Unit 9: News Review
How to use the language from the latest news stories
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Session 89
Have you ever wondered why zebras have stripes? One study thinks it has the answer! Neil and Catherine teach you the language the media is using to discuss this story.
Activity 1
News Review
It's not all about looks!
Scientists believe they have discovered the reason why zebras have their stripes. Not just for show, they actually have a practical function.
Language challenge
What do we call a black and white striped road crossing?
a) zebra crossing
b) crocodile path
c) tiger lane
Watch the video and complete the activity

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NEWS REVIEW PODCAST NOW AVAILABLE - SUBSCRIBE HERE
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Did you like that? Why not try these?
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The story
Dr Martin How, University of Bristol
We put stripy rugs on horses to see how they affected the number of visits by horseflies.
At the same time we were also looking at real zebras who also happened to be present at this horse livery. And what we found is that, incredibly, once you add stripes to a horse, it drops the number of horsefly visits dramatically.
Key words and phrases
evade
avoid
• People who evade paying taxes often get caught in the end.
• The criminal was unable to evade the police and was arrested yesterday.
deter
do something to change the actions of something
• They put an electric fence around the biscuits to deter certain staff members.
• The threat of punishment helps to deter people from committing crimes.
earning their stripes
doing something to make others respect them
• By volunteering to manage the project, you’re really earning your stripes.
• Dealing with the environmental disaster helped the new politician earn his stripes.
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
What's the correct spelling?Question 1 of 3
Help
Activity
Now you've watched the video, try to answer these questions about the language in the news.
Hint
What kind of word do you need here? It uses an article!Question 2 of 3
Help
Activity
Now you've watched the video, try to answer these questions about the language in the news.
Hint
What's the correct word order?Question 3 of 3
Excellent! Great job! Bad luck! You scored:
Downloads
You can download the audio and PDF document for this episode.
Language challenge answer
a) zebra crossing
More
We hope you enjoyed News Review. You can find more episodes here.