Shanghai: Worst typhoon in 75 years: BBC Learning English from the News

From BBC Learning English,

this is Learning English

from the News, our podcast about the news headlines. In this programme –

worst typhoon to hit Shanghai in 75 years.

Hello, I'm Phil. And I'm Beth.

In this programme, we look at one big news story

and the vocabulary in the headlines that will help you understand it.

You can find all the vocabulary and headlines from this episode,

as well as a worksheet, on our website, bbclearningenglish.com

So let's hear more about this story.

So on Monday, Shanghai was hit by Typhoon Bebinca,

the strongest since 1949.

Wind speeds of over 150km an hour were reported, and

25 million people were advised to stay at home.

400,000 people were evacuated by Chinese authorities and

hundreds of flights were cancelled.

Now, this is only the third typhoon to hit Shanghai,

according to the China Meteorological Administration.

So, the first headline that we've got is about how Shanghai prepared

for the oncoming typhoon.

And this is from Reuters –

Shanghai braces for direct hits from Typhoon Bebinca.

Yes, that headline again – Shanghai braces for direct hit from Typhoon Bebinca.

And that's from Reuters.

So, this headline is from a story published before the typhoon hit.

So, we have this expression 'braces for'.

Now,

you might know the word 'brace'.

It's that thing that you have on your teeth which supports them

and makes them straight.

And that might help you remember 'brace' as a verb as well.

OK, yeah. So, as a verb, 'brace' means to prepare yourself for something

and usually something bad.

So, if you think of the noun as being something that supports your teeth,

bracing yourself can mean looking for support

when there's something bad coming.

Yeah, and that is the literal meaning.

So here in the headline, 'brace' is a verb

and it's talking about the warnings issued like evacuations.

We also use 'brace' to mean mentally preparing yourself for something bad.

So, for example, Employees in a failing company

might be braced to hear bad news about their jobs.

They're thinking about what's coming.

We've looked at 'brace', which means to prepare for something bad.

So, for example, you could say, The police were braced for criticism

after the worrying crime statistics were published.

This is Learning English from the News, our podcast about the news headlines.

Today we're talking about the worst typhoon to hit Shanghai since 1949.

Well, Shanghai's preparations were definitely needed

as the typhoon hit the city at speeds of over 150km/h.

And our next headline talks about the impact.

This is from The Weather Channel.

People cling to trees as typhoon slams into Shanghai.

And again, that headline from The Weather Channel –

People cling to trees as typhoon slams into Shanghai.

So, this headline is mentioning one way

that people in Shanghai were dealing with the typhoon.

They were clinging – holding on tight – to trees.

We're looking at the verb 'slam into'.

So, Phil, I know that you can slam a door.

It's when you close it really hard and it bangs shut.

OK, yeah. So 'slam' is about force.

If something slams into something, then it hits it very hard.

Now, here 'slam into' is saying that the typhoon hit Shanghai with great force.

Now, another way that we often use 'slam' is when describing a road crash,

so we could say that a car slams into another in an accident.

'Slam' is also used in a metaphorical way.

'Slamming someone' can mean to heavily criticizs them for something.

And for example, you might hear,

'The star's latest film was slammed by the critics.

They hated it.'

We've had slam into – to hit with great force.

For example, The tree slammed into the roof of the house, destroying it.

This is Learning English from the News from BBC Learning English.

We're talking about the worst typhoon to hit Shanghai in 75 years.

Now that the typhoon has passed, Shanghai is fixing the damage.

More than 1,800 trees have been blown down and 30,000 homes have lost power.

And that's what our next headline is about.

This is from the South China Morning Post.

Shanghai mops up as Typhoon Bebinca reaches

eastern China's Jiangsu province.

That headline again – Shanghai mops up as Typhoon Bebinca reaches

eastern China's Jiangsu province.

And that's from the South China Morning Post.

So, this headline is focusing on the clean up operation after the typhoon.

We're looking at the phrasal verb 'mop up'.

Now, a mop is something like a brush with a long handle that you use

for cleaning up liquids.

Yeah, exactly – like your floor.

And 'mopping up', the phrasal verb, means using a mop to wash

and dry things, particularly floors.

Yeah, and we could also use it in a similar way to talk about

when you use a piece of bread just to soak up the leftover sauce or soup

on your plate – you mop it up just to get the last few bits.

Yeah.

So, there's probably a lot of mopping up happening in Shanghai right now,

but 'mopping up' here has another meaning.

It can mean to finish dealing with a problem,

and that's probably what this headline means.

For example, you could use 'mop up' in that way to say,

'We're about to launch a new website.

It's nearly finished, but we've just got to mop up some last few problems.'

We've had mop up – to clean up a liquid.

So, for example,

you could say, The washing machine leaked all over the kitchen.

I'm mopping up all the water.

That's it for this episode of Learning English from the News.

We'll be back next week with another news story.

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Bye for now. Bye!