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[C+] Why 1.5 Billion People Eat With Chopsticks | Small Thing Big Idea, a TED series

LET'S UNLOCK WORDS AND PHRASES 🔐

pincer

[ 'pin-ser ]

noun

- one of a pair of curved claws of an animal such as a crab

The crab scuttled across the sand, waving its pincers defensively at anyone who came too close.

incense

[ 'in-sens ]

noun

- a substance that is burned to produce a sweet smell, especially as part of a religious ceremony

During the ceremony, they burned incense, filling the room with its sweet, aromatic scent.

echo

[ 'ek-oh ]

noun

- a quality or other detail that is similar to and makes you remember something else

The son’s behavior is a clear echo of his father’s.

communal

[ 'kom-yuh-nl ]

adjective

- belonging to or used by a group of people rather than one single person

We each have a separate bedroom but share a communal kitchen.

starve

[ stahrv ]

verb

- to (cause someone to) become very weak or die because there is not enough food to eat

Whole communities starved to death during the long drought.

LET'S TAKE A LOOK! [ FULL CLIP ]

What is the video all about? Choose two statements that refer to the main ideas of the video.


1. The video explains how chopsticks are used, their different styles, and the proper way to use them.

2. Chopsticks can also be used for cooking tasks like frying or stirring, not just for eating.

3. In some cultures, the color and design of chopsticks can have symbolic meanings for special occasions.

4. It talks about the history of chopsticks, how they changed cooking, and their importance in Asian dining and culture.

LET'S TRY IT! - FIRST CUT

A. Script Completion

Direction: Watch the first cut of the video and complete the following lines below with the missing words. Write or type down your answers while listening.

⏱ 00:00 - 01:46

It is such a sort of instrumental part of our (1) , in terms of the utensils. And it was like, that's interesting, there are people who live without chopsticks. Chopsticks are (2) used to eat things with one hand. Holding chopsticks is a little bit like holding a pencil, except that you have two of them and you move them together in a (3) . Most of them are made out of wood. They're also made out of plastic, bamboo, jade, gold, silver and even ivory, though I think that's not so cool anymore. Chopsticks are really well designed for (4) of food. They're good for picking up noodles. If you're skilled, you can eat rice, pick up dumplings, pieces of meat. There are some no-nos with chopsticks. You should not use the chopsticks like drumsticks, which I know is (5) . You don't want to stick chopsticks into a bowl of rice (6) -. And the reason for that is it actually looks like a bowl of incense, so it sort of echoes death. Chopsticks are used in a (7) of the world, across much of Asia, about 1.5 billion people are covered in the chopsticks sphere. Different cultures have slightly different variations of chopsticks. Chinese chopsticks will tend to be long and round, Korean chopsticks are (8) and often made of metal and Japanese chopsticks tend to be round and very, very pointy. While chopsticks are actually really (9) in American society today, there was definitely a time in the late 1800s where this idea that Asian men, because they ate rice with sticks, were of a different quality than American men, who ate proper meat with a knife and fork.

LET'S PRACTICE - SECOND CUT

A. Script Completion

Direction: Watch the second cut of the video and complete the following lines below with the missing phrases.

⏱ 01:46 - 03:26

But when China and the United States began their (1) in the 1970s, Richard Nixon, Henry Kissinger, had to practice eating with chopsticks. What's been really interesting to see is that as Asian (2) has moved from the East into the West, chopsticks have become part of the experience. There's (3) of chopsticks as long ago as the Shang dynasty, which is about 3000 years ago, and they loved (4) during the Shang dynasty. So when you cook with these big tripods, chopsticks were actually really useful, because it was a way for you to stir and to reach without (5) as the water was boiling in these really (6) . Chinese culture has knives and has forks. It uses them in many cases for cooking. But in terms of like what moved into the dining room, it was the chopsticks. One of the things about Asian cooking is that it often comes in very small pieces. And I think part of that has to do with the fact that it's actually a lot more (7) - to cook little pieces quickly. But also, then you don't have to cut them. So you have a circular influence, where the type of food that is cooked allows people to use chopsticks, and then the fact that you have chopsticks influences the food that you can cook. But at the same time, chopsticks reflect the (8) of eating food. You'll have these dishes that you put in the middle, it's very family style. You go in with your chopsticks, and you put it on your rice, and then you eat individually. There's actually a famous (9) where everyone has these really, really long chopsticks, like way too long for them to feed themselves. And so in hell, everyone starves, because they can't pick up food and put it in their mouths. But in (10) , people take the same chopsticks and then feed each other.

LET'S DO THE CHALLENGE - FULL CLIP

Direction: Answer the following questions by giving your opinion.


  1. What materials are chopsticks commonly made from?

  2. What types of food are chopsticks well-suited for picking up?

  3. What types of food are chopsticks well-suited for picking up?

  4. Why were chopsticks useful during the Shang dynasty in China?

  5. In your opinion, are chopsticks a more eco-friendly choice compared to disposable utensils like plastic forks and knives?