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Unit 26: Narrative tenses
How did Dan get that scar?

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  17. 17 Word stress
  18. 18 Different ways of saying 'if'
  19. 19 Passive reporting structures
  20. 20 The subjunctive
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  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

A new superbug has been discovered in the US. Neil and Sian look at how the world's media is reacting and pick out the words and phrases you need to talk about the story

Sessions in this unit

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    Activity 1
  1. Activity 1

Activity 1

News Review

Threat from new superbug

A woman in the United States has caught a superbug which cannot be cured by antibiotics.

Language challenge

The suffix –proof means 'protected against'. For example, 'waterproof' means 'protected against water'. If we describe something as 'dogproof', what do we mean?

a) Dogs can't harm it
b) Dogs can't be harmed by it

Watch the video and complete the activity

The story

Health officials in the United States say a superbug resistant to all known antibiotics has been found in the country for the first time.

The case involves a woman infected with a strain of the e-coli bacteria resistant to Colisten, an antibiotic of last resort.

Laura Bicker – BBC News

The female patient tested positive for a strain of e-coli that's resistant to the antibiotic known as colisten. The US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention said it was an old antibiotic, but the only one left to treat what they described as a "nightmare bacteria".

Researchers are worried that the antibiotic resistant gene found in the bacteria known as MCR1 could easily spread. That could create a superbug capable of evading all types of antibiotics.

The deadly strain has already been found in China and Europe. Officials say unless there's urgent action and more research, some infections could eventually become untreatable.

Key words and phrases

resistant
not affected or harmed by something

antibiotics
a drug that is used to kill harmful bacteria and to cure infections

strain
(here) a group of closely related plants or animals

superbug
a type of bacteria that cannot be treated using antibiotics

nightmare
terrible

drug-proof
resistant to drugs

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

Congratulations you completed the Quiz
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Downloads

You can download the audio and PDF document for this episode here.

Language challenge - answer

The answer is: a) Dogs can't harm it.  But, b) Dogs can't be harmed by it, can also be correct.

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

  • resistant
    not affected or harmed by something

    antibiotics
    a drug that is used to kill harmful bacteria and to cure infections

    strain
    (here) a group of closely related plants or animals

    superbug
    a type of bacteria that cannot be treated using antibiotics

    nightmare
    terrible

    drug-proof
    resistant to drugs

View full vocabulary reference

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