Ozone layer improving: BBC News Review

A good news story about the environment.

The hole in the ozone layer is getting smaller.

This is News Review from BBC

Learning English. I'm Beth.

And I'm Phil. Make sure you watch to the end to learn the vocabulary

you need to talk about this topic.

And remember subscribe to our channel, 'like' this video

and try the quiz on our website.

Now, today's story.

The hole in the ozone layer is getting smaller. Back in the 1980s,

countries agreed to stop producing the chemicals that damage

the atmosphere's protective shield.

The UN now predicts the ozone layer will return to its 1980

level by 2066.

You've been looking at the headlines.

What's the vocabulary?

OK, we've got 'on track', 'plugged' and 'chomping'.

This is News Review from BBC Learning English.

Let's have a look at our first headline.

Yes, this one is from Sky:

Now, 2066 seems a long way off,

but the Earth's ozone layer should have recovered by then,

but we're looking at this expression 'on track'.

Now, Phil, what is 'track'?

OK, think about a car in a race.

The place where it drives -

that's a track.

And if the car is in a race,

then there's only one direction

it goes in and we know where it's going to end up. It's on track.

And if a thing is on track, then

that means it's going to progress as we planned and it's likely to be a success,

but it hasn't happened yet.

Right. So in this headline, it's saying that if nothing changes,

if everything carries on the way that it is now, then the Earth's ozone layer -

this protective shield - will have recovered by 2066.

But we're not there yet.

Now, this expression 'on track' reminds me of 'on course'. Are they similar?

Yes, 'on track' and 'on course' are more or less the same thing.

Actually, I've just been thinking -

if you're watching this programme,

you're probably on track or on course to improve your English.

That is true.

OK, let's look at that again.

Let's have our next headline.

OK, this one is from Dunya News...

So, we are talking about the hole

in the ozone layer again.

And this time the word

we are looking at is 'plugged'.

Now, I know plug as a noun -

it's a thing and I have one in my bath.

Actually, yes, you probably do. A plug is

the plastic or rubber thing that you put in a bath or in a sink

and it stops the water getting out.

That's right but here we are not talking about a hole in the bath -

it's a hole in the ozone layer and we are filling it,

or plugging it to use the verb, with more ozone - that's a gas.

Now, what other things

can we plug, Phil?

Well, we can use it metaphorically.

We can talk about things we know.

And, when you want to find something new out, sometimes that can plug a hole

in your knowledge.

That's right. And we also have electrical plugs - now

you put these into a hole in the wall - a socket - or into an electronic device.

Yes, and here we use plug to mean

connect. And, actually

if you keep watching us two, we'll keep you plugged in to all the latest news.

We will. OK, let's look at that again.

Next headline, please.

OK. This is from ABC news in Australia:

Now, I love this word 'chomping'.

It sounds like what it means. Tell us more.

OK. So, if you 'chomp' something,

it means you bite it but you bite

it really hard or really enthusiastically,

and often quite noisily.

Yes, and this headline is using 'chomp' metaphorically,

to talk about the chemicals that are eating away at the ozone layer.

Now, it's quite an unusual use of it, but it definitely grabs your attention.

So, what's a more usual way of using chomp?

Well, think about a dinosaur or a ferocious animal,

and if it bites through something, you could say

it just chomped right through it.

Yeah. And we can also use it to say that someone is eating a lot.

Now, this morning,

I was really hungry,

I had a very big breakfast, but I chomped my way through it.

Yeah, I saw you. I don't think you noticed me -

you were just chomping away down there.

Oh. OK! Let's look at that again.

We've had 'on track': expected to succeed.

We've had 'plugged':

There was a hole. Now it's blocked.

'Chomping': eating something quickly and noisily.

Don't forget there's a quiz on our website bbclearningenglish.com

Thank you for joining us. Bye.

See you next time. Bye.