Today's Headlines:

Severe drought in Ethiopia

Treatment hope for MS patients

French anger at new spelling

Transcript:

Ethiopia is suffering its worst drought in 30 years, triggered by this year's record-breaking strong El Nino. For the first time since 1989, failed seasonal rains have led to severely dried out areas leaving more than 10 million people needing emergency aid.

Doctors say patients with multiple sclerosis are showing remarkable improvements after receiving a treatment usually used for cancer. Some patients have been able to walk again after having been paralysed.

Changes to spellings of over 2,000 French words have sparked outrage in France. The alterations were approved by the country's language moderator.

Words and phrases and definitions:

triggered
caused something to happen

remarkable   
unexpected and therefore surprising

outrage
very strong reaction of anger

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.

triggered / remarkable / outrage

1. My new washing machine broke down and the shop where I bought it doesn't want to give me my money back. It's an __________.

2. The heavy rains of the last few days __________ a landslide. The emergency services worked quickly to help local residents.

3. Mario is a __________ student. He doesn't seem to study much but he gets top marks in exams.

Answers:

1. My new washing machine broke down and the shop where I bought it doesn't want to give me my money back. It's an outrage.

2. The heavy rains of the last few days triggered a landslide. The emergency services worked quickly to help local residents.

3. Mario is a remarkable student. He doesn't seem to study much but he gets top marks in exams.