Kamala Harris: First female US vice-president: BBC News Review

Hello and welcome to News Review. I'm Georgina and joining me today is Catherine. Hi Catherine.

Hello Georgina and hello everybody. Now, Joe Biden is the projected winner of the US elections:  

he will be the next president. His running mate Kamala Harris will be the next vice president.  

She will be the first female and she will be the first black Asian American to hold the position.

Yes and don't forget – if you want to test yourself on the vocabulary you learn today,  

go to our website bbclearningenglish.com and you'll find a quiz.

Now, let's hear about this story from the BBC Radio 4 news headline:

Yes. Kamala Harris is the vice president-elect of the US. The word 'elect' means she hasn't  

officially taken up the job yet. She is female, she is black and Asian American: this is a first.

We've got three words and expressions to talk about this story.

Yes, we have: 'makes history', 'cements' and 'break new ground'.

'Makes history', 'cements' and 'break new ground'. Catherine, can you give us our first headline?

Of course. We're starting in the Middle East with Al Jazeera – the headline:

'Makes history' – is or does something so important that it will be recorded publicly and remembered.

That's right. And we've got a two-word phrase here. We have the first word: 'makes' – M-A-K-E-S.

And the second word: 'history' – H-I-S-T-O-R-Y.

Now Catherine, are we talking about something in the past,  

something that we would have learnt when we were at school?

Not now. It's interesting: what will happen in the future is that people will learn  

about Kamala Harris being the first female vice president in their history classes of the future.  

So, it isn't history now but it will be history, so we say, 'She is making history.'

The history of the future is being created by this event.

And are there any other synonyms we can use?

Yes, we can say that she has 'gone down in history', or she's 'going down in history'.

'To go down in history' is pretty much the same as 'to make history'.

Yeah. So, it's a very historic event that's really just –

or a historic situation that has just happened.

Right, let's have a look at our summary slide:

'Makes history' is using a verb in the present tense  

and we have lots more videos about how to use present tenses correctly, haven't we Catherine?

We have. And to see just one of them, click the link and you'll go straight to the show.

Great. So, let's have a look at your next headline.

OK and we're back in the UK now, with LBC – the headline:

'Cements' – makes a situation, an agreement or relationship stronger.

Yes. Now, we have one word here: 'cements' – it's spelt C-E-M-E-N-T-S.

Now, if you 'cement' your place in history, you 'make history' or you 'go down in history'.

So, it's a really nice way of using the expression  

that we've just been talking about. It's almost a synonym.

That's really useful to know, but 'cement' – isn't that used  

to talk about the stuff we put between bricks when we're building a house?

Yes, it is. And if you're watching the show – you're not listening to the podcast – you'll  

see behind me a brick wall, and this stuff between the bricks is called 'cement'.

It makes the building stronger: it sticks the bricks together.

And that's – excuse me – and that's the idea of the verb 'cement': not used in a building sense  

but giving something strength and permanence. So, Kamala Harris has made her place  

in history stronger and permanent. And that's the idea of 'cements' here.

And what kind of words do we need to use 'cements' with? Is it 'cements' something?

Yes, you usually use 'cements' in this way with an object after the verb.

So, you can 'cement' a situation, you can 'cement' an agreement, you can 'cement' a relationship.

Great. Let's have a look at the summary slide:

We've got lots more videos about female firsts, haven't we Catherine?

We have. We've even got one which is asking the question,  

'Will the first person on Mars be a woman?' And to find out more about that story, click the link.

Great. So, let's have a look at your next headline.

And in the UK for this one, we're with The Guardian – the headline:

'Break new ground' – do something completely different that has not been done before.

Yes. We have a three-word phrase this time. The first word: 'break' – B-R-E-A-K.

Second word: 'new' – N-E-W. And the third word: 'ground' – G-R-O-U-N-D. 'Break new ground'.

So, when I think about this, I think about when I moved into my new place

and I had a little patio at the back with a tiny bit of a, kind of, garden that I could garden.

And I got out my spade and I dug a big hole to put a plant in.

Is that what we're talking about, Catherine?

You were literally 'breaking the ground' in your new apartment – in the garden?

Yes.

OK. So, this is more a figurative sense. When you 'broke new ground',  

you were digging a hole in a place that had never had that happen to it before.  

The idea is you're doing something new for the very first time.

Now, nobody – no woman has been the vice president of the USA before, so Kamala Harris is doing  

this and that's – in a sense, she's doing something new: she's 'breaking new ground'.

Yeah. In fact, she's breaking new ground in lots of areas, isn't she?

Yeah, absolutely. And it doesn't have to be something as big as being a vice president.  

You can 'break new ground' in your own life by doing something you've never done before:  

studying a topic at university that nobody in your family has done.

Maybe you're a family full of doctors – you're going to break new ground by becoming an artist.

Ah, fantastic! So, let's have a look at the summary slide:

Catherine, could you recap the vocabulary, please?

Most certainly. We had: 'makes history' – is or does something so important

that it will be recorded publicly and remembered.

Then we had: 'cements' – makes a situation, an agreement or relationship stronger.

And finally we looked at: 'break new ground' – do something completely different that has not been done before.

And you can test yourself on today's vocabulary with the quiz  

on the website bbclearningenglish.com. We're all over social media too. Thanks for joining us.

Bye. Bye!