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Hello and welcome to News Review from BBC Learning English.
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I'm Tom. Joining me today is Catherine. Hi Catherine.
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Hi Tom. Hello everybody. Today we're looking at the Grammys
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and in particular we'll be talking about the singer Beyoncé.
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Don't forget – if you want to test yourself on the vocabulary you learn today,
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we have a quiz at bbclearningenglish.com.
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Now, let's hear more about this story from this BBC radio report:
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So, the Grammys took place in Los Angeles on Sunday.
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It was the 63rd Grammy Awards
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and the singer Beyoncé has set a new record: she won her 28th award,
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which means she's won more Grammys than any other female artist ever.
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Ever! Well done Beyoncé! Catherine, you've been looking at the world's media
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for three words and expressions we can use today. What are they?
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We have: 'decorated', 'took centre stage' and 'opted'.
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'Decorated', 'took centre stage' and 'opted'.
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Catherine, can we have your first headline please?
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We can. We are starting here in the UK with The Times – the headline:
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'Decorated' – awarded.
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Now, Catherine, the verb 'to decorate' –
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this is something that you'd normally do in a house, right?
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Yes, that's right, Tom. I'm sure you make your house
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look absolutely amazing at Christmas, don't you?
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Yeah, I 'decorate' my Christmas tree...
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I could 'decorate' my walls when I paint them as well.
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Yeah, all wonderful, blingy things – it looks all beautiful and colourful.
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You add all these things – it looks amazing.
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So, the verb 'to decorate': D-E-C-O-R-A-T-E.
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If you add the 'D' to the end of that, you get the adjective 'decorated'.
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Your house is beautifully 'decorated'.
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Now Tom, one day you will receive an award
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for your fabulous work, I'm sure – probably from the Queen.
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You will go to Buckingham Palace and the Queen will pin a medal to you.
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So, the Queen will 'decorate' me, right?
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And I will become 'decorated' when she gives me this medal.
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She will literally 'decorate' you by putting a piece of beautiful metal onto you
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and that idea of giving somebody an award is...
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we use the word 'decorate' to describe giving an award to somebody.
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So, Beyoncé has been 'decorated' many times at the Grammys,
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actually 28 times she's been decorated.
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So, 'decorate' – 'decorated' is the adjective.
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What's this 'most decorated' about?
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Well, she's been 'decorated' more times than anybody else,
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so we call her the 'most decorated':
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the person who wins the most awards is the 'most decorated' person.
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So, it's just a superlative form, right?
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Exactly.
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Excellent. OK. Thank you, Catherine. Let's take a look at our summary:
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OK. Today we're talking about the Grammys
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but we did look at another award ceremony in a recent episode, didn't we?
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We did. We looked at the Golden Globes
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and that's where they 'decorate' actors,
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so to watch that programme, just click the link.
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Click the link. Excellent.
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OK – Catherine, can we have a look at headline number two please?
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We can. We're going to Sky News now and the headline:
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'Took centre stage' – received the most attention.
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Catherine, what can you tell us about this piece of vocabulary?
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Well, it's a three-word expression. The first word: 'took' – T-O-O-K.
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Second word: 'centre' – C-E-N-T-R-E.
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And this third word is 'stage' – S-T-A-G-E.
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It's a verb phrase. Now Tom, you like going to the theatre, don't you?
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And I know that you're quite fond of live music performances.
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I mean, before lockdown yeah, I used to love that kind of stuff.
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And you'd go to... yes, and one day you'll be doing it again, I'm sure!
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And when you go to the theatre to watch these performances,
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there's a lot going on onstage, isn't it, where you see all the performers?
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Which part of the stage do you look at the most?
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So, the part of the stage where my attention goes
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is the middle of the stage or 'centre stage'.
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Exactly. 'Center stage' is where most of the action happens in the theatre
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and in particular in music concerts: the lead performer often stands
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in the middle of the stage – the 'centre stage'.
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When they walk onto the stage, they 'take centre stage'.
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So, when you're receiving the most attention, you 'take centre stage'
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but we've got the past form, 'took', here.
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So, 'take' is the verb that, kind of, collocates with 'centre stage':
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like 'take centre stage' – receives the most attention.
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What's the headline saying here?
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Well, it's saying that in – that Black Lives Matter was... took...
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received a lot of attention, a lot of focus, at the Grammys.
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The artists actually used Black Lives... used the Grammys as a platform
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to make sure that Black Lives Matter got a lot of attention.
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Excellent. OK. Let's take a look at our summary slide:
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So, we're talking about the Grammys.
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We're talking about Black Lives Matter.
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Last year, we also had a News Review episode on Black Lives Matter, right Catherine?
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We did. We looked at London protests
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and if you want to see more about this story, just click the link.
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Just click the link.
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OK – Catherine, can we have your next headline please?
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We can. We're in the UK again, with NME – the headline:
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'Opted' – chose.
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Catherine, what can you tell us about 'opted'?
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'Opted' is the past tense of the verb 'to opt'.
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We spell 'opted': O-P-T-E-D.
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And 'opted' is related to the word 'option' and an 'option' is a choice.
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'To opt' – to choose. 'Option' is a choice.
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Why are we saying 'opt', not 'choose'?
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Well, the words are fairly synonymous: an option is the same as a choice.
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But the word 'opt' as a verb is a little bit – slightly more formal.
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It's a bit more formal. It's got, like, a... we could say a higher register. Now...
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You can put it like that, yeah.
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I know these – well, this verb 'opt' – mostly from the phrasal verbs.
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Can you tell us about the phrasal verbs that use 'opt'?
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Phrasal verbs with 'opt', yes. You can 'opt in' or you can 'opt out'
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and that means – if you 'opt in', you choose to participate in something.
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You make a 'yes' choice and if you 'opt out' you choose not to do something.
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OK. So, Neil asked me to do News Review today and I said yes,
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so can I say 'I opted in' to do News Review?
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If he gave you the choice – if there was another producer available,
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then yes. Yes, you 'opted in'.
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It was... it was a choice. Can you give us an example of 'opt out'?
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Well, 'opt out' is a big...
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I mean 'opting' in and out are quite in the news at the moment,
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because here in the UK the coronavirus vaccination is optional:
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you can 'opt in' to the vaccine programme – you'll have the vaccine –
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or you can 'opt out', which means you choose not to have the vaccine.
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Excellent example. I love how you use the word 'optional' as well.
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OK. Great. Thanks Catherine. Let's take a look at our summary slide:
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Great. So Catherine, can you please recap the vocabulary
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for today's episode?
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Of course. We had 'decorated', which means awarded.
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'Took centre stage' – received the most attention.
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And 'opted', which means chose.
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And don't forget – you can test yourself on today's vocabulary
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with our quiz on bbclearningenglish.com
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and of course we are all over social media as well.
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That's it from us today. Thanks for joining us and see you next time.
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Goodbye. Bye!