Today's Headlines:

New material could make sea water drinkable

China's bike hire schemes create fight for street space

Congo's beauty queen challenges prejudice

Transcript:

Here in Manchester, graphene has been used to create a filter. The aim is to convert sea water into a form that's drinkable. Drinking water will be scarce for 1.2 billion people by 2025.

The rapid success of China's bike hire companies took everyone by surprise. As you can see, there are spaces in Beijing which are now totally crammed with bikes. The beauty of these is you scan them with your phone and then leave them wherever you like for the next person. Some of those complaining about the bikes want to park cars on the footpath. Ultimately this system is effective because the bikes are everywhere: if the authorities limit this too much, well, they could wreck the whole scheme.

Miss Congo UK's annual awards ceremony is a celebration of Congolese beauty, culture and tradition. But this year, the winner highlighted the plight of millions of Africans who suffer with HIV. Horcelie Sinda wa Mbongo was born HIV positive. According to the latest UN estimates, the number of people living with HIV in the Democratic Republic of Congo stands at 370,000. The beauty queen is preparing to spend a year helping others confront the disease.

Words and phrases and definitions:

scarce
insufficient in quantity

crammed
full to the point of overflowing

plight
difficult and dangerous situation

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.

scarce / crammed / plight

1. Book-loving Marge lived in a small flat. She ______ thousands of them into just two rooms.

2. UK officials are concerned that healthy levels of vitamin D in the body cannot be maintained in winter through diet alone, when sunlight, which helps in vitamin D production, is ______.

3. The reporter witnessed the ______ of refugee children as he interviewed a group of five-year-old beggars.

Answers:

1. Book-loving Marge lived in a small flat. She crammed thousands of them into just two rooms.

2. UK officials are concerned that healthy levels of vitamin D in the body cannot be maintained in winter through diet alone, when sunlight, which helps in vitamin D production, is scarce.

3. The reporter witnessed the plight of refugee children as he interviewed a group of five-year-old beggars.