Unit 21: When and if
Unfinished conditional sentences
Select a unit
- 1 Go beyond intermediate with our new video course
- 2 Reported speech in 90 seconds!
- 3 If or whether?
- 4 5 ways to use 'would'
- 5 Let and allow
- 6 Passive voice
- 7 Unless
- 8 Mixed conditionals
- 9 The zero article - in 90 seconds
- 10 The indefinite article - in 90 seconds
- 11 The. That's right - the! Learn all about it in 90 seconds
- 12 The continuous passive
- 13 Future perfect
- 14 Need + verb-ing
- 15 Have something done
- 16 Wish
- 17 Word stress
- 18 Different ways of saying 'if'
- 19 Passive reporting structures
- 20 The subjunctive
- 21 When and if
- 22 Inversion
- 23 Phrasal verbs
- 24 The future
- 25 Modals in the past
- 26 Narrative tenses
- 27 Phrasal verb myths
- 28 Conditionals review
- 29 Used to - review
- 30 Linking words of contrast
Session 2
On 26 April 1986, one of the four reactors at Chernobyl nuclear power station exploded, in what was to be the world's worst ever nuclear accident. As the 30th anniversary of this event is marked, Rob and Finn explore the language you need to understand the story.
Activity 1
News Review
Chernobyl remembered
The Chernobyl disaster affected the lives of hundreds of thousands of people across Europe, with dangerous radiation causing death, illness and contamination.
Rob and Finn look at how the accident's 30th anniversary is being covered, and pick out language to help you understand it.
Language challenge
Complete this sentence: “I watched a great movie ____ TV last night!”
a) in
b) at
c) on
Watch the video and complete the activity
The story
Ukraine has been holding ceremonies to mark the 30th anniversary of Chernobyl, the world's worst nuclear accident. A meltdown in the plant's reactor in April 1986 blew off the roof and sent a cloud of radioactive material across Ukraine's borders into neighbouring Belarus and across a swathe of northern Europe. Relatives of those who died held candlelight vigils at several churches.
Tom Burridge – BBC News
Candles were lit and prayers were said in the early hours of this morning at the moment, 30 years ago, that there was an explosion inside reactor four at the Chernobyl nuclear plant.
Roughly 3% of the reactor's radioactive content escaped.
Later, Ukraine's president will attend another ceremony in Chernobyl to mark the disaster, which contributed to the downfall of the Soviet Union and had a huge impact on public opinion and government policy towards nuclear energy.
Key words and phrases
contamination
the process of making something less pure or poisonous
meltdown
a situation when fuel in a nuclear power station becomes very hot and melts through its container
reactor
(short for nuclear reactor) a machine which produces nuclear energy
radioactive
containing harmful energy produced during nuclear reactions
swathe
large area of land
vigils
acts of staying awake at night in order to pray, protest or give support to something
fallout
dangerous, radioactive dust in the air after a nuclear explosion
meltdown
a situation when fuel in a nuclear power station becomes very hot and melts through its container
on
(here) later, after
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
Use a phrase to describe a system which fails.Question 1 of 3
Help
Activity
Now you've watched the video, try to answer these questions about the language in the news
Hint
Rob talked about the fallout of a divorce.Question 2 of 3
Help
Activity
Now you've watched the video, try to answer these questions about the language in the news
Hint
It can be used for describing certain time references but not all.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
The answer is: c) on.
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 Vocabulary
meltdown
a situation when fuel in a nuclear power station becomes very hot and melts through its containerreactor
(short for nuclear reactor) a machine which produces nuclear energyradioactive
containing harmful energy produced during nuclear reactionsswathe
large area of landvigils
acts of staying awake at night in order to pray, protest or give support to somethingfallout
dangerous, radioactive dust in the air after a nuclear explosionmeltdown
a situation when fuel in a nuclear power station becomes very hot and melts through its containeron
(here) later, after