Unit 27: Phrasal verb myths
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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
Preparations are taking place for Muhammad Ali's funeral this week. 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
Activity 1
News Review
Muhammad's funeral plans
Hollywood star Will Smith and former boxer Lennox Lewis will carry Muhammad Ali’s coffin at his funeral.
Language challenge
If you write a book about someone's life it's called 'a biography'. If you write a book about your OWN life it's called:
a) a selfie book
b) a self-biography
c) an autobiography
Watch the video and complete the activity

The story
It’s been announced that the Hollywood star Will Smith and the former world heavyweight boxing champion Lennox Lewis will be pallbearers at Muhammad Ali’s funeral.
Smith played Ali in the 2001 movie of the same name, earning an Oscar nomination and becoming a family friend.
Ade Adedoyin – BBC News
That procession will start around 9am local time. The hearse will pass through the main streets of Louisville, down an avenue that bears his name, through the neighbourhood he grew up and also down Broadway where the parade was held to honour him when he won gold in the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome.
Key words and phrases
heavyweight
a weight in boxing, typically the heaviest category
nomination
(here) the act of choosing someone as a candidate to receive an award
pallbearers
people who help to carry the coffin at a funeral
memorial
an event or object to honour or remember a person who has died
a biopic
film about the life of a real person
an autobiography
a book about a person's life, written by that person
bear
(here) to carry
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
It isn't the same syllable that is stressed in 'memory'Question 1 of 3
Help
Activity
Now you've watched the video, try to answer these questions about the language in the news
Hint
A 'pallbearer' is someone who helps to carry the coffin at a funeral.Question 2 of 3
Help
Activity
Now you've watched the video, try to answer these questions about the language in the news
Hint
Think about the words 'biopic', 'biology' and 'biography'.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) an autobiography
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
heavyweight
a weight in boxing, typically the heaviest categorynomination
(here) the act of choosing someone as a candidate to receive an awardpallbearers
people who help to carry the coffin at a funeralmemorial
an event to honour or remember a person who has died
also an objecta biopic
film about the life of a real personan autobiography
a book about a person's life, written by that person