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BBC Learning EnglishWords in the News2nd November 2011New York snow chaos

Words in the News British Broadcasting Corporation 2011Page 1 of 3

bbclearningenglish.com

Transcript:

Freaksnowstorms have hit America's East coast.

Some sayMother 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.

Theblizzardscaused 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

http://bbc.in/rEkAX0http://bbc.in/rEkAX0

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Words in the News British Broadcasting Corporation 2011Page 2 of 3

bbclearningenglish.com

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 tonnesof salt were used on roads and pavements. Offenders and the Army were brought in to clearroutes.

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.

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Words in the News British Broadcasting Corporation 2011Page 3 of 3

bbclearningenglish.com

Answers:

1.

Last winter Edinburgh experienced the worst blizzardsfor 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 treacherouswaters 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 afreakaccident.

Source:9/11 anniversary: Andy Card and the attack on America http://bbc.in/oZ9YlD

4.

Qantasgroundedall 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 Natureherself," he said.

Source:Wounded soldier reaches North Pole with charity trek team http://bbc.in/fMF3Ta

http://bbc.in/g06y6ihttp://bbc.in/vZBT8ahttp://bbc.in/oZ9YlDhttp://bbc.in/sbxBN3http://bbc.in/fMF3Tahttp://bbc.in/fMF3Tahttp://bbc.in/sbxBN3http://bbc.in/oZ9YlDhttp://bbc.in/vZBT8ahttp://bbc.in/g06y6i