BBC Learning English
Video Words in the News
17 July 2013
Bicycle-powered helicopter
Transcript:
This contraption may not look very impressive&
But when the bicycle-powered helicopter defied gravity, it caused great
excitement.
Its flight only lasted 64 seconds and reached an altitude of 3.3 metres.
Though it was a great achievement for the Canadian team, which spent 18
months designing the chopper.
They won a prize worth $250,000 from the American Helicopter Society.
The team hope to inspire the next generation of aviation pioneers.
Vocabulary:
contraption
machine that looks strange or old-fashioned
defied gravity
flew
altitude
height above sea level
chopper
informal word for helicopter
pioneers
people who are the first ones to do something
Watch the video online: Bicycle-powered helicopter http://bbc.in/1aprVxy
Video Words in the News ©British Broadcasting Corporation 2013
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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.
contraption / defied gravity / altitude / chopper / pioneers
1. About 200 firefighters are continuing to fight the Arizona wildfire - started
by a lightning strike - and more crews are on their way. They will include
helicopters and other aircraft, which can drop thousands of litres of water or
fire-retardant chemicals from low __________.
2. Now, one of the original lunar __________ believes the time has come to
make another great leap for mankind. Buzz Aldrin thinks that manned
missions to Mars should take place sooner rather than later - within the
next quarter of a century.
3. Hawking will test at least one of those laws on Thursday, when he plans to
__________ - for a moment anyway - by floating during one or more
parabolic manoeuvres aboard a specially modified Boeing 727. The plane,
operated by Florida-based Zero Gravity Corporation, will take off and land
from the space shuttle's runway at the Kennedy Space Center.
4. Then another __________ took off. This one I recognized as a French army
Puma. Then another military helicopter was in the sky - I'm not sure what
make - then another.
5. As with its smaller counterparts, the print head moves firstly horizontally
and then vertically building up salami slices of the 3D object. The enormous
__________ will be able to fabricate individual life-sized rooms in one print
session.
Video Words in the News ©British Broadcasting Corporation 2013
Page 2 of 3
bbclearningenglish.com
Answers:
1. About 200 firefighters are continuing to fight the Arizona wildfire - started by
a lightning strike - and more crews are on their way. They will include
helicopters and other aircraft, which can drop thousands of litres of water or
fire-retardant chemicals from low altitude.
Source: Arizona wildfire: Battling the blaze
http://bbc.in/16JDrSl
2. Now, one of the original lunar pioneers believes the time has come to make
another great leap for mankind. Buzz Aldrin thinks that manned missions to
Mars should take place sooner rather than later - within the next quarter of a
century.
Source: Buzz Aldrin calls for humans to colonise the Red Planet
http://bbc.in/12STqiv
3. Hawking will test at least one of those laws on Thursday, when he plans to
defy gravity - for a moment anyway - by floating during one or more
parabolic manoeuvres aboard a specially modified Boeing 727. The plane,
operated by Florida-based Zero Gravity Corporation, will take off and land
from the space shuttle's runway at the Kennedy Space.
Source: Hawking: Space is our future
http://bbc.in/11QUEv3
4. Then another chopper took off. This one I recognized as a French army
Puma. Then another military helicopter was in the sky - I'm not sure what
make  then another.
Source: Mopti - 'Venice of Mali' in a war zone
http://bbc.in/14f4V28
5. As with its smaller counterparts, the print head moves firstly horizontally and
then vertically building up salami slices of the 3D object. The enormous
contraption will be able to fabricate individual life-sized rooms in one print
session.
Source: 3D-printed canal home takes shape in Amsterdam
http://bbc.in/14r6wop
Video Words in the News ©British Broadcasting Corporation 2013
Page 3 of 3
bbclearningenglish.com