Lost Maya city found in Mexico: 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 –

Hidden city found in Mexican jungle.

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, Pippa, let's hear more about this story.

A huge lost city has been found in the jungle in Mexico.

The city was built by Maya people hundreds of years ago.

And it was PhD students that found the city when they looked again

at an old laser survey of the jungle that they found online.

The survey had originally looked at the environment of the jungle,

but actually showed evidence of a city

underneath the jungle which hadn't been spotted.

OK, so let's have our first headline:

PhD student finds lost city in Mexico jungle by accident.

And that's from BBC News.

That headline again from BBC News:

PhD student finds lost city in Mexico jungle by accident.

So, Beth, this headline is talking about the discovery of the Maya city,

but we're looking at the expression 'by accident',

and it's quite important for this story, isn't it?

Yes. An accident is something that happens that is not expected or intended.

So if you do something by accident, then you do it without meaning to

or intending to. Right.

So in the story, the PhD students found the city by accident –

they weren't intending to find it.

Remember, they found an old survey online.

They didn't plan their own survey of the jungle.

So, another example –

I didn't mean to spill your coffee on you, Pippa.

I'm sorry. I did it by accident. Sorry.

Oh, that's OK, Beth.

So, we can also talk about doing something without intending

to using the adverb 'accidentally'.

So we could say the PhD students found the city accidentally,

but by accident is a very common way to say it, too.

And interestingly, we also have a phrase that means the opposite – 'on purpose'.

So if you do something on purpose, then it means you intend to do it.

We've had: by accident – without intending to.

For example – I read her diary by accident.

I was only looking for a book she borrowed.

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

Today we're talking about an old city found in the Mexican jungle.

The jungle where scientists found the city might appear wild,

but archaeologists believe up to 50,000 people could have lived

in the city before Maya civilisations began to collapse in 800 AD.

The scientist's research found evidence of temple pyramids

and a court where people would have played an ancient ball game.

The city, named Valeriana by scientists,

is only 15km from a main road where Maya people still live today.

So, let's have another headline.

Mayan city with buildings and plazas hiding in plain sight

has only now been found.

And that is from the online media organisation World Is One News.

Let's have that headline again.

Mayan city with buildings and plazas hiding in plain sight

has only now been found.

And that's from World Is One News.

This headline is talking about what archaeologists have discovered

in the city – buildings, plazas, open areas, town squares,

lots of things, Pippa.

Yes. And we're looking at the expression 'hiding in plain sight'.

OK, so let's break it down.

First off, 'hiding' – this comes from the verb 'hide'.

And if you hide something, you put it somewhere that it can't be seen

or found by others.

And you can also hide yourself,

so go somewhere that you can't be seen or found.

OK. And the second part of the expression is 'in plain sight'.

And so this is a way to say that something can be clearly seen.

So if something's in plain sight,

it can be clearly seen by people.

So, for example, Beth, I might advise you not to leave your valuable items

in plain sight because somebody might steal them.

Good advice.

Uh, but I'm confused because hiding means something can't be seen,

but in plain sight means it can be seen clearly.

So how can it be both?

Well, the expression hiding in plain sight means that

even though something is clear to see,

people didn't see it before.

Remember, the Maya city was only 15km away from where people lived,

and people had scanned the area before, but not seen the huge city

underneath the jungle – the city was hiding in plain sight.

OK, so we use the expression hiding in plain sight to talk about things

that are concealed or unseen, even though we can see them easily.

For example, I could say I've hidden my favourite sweets

in plain sight in the office, and I hope nobody eats any of them!

We can also use hiding in plain sight to talk

about somebody well-known doing something bad,

but not many people talk about it or realise at the time.

We've had: hide in plain sight – be concealed or unseen,

even though it can be clearly seen.

For example – The criminals must be hiding in plain sight.

We know they're still in the city.

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

Today we're talking about a huge city found hidden in a jungle in Mexico.

And the city was found using new laser technology.

Yes. The technology makes it much easier to survey wild places

like jungles, which are difficult for scientists to access.

Archaeologists think that they can use similar surveys

to find more hidden cities

and understand more about Maya life hundreds of years ago.

Here's another headline.

This one is from phys.org.

Have we found all the major Maya cities?

Not even close, new research suggests.

And that headline again.

Have we found all the major Maya cities?

Not even close,

new research suggests.

And that is from phys.org, which is a science news website.

So, Beth, this headline is talking about the possibility that there are

lots more hidden cities built by Maya people hundreds of years ago.

And this headline is interesting, Pippa,

because it begins with a question: Have we found all the major Maya cities?

And then it follows with the phrase 'not even close'.

So, what is going on here?

Well, we use the expression 'not even close' to say

that something is not at all true. Ah, OK, so in the headline,

not even close is used to suggest that scientists have lots more cities

to discover – they are not close to finding them at all.

Right.

And we use not even close a lot in conversation.

So if somebody asks you a question,

you can respond informally using not even close.

We also use it to add emphasis when we're writing informally

by answering our own question, like in the headline.

OK, so another example. Pippa, can I ask you, uh,

do I have the best fashion sense at BBC Learning English,

do you think? Sorry, Beth.

Not even close.

That bird hat that you're wearing is absolutely horrible!

Thanks. Now be careful, because not even close is quite an informal phrase.

If your boss asked you whether you'd finished your work,

then you probably wouldn't respond with not even close.

We've had: not even close –

not at all true.

For example – Did I finish all my homework this weekend?

Not even close.

I'll have to stay up late to get it done.

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 program, try our new series all about business jargon,

where we talk about the strange words and phrases people use at work.

Search Learning English

for Work in your podcast app or visit our website bbclearningenglish.com.

Bye for now. Bye!