Unit 9: English You Need
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Session 2
Scurvy, a condition that used to affect sailors many years ago, has returned: cases of the disease have been reported in Australia. Neil and Catherine teach you how to use the language the world's media is using to discuss this story.
Activity 1
News Review
A disease from the past
Doctors in Australia are blaming poor modern diets for a rise in the number of people suffering from scurvy. The disease has been diagnosed in seven diabetic patients in Sydney.
Language challenge
British sailors used to eat a certain type of fruit to make sure they didn't get scurvy. It led to an insulting name that Americans used to call British people. Was it…
a) Lemony?
b) Limey?
c) Orangey?
Watch the video and complete the activity
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Did you like that? Why not try these?
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The story
In Sydney, Australia, doctors have been seeing patients with a disease called scurvy. Scurvy is a disease caused by a lack of vitamin C, which you find in fruit like oranges and lemons. Sailors on long trips used to get it but you don't really hear about it these days. The doctors say it's due to poor diet – people not eating any fruit.
Key words and phrases
comeback
a return of something after a period of time
resurgence
the start of something again which used to happen
archaic
old; belonging to the past
To do
Try our quiz to see how well you've learned today's language.
News Review quiz
3 Questions
Now you've watched the video, try to answer these questions about the language in the news.
Help
Activity
Now you've watched the video, try to answer these questions about the language in the news.
Hint
You need a word that describes the return of something after a period of timeQuestion 1 of 3
Help
Activity
Now you've watched the video, try to answer these questions about the language in the news.
Hint
This word means 'very old' and is sometimes used informally to describe something that isn't up to date.Question 2 of 3
Help
Activity
Now you've watched the video, try to answer these questions about the language in the news.
Hint
What word describes something starting again?Question 3 of 3
Excellent! Great job! Bad luck! You scored:
Downloads
You can download the audio and PDF document for this episode here.
Language challenge - answer
b) Limey. This was an insulting word used by Americans to talk about British people.
End of Session 2
Join us in Session 3 for Pronunciation in the News - our video which teaches you words from the news using the latest BBC World News bulletins. This time, we're looking at the word immigration.
Session Vocabulary
comeback
a return of something after a period of timeresurgence
the start of something again which used to happenarchaic
old; belonging to the past