Online VIP Class Notes (Li)[R]

Vocabulary

keep updated: be up-to-date on the latest news and current events

glacier: 冰川

tap water: 自来水

imposed: to officially force a rule, tax, punishment, etc. to be obeyed or received 推行；强制实行

eg. Very high taxes have recently been imposed on cigarettes.

eg. Judges are imposing increasingly heavy fines for minor driving offences.

eager: keen on

eg. She’s eager to come to class every week.

hydration: 补水过程

eg. Hydration is very important for athletes.

municipal: 市政的；市立的

eg. This is the municipal swimming pool.

contaminants: 污染物

eg. Water that has not been treated has a lot of contaminants.

treated: filtered

eg. Is the water treated?

small print: 附属细则

eg. Read the small print before you buy bottled drinks.

decompose: break down of plant or animal when it dies

paragraph: 一段

eg. There are six paragraphs in this article.

in bulk: a lot at a time

eg. I will buy water in bulk.

overslept: 睡过头

eg. I overslept this morning so I missed the bus.

compensation: 补偿

eg. My brother did not receive any compensation when he was injured at work.

What do North Americans, Australians, New Zealanders, and Western Europeans pay up to 10,000 times the price for even though it’s available for free? The answer is bottled water, and the success of this $13-billion-dollar industry (in the U.S.) is what some people call the marketing trick of the century.

From a marketing perspective, bottled water giants such as Coke and Pepsi have taken advantage of people’s desire to live healthier with slogans such as ‘hydration is healthy’ (Dasani) or ‘a naturally pure and mineral-balanced water supports your body’s youth’ (Evian). These slogans are often accompanied by images of glaciers that give consumers the idea the water is taken fresh from a mountaintop.

The truth is that nearly half of bottled water in the US, Canada, and U.K., is just treated tap water from municipal sources. This message, originally hidden, can now be seen in the small print on bottles since companies are now required by law to reveal it.

Pronunciation

municipal – mew-ni-ci-pal

glacier – glay-see-uh