BBC Learning English
Words in the News
2nd November 2011
New York snow chaos
Transcript:
Freak snowstorms have hit America's East coast.
Some say Mother Nature played a Halloween trick on 60 million people. Only four times
in the last 135 years has New York's Central Park seen snow this early.
The blizzards caused power cuts and some deaths as roads became treacherous.
More than a thousand flights were cancelled with some passengers trapped on grounded
planes for hours.
Vocabulary:
freak
unusual, irregular
Mother Nature
an expression used to refer to the power of nature, the weather and so on
blizzards
heavy snowstorms with strong winds
treacherous
extremely dangerous
grounded
not permitted to fly
Watch this video online: New York snow chaos http://bbc.in/rEkAX0
Words in the News © British Broadcasting Corporation 2011
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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.
freak / Mother Nature / blizzards / treacherous / grounded
1.
Last winter Edinburgh experienced the worst __________ for decades. Hundreds of tonnes
of salt were used on roads and pavements. Offenders and the Army were brought in to clear
routes.
2.
Ms Hedges said: "The __________ waters round the Isle of Wight present a major challenge
- there are so many unknowns. My emotions are very up and down at the moment, going
from being really excited to really scared."
3.
Before the president joined the children for a reading lesson, the White House and the
president already knew a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center, but they thought
it was a ___________ accident.
4.
Qantas ______________ all Saturday's flights, affecting some 70,000 travellers.
5.
"An element of luck was involved with this, as with any expedition of this nature when the
variables are out of your control - the weather, __________ herself," he said.
Words in the News © British Broadcasting Corporation 2011
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Answers:
1.
Last winter Edinburgh experienced the worst blizzards for decades. Hundreds of tonnes of
salt were used on roads and pavements. Offenders and the Army were brought in to clear
routes.
Source: Edinburgh Council calls for severe weather feedback http://bbc.in/g06y6i
2.
Ms Hedges said: "The treacherous waters round the Isle of Wight present a major
challenge - there are so many unknowns. My emotions are very up and down at the moment,
going from being really excited to really scared."
Source: Isle of Wight all-female relay swim record attempt http://bbc.in/vZBT8a
3.
Before the president joined the children for a reading lesson, the White House and the
president already knew a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center, but they thought
it was a freak accident.
Source: 9/11 anniversary: Andy Card and the attack on America http://bbc.in/oZ9YlD
4.
Qantas grounded all Saturday's flights, affecting some 70,000 travellers.
Source: Qantas resumes flights as court orders end to dispute http://bbc.in/sbxBN3
5.
"An element of luck was involved with this, as with any expedition of this nature when the
variables are out of your control - the weather, Mother Nature herself," he said.
Source: Wounded soldier reaches North Pole with charity trek team http://bbc.in/fMF3Ta
Words in the News © British Broadcasting Corporation 2011
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bbclearningenglish.com