A homeless woman dies in a shop doorway

A homeless woman dies in a shop doorway
(Level: Intermediate / B1 / **)

You are going to watch a BBC report focusing on a tragedy that almost unfolded in Belfast in the midst of widespread indifference.

Belfast
Photo credit: news.bbc.co.uk

Map credit: www.worldatlas.com

Before watching:


The following words could be useful:

the hustle and bustle: a state of great activity      tumulte / agitation (urbaine)  
to be oblivious to: lacking conscious awareness / unaware      inconscient / ignorant / insensible
to unfold: to take place       se dérouler   
wrapped around:  covered (with)          enroulé dans  
a bid:  an attempt         une tentative  
to tackle:  to deal with  (a problem...)        s'attaquer à... 




While watching:


Answer the following question:

What happened exactly? 

You can also watch the report on the BBC website by clicking HERE










When you are finished, you can check your answers:


Une femme, SDF, apparemment d'une trentaine d'années, est morte quasi dans l'indifférence générale, alors qu'elle était étendue à l'entrée d'un magasin dans le centre de Belfast. 
Elle est la 5e SDF à décéder cette année dans les rues de Belfast.

Fears for homeless people sleeping in bins

Fears for homeless people sleeping in bins
(Level: Intermediate to upper-intermediate / B2 to C1 / ** to ***)

The number of people sleeping rough in recycling bins is on the increase in the UK.

And there are fears because a dozen of them have been found dead in the last few years after being crushed in refuse lorries. 

A homeless person in a recycling bin
Photo credit: BBC

A refuse lorry about to tip the bin's contents into its compactor
Photo credit: BBC 

You are going to watch a BBC report focusing on this issue.


Before watching:


The following words could be useful:
to sleep rough: to be homeless, without a shelter       dormir à la dure/ dans la rue
a rough sleeper: a homeless person        SDF / sans-abri
a refuse lorry: a garbage truck / a lorry used to collect and dispose of rubbish    camion à ordures
the footage:  a recorded video      séquence vidéo  
a foot = 30.48 cm
to compact the waste: to crush the rubbish      compacter les déchets   
a waste management company:  a company responsible for the collection, the disposal and the processing of waste products            entreprise de gestion des déchets 

Biffa: a waste management and recycling business in the UK founded over 100 years ago and named after its founder, Richard Biffa. 




While watching:


Answer the following questions:

1. Why would homeless people decide to sleep in recycling bins?
2. What measures are now being taken in order to prevent them from getting into them?

You can also watch the video on the BBC site by clicking HERE   

When you are finished, you can check your answers:

1. 

Parce qu'ils ne trouvent pas de place dans les centres d'hébergement pour SDF / et au lieu de dormir dans la rue ou dans les parcs, ils préfèrent un endroit confiné (au sec et au chaud), loin du regard des autres et à l'abri de tout risque de se faire agresser et violenter.

2.

La pose de cadenas pour empêcher les SDF de soulever le couvercle du container et de s'y installer  (+ Inciter tous les supermarchés, entreprises à poser un cadenas - dans le cas contraire, risque d'amendes ou de poursuites judiciaires).

 

A very grateful penguin

A very grateful penguin
(Level: Intermediate / B1 / **)

A Magellanic penguin
Photo credit: www.britannica.com

A Magellanic penguin from Patagonia keeps coming back to an island off Rio de Janeiro. But why?

You are going to watch a BBC report about an unlikely friendship between the animal called Dindim and a human, Joao. 

Map credit: fawkes-news.bogspot.be

If you want more details about Magellanic penguins, you can check the arkive.org site by clicking HERE 




Before watching:


The following words could be useful:

a bricklayer:  a person trained or skilled in building with bricks     maçon  
the breeding season:  the mating season  / the period during which animals mate   période d'accouplement / de reproduction
a qualm:  feeling of doubt or uneasiness       scrupule / réticence / hésitation




While watching:


Answer the following question:

Why does Dindim keep coming back to see Joao?

You can also watch the video on the BBC site by clicking HERE 








When you are finished, you can check your answers:

Why does Dindim keep coming back to see Joao?

Par amitié et gratitude à l'égard de celui qui l'a sauvé d'une mort certaine en 2011 alors qu'il gisait sur la plage, recouvert de pétrole.

Selon un expert: le manchot considère le vieil homme comme faisant partie de sa famille.

Selon un autre expert: ses visites dans l'île correspondent à la période d'accouplement. 
Il ne reviendrait donc pas seulement pour profiter des poissons ou de la douche de Joao.

Migrant crisis: another tragedy

Migrant crisis: another tragedy
(Level: Intermediate to Upper-Intermediate / B1 to B2 / ** to ***)

Thousands of migrants who continue to flee their countries make the dangerous sea journey from Turkey to Greece. 

For dozens of them, it will be fatal.

You are going to watch a BBC report focusing on the latest event involving a capsized boat off the Turkish coast.

Map credit: BBC 

Before watching:

The following words could be useful:
the casualties: victims / dead     victimes / morts
to soar: to increase considerably    monter en flèche   



While watching:

Answer the following question:

What do the following figures refer to?
a) 3,000,000,000
b) 120
c) 50,000
d) 70
e) 5

You can also watch the video on the BBC website by clicking HERE








When you are finished, you can check your answers.

a) 3,000,000,000
La somme en euros offerte par l'Europe à la Turquie pour l'aider à mieux contrôler ses frontières et à améliorer le sort des réfugiés!

b) 120
Le nombre de réfugiés dans le bateau qui a chaviré (et qui aurait dû en transporter beaucoup moins).

c) 50,000
Le nombre de réfugiés à avoir voyagé jusqu'en Grèce (Lesbos) en janvier 2016! 
(200 parmi eux se sont noyés) 

d) 70
Le nombre de réfugiés à avoir été secourus lors de ce dernier naufrage.

e) 5
Le nombre d'enfants victimes (dont deux bébés) lors de ce naufrage.

The Zika virus

The Zika virus
(Level: Intermediate / B1  / **)

You are going to watch a BBC programme focusing on the virus as it is spreading across the Americas.

Before watching:

The following words could be useful:
a rash: a lesion or a group of lesions on the skin   éruption cutanée / rougeurs 
itchy eyes: eyes being affected with an itch  (i.e. a sensation causing a desire to scratch or touch...)     yeux qui piquent / qui démangent 
an insect repellent: a product serving to repel or keep insects away        produit insectifuge
to cover up: to wear clothes          se couvrir 
microcephaly: abnormal smallness of the head       microcéphalie  

Source: BBC / WHO  

Aedes mosquito
Picture credit: fr.wikipedia.org 

While watching:

Answer the following questions:

1. Is Zika a dangerous virus?
2. How do you know you may be infected?
3. Why isn't much known about the virus?
4. How can you protect yourself from the infection?

You can also watch the video on the BBC website by clicking HERE







When you are finished, you can check your answers.
1. 
Non, seulement pour les femmes enceintes et les bébés (risque de microcéphalie chez ces derniers) 

2. 
Après une piqûre d'un moustique-tigre, symptômes possibles: fièvre; rougeurs (irritations); migraine; yeux rouges qui démangent 


3. 
Peu de gens infectés jusque récemment!
Premiers symptômes signalés chez les singes en Ouganda en 1947... 


4. 
Bien se couvrir pour éviter les piqûres de moustiques
Utiliser des produits insectifuges
Se débarrasser des points d'eau stagnante 

(Dans les pays les + touchés: conseiller aux femmes d'éviter de tomber enceintes durant les deux prochaines années!)

Cancer is just not due to bad luck

Cancer is not just due to 'bad luck'
(Level: Intermediate  / B1 to B2 / ** to ***)

We can reduce the chance of getting cancer but how much can we really do to avoid the disease mainly if it is due to 'bad luck'? 

You are going to watch a BBC programme focusing on the issue.

Kidney cancer cells
Photo credit: dailymail.co.uk

Before watching:

The following words could be useful:
to cut back on: to reduce
striking: noticeable /impressive            étonnant / frappant / notable   
a claim: statement of something as a fact / an assertion         affirmation    
random:with no specific pattern or purpose        aléatoire   
a lump: an irregularly shaped mass          grosseur / masse  


While watching:


Answer the following questions:
1. What does some recent American research claim?

2. How could you avoid having some types of cancer?

You can also watch the video on the BBC website by clicking HERE








When you are finished, you can check your answers.

1
La majorité des cancers (70 à 90%) est liée aux modes de vie des gens (tabagisme / alcool / bronzage...) et aux facteurs environnementaux extérieurs (pollution...) tandis que 10 à 30% sont dus à la 'malchance' (mutations cellulaires aléatoires).

2
-Changer ses mauvaises habitudes (arrêter de boire, fumer... )
-Changer d'environnement...
-Réagir de suite dès qu'on voit apparaître des grosseurs suspectes...  

Another school shooting in the USA (2)

Another school shooting in the USA (2)
(Level: intermediate / B1 to B2 / **)

Umpqua Community College
Photo credit: www.irishtimes.com

A gunman killed nine people on 1st October 2015 at Umpqua Community College in Oregon. 
But what is known about the killer?

You are now going to watch a BBC report.

Roseburg, Oregon
Map credit: www.epodunk.com

Before watching:

The following words could be useful:

grief: deep sadness caused by someone's death     douleur / chagrin / affliction  
to find... tough: to find... very difficult (to deal with...)       trouver... trop dur  
a shootout: a fight involving firearms until someone gets killed     fusillade / échange de coups de feu  
bereaved: sad because a family member has died      endeuillé / éploré
stunned: shocked / particularly amazed        stupéfait / abasourdi  
to bear the scars of...: to live with emotional damage caused by past events that cannot be forgotten    connaître les affres de ...  / porter les stigmates de ...  
weary with sorrow: extremely sad         se fondre en larmes  



While watching:

Answer the following question:

What do we know about the shooter?

You can also watch the report on the BBC website by clicking HERE









When you are finished, you can check your answers:

- Homme de 26 ans d'origine anglaise
- Nom: Chris Harper Mercer
- Il semble qu'il soutenait l'IRA.
- Abattu par la police dans la fusillade.
- Il vivait chez sa mère à proximité de l'école.
- Il aurait demandé aux gens de se lever s'ils étaient chrétiens pour leur dire qu'ils allaient rejoindre Dieu et ensuite il a tiré...
- ...

Another school shooting in the USA (1)

Another school shooting in the USA (1)
Level: intermediate / B1 / ** 

Photo credit: www.mirror.co.uk

A mass shooting took place on 1st October 2015 at Umpqua Community College (*)  in Roseburg in Oregon killing 9 people and injuring at least 7 more. 

(*) A Community College in the USA is a post-secondary school (junior school or technical college) which provides academic, vocational and professional education.

Roseburg, Oregon
Map credit: epodunk.com

You are going to watch a BBC report focusing on that latest tragedy.


Before watching:


The following notes could be useful:

Since Newtown: the reporter refers to the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting that took place on 14th December 2012 in Newtown, Connecticut. 20-year-old Adam Lanza shot his mother first at their Newtown home before killing 20 children and 6 schoolteachers at the school. He then committed suicide by shooting himself in the head. 




While watching:


Answer the following question:

• What do the following figures refer to?  

       294 / 21 / 55  / 1 / 4

You can also watch the report on the BBC website by clicking HERE










When you are finished, you can check your answers:

294: le nombre de tueries de masse jusqu'à présent (rien que pour cette année) aux Etats-Unis.
21: le nombre de tueries perpétrées dans des écoles et universités aux Etats-Unis depuis les événements de Newtown (décembre 2012)
55: le nombre de tueries dans les écoles américaines entre 1991 et 2013.
1: un cas de tuerie (dans une école) au Royaume-Uni.

Airshow crash

Airshow crash
(Level: intermediate to upper-intermediate / B1 to B2 / ** to ***)

Photo credit: www.express.co.uk

Before watching:


A jet crashed onto a road during an airshow in Shoreham-by-Sea in Sussex, England. 

Map credit: eng.wikipedia.org

You are going to watch a BBC report focusing on that event.

The following words could be useful:
a display:an event at which something is shown to impress or entertain people    spectacle / manifestation 

A Harrier
Photo credit: en.wikipedia.org

the casualties: people hurt or killed (during an accident...)        victimes   
the coroner: the person whose job is to find out the cause of death when people die  in ways that are violent or sudden       médecin légiste   
the aftermath: consequence / result       conséquences / suites    
to be set alight: to be set on fire     être incendié     
to be in one's early stage(s): to have only recently started       être au stade initial / être au début 

Photo credit: www.dailymail.co.uk

While watching:


Answer the following question:

What do you know about...
- the event as such? (What happened?)
- the consequences (of what happened)?

You can also watch the report on the BBC website: click HERE







When you are finished, you can check your answers:


- Un avion s'est écrasé sur une route très fréquentée lors d'un meeting aérien dans le Sussex. 


- 7 personnes (au moins) sont mortes / le pilote est dans un état critique  

(+ annulation du meeting / dégâts importants / route fermée plusieurs jours pour les devoirs de l'enquête..) 

The tenses: a review

The tenses: a review


Click on this image:

All the tenses have already been covered in this blog but they are now being reviewed again. 

If you need a recap of all the tenses: click HERE 

You can also watch this video lesson (All English Tenses) by Anglo-Link for a good review of all the tenses: click HERE 

For more details about the following tenses, click on them!  

The Simple Present

The Present Continuous

The Simple Past   + strong verbs / + pronunciation of final -ed

The Simple Past versus the Present Perfect

The Present Perfect Simple versus the Present Perfect Continuous

Something about the future tenses?  

Watch THIS

Something about the Simple Past versus the Past Continuous?

Watch THIS