Search BBC
BBC World Service
BBC BBC News BBC Sport BBC Weather BBC World Service Worldservice languages
spacer gif
You are in: Home page > News English > Words in the News
Learning English
spacer gif
Words in the News
Monday 03 September 2001
Vocabulary from the news. Listen to and read the report then find explanations of difficult words below.

  General Khin Nyunt
Burmese General visits Thailand
Summary: General Khin Nyunt of Burma has arrived in Thailand for a visit which could improve the often difficult relationship between the two countries. This report from Jonathan Head.
   
The News Listen  
  Clearly, both countries are determined to put their relationship back on track after some angry exchanges of words and gunfire earlier this year. Khin Nyunt is being treated like a head of state, even though officially he's only the third-ranking general in the ruling council. For his part, Khin Nyunt needs Thailand's help, not just to improve his country's image, but also to revive Burma's economy, which he's responsible for managing and which this year has deteriorated to the point of collapse. The Thai government will want to hear convincing evidence from Khin Nyunt that he can curtail the rampant production of drugs in north-eastern Burma, and it will surely want to know how well the dialogue between Khin Nyunt and Aung Sang Suu Kyi is progressing. It's still far from clear just how committed this taciturn general is to doing a deal with the opposition, and if he is, whether he can persuade his more conservative colleagues in the regime to support the process.
 
   
The Words Listen
 
  to put their relationship back on track
to make their relationship better again

 
   
  angry exchanges
strong disagreements

 
   
  Head of State
official leader of a country

 
   
  third-ranking
third most important

 
   
  deteriorated
got worse

 
   
  point of collapse
may fail soon

 
   
  curtail
stop, end

 
   
  rampant
growing in an uncontrolled way

 
   
  taciturn
quiet and unfriendly

 
   
  doing a deal with
making an agreement with

 
   
  Read more about this story  
 

Other Words in the News archives

 

BBC copyright
 
Learning English | News English | Business English | Watch and Listen
 
Grammar and Vocabulary | Communicate | Quizzes | For teachers
 
Downloads | FAQ | Contact us