Today's Headlines:

Diabetes increase warning

World heritage sites under threat

UK stamps celebrate Queen at 90

Transcript:

The World Health Organisation says there's been a fourfold increase in diabetes in the past four decades. Worldwide nearly one-in-11 adults now has the disease. In one of the largest studies to date, it's been found that poor and middle income countries had seen the steepest rise in cases. That's prompted a warning that diabetes has reached levels that could bankrupt some health systems.   

The Great Barrier Reef, the Inca city of Machu Picchu in Peru – just two of the world's most precious natural and cultural heritage sites. But they're under threat from industrial activity like never before. That's the warning from the charity WWF – the World Wildlife Fund. It says that half of the 229 world heritage sites could be at risk from developments such as logging, fishing and oil exploration.

The Royal Mail here in the UK has released a historic image of the Queen, Prince Charles, Prince William and Prince George. It's going to be used to make four new postage stamps to mark the Queen's 90th birthday. Prince George is, of course, William's son. Here he is, posing for his very first stamp… The Royal Mail has also produced a further six stamps to mark the birthday.

Words and phrases and definitions:

to date
up to now

precious
valuable

released
(here) made public

Exercise:

Use one of the words or phrases from Lingohack to complete each of these sentences. Note that you may have to change the form of a word or phrase to complete the sentence correctly.

to date / precious / released

1. Justin Bieber's latest album will be __________ in the next few months. The Canadian singer's fans are very excited!

2. This ring is very __________ to me. It was a present from my late grandmother.

3. The team has won the championship with a three-goal advantage over its opponent. It's its best performance __________.

Answers:

1. Justin Bieber's latest album will be released in the next few months. The Canadian singer's fans are very excited!

2. This ring is very precious to me. It was a present from my late grandmother.

3. The team has won the championship with a three-goal advantage over its opponent. It's its best performance to date.