Subtitles section Play video
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The world's largest coral reef is in danger.
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Now, a UN assessment begins.
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Hello, I'm Rob and this is News Review
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from BBC Learning English,
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and to talk about this story with me is Roy. Hello Roy.
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Hello Rob and hello everybody.
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If you would like to test yourself on the vocabulary around this story,
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all you need to do is head to our website
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bbclearningenglish.com to take a quiz.
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But now, let's hear more about this story from this BBC News report:
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So, this story is about the Great Barrier Reef,
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which is the world's largest barrier reef
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and is located in Australia.
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Some scientists say that it is under threat
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from the effects of climate change.
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A UN delegation is going to assess the barrier reef's health.
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It wants to assess whether its World Heritage status
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should be changed to 'in danger'.
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And we've got three words and expressions
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from the news headlines about this story.
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What are they please?
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We have 'in danger', 'weighs' and 'dire'.
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That's 'in danger', 'weighs' and 'dire'.
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OK. Well, let's pick the first word
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from your first headline. What is it please?
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OK. So, the first headline is from RTE and it reads:
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That's 'in danger' — at risk.
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Yeah, OK. So, this is two words.
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First word: 'in' — I-N.
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Second word: 'danger' — D-A-N-G-E-R.
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And it basically means the possibility of harm to someone or something,
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or even death.
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And I noticed that we add the preposition 'in',
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not 'at' or 'on danger'.
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Yeah, we commonly use it with 'in danger',
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to say that something is at risk or under threat.
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And we said 'in danger' not 'endangered'.
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There's a difference there, isn't there?
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Yes, there is. So, 'in danger': I-N, D-A-N-G-E-R — the two words —
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basically means you're at risk of harm or death potentially.
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You're in a dangerous situation.
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So, for example, maybe it's late at night
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and I'm worried, I'm a little bit scared,
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so I call my... my wife to come and pick me up from the area
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because I feel that I am 'in danger'.
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In other words, I am at risk of harm.
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'Endangered', which is E-N-D-A-N-G-E-R-E-D:
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we usually use it to talk about an animal or a plant
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that is at risk of going extinct — existing no more.
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So, there are many 'endangered' species in the world.
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OK. I've got it. 'Endangered' is about extinction —
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wildlife becoming extinct.
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'In danger' is about a risk to your...your safety, I guess.
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Absolutely.
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And, I mean, danger is a serious thing: being 'in danger' is very serious.
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Do we always use this expression in a, kind of, serious context?
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Well, we can also use it informally to also mean 'at risk'.
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So, for example, if you're a football fan
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and you're watching your football team; they're not playing very well.
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You could say the team is 'in danger' of losing the match.
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So, 'at risk' there.
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OK. Well, we're 'in danger' of running out of time
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so let's get on with a summary:
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We've talked about the Great Barrier Reef on News Review before.
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It's always been 'in danger'.
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How can we watch this video again please, Roy?
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All you need to do is click the link in the description below.
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Just down there below. Fantastic.
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OK. Let's have a look at your next news headline please.
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OK. So, our next headline comes from Channel NewsAsia and it reads:
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So, that's 'weighs' — carefully considers facts
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in order to make a decision.
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OK. So, 'weighs' is spelt W-E-I-G-H-S and it is a verb.
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And it basically means to consider something
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or think about something very deeply and carefully.
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And I'm familiar with this word 'weighs' and the word 'weight'.
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It's to do with measuring the heaviness of something.
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So, you put things on a scale, maybe,
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or some scales and you measure how heavy something is.
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That's 'weighing', isn't it?
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Yeah and it's sort-of connected. OK.
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So, for example, when you're talking about the physical 'weight', as you say,
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you're putting an object onto some scales or a machine to 'weigh'...
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to measure how heavy something is.
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We commonly talk about things like kilos, kilograms, grams,
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stones — in British English we talk about stones and pounds —
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some people use those measurements to talk about the physical heaviness.
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Now, 'weigh' in the... or 'weighs' in the headline
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is actually talking about taking all of the information and the facts
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and considering what they mean — considering what that information means.
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It's 'weigh' the... 'weigh up' the information.
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And notice there I said 'weigh up'.
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We commonly use a phrasal verb — 'weigh something up'
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or 'weigh up something'.
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So, to give you an example of that, recently we talked about your phone.
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You have a... you had a very...
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a terrible phone. It was broken.
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I think you said one of the buttons, the... the letters didn't work.
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And I kept telling you to buy a new phone and in the end I said:
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'Look, just think about all the positives and the negatives.
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Weigh up the pros and the cons.'
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Yeah. And that's what I did.
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I 'weighed up' all my options and chose a brand-new, shiny phone.
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Thank you for that, Roy.
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You're welcome.
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And also, when I go into the cake shop, because I love cakes,
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I like to 'weigh up' my options there.
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I look at all those delicious pastries, which one to choose.
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I often choose the one that is going to make me put on more 'weight'.
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That's the noun: 'weight'. More heavy.
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Yes, W-E-I-G-H-T — 'weight', the noun.
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Indeed. Thank you. Let's have a summary:
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So, we've been talking about the word 'weight'
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and we did a programme about the expression 'punch above your weight'.
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The programme is called The English We Speak.
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And how can we watch it again, Roy?
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All you need to do is click the link in the description below.
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OK. Let's have a look at your next headline please.
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OK. So, our next headline comes from the Climate Council website
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and it reads:
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That's 'dire' — extremely serious.
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Yes. So, this word is 'dire' and it is spelt D-I-R-E.
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And it basically is an adjective
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and it's used to describe something that is very bad or very serious.
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So, we use the word 'dire' to talk about bad situations.
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Yes. So, we commonly use it to talk about situations or conditions.
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So, for example, if somebody is living in a house with no heating,
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no water, no electricity,
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we could say that they are living in 'dire' conditions —
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very serious or bad conditions.
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Another way that we use the word 'dire' though,
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and it's slightly different, is in front of the word 'need'...
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'In dire need' — 'in dire need of' something.
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And it means when we are desperate or really, really need something.
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So, for example, in the morning, I maybe wake up,
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I'm really tired and I'm very dramatic.
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I say: 'Ugh. I'm in dire need of a coffee.'
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You are desperate for coffee. I know that feeling.
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And what about the expression 'in dire straits'.
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I've heard about that as well.
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OK. So, yeah, 'in dire straits' —
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we sometimes use this and it talks about very serious or...
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or a terrible situation. So...
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and we commonly use this to talk about money — a lack of money.
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So, for example, at the end of the month,
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just before you get paid again, maybe you've spent all of your money
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and you have no money to do anything or to buy food.
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You could say that you are in 'dire straits'.
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It's talking about a very serious situation
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with a lack of money in that case.
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Yeah, an extreme situation: 'dire straits'.
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OK. Let's have a summary:
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OK. Roy, it's time now for you to recap the words and expressions
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that we've talked about today please.
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OK. So, we had 'in danger' — at risk.
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'Weighs' — carefully considers facts in order to make a decision.
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And we had 'dire' — extremely serious.
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Now, if you want to test your understanding
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of today's words and expressions,
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we have a quiz on our website
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at bbclearningenglish.com
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and that's the place to go to for lots of other
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Learning English resources, so check it out.
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Oh, and don't forget — we're all over social media as well.
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OK. Well, that's all for today's News Review.
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Thank you so much for watching and we'll see you next time.
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Bye for now. Bye bye.
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Bye!