Could we live to 140? BBC News Review

Will you live to 140?

  Scientists think you might.

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 story.

And remember subscribe to our channel, like this video

and try the quiz on our website.

Now, the story.

Humans alive today could live to 140.

That's according to a new study into life expectancy

by the University of Georgia.

The researchers say

people are living longer because of modern medicine, better public health

and a safer world.

But many are concerned about the effects of an ageing population.

You've been looking at the headlines.

What's the vocabulary?

We have 50/50, golden oldies and groans.

This is News Review from BBC Learning English.

Let's have a look at our first headline.

Yes, this one is from The Mirror.

Humans born after 1940

have a 50/50 chance of living

until 125, scientists claim.

So, this headline says that humans born after 1940

have a 50/50 chance of reaching 125.

Now, we're looking at 50/50. 50 and 50 make 100, right?

Well, 50/50 means 50%.

Not 100%.

There is a 50% chance that something happened

or a 50% chance that something else happened.

Here, if you were born after 1940,

there is a 50% chance that you live until 125.

That's according to this headline.

OK. Now, it is common to use 50/50 before the word 'chance', like we saw

in the headline, but can you give us some other examples, Phil?

OK. Maybe you took an exam.

You studied lots and lots for this exam, but it was quite hard.

So, you think you had a 50/50 chance of passing.

That means there was a 50% chance you passed,

but also a 50% chance you failed.

Or maybe you're invited to a party.

You really want to attend, but you have a headache.

So, you say there's a 50/50 chance that you'll go.

OK, let's look at that again.

Let's have our next headline.

Yes. This one is from The Sun.

Golden Oldies.

People could live to be 140 before the century is over

in 19 countries, including the UK.

So, people could live to 140 before the century is over,

according to this headline.

That's the year 2100, but we are looking at 'golden oldies'.

Now, there's two parts to this phrase and I know them both, 'golden' and 'old'.

But, what's the sense here?

OK, a 'golden oldie'

is someone who's old, but still doing well.

Here, it's talking about people living a very long life.

But, we also use it to talk about people who are successful

or healthy in old age.

OK, so that's why it's 'golden'.

That's the adjective of 'gold', which is a precious metal.

Of course we don't mean that

here. 'Golden' just means good.

But the word 'oldie'.

Isn't that a bit offensive?

Yes, it would be rude to call someone an oldie but

'golden oldie' is a lot more friendly.

It's used for people who are respected. Now, Beth,

it's not just people we call 'golden oldies', is it?

  No, it's not. It's even more popular

to call a song or a film a 'golden oldie'. For example,

Star Wars. It's quite old, but it's still really well known and popular today.

OK. Let's look at that again.

Next headline please.

OK. This one is from the Boston Globe. Our planet

groans and you want to live to 150? And go planet hopping?

So, this headline is talking about the planet

groaning if people live to 150.

Now, I know the word 'groan', Phil.

It's this. *groan noise*

So, why is the planet groaning?

  You didn't sound happy

when you made that sound, Beth.

And actually, the planet

wouldn't be happy if there were even more people on it.

So, it might metaphorically make that sound – a groan.

So, basically, this headline is saying that if people live longer,

it wouldn't be good for the planet.

Now, in this sense,

we can use 'groan' to say that there is too much

on something. For example, a table

might groan

if you put too much food on it.

But, remember this is metaphorical,

it's not actually making a noise.

Yes. People literally groan, make that sound, when they're not happy.

So, I groaned this morning when my alarm went off.

It was too early.

And I groaned because my train was late, again.

Let's look at that one more time.

We've had 50/50 – 50%, golden oldies – old

and respected,

groans – makes an unhappy sound.

Don't forget

to try the quiz on this page.

Thanks for joining us, bye.

Bye!