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Words
in the News
Monday 10 September 2001
Vocabulary from the news. Listen to and read the report then find
explanations of difficult words below.
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Refugees go to Nauru
Summary: The Pacific island of Nauru has agreed to accept hundreds of asylum seekers who had tried to land in Australia. This report from Damien Grammaticas:
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The
News 
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The island of Nauru lies just south of the equator, a pin-prick in the central Pacific ocean: a more hostile spot to house the boat-people would be hard to find. Much of Nauru is a barren waste-land. The heat is stifling. For Nauru's president, Rene Harris, this was a simple deal. Nauru needs money. Australia is desperate to keep away its boat-people and needs someone to take them.
Australia will pay all the costs of housing the asylum seekers, and will help Nauru rebuild its essential infra-structure. There'll be new generators and fuel, reviews of sanitation and new access for Nauruans to health care in Australia. At the moment on the island, electricity is intermittent, water is in short supply, and there are occasional typhoid outbreaks, but making life difficult for the asylum seekers is Australia's intention.
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The
Words
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pin-prick
very small, on a map it would be the size of the hole made by a pin
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hostile spot
difficult place, not a very suitable place to live
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boat people
refugees whose only home is a boat
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barren waste-land
place with poor earth, where very little can grow
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stifling
it feels difficult to breathe
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asylum seekers
people who have left their homeland for political reasons and want a new home in another country
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essential infra-structure
basic structures and services eg roads, water and electricity
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generators
machines which produce electricity
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sanitation
keeping places healthy by providing clean water and removing human waste
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typhoid outbreaks
sudden occurences of a disease that produces fever and diarrhoea and can cause death
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Read
more about this story |
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Other Words in the News archives
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