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Words in the News - BBC LearningEnglish

INTERMEDIATE LEVEL
Ivory protest

Transcript

Beautiful ornaments from an ugly trade.

More than a ton of ivory has been taken to New York's Times Square and destroyed as a protest.

Many of the items were confiscated from an antiques dealer in Philadelphia.

The international trade of ivory was made illegal in 1989 but officials say around 35,000 elephants are still being slaughtered in Africa every year.

The message is that traders' profits should be crushed and people shouldn't buy ivory.

(Note: 1 ton = 907.185 kg)

Vocabulary

ornaments
objects used for their beauty, with no practical purpose

confiscated
items taken away by an authority

illegal
against the law

slaughtered
killed violently

crushed
(here) reduced dramatically; destroyed

To do

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.

ornaments / confiscated / illegal / slaughtered / crushed

1. Mr Jeffrey added: "Criminals involved in the __________ supply of medical products through the internet aren't interested in your health, they are interested in your money and are able to get this by selling you a potentially dangerous product or by stealing your bank details. "

2. Germany has signed an agreement for the return of a Matisse painting, looted by the Nazis, to the family of its original Jewish owner.

Femme Assise [Seated Woman] was __________ from the Munich apartment of Cornelius Gurlitt, the son of Adolf Hitler's art dealer.

3. Last year a record 1,215 rhinos were __________ for their horns in South Africa - and at the same time, 42 poachers were killed by rangers and police. This bloody conflict is fuelled by the mistaken belief in Asia that rhino horn cures cancer, and it's growing more intense every year.

4. The lock-rings - worn either as earrings or in the hair by a person of wealth and status about 3,000 years ago - were discovered in Rossett.

The __________ will now go on display in Wrexham County Borough Museum.

5. "Instead of allowing his spirit to be __________ and giving up, instead of allowing himself to be filled with anger and frustration, Jafar Panahi created a love letter to cinema," said Black Swan director Darren Aronofsky, who headed this year's jury.

Answers

1. Mr Jeffrey added: "Criminals involved in the illegal supply of medical products through the internet aren't interested in your health, they are interested in your money and are able to get this by selling you a potentially dangerous product or by stealing your bank details. "

See story

2. Germany has signed an agreement for the return of a Matisse painting, looted by the Nazis, to the family of its original Jewish owner.

Femme Assise [Seated Woman] was confiscated from the Munich apartment of Cornelius Gurlitt, the son of Adolf Hitler's art dealer.

See story

3. Last year a record 1,215 rhinos were slaughtered for their horns in South Africa - and at the same time, 42 poachers were killed by rangers and police. This bloody conflict is fuelled by the mistaken belief in Asia that rhino horn cures cancer, and it's growing more intense every year.

See story

4. The lock-rings - worn either as earrings or in the hair by a person of wealth and status about 3,000 years ago - were discovered in Rossett.

The ornaments will now go on display in Wrexham County Borough Museum.

See story

5. "Instead of allowing his spirit to be crushed and giving up, instead of allowing himself to be filled with anger and frustration, Jafar Panahi created a love letter to cinema," said Black Swan director Darren Aronofsky, who headed this year's jury.

Word of the Day - cloudburst

cloudburst

Definition:	(noun) A heavy rain.
Synonyms:	pelter, soaker, torrent, waterspout, deluge, downpour
Usage:	We enjoyed the lovely recliners on the ship's deck until a sudden cloudburst sent us running for our cabins. Article of the Day A Knight Bachelor is a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not as a member of one of the organized Orders of Chivalry, making him an English knight of the lowest rank. Like other knights, Knights Bachelor are styled "Sir." The honor is generally awarded for public service, and amongst its recipients are all the male judges of the High Court of England and Wales. Sir Paul McCartney is one of the best-known holders of the rank. This Day in History The Jedwabne Pogrom (1941) Just a month after Nazi forces overran Poland and began distributing anti-Semitic propaganda there, the non-Jewish residents of the Polish town of Jedwabne took it upon themselves to round up and massacre Jews living in the area, burning hundreds alive. The fact that the Jedwabne Pogrom was not a German death squad operation but was actually "committed directly by Poles" was only recently established by the Polish Institute of National Remembrance. What details of the atrocity are still debated? More...                                        Today's Birthday Camille Pissarro (1830) Known as the "Father of Impressionism," Pissarro was the only Impressionist painter who participated in all eight of the group's exhibitions. He is notable not only for his paintings of rural and urban French life but in his role as a mentor to postimpressionists Paul Cézanne and Paul Gauguin. He gained popularity in the 1890s with his interpretation of nature, including many landscapes drawn from his surroundings in the French countryside.

Lie or Lay?

Ambassador Moser says goodbye... U.S. embassy in Moldova

Post by U.S. Embassy Moldova.

Word of the Day

vitreous
Definition:	(adjective) Of, relating to, resembling, or having the nature of glass.
Synonyms:	glassy
Usage:	The lake was so calm it looked vitreous in the pre-dawn light. Article of the Day

Tsukiji Fish Market
	The Tokyo Metropolitan Central Wholesale Market, or Tsukiji fish market, is the biggest wholesale fish and seafood market in the world. Located in Tokyo, Japan, the market offers more than 400 types of seafood and is a major attraction for foreign visitors. It typically opens at 3 AM, with auctions beginning around 5 AM. Bidding can only be done by licensed participants, but visitors can watch.

This Day in History

Treaty of Ghent Signed
	The Treaty of Ghent ended the War of 1812 between the US and the UK. Although the treaty was signed in December, fighting continued for several weeks because it took time for news of the agreement to reach North America. The treaty essentially restored prewar borders and failed to deal with the matters of neutral rights and impressment that were the ostensible causes of the conflict.

Today's Birthday

James Prescott Joule

One of the great experimental scientists of the 19th century, Joule is the man for whom the standard mechanical unit of work is named. He was an English physicist who made valuable contributions to the study of heat, electricity, and thermodynamics. His work established the mechanical theory of heat, determined the relationship between heat energy and mechanical energy, and established the first law of thermodynamics.

Today's Holiday

Tolling the Devil's Knell

To celebrate the birth of Christ and the death of the Devil, All Saints Minster Church in Dewsbury, Yorkshire, rings its bell the same number of times as the number of the year (for example, 2,014 times in 2014) on Christmas Eve. The tolling starts at 11:00 PM, stops during the church service from midnight to 12:45, and then resumes until the years have been tolled away. The custom has been going on for almost 700 years. The bell has been called "Black Tom of Soothill" since the 13th century, and Tolling Black Tom is supposed to keep the parish safe from the Devil for another 12 months.

Quote of the Day

	Dignify and glorify common labor. ... It is at the bottom of life that we must begin, not at the top. Booker T. Washington (1856-1915)

Word of the Day

clandestine
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Hurricane Katrina made landfall along the Central Gulf Coast  as a Category 3 storm. Its storm surge breached the levee  system that protected New Orleans from Lake Pontchartrain  and the Mississippi River, flooding the city. Lack of food and  water in the aftermath fueled criticism of the US government's recovery efforts, and many former residents established new  lives elsewhere. Katrina caused an estimated $81 billion in damages  More... Today's Birthday Charlie Parker (1920) Charlie "Bird" Parker was an American saxophonist  and composer. Along with trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie,  Parker was a leader of the bop movement in jazz.  His brilliant improvisations were noted for their  power and beauty. Sadly, his heroin addiction was  legendary as well. He had a drug-induced nervous breakdown in 1946 and saw his cabaret card—which  allowed him to play in New York clubs—revoked  by the police in 1951. Quote of the Day One can know a man from his laugh, and if you like a man's laugh before you know anything of him, you may confidently say that he is a good man. Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1821-1881)