Unit 25: Modals in the past
Who stole Dan's cake?
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
Flying fox bats have invaded an Australian town. Neil and Catherine look at how the world's media is reacting and pick out the words and phrases you need to talk about the story.
Activity 1
News Review
Flying fox bats invade Australian town
Hundreds of thousands of bats have arrived in the Australian town of Batemans Bay. The people who live there are fed up with the noise and mess they make and want them moved. How much will it cost to solve the problem?
Language challenge
Complete this English expression about bats:
As ______ as a bat.
a) hairy
b) blind
c) scary
Watch the video and complete the activity
The story
The authorities in the Australian state of New South Wales have declared an emergency to help a town – Bateman's Bay – that's been besieged by tens of thousands of bats.
The state authorities plan to spend about $1.8m to relocate the mammals.
Phil Mercer – BBC News
When native trees in Batemans Bay flower, the seaside town is invaded by large colonies of bats. Their droppings and constant screeching are infuriating residents who are demanding that 100,000 grey-headed flying foxes be moved on.
They could be bombarded with loud, industrial noise along with smoke and bright lights. Giant inflatable tubes used outside car showrooms and at funfairs could also be brought in to scare the bats away.
The flying foxes are listed as a vulnerable species, so Australian authorities have been given special permission to try to force them out of Batemans Bay.
Key words and phrases
declared an emergency
officially announced a dangerous situation exists
besieged
surrounded by
relocate
move to a different place
state of emergency
temporary set of rules an authority uses to deals with a dangerous situation
plague
an unusually large number of unpleasant things
bat's insane
example of a pun – play on words - typical in tabloid headlines
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
A formal way of saying 'announce'.Question 1 of 3
Help
Activity
Now you've watched the video, try to answer these questions about the language in the news
Hint
They LOOK like foxes...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 sounds like 'fun'...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: b) blind
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
declared an emergency
officially announced a dangerous situation existsbesieged
surrounded byrelocate
move to a different place
state of emergency
temporary set of rules an authority uses to deal with a dangerous situationplague
an unusually large number of unpleasant thingsbat's insane
example of a pun – play on words - typical in tabloid headlines