India tunnel rescue. All forty one workers freed. This is News Review from BBC Learning English,
where we help you understand the news headlines in English. I'm Beth,
and I'm Phil. Make sure you watch to the end to learn the vocabulary that you need
to talk about this story. And to learn more about the world
in English. Don't forget to subscribe
to our channel. Now, the story. Free at last All forty one workers trapped
in a tunnel in northern India for seventeen days,
have been rescued. They wer
e removed one by one through
a ninety centimetre diameter pipe. None of the men
are thought to be injured, but they are all being given
medical checks. You've been looking
at the headlines, Phil. What's the vocabulary that people need
to understand this news story in English? We have ordeal, nail-biting and makeshift. This is News Review from BBC Learning English. Let's have a look now
at a first headline. This is from CNN. All forty one workers rescued
from collapsed tunnel in India. After seve
nteen day ordeal. The headline tells us that all forty
one of the workers who were trapped have been rescued. The word we're learning
about is ordeal. Phil, what can you tell us about
it? Just think about the situation
we have here. Can you imagine what it would be like
to be trapped underground in a tunnel for seventeen days without knowing
if you were ever going to get out? Well, I think it's very hard
to imagine how scary and awful that must have been,
and that is the type of situation that w
e describe as an ordeal. It's not a word used for everyday
bad situations like missing the bus for example. We use ordeal for difficult,
unpleasant situations. Often situations that last a long time or
feel like they last a long time. And just a note about the pronunciation. Note that the stress is
on the second syllable. It's orDEAL. orDEAL. That's right. orDEAL. OK, let's look at that one more time. Let's have our next headline. This is from India
Today. Utterkashi tunnel rescue's last moments
captured
in nail-biting videos. So this headline tells us that the last moments of the rescue
were captured on video and that it was nail-biting. Nail-biting is the
vocabulary that we're looking at. Phil, are you a nervous person?
Not generally. But there are certain situations
when I might be, so if I'm watching my football team
going through a penalty shoot out at the end of a really important
match. That's nail-biting. In fact, by the end of it, I'm not sure
if I'll have any nails left. That
's because you bite your nails
to cope with the stress, and that is where the adjective nail-biting comes from. So if something is nail-biting, then the situation is very worrying because it's not clear how it
will end or what the result will be. That's right.
And in this story, it was not certain until the end if the workers would be rescued safely.
Now are there any other similar expressions? We can also describe this type
of situation as nerve-wracking. OK, let's look at that again. Next head
line, please.
This is from NDTV. Rescued workers
in makeshift hospital inside tunnel. So we hear that the rescued workers are
in some kind of hospital in the tunnel. But what kind of hospital? It must be very difficult
to make a good quality hospital in such a short amount of time. And that is the key
to understanding our next word. The adjective used to describe
the hospital is makeshift.
We use that to talk about something that's been built
very quickly to meet a sudden need. That's right. And
also it's temporary
or at least intended to only be used for a short amount of time and
it's probably not very good quality. We hear
about makeshift accommodation. Perhaps after
people have been evacuated from a natural disaster like a
flood. Or you might read about a school,
having makeshift classrooms if their buildings
have been damaged by a war or because the government hasn't spent
enough money on school building. OK, let's look at that again. We've had ordeal. A very unpleasant experience
. Nail-biting - It makes you really nervous. Makeshift - temporary and low quality. Click here to watch the last episode of News Review. And don't forget to click here to subscribe to our channel so you never miss another video. Thanks for joining us. Bye. Bye.
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