Today's Headlines:

Indian perfume firm offers jobs for the blind

Slippery bottle solves a sticky problem

Women prepare for South Pole trek

Transcript:

India has among the largest number of blind people in the world. According to government figures, more than five million people in the country are visually impaired. The country has few employment opportunities for them, but now a private firm in Mumbai is training blind people to work in perfume and fragrance companies. They tend to be suited to this kind of work because of their keen sense of smell.

It’s something we’ve all struggled with – how to get that last drop of ketchup out of a bottle. Here at MIT they’ve developed this clever new technology. The container has been specially engineered to enable the ketchup or any other sticky liquid to slip out easily. Scientists coat the inside with a rough surface. They then put a thin layer over it and they cover that with a liquid which fills in the troughs and forms a very slippery surface. This coating process could cut huge amounts of waste.

The Ice Maiden team is heading out across a frozen Norwegian lake at the start of its final training exercise. In September these soldiers will begin their historic journey hoping they’ll succeed and inspire a generation of women. Home for the next few weeks and for the 80 days of the expedition will be a small tent. It will be the bedroom, living room and kitchen.

Words and phrases and definitions:

visually impaired
partially or completely blind

engineered
designed and built

heading out
departing, going in a particular direction

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.

visually impaired / engineered / heading out

1. A new experimental crop of genetically modified wheat has been ______ to use sunlight more efficiently and has boosted greenhouse yields by up to 40%.

2. It's a cloudy and dry start to the day across London, but if you're ______ tonight it might be wise to take an umbrella.

3. Braille is a tactile reading system that was invented in the mid-1800s to help ______ people.

Answers:

1. A new experimental crop of genetically modified wheat has been engineered to use sunlight more efficiently and has boosted greenhouse yields by up to 40%.

2. It's a cloudy but dry start to the day across London, but if you're heading out tonight it might be wise to take an umbrella.

3. Braille is a tactile reading system that was invented in the mid-1800s to help visually impaired people.