Huge power cuts in Spain and Portugal: 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, huge power cuts in Portugal and Spain.

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

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.

Authorities in Spain and Portugal

are trying to find out what caused a huge power cut

in the countries earlier this week.

A power cut is a disruption to electricity.

The power cut caused chaos across Portugal and Spain

and also affected parts of Andorra and France.

Power has now been restored,

but the disruption is thought by experts to have cost up to

€1.6 billion to the Spanish economy.

Let's have our first headline.

This one's from Bloomberg.

Spain slowly returning to normal after crippling blackout.

And that headline again.

Spain slowly returning to normal after crippling blackout.

And that's from Bloomberg.

This headline is talking about the impact of the power cut,

which it describes as 'crippling'.

That means causing serious harm.

Now, we are interested in the word 'blackout'.

'Black', Pippa,

that makes me think of darkness.

Yes. And that's helpful to understand the word blackout.

A blackout is a situation where there is no light.

So, in this story, people in Spain and Portugal lost access to electricity,

and so there was no electric light in the countries.

There was a blackout.

So, we can use blackout when there has been a power cut,

but we can also use blackout to talk about a situation

where people aren't allowed to use light.

Yes. For example,

during the bombing of London in World War Two, there was a blackout

enforced to make it more difficult for enemy planes to find cities.

People weren't allowed to use light

and so the planes couldn't see their targets.

And a metaphorical example –

you might hear the expression 'media blackout'.

This is when news about a certain event or situation is not available.

For example, if there is a censorship law.

We've had: blackout – a situation where there is no light,

often because of a power cut.

For example, after the flood there was a complete blackout in the city.

This is Learning English from the News, our podcast about the

news headlines. Today we're talking about the huge power cuts in Spain

and Portugal. As we've heard, the power cut caused a blackout

and widespread disruption. Trains didn't work,

businesses had to close and mobile phone networks were also impacted.

And we have a headline about people's response to the crisis.

This one's from The Guardian – In the Madrid power cuts,

I saw patience and common sense, but we were woefully unprepared.

And that headline, again from The Guardian – In the Madrid power cuts,

I saw patience and common sense, but we were woefully unprepared.

This article is written by someone who lives in Madrid

and is describing their experience of the power cuts.

Now, we're interested in the word 'woefully'.

Pippa, what does it mean for someone to be woefully unprepared?

Well, woefully,

that's the adverb, is used here to emphasise how bad the situation is.

OK. And if you are woeful, that's the adjective,

you are very sad.

But if a situation is woeful, it means it's extremely bad,

and perhaps embarrassingly so.

So, in the headline, the writer gives the opinion that it was sad

and embarrassing that people weren't prepared for the power cuts.

They were woefully unprepared.

We often hear the phrase 'woefully unprepared' in news stories

where a dramatic event has happened that has surprised people.

Yes, and a note –

'woeful' and 'woefully' are strong words,

so we put stress on these words when speaking.

So, for example,

in sports, you might say your team had a woeful performance last night.

They lost eight nil.

We've had: woefully – extremely badly.

For example, the student's homework was woefully inadequate.

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

We're talking about the widespread power cuts in Spain and Portugal.

Now that power has returned to most areas of Spain and Portugal,

people are trying to discover what caused the power cuts.

Officials say they don't believe the disruption was caused by a

cyber attack, but they still don't know the cause.

And our next headline is about the search for the cause of the

power cuts. It comes from the Financial Times –

Spain's electricity grid operator rules out cyberattack as cause of

blackouts. That headline, again from the Financial Times –

Spain's electricity grid operator rules out cyber attack as cause of

blackout. Now, we're interested in the phrasal verb 'rules out'.

Pippa, can you tell us more?

Well, if someone rules something out,

it means that they decide it is no longer an option.

So, in the story, Spain's electricity grid operator, that is

the company which manages the supply of electricity, rules out

cyber attack. That means they've concluded that a cyberattack

is not a possible cause of the blackout.

We often hear 'rule out'

in situations where there are initially several possibilities,

but gradually these become fewer.

And people can also be ruled out. For example, in an election,

a popular candidate might rule themselves out of the race.

They decide that they're not going to run this time.

Yes. Or in a criminal investigation, police could rule out a suspect

after they discover new evidence.

And we also commonly hear the phrase 'don't rule anything out'.

That means that anything could happen.

We've had: rule out - decide someone or something is no longer

an option. For example, the CEO has ruled out any pay rises this year.

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

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

If you've enjoyed this programme, try our new series of Office English

to learn language to use at work.

Find it on your podcast app or at bbclearningenglish.com.

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Search BBC Learning English. Bye for now. Bye.