Natural disasters

                                                           Click on the image to listen.

I don’t know about you, but I think there are more natural disasters now than before. Every time I turn on the news there’s some kind of disaster. There are bushfires in Australia and California, earthquakes in China, hurricanes in Mexico and droughts in Africa. I’m sure global warming is creating more natural disasters. I’m lucky. Where I live, we don’t really have natural disasters. I’ve never experienced anything like the things on TV. Japan has many natural disasters. They have earthquakes, typhoons, flooding, volcanoes, all kinds of things. They are lucky they have the money to deal with them. There are countries in Africa that aren’t rich. When a natural disaster hits them, everyone suffers terribly.

Then and now

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root vegetables
the large part of particular plants that are used for vegetables, for example carrots, swede or beetroot

in season 
(here)the period of the year when something is easily available, for example strawberry season

adventurous 
(here)willing to try new experiences

Script

ChristineI grew up in a small town in the northeast of England. It was by the coast, next to the sea. And now I live in London, which is a much, much bigger place compared to where I grew up.

When I was a child, I used to walk everywhere. The town was so small that you could walk from one side to the other and you never really needed a car. Now I live in London, places are so far apart that you always need to be using a bus or the Underground - Tube - or trains to get around when you’re going to work or to see friends.

When I was younger, mealtimes used to be quite predictable. And we’d eat similar foods every day, consisting of meat, potatoes, root vegetables, whatever was in season at the time. We never used to have very varied meals, whereas now my diet’s changed a lot. I don’t eat meat anymore. And I have a diet that’s all about vegetables and fruit. And I’m more adventurous in what I eat now than what I did when I was a child.

From: BBC Learning English

Education

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Education is one of the most important things in our lives. Don’t you agree? It can make the difference between success and failure. An education can bring us knowledge and make us rich. In rich countries, people are lucky to have good schools. Children start learning from a very young age. They can further their education and go to higher education or university. In Japan, there are even private schools for babies to learn English. It’s a shame that in many rich countries, many children don’t want to learn. Perhaps schools need to find better ways to teach so children want to learn. It’s sad that in many parts of the world, children want to learn but can’t. Make sure you never stop learning. Education is the key to a better future.

Travel options

                                          Click on the image to listen. (script and exercise available)

Junk Food

Different accents

A wedding

Bride: the woman getting married

groom: the man getting married

bridesmaids: the women who stand with the bride (close friends and family)

best man: the groom’s best friend

Russian cat 'saves' baby abandoned in stairwell

Accidents

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I wonder how many accidents I’ve had in my life. I’ve had a few serious ones where I’ve ended up in hospital. Traffic accidents are the worst. They’re always painful. I haven’t had too many work-related accidents. I suppose that’s because I do office work and that’s not so dangerous. Most of my accidents are those around the house. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve hit my thumb with a hammer. I’m also really good at standing up and hitting my head on something. I’m not as bad as my friend though. He’s a real accident looking for somewhere to happen. Almost every time we meet, he has some story to tell about his latest accident. He’s quite unbelievable. I think I’d be very worried if I were his mother.


From:Listen a minute.

Exercise available below