this is Learning English from The News,our podcast about the news headlines.
Myanmar mourns earthquake dead.
In this programme,we look at one big news story
and the vocabulary in the headlinesthat will help you understand it.
You can find all the vocabularyand headlines
from this episode, as well asa worksheet on our website:
So, let's hear more about this story.
Myanmar has begun five daysof national mourning.
That's the sadness we feel whensomebody dies following an earthquake
in the country, which has killedmore than 2700 people.
The earthquake has causedwidespread damage in Myanmar
and was also felt in Thailandand parts of China.
Teams are still trying to rescuesurvivors from collapsed buildings,
days after the earthquake hit.
Let's look at our first headline.
woman trapped for dayspulled alive from the rubble.
That headline again, fromthe Guardian - a newspaper in the UK.
woman trapped for dayspulled alive from the rubble.
So, this headline is about the rescueefforts following the earthquake
and a woman who was found alive.
The headline saysthe woman was pulled from the rubble.
Well, 'rubble' means the pilesof bricks or other building materials
that are leftwhen a building is destroyed.
Yes. You might have seen picturesof Myanmar after the earthquake.
You'll see that lotsof buildings have fallen down,
and that leaves lots of rubblethat rescue teams have to try
and sort through to find survivors.
The headline describes a womanwho is pulled alive from the rubble.
We commonly see the phrase 'pulledfrom the rubble'
in news storiesabout natural disasters and rescuers.
You might also seeor hear the phrase 'reduced to rubble'.
If a building is reduced to rubble,
it means it's been damaged very badlyso that it has no structure anymore.
We've had 'rubble' -the piles of bricks, stone
or other materials left behindwhen a building is destroyed.
For example, the factory was knockeddown and now all that's left is rubble.
You're listening to Learning Englishfrom the News from BBC Learning English,
our podcast about the news headlines.
Today we're talking about the impactof an earthquake in Myanmar.
As we've mentioned, Myanmar has beenworst affected by the earthquake,
but it was also feltin other countries.
Lots of videos have been shared onlineof the impact of the earthquake,
including one from China, which showsnurses protecting newborn babies
in a hospital as the building shakes.
And our next headline isabout this video.
newborn babies during earthquake.
And that headline again: Nurses cling onto newborn babies during earthquake.
OK, so the headline saysnurses cling on to babies.
Could you explainthe word 'cling', Phil?
Yes. 'Cling' means to hold onto something or someone tightly.
It can also mean to refuse to stopholding on to that person or thing.
Yes, in the story,when the earthquake hits,
the nurses have to hold ontothe babies tightly to keep them safe.
They have to cling on to them.
It's a dramatic descriptionof what happens in the video.
We can say 'cling to' or 'cling onto'.
And they both mean similar things.
We tend to use 'cling to'when we're holding something larger.
For example, I might clingto the mountain when I'm climbing,
whereas we tend to use 'cling onto'for smaller things and people.
We can also use 'clingonto' to mean 'keep'.
So I could saythat I'm going to cling on to my car.
Even though I never drive it anymore,I just don't want to sell it.
We've had 'cling' - hold someoneor something tightly.
For example,my friend's terrified of flying.
He clings onto his wife's handany time he travels by plane.
This is Learning English fromthe News from BBC Learning English,
our podcast about the news headlines.
Today we're talking about the impactof an earthquake in Myanmar.
The damage in Myanmar is widespread,
but finding survivors andcleaning up the mess is difficult,
as Myanmar is also affected bya civil war and food shortages.
This is from the Financial Timesin the UK.
Earthquake deepens crisis in Myanmaras aid effort intensifies.
That headline againfrom the Financial Times.
Earthquake deepens crisis in Myanmaras aid effort intensifies.
So, this headline talksabout the impact of the earthquake
and the aid effort or help,which is intensifying.
And that means getting biggeror stronger.
But we're interested in this phrase'deepens crisis'.
So let's look first at 'crisis'.
A crisis is an extremely bador dangerous situation.
And 'deepens', this comes fromthe adjective deep,
which means a long way to the bottom.
You might have a deep lake,for example.
Now, if something deepens,it tends to mean it gets bigger.
So if a crisis deepens, it meansa bad situation gets even worse.
In the headline,it says 'earthquake deepens crisis'.
This means the earthquake makesa situation that is already very bad
worse. Rememberthat Myanmar was already affected by
a civil war and food shortages.
And now the earthquake has made lifeeven harder for people.
We commonly hear 'crisis'and 'deepens' together in news stories
that are reporting on challengingsituations as they get more serious.
We've had 'deepen crisis' -make a bad situation worse.
For example, the CEO quitting onlydeepened the crisis at the company.
That's it for this episodeof Learning English from the News.
We'll be back next weekwith another news story.
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