BBC Learning English
Words in the News
13 February 2013

Ugly masks

Words in the News

© British Broadcasting Corporation 2013

Page 1 of 3

bbclearningenglish.com

Transcript:

They may not be the most aesthetically pleasing group of people you've ever
met, but these revellers at the Lucerne Carnival in Switzerland hope their ugly
masks will scare off the evil spirits of winter and pave the way for spring.

The festival also features lanterns, costumes and music, and is part of a tradition
which can be traced back to the 15

th

Century.

Vocabulary:

aesthetically pleasing
beautiful to look at

revellers
people who party in a noisy way

scare off
to make someone or something worried about something so they decide not to
do it

pave the way for
make it possible for (something to happen)

traced back to
identified as having started in

Watch the video online: Ugly masks

http://bbc.in/VdPVOl

Words in the News

© British Broadcasting Corporation 2013

Page 2 of 3

bbclearningenglish.com

Exercise:

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

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

aesthetically pleasing/ revellers/ scare off/ pave the way/

traced back to

1. Fire purified things. The popularity of setting off fireworks at new year can be

________ that idea of fire purifying.

2. Creatures that achieve world fame for being under threat - the panda, the

mountain gorilla, the tiger - tend to be conventionally _________, even cute.

3. As Rio de Janeiro's carnival gets under way, its oldest street parade has drawn

an estimated 1.5m ________.

4. Puffing Billy was one of the first steam locomotives to transport coal from Wylam

Colliery to Lemington Staithes on the River Tyne.

Developed by Newburn-born engineer William Hedley in 1813, it _______ for the
development of the rail industry.

5. Eugene Cousins, a manager at Chimp Eden, said that he fired warning shots to

________ the animals but then one of the chimps attacked his vehicle, smashing
the bonnet and windshield.

Words in the News

© British Broadcasting Corporation 2013

Page 3 of 3

bbclearningenglish.com

Answers:

1. Fire purified things. The popularity of setting off fireworks at new year can be

traced back to that idea of fire purifying.

Source: Happy Hoggo-nott?: The 'lost' meanings of Hogmanay

http://bbc.in/VqG0VB

2. Creatures that achieve world fame for being under threat - the panda, the

mountain gorilla, the tiger - tend to be conventionally aesthetically pleasing,
even cute.

Source: Alcatraz escape still surprises, 50 years on

http://bbc.in/T8cb8F

3. As Rio de Janeiro's carnival gets under way, its oldest street parade has drawn

an estimated 1.5m revellers.

Source: Carnival 2013: Rio street party draws 'more than 1.5m'

http://bbc.in/Z29D33

4. Puffing Billy was one of the first steam locomotives to transport coal from Wylam

Colliery to Lemington Staithes on the River Tyne.

Developed by Newburn-born engineer William Hedley in 1813, it paved the way
for the development of the rail industry.

Source: Puffing Billy's 200th anniversary to be celebrated

http://bbc.in/WEr9bb

5. Eugene Cousins, a manager at Chimp Eden, said that he fired warning shots to

scare off the animals but then one of the chimps attacked his vehicle, smashing
the bonnet and windshield.

Source: South Africa's Chimp Eden maulers escape death penalty

http://bbc.in/LY4bbD