቋንቋትግርኛ
Yes! And she mentions that sugar and carbohydrates, ሽኮራውያን ዓይነት መግቢ, are bad too! She said that people would do better if they realised the impact these things can have.
Tom
But she doesn’t quite say ‘if they realised’. She says something slightly different. What is it? Let’s listen again.
Insert
I think almost everyone would do better if they were to realise how much impact things like sugar and refined carbohydrates can have.
Tom
So, she says ‘if they were to realise how much impact sugar and carbohydrates can have’.
ኣቕራቢቋንቋትግርኛ
እወ። ኣብዚ ምሉእ ሓሳብ’ዚ ‘were’ ንግምታዊ ተኽእሎ ዝሕብር ሕሉፍ ግሲ ኮይኑ’ዩ ሰፊሩ ዘሎ። ኣብ መወዳእታ ‘to realise’ ጥራይ ኢና ንምልኣሉ።
Tom
She also stresses ‘if they were’, to stress that this is an unreal or imagined situation.
ኣቕራቢቋንቋትግርኛ
So, if I were to suggest that we continue, would you agree?
Tom
Yes, I would! Let’s continue.
ኣቕራቢቋንቋትግርኛ
ኣሎኹም’ዶ። ነቶም እንምገቦም ዓይነታት ስብሒ ክንቆጻጸሮም ከም ዘለና ንምግላጽ እትጥቀመሎም ምኽንያታት እንታይ’ዮም።
Insert
…the brain, it's 60% fat! It's the fat-rich organ, you know, that underlies all our behaviour, and its composition reflects the fats in our diets. So, if we don't get those right, there's no way that our brains are going to be able to function properly.
Tom
So, she says the brain is the organ that underlies our behaviour and it reflects that fats we eat in our diet.
ኣቕራቢቋንቋትግርኛ
‘Organ’ ማለት ክፍለ-ኣካል ማለት’ዩ። ‘To underlie’ ማለት ድማ ዝድርኽ ማለት’ዩ። She also uses an interesting adjective to describe the brain.
Tom
She does. Listen again for the two words that come before ‘organ’.
Insert
…the brain, it's 60% fat! It's the fat-rich organ, you know, that underlies all our behaviour, and its composition reflects the fats in our diets.
Tom
She said it’s a fat-rich organ.
ኣቕራቢቋንቋትግርኛ
‘-rich’ ጥብቆ ኮይኑ ርእሱ ምስ ዝኸኣለ ስም ክንጥቀመሉ ንኽእል፡ ከምኡ’ውን ዝለዓለ መጠን ናይ ምውናን ዓይነት ዘርኢይ ቕጽል እዩ።
Tom
So I could eat a vitamin-rich lunch full of fruit and vegetables.
ኣቕራቢቋንቋትግርኛ
ኣብ መደምደምታ፡ እቲ ዘድሊ ዓይነት ስብሒ እንተድኣ ዘይበላዕና እታ ተዛራቢት እንታይ ከጋጥመና’ዩ ኢላ’ያ ትምዕድ?
Insert
It's the fat-rich organ, you know, that underlies all our behaviour, and its composition reflects the fats in our diets. So, if we don't get those right, there's no way that our brains are going to be able to function properly.
ኣቕራቢቋንቋትግርኛ
ኣብዚ እቲ ተዛራቢ ‘if’ ዝብል ተደራቢ ተወሳኺ ሓሳብ ይጥቀም ኣሎ- ናይ ሓደ ክኸውን ዝኽእል ነገር ንምግላጽ ድማ ‘going to’ ተጠቒሙ’ሎ።
Tom
That’s right! She says ‘if we don't get those right, there's no way that our brains are going to be able to function properly’.
ኣቕራቢቋንቋትግርኛ
ቀጺላ ድማ ‘there’s no way’ ትብል።
Tom
And no way means 'there's no possibility'. Also, she doesn’t say ‘our brains are going to be able to function properly’. She uses the contracted form, ‘gonna’. Say it with me to practise.
gonna
gonna be able
gonna be able to function
ኣቕራቢቋንቋትግርኛ
Thanks, Tom! So, do you control the amount of fat you eat?
Tom
There’s no way I’m gonna be able to answer that question as we’re gonna run out of time!
ኣቕራቢቋንቋትግርኛ
You’re right! ኣብ ዝቕጽል ክሳብ ንራኸብ፡ ኩሉኹም ደሓን ቀንዩ፡
Tom
See you then everybody! Bye!
Language features
If I were to
If I were to is an example of a past tense being used to demonstrate hypothesis – unreal/imagined situations or ideas. It is an exception to the rule that ‘was’ must follow ‘I’.
If I were to eat fast food every day, I would get fat.
We could also write this sentence clause using the base verb, eat, in the simple past.
If I ate fast food every day, I would get fat.
Both of the above sentences demonstrate the second conditional, where we use an ‘if’ clause to talk about hypothetical situations.
-rich
‘-rich’ is a suffix we can use with concrete nouns. When added with a hyphen, it creates a compound adjective.
There is a lot of oil in the desert. = The desert is oil-rich.
I work in an oil-rich country.
We don’t use -rich with abstract nouns.
underlie
'To underlie' is to be the basis of something, or the reason why it happens. Its component words are ‘lie’ and ‘under’, which implies a foundation upon which something is built.
Chemical reactions in our brain underlie all of our behaviour.
We can also use the adjective form, underlying.
I think one of the underlying reasons why your son doesn’t like reading is that he has poor eyesight!
How does fat affect the brain?
3 Questions
Choose the correct answer.
ቕኑዕ መልሲ ምረጹ።
Help
Activity
Choose the correct answer.
ቕኑዕ መልሲ ምረጹ።
Hint
ንስም ዝገልጽ ቃል ከትጽሕፉ ኣሎኩም።Question 1 of 3
Help
Activity
Choose the correct answer.
ቕኑዕ መልሲ ምረጹ።
Hint
ድርብ ቕጽል መስተዋስብ የድልዮ’ዶ? ኣብ ላዕሊ ተመልከቱ።Question 2 of 3
Help
Activity
Choose the correct answer.
ቕኑዕ መልሲ ምረጹ።
Hint
ኣብዚ ‘ክኸውን ዘይክእል’ ዘመልክት ውቃበ የድልየኩም።Question 3 of 3
Excellent! Great job! Bad luck! You scored:
Do you have a fat-rich diet? Tell us on our Facebook group.
Join us for our next episode of Listen Here! when we will learn more useful language and practise your listening skills.
ኣብ ዝቕጽል መደብ Listen Here ኣገደስቲ ናይ ኢንግሊዝኛ ዝርርብን ናይ ምስማዕ ክእለትኩም እተመሐይሹሉ መደብ ሒዝናልኩም ክንቀርብ ኢና’ሞ ብሰላም የራኽበና።
Session Vocabulary
dietary fat
ኣብ መግቢ ዝጸንሕ ስብሒcarbohydrate
ሽኮራዊ መግቢto underlie
መሰረት ዝኾነcomposition
ውህደት/ኣቀውማorgan
ክፋል ነፍስናreflect
ኣንጸባራቒ/ኣስተንትኖno way
ክኸውን ዘይክእል