Week 9: Vocabulary

Sources: www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish 

Column: Words in the news

 My scores: 5/5  4/5  4/5  5/5 4/5  

Swiss cable guy

A Swiss daredevil's climbed the highest mountain in Germany in an unusual way... He scaled the 3000-metre peak using a cable car wire as a tightrope. Freddy Nock gained nearly 350 metres in altitude as he walked the kilometre-long route without a balancing pole or a safety harness. The stuntman's trying to break seven world records in a week, raising money for charity in the process.

daredevil

a person who does dangerous things and enjoys taking risks

tightrope

a wire or rope stretched above the ground which performers try to walk across

altitude

the height above sea level

safety harness

piece of equipment which prevents someone from falling when they are doing a dangerous job above the ground

stuntman

a person whose job is to perform dangerous tricks in films and TV in place of an actor

Exercise

Use one of the words or phrases below to complete each of these sentences from a BBC news report.
Note that you may have to change the form of a word to complete the sentence correctly.

daredevil / tightrope / altitude / safety harness / stuntman
1.
A Chinese inventor claims he reached an __________ of 4,000m on his home made flying machine.
2.
Strapped to a __________ tethered more than 100 floors up, he began his climb up the silvery, glass-covered tower just after 1800 (1400 GMT) on Monday.
3.
A "human cannonball" __________ plunged to his death in an accident seen by hundreds of people at a daredevil show.
4.
The New York state assembly has made an exception to a century-old ban on stunts at Niagara Falls, to allow a renowned __________ walker to cross from one side to the other.
5.
Sam has a touch of the ___________. He flies helicopters, boxes, rides motorbikes and carries the air of a dashing gentleman untroubled by life's frailties.

First child of an infant nation

First the birth of a nation and then the arrival of its first citizen. The weekend saw South Sudan usher in independence after decades of civil war. As revellers were marking the newborn country's secession from the north, Josephine Alphanes gave birth to her son, who she named Independence. Nurses and midwives joined in the celebrations.

usher in

begin something new, welcome a new situation

revellers

people celebrating and having fun in a noisy way

secession

the political separation and independence of one part of a country

gave birth to

had a baby, was the creator of

midwives

medical staff who help women through the process of childbirth

Exercise

Use one of the words or phrases below to complete each of these sentences from a BBC news report. Note that you may have to change the form of a word to complete the sentence correctly.

usher in / revellers / secession / gave birth to / midwives

1.
Beyonce and Coldplay are among the acts taking to the stage at day two of Scotland's largest music festival. Organisers expect about 85,000 ______________ a day at T in the Park at Balado, near Kinross.

2.
The Democratic League of Kosovo and the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo boycotted February's vote. They cited Mr Pacolli's history of ties to Russia, which opposed Kosovo's 2008 ______________ from Serbia.

3.
A hospital maternity unit in County Durham is to temporarily shut because of a shortage of ______________.

4.
It may take protesters and reformers years to achieve their aims, and even when free and fair elections do take place, there is no guarantee they will automatically _____________ better government.

5.
Kate Hudson has _________________ a boy with fiancé and Muse frontman Matt Bellamy.

South Korea's internet addicts

Internet addiction in South Korea's got so bad the government's banned teens from going online after midnight. Web junkies have been going without food, drink and sleep for days because they're hooked on computer games. The authorities have been hedging their bets by putting money into a variety of solutions. One scheme monitors people's brainwaves, while another tries to get youngsters involved in more traditional forms of entertainment.

addiction

the medical and or psychological condition of being unable to stop doing something harmful. Generally we talk about addictions to substances like alcohol and drugs but in this story it's used to describe being obsessed with the internet and online gaming. The related verb is: to be addicted (to something)

junkies

'a junkie' is an informal word for someone who is addicted to drugs. In this story it's also used to refer to people who are addicted to playing computer games.

hooked on

an informal way of saying 'addicted to'

hedging their bets

'to hedge your bets' is an expression which means to reduce your chances of making a mistake by investing in more than one possible option

brainwaves

electrical signals produced in the brain

Exercise

Use one of the words or phrases below to complete each of these sentences from a BBC news report.
Note that you may have to change the form of a word to complete the sentence correctly.

addiction / junkies / to be hooked on (something) /
to hedge your bets / brainwaves


1
On my last visit to the city, Kandaharis spoke of their constant fear of attack, by either Taliban or US led forces. They ____________________, backing both sides until it was clear who would prevail.
2
Scientists believe they are a step closer to being able to read people's minds after decoding human _________________ .
3The death of Amy Winehouse has once again highlighted the danger of drink and drug _______________ .
4
There were claims that the damage had been caused by a hard-core of violent protest ________________ who had deliberately come for trouble.
5
He became _________________ the tournament after watching Bjorn Borg play in 1977, and has returned every year since, seeing all the greats of the game.

 

9/11: Ten Years On

The defining moment of a new century... Preparations are being made to mark the tenth anniversary of the September 11th attacks which resulted in the deaths of almost 3,000 people. US president George W. Bush addressed the nation promising to punish those behind the attacks and any country which harboured terrorists. This precipitated the bombing of Afghanistan and the pursuit of the Al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden.

defining moment

event which changes the course of history

addressed the nation

made a speech to the whole country

harboured

gave shelter to someone who is attempting to escape the authorities

precipitated

brought about

the pursuit of

the determined search for someone with the intention of capturing and bringing to justice

Exercise

Use one of the words or phrases below to complete each of these sentences from a BBC news report.

Note that you may have to change the form of a word to complete the sentence correctly.

defining moment / addressed the nation / harboured / precipitated / the pursuit of
1.Newspapers in Thailand have expressed the hope that Sunday's surprise landslide election victory for the Pheu Thai party will _____________ an era of national reconciliation.
2.Reggae singer Luciano has been charged with ___________ a fugitive who shot and wounded three police officers, Jamaican police have said.
3.Hare coursing is___________ a hare by a pair of hunting dogs, often greyhounds, and is common in rural Northern Ireland.
4.It was one of the _______________________ of the last Labour government's years in power. The Commons debate in March 2003 that preceded the Iraq invasion is seared in many people's memories.
5.Looking much thinner than when he last ________________, Mr Chavez on Thursday confirmed what many had suspected - his health problems were more serious than first thought, says the BBC's Sarah Grainger in Caracas.

Underwater volcano

Shimmering hot water seen coming out of an undersea volcano off the coast of Oregon. During a routine visit to the area last month, researchers found lava coming out of a vent that was formed on the seafloor. Scientists who have been studying it for over a decade predicted that it would erupt before the year 2014. According to them it's the first successful forecast of an underwater eruption.

shimmering

gently moving with a soft light

lava

hot liquid rock that comes out of volcanoes

a vent

a hole in the seafloor from which hot gasses and other material is released

erupt

what a volcano does when it is active and burning rocks and lava are thrown into the air, or, as in this case, released from the seabed. The noun from this verb is 'eruption'.

forecast

predict, work out what is going to happen in the future based on analysis of what has happened in the past

Exercise

Use one of the words or phrases below to complete each of these sentences from a BBC news report.
Note that you may have to change the form of a word to complete the sentence correctly.

shimmering / lava / a vent / erupt / forecast
1.
What are believed to be the world's deepest undersea volcanic _________________ have been discovered in the Caribbean.
The _______________, known as black smokers, were located 5,000m (3.1 miles) down in the Cayman Trough.
2.
Mr Osborne's speech came a day after the Bank of England cut its growth ____________ for the UK for 2011 from 1.8% to 1.5%, warning that "the headwinds are growing stronger by the day".
3.
The southern white rhinos here, at first appearing like boulders on the ____________________ horizon of the African bush, were until recently a conservation success story.
4.
A chain of volcanoes has _________ in southern Chile, sending a column of smoke and ash high into the air.
5.
Europe's biggest active volcano, Mount Etna, is putting on a spectacular show as it continues to spew _______________.