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  • Hello and welcome to News Review from BBC Learning English. I'm Neil.

  • Joining me today is Catherine. Hi Catherine.

  • Hello Neil and hello everybody.

  • Yes, today's story: the country of Belarus has been

  • accused of hijacking an aeroplane in order to arrest a political opponent.

  • If you want to test yourself on any of the vocabulary that

  • we teach you in today's programme,

  • there's a quiz on our website at bbclearningenglish.com.

  • Now, let's find out some more about the story from this BBC News report:

  • Yes, a Ryanair plane going from Greece to Lithuania

  • was diverted to Belarus on Sunday.

  • Now, activists say that this was done in order to arrest a person who is

  • critical of the Belarus government. European nations reacted angrily,

  • saying that this is an act of state terrorism on the part of Belarus.

  • The opposition journalist, Roman Protasevich,

  • was arrested before the plane was allowed to fly again.

  • Now, Belarus media said that a MiG-29 fighter plane escorted the

  • jet to Minsk because of a bomb scare,

  • but on searching the plane no explosives were found.

  • You've been looking around, Catherine, at this story.

  • You found some really interesting vocabulary

  • that's useful to talk about the story. What have you got?

  • Three words today, Neil. We have: 'condemn', 'outcry' and 'exiled'.

  • 'Condemn', 'outcry' and 'exiled'. OK.

  • Let's start with your first word there, please, in the first headline.

  • And we're starting with iNewsthe headline:

  • 'Condemn' – say publicly that something is morally wrong.

  • Yes. Now, we say this word 'condemn'. It is spelt: C-O-N-D-E-M-N.

  • So, there is a silent 'n' at the end of this word.

  • You write 'n' but you just say 'condemn'.

  • OK. It's not just lazy pronunciation then?

  • I shouldn't try to say: 'condemn...neh'.

  • It's a bit difficult, isn't it,

  • to say 'condemn...neh'! So, noyou just say 'condemn'.

  • It's spelt... it's actually the same as the word 'damn' – D-A-M-N – is

  • just pronounced 'D-A-M' – 'damn'. And 'condemn' is the same: 'condemn'.

  • OK... Now, if we 'condemn' someone, this is really, really serious, isn't it?

  • It is, yes. When you 'condemn' someone or something,

  • you're saying that this is... you're saying it's really, really

  • wrong and bad and should not happen. It's a very, very strong criticism.

  • So, reserve it for really strong things, you know.

  • Things like racism: you can 'condemn' racism. You can 'condemn',

  • you know, really serious crimes. People 'condemn' acts of terrorism.

  • It's saying that something is very, very, deeply wrong.

  • Yeah. And you can 'condemn' someone or something.

  • You can also 'condemn someone to' something. What's that about?

  • Right. Slightly different use of the word 'condemn'.

  • If you 'condemn someone to' something,

  • it's a way of describing a punishment.

  • So, you can 'condemn someone to death', if they have committed a murder for

  • example. Or you can 'condemn someone to' a long time of imprisonment,

  • because of a serious crime they've committed.

  • We also use it in a lighter sense, you know.

  • You can say, 'I've been condemned to work in the basement for the

  • next three weeks!' So, it's a more jokey use of the word but 'condemn'

  • is generally used very strongly for very, very serious issues.

  • Yeah. And there's a noun form and the noun form contains the reason why

  • we have this strange spelling, with the 'n' at the end: 'condemnation'.

  • Yes... yes, 'condemnation'. And there you pronounce the 'm'

  • and the 'n' in the noun form: 'condemnation'.

  • Yeah. Often used with 'receive': 'received condemnation'.

  • Yes. Or you can 'give condemnation', yes.

  • Yeah. OK. Well, let's get a summary:

  • OK. Well, on the topic of 'condemnation',

  • there was a lot of 'condemnation' on various sides with the Harry,

  • Meghan, Oprah, Royal Family story, wasn't there?

  • There was, yes: lots of 'condemnation',

  • lots of people saying that other people were doing things

  • that are wrong. If you want to find out more about the

  • Harry-Meghan interview with Oprah, just click the link down there.

  • OK. Let's have a look at your next headline please, Catherine.

  • Yes, we're here in UK with the Guardianthe headline:

  • 'Outcry' – strong expression of anger at an action.

  • Yes, 'outcry'. It's a compound word,

  • made of the two words 'out' and 'cry',

  • but we write them all together

  • and we say them both together as 'outcry': O-U-T-C-R-Y.

  • Now, an 'outcry' is a noun. It is when a lot of

  • people complain or protest angrily and emotionally at a situation.

  • So, we often use the word 'public outcry' to describe a situation

  • where a lot of people are complaining about something that's happening.

  • Yeah. Now, as you pointed out, the second part of the word contains

  • 'cry'. Now, we're not talking about tears 'crying' here, are we?.

  • But it's a useful way of thinking about it,

  • maybe, because there's strong emotion involved.

  • Yes. I mean, crying... you know,

  • 'to cry' means when water comes out of your eyes because you're upset.

  • It can also mean – 'to cry' can mean to shout loudly. So, the idea

  • of loudness and the idea of emotion really captures the idea of 'outcry'.

  • It's like I said, you know: it's an angry, vocal protest

  • from a lot of people complaining about something that's happened.

  • Yeah. Like the European Super League, for example.

  • Yes, when the announcement of the European Super League,

  • a couple of months ago, happened, there was a massive 'outcry': a lot

  • of people protested and said that this is wrong and they didn't want it.

  • Yeah. Now, you've already pointed out that 'outcry'

  • is a countable noun: we can use it with 'an'. Also,

  • we use it uncountably sometimes... to describe the general state.

  • You can do.... Yeah, you can say, 'There'll be outcry!'

  • Or, 'There was outcry about something.'

  • Yes, so it can be countable: there is

  • 'an outcry', or you can talk about 'the outcry' or 'the public outcry'.

  • Or you can just say 'outcry'.

  • OK. Well, let's get a summary:

  • I've already mentioned it: the Super League.

  • The idea of a European Football Super League caused 'outcry'.

  • There's a story that our viewers can follow, can't they?

  • Yes, just click the link down in the comments there

  • down near the comments and you will go to the story.

  • OK. Let's now have our next headline please.

  • And we're in the UK with the Telegraph:

  • 'Exiled' – forced to live in another country for political reasons.

  • Yes, OK. This word is spelt: E-X-I-L-E-D.

  • Now, I pronounce this word with a 'keh' sound

  • at the beginning: 'exiled'. Neil, how do you pronounce it?

  • I say 'exiled': 'egg-zeh'...'gzeh'.

  • 'Exiled'. Am I wrong? Are you wrong? Who's right?

  • We're both right. There's no need to argue;

  •   there will be no 'outcry' over this.

  • There are two ways you can pronounce this word: 'EKK-SILED'

  • or 'EGG-ZILED'. So, with 'kseh' or with a 'gzeh' sound.

  • They're both fine. It's really up to you: 'exiled' or 'exiled'.

  • You will hear both pronunciations. They have the same meaning.

  • Yeah. Now, this word in this headline is an adjective. It's formed from

  • a passive verb though, which is a quite common way of doing things.

  • Yes, passive adjective. If you have an adjective... a verb

  • which is often used in the passive formwe can use it as an adjective.

  • So, 'to exile' somebody in the active form means to force them or

  • to send them or to require them to live outside their home country,

  • usually because they have political views which are

  • not acceptable in their home country.

  • So, if you are sent awayif the government sends you away,

  • it 'exiles you', but you can say: 'I was exiled by the government.' So,

  • often used in the passive: 'exiled'.

  • Yeah. And then used with the preposition 'in':

  • to 'live in exile' and 'exile' as a noun there.

  • Yes, you can 'live in exile', you can 'be in exile', you can be 'sent into

  • exile' as well. So, lots of different prepositions we use with this word.

  • Yeah, and also the person is 'an exile'.

  • 'An exile' is a person who has been 'exiled'.

  • OK. Well, let's get a summary of that:

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

  • Yes, we had: 'condemn' – say publicly that something is morally wrong.

  • We had: 'outcry' – a strong expression of anger at an action.

  • And 'exiled' – forced to live

  • in another country for political reasons.

  • If you want to test yourself,

  • there is a quiz on our website at bbclearningenglish.com

  • and of course we are all over social mediacheck us out there.

  • Stay safe and see you next time. Goodbye.

  • Bye!

Hello and welcome to News Review from BBC Learning English. I'm Neil.

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