The invasion of Ukraine has lasted for over a month now. On March 2, the BBC reported on the ongoing battles for Kharkiv, Kherson and Kyiv: the chaos, the rubble, the dispair of peaceful Ukrainians in the bomb shelters, the tears of refugee families parting into exile... This distressing report, which is introduced by Clive Myrie, an experienced BBC foreign correspondent and TV presenter, is suitable for B2 students and above.
You will come across interesting expressions like: "in broad daylight, to leave a trail of destruction, the aftermath of a deadly missile attack, the target [is] an airbase, in the rubble, to keep myself together, shooting, to have captured, sirens wail, [deserted streets] echo fear and dread, [the children made] pistols [to kill the enemy], as war closes in, to put on a brave face in, the national anthem, hit by sustained rocket fire, airborne troops, [planes] shot down, distressing images, [calm] in the wreckage [of people's homes], to hide in basements and bunkers, made a dash, to make it onto a train, to go back and forth, to refuse to be cowed, shoving forward, chaos, desperate to get on board, to swear at [all those who have caused the suffering], to flee abroad, to break down".
In the next BBC News report (29/03/22), Iryna Babich, a refugee English teacher, explains how she has found peace of mind in a Romanian monastery "Only here, at the monastery, I stopped hating. Last Sunday, I even prayed for Putin", Iryna says while she sadly misses her husband who is delivering fuel back in the besieged city of Kharkiv. This short interview can be followed by B1 students and above and you will find expressions like: "a place of retreat, prayer, meditation, my [lovely] van, just to smell [my husband, my house], stayed behind [...] delivering fuel, [a city] under Russian siege, [they can stay] as long as they wish, [I wished Putin] to become wiser, to feel sympathy to Russian troops, sunflowers in the yard, to breathe [this beautiful mountain air], they fled Ukraine, they might be home by Easter, their best hope is by summer".
Ennio Morricone has died at the age of 91 in Rome. He was the composer of the score of more than 500 films, including successful "spaghetti westerns" like " The Good, the Bad and the Ugly ", " Once Upon a Time in the West " with director Sergio Leone and other box office hits like " Cinema Paradiso ", " The Mission " or Brian de Palma's " The Untouchables ". He won an honorary Oscar in 2007, and an outright one for Quentin Tarantino's film " The Hateful Eight " in 2015. He was recently awarded the 2020 Princess of Asturias Prize for the Arts by the Spanish Crown. He managed to create an atmosphere of mystery, toughness and humour by orchestrating music based on "howls, gunshots and groans". Rose Friedman, writing an appreciation for NPR, says that in Western movies, where dialogue was minimal, "music did the talking". Here you can listen to a 4-minute radio report with its script, an...
This superb BBC description of Galway's "craic" (which is a kind of light-hearted, mischievous approach to life) portrays the atmosphere of the streets, pubs and people in that Western Irish, bohemian town. In only 12 slides and a video, you will come across words like bustling pubs, freshly poured pints, lilting music, fiddle, mischief, craic, a local, promenade, odd, damp, to strip down to swimsuits, to plunge into, roiling waters, shivering, dripping, wont, to go with the flow, gale-force winds, counterweight, to breed, laid-back spirit, to foster, layout, an out-of-towner, low-key, to pervade, buskers, winding streets, a month goes by, to distil, pretention, uncontrivedness, breakdown, to edge in, to clutch, to connect with other people, to settle for something . The text is short, but the vocabulary is very descriptive, so it is suitable for C1 students, although B2+ students can also enjoy the pictures and get the gist of the text.
Good Friday and Christmas were the only days of the year that pubs closed in Ireland until legislation was passed in 2018 to allow pubs to open. In this The Irish Times story, you will learn about some of the old traditions associated with Good Friday , a text which is recommended for C1 students and above. The report also includes a short 2':55" video where some publicans and local customers talk about the closing of pubs on Good Friday in the village of Drumconrath in Co Meath. The video, without subtitles, and with strong local Irish accents is recommended for C2 students. In the article you will come across words like: to liven it up, uneventful, a foreboding, guilt-ridden [religious observations], the Stations of the Cross, a retreat, repository, a cluster of [interesting observances], to guard against [headaches], to draw [blood], a bald patch, drips, a rafter, disrespectful, to unhook, fltches [of salted bacon], to nail to the timber, blacksmiths, carpent...
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