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11

Unit 11: The. That's right - the! Learn all about it in 90 seconds
The definite article

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  1. 1 Go beyond intermediate with our new video course
  2. 2 Reported speech in 90 seconds!
  3. 3 If or whether?
  4. 4 5 ways to use 'would'
  5. 5 Let and allow
  6. 6 Passive voice
  7. 7 Unless
  8. 8 Mixed conditionals
  9. 9 The zero article - in 90 seconds
  10. 10 The indefinite article - in 90 seconds
  11. 11 The. That's right - the! Learn all about it in 90 seconds
  12. 12 The continuous passive
  13. 13 Future perfect
  14. 14 Need + verb-ing
  15. 15 Have something done
  16. 16 Wish
  17. 17 Word stress
  18. 18 Different ways of saying 'if'
  19. 19 Passive reporting structures
  20. 20 The subjunctive
  21. 21 When and if
  22. 22 Inversion
  23. 23 Phrasal verbs
  24. 24 The future
  25. 25 Modals in the past
  26. 26 Narrative tenses
  27. 27 Phrasal verb myths
  28. 28 Conditionals review
  29. 29 Used to - review
  30. 30 Linking words of contrast

Session 2

Who did Taylor Swift criticise during her acceptance speech at the Grammys? Join Finn and Neil to find out, and learn some useful vocabulary along the way!

Sessions in this unit

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Session 2 score

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    Activity 1
  1. Activity 1

Activity 1

News Review

Swift's war of words

Taylor Swift becomes the first woman to win a second Grammy award for album of the year. But she uses her acceptance speech to hit back at critics, including one very famous singer.

Watch our video to find out who, and learn useful words and phrases you need to talk about this news story.

Slang challenge

Which of these is a slang word for 'award'?

a) Clang

b) Gong

c) Bling

Watch the video and complete the activity

The story

The singer Taylor Swift has won this year's album of the year Grammy for 1989 during the lavish awards ceremony in Los Angeles.

She's the first female artist to win that award twice.

James Cook - BBC News

Taylor Swift opened the show and by the time it ended she had three Grammys, including album of the year, for 1989.

She told young women in the music business to persevere and take credit for their own talents.

Rapper Kendrick Lamar, who blends soul, jazz and hip hop, won five awards. His performance featured black men breaking free from their chains.

Record of the year went to British producer and DJ Mark Ronson for his collaboration with Bruno Mars on Uptown Funk.

Having waited four years to win one Grammy, English singer Ed Sheeran went home with two for performing and songwriting.

Key words and phrases

album
several pieces of music sold together usually in a digital file or CD

lavish
expensive and impressive

artist
(here) musician, actor or performer

sweep
(here) to win a number of things easily

diss
to say something rude or disrespectful about someone

all over the place
badly planned, organised or executed

News Review quiz

3 Questions

How well did you understand the language in this programme?

Congratulations you completed the Quiz
Excellent! Great job! Bad luck! You scored:
x / y

Slang challenge - answer

b) Gong

More

Learn more about this story with BBC News.

End of Session 2

Join us in Session 3 for Lingohack - our video which teaches you words from the news using the latest BBC World News bulletins.

Session Grammar

View full grammar reference

Session Vocabulary

  • album
    several pieces of music sold together usually in a digital file or CD

    lavish
    expensive and impressive

    artist
    (here) musician, actor or performer

    sweep
    (here) to win a number of things easily

    diss
    to say something rude or disrespectful about someone

    all over the place
    badly planned, organised or executed

View full vocabulary reference

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