BBC Learning English

Words in the News

13 February 2013

Ugly masks





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 15th 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



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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



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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





Words in the News

© British Broadcasting Corporation 2013



Page 3 of 3

bbclearningenglish.com