Unit 3: News Review
How to use the language from the latest news stories
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Session 29
You should have to pay more for a coffee in a disposable cup, say a group of British politicians. Neil and Catherine teach you the language the world's media is using to discuss this story.
Activity 1
News Review
Latte levy
Billions of coffee cups are thrown away every year in the UK alone. Now a group of British politicians want to raise money for recycling by adding an extra charge to disposable coffee cups.
Language challenge
The word 'whizz-kid' means 'a very clever and successful young person'. There is another word, borrowed from German and used in English, which has a very similar meaning. What is it?
a) hinterland
b) wunderkind
c) zeitgeist
Watch the video and complete the activity

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The story
A committee of MPs has said it wants an extra 25 pence added to hot drinks sold in disposable cups. An estimated 2.5 billion are thrown away in the UK every year. The Commons Environmental Audit Committee says the levy would be used to improve Britain's recycling and reprocessing facilities.
Key words and phrases
in a bid to
in an attempt to (achieve something)
combat
try to stop something bad happening
whizz-kids
young people who are very clever and successful
To do
Try our quiz to see how well you've learned today's language.
News Review quiz
3 Questions
Now you've watched the video, try to answer these questions about the language in the news.
Help
Activity
Now you've watched the video, try to answer these questions about the language in the news.
Hint
Think about levels of formality in written and spoken EnglishQuestion 1 of 3
Help
Activity
Now you've watched the video, try to answer these questions about the language in the news.
Hint
Can all nouns become verbs?Question 2 of 3
Help
Activity
Now you've watched the video, try to answer these questions about the language in the news.
Hint
Part of the correct phrase is onomatopoeic - it sounds like the thing it is describing.Question 3 of 3
Excellent! Great job! Bad luck! You scored:
Downloads
You can download the audio and PDF document for this episode here.
Language challenge - answer
b) wunderkind
More
We hope you enjoyed News Review. You can find more episodes here.