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  • air pollution is worse than war, smoking and AIDS put together.

  • That's according to some new research that's come out.

  • We bring you the language.

  • You need to talk about this story.

  • I'm Catherine.

  • I'm Neil and this is news review.

  • Let's hear some more about that story from this BBC news report.

  • Lung disease, cancer, heart problems and stroke have all been linked to air pollution, particularly man made emissions from fossil fuels.

  • Now an international group of researchers has used a new method to model the impact on our health.

  • The team believes pollution lead to around 8.8 million premature deaths in 2015.

  • That represents an average shortening of life expectancy of nearly three years across the global population.

  • So serious situation here with air pollution it is shortening the average human life by a massive three years.

  • So quite a serious story today.

  • Neil is very serious story, isn't it?

  • It's not something you can really escape unless you can move to the countryside and everybody asking, No, don't do that.

  • Most people live in cities, and that's where it appears to be the worst.

  • So yeah, least three years off city people's life it would appear.

  • Okay.

  • Well, you've been looking around at this story.

  • You've picked out three words in headlines.

  • What have you got?

  • We have life, Spahn.

  • Shorten on dhe.

  • Deadlier lifespan shorten and deadlier.

  • So your first headline Pleased with that word?

  • Life span lifespan.

  • So we're going to the guardian first.

  • That's in the U.

  • K.

  • Outdoor air pollution cuts three years from human lifespan study.

  • Okay, so life span.

  • Meaning how long someone or something lives.

  • It's a fairly simple word, isn't it?

  • Yeah.

  • Forward finding.

  • Tell us about it.

  • It's a two part word, but it's written as one word life.

  • Spahn.

  • L i F E s p a n Now, look, the first part is simple life.

  • Yes, The opposite of death.

  • Yes, you have life.

  • I have life at the moment.

  • Wait.

  • Have life.

  • Everything living has life at the end of life.

  • Sarah's death.

  • It's inevitable.

  • Second part is the interesting part.

  • Span S p A n no span refers to distance either in length or time.

  • No, look at my hand.

  • Yes, It looks like a pianist.

  • 10 to me.

  • I do play the piano, the piano, accordion the span of your hand.

  • My hand is outstretched Here my the distance between my thumb on my finger, the length between the two.

  • The space between the two is called the span and I have my spine.

  • Is exactly one knocked upon the piano.

  • Well, you obviously born to play the You wouldn't think so if you heard May.

  • Yes, for the spot is a measure of distance.

  • Now it can be physical distance in that a span can be literally this, but it can also be a distance in time.

  • Your lifespan is the distance from the time between the start and end off your life.

  • It's kind of related to life expectancy.

  • The average life spot on in the UK for manners men is about 80 80 something women slightly lost.

  • Five, I think for women.

  • Yes, we are just better than you.

  • Strong girl Lifestyle is a length of time that you live.

  • This arm span is the length of the distance between your finger and thumb.

  • When your hand is open like this, other words for spun.

  • You can talk about a span as a verb.

  • A bridge can't spon a river.

  • It means it literally goes from one side and stretches over to the or maybe a trend that spans the decades or decorations.

  • Yeah, something that happens for a long time will span a period of time.

  • So therefore, it's not just about living things.

  • No, it's not just about living things.

  • You can talk about objects.

  • Everything that you use can have a life spon.

  • You can say the lifespan of your car is however many years.

  • Yes.

  • Talk about the life span of batteries.

  • Yes.

  • I'm gonna quit my beard trimmer.

  • You be a trigger.

  • You haven't used it for a while.

  • My beard trimmers.

  • Things have a life span of about five years, and then the battery dies.

  • Okay?

  • And you have to get a new one to get a new one, even though it's rechargeable.

  • So yeah, I would say the lifespan of that object that devices is only about five years.

  • Eso lifespan isn't just for people who can also use it for objects.

  • Andi, have a useful life.

  • Yes.

  • Yes.

  • Okay, let's have a summary time now for your second word, then, please, Catherine.

  • Okay, we're off to Thailand and now looking at the Bangkok Post.

  • Air pollution pandemic shortens life by three years.

  • Study shortened, Make shorter.

  • It's pretty simple.

  • Very simple.

  • Yes, eight S h o R T E n.

  • Now the word short is the opposite of long.

  • That's quite simple.

  • And then we have the suffix e n to make something shorter.

  • If you make something shorter, you short and it's okay, so that's quite useful.

  • Suffolk's tohave is taken adjective, and you turn into a verb by adding exactly that.

  • Yes, let's do a few more of those.

  • It's okay, so let's have a look at my list.

  • Yes, if you want to make your tea sweet and you put some sugar in your tea and you have just sweetened it to sweeten.

  • Yeah, to sweeten something means to make it sweeter.

  • It's Your knife is not cutting very well.

  • You can get a stone or a device, and you sharpen it.

  • Make it sharper, too sharp and means to make sharper.

  • What has every got?

  • Yes, if your tie is too tight, I'm wearing one, but I would loosen it.

  • Make it looser.

  • Yes, so it's really hard, you little way.

  • You get objective.

  • You add e n and you make a verb.

  • But there are one or two exceptions.

  • OK?

  • Can you tell us?

  • Well, if you make something shorter, you shorten it.

  • Yes.

  • So if you make something longer Uru long, innit?

  • You do know?

  • I don't know.

  • You lengthen it, you lengthen it and length is actually unknown.

  • So there are a few exceptions.

  • Simply If you make somebody sadder, you can sadden them.

  • You concerned in them you could see a film can be sudden ing.

  • This is quite a saddening story.

  • But if you make somebody happier, you don't happy in them.

  • You don't happy in them.

  • You just cheer them up.

  • Exactly.

  • Make them happier.

  • Yeah, I still rob the other day.

  • How did you tear me when he wasn't looking very happy?

  • Oh, what sudden?

  • Tim?

  • Well, the biscuit tin was empty there.

  • Well, that's Rob for yes.

  • I had to cheer him up.

  • Not happy in him.

  • And on that note, let's have we better move on, have a summary, huh?

  • You like stories about the environment?

  • We have a really interesting one about trees and the Amazon.

  • Where can they find it?

  • Catherine?

  • Yes.

  • If you collect the link in the description below, you'll find a related story.

  • It's all about trees which are unanswered toe part of the solution to air pollution trees in the eminent trees on the Amazon Click click.

  • This is news review from BBC Learning English and we have one more headline to look at.

  • Please, we do so off Back to the UK In the Times dirty air is deadlier than war Aids on smoking combined deadlier, more likely to cause death than something else.

  • Yes, another little word that we had a suffix too.

  • And it goes into all kinds of wonderful things so deadly a d e a d l i e are the root of this wood is dead objective the opposite of a life.

  • We're not Deb's Neil.

  • Yes, we are not dead.

  • We will be one day.

  • But right now we're alive, which is good If you are the suffix l Y two dead, you get the word deadly.

  • Now if something is deadly, it's an object of we put onto another word to me and kind of very seriously really doesn't.

  • But if something is deadly that in the comparative form it's more likely to cause death.

  • So it's say here in the headline that pollution is deadlier, more likely to cause death than war, aids and smoking combines.

  • So, for example, if we consider the current Corona virus, which everyone knows about spreading around the world, it's it's deadly.

  • It's a deadly very It's very concerning very worrying.

  • But at the moment, um, it's not deadly, as some historical diseases like the plague.

  • Yes, which was deadlier.

  • The plague was deadlier than Corona virus at the moment.

  • But do, say, safe people, yes, so deadly and means more likely to cause death.

  • But the objective deadly is much more valuable, isn't it?

  • Yeah.

  • You could do a lot of stuff with the objective deadly sword.

  • And there's a little test, right?

  • Keeping you busy day, right?

  • So near some scenarios for you, You have somebody really, really hate.

  • And they really, really hate you.

  • And you hate me instead of the enemy.

  • You have a deadly enemy.

  • You do have a deadly enemy on you decide to bring your bring your bow and arrow to work, okay?

  • Or maybe your gun and you take aim of them.

  • Yes, and everything with my deadly weapon with your deadly weapon.

  • Yes, your weapon that's going to kill somebody on your amis So accurate, deadly aim.

  • You have a deadly aim.

  • It means you're on target.

  • You never fail.

  • So it's an idea of everything being really serious.

  • And just on the point on point here I have heard people describe things as deadly.

  • Boring, deadly bore isn't mean.

  • It's so boring.

  • It's going to kill you.

  • Well, they may feel that way, and it is a quite idiomatic use.

  • But if something's deadly boring, it's so boring that you really, really, really, really hate it on.

  • If something is really, really, really serious.

  • Deadly serious, it's deadly.

  • Well, that's your deadly serious face.

  • Deadly serious face camera?

  • Yeah.

  • Thank you.

  • So, lots of things you can do with deadly.

  • Yes.

  • Okay, well, let's have a summary slide, please.

  • Time now then, for a recap of our vocabulary, please, Catherine.

  • Yes, We had lifespan.

  • How long something or someone lives.

  • We then had shortened.

  • Make shorter on finally deadlier.

  • More likely to cause death than something else.

  • If you would like to test yourself on this vocabulary, there is a quiz on our website BBC learning english dot com.

  • You can find all kinds of other fantastic videos and activities to help you improve your English.

  • Thanks for joining us.

  • And good bye.

  • Good bye.

air pollution is worse than war, smoking and AIDS put together.

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