SpaceX splash down: BBC News Review

Hello and welcome to News Review from BBC Learning English.

I'm Rob and joining me today is Neil – Hello Neil.

Hi Rob, hello everybody.

We've got an interesting story about space exploration and its future today.

The company SpaceX and Nasa have been working together.

Astronauts have returned from the International Space Station by splashing down into the ocean

and that's the first time people have returned to earth from space in that manner for 45 years.

And don't forget you can test yourself on the vocabulary that we're talking about today

on our website at bbclearningenglish.com where you'll find a quiz.

OK – now it's time to find out what was going on in the control room

when the astronauts landed.

OK, so we heard there the control room

with Nasa astronauts splashing down into the ocean

after a trip to the International Space Station.

They went on a commercial operator into space

and normally they go up with Nasa rockets.

This time, they paid SpaceX, a company, to provide that rocket for them

and experts are saying this is a real game changer for space exploration

because it's the way that it's going to happen in the future.

Yes, an interesting story and we've got three words and expressions

that you can learn about to help you – to help you talk about this story haven't we Neil?

We have. We have 'plummeting', 'star-struck' and 'prank'.

That's 'plummeting', 'star-struck' and 'prank'.

OK, should we start with your first headline?

Yeah, the first headline is from the Business Insider website and it reads:

So that's 'plummeting' – falling quickly and suddenly.

Yes, 'plummeting,' spelt P-L-U-M-M-E-T-I-N-G

Sounds like a very dramatic word, doesn't it?

Yes and I think that's the key – you know – people might say,

'Well, why can't I just say falling?' because it means falling

but 'plummeting' has that sense of falling rapidly and suddenly.

So if I was to go for a walk down the street and I'd tripped over on the pavement,

would I be plummeting down to the ground?

No, not really, unless you wanted to sound really – kind of – dramatic,

or you wanted to say in a kind of comedic way, a funny way,

that you were very very tall and you had to fall a distance

but actually we wouldn't use it for that. It would be more to describe something

like, for example, maybe you are on the Eiffel Tower in Paris

and you're leaning over the edge: you've got a water bottle – it slips from your hand.

Now that water bottle is going to plummet down to Earth.

It's going to hit the ground hard and it's going to travel very quickly.

And it would have happened very suddenly and that's what plummeting is.

Hmm – sounds very dangerous actually if you're traveling at such a speed as well.

Absolutely – that actually happened to me.

Fortunately it didn't hit me. I was standing on the ground

outside the Eiffel Tower and a bottle landed right next to me

and it could only have come from the top of the Eiffel Tower.

It plummeted. That bottle plummeted towards Earth and just missed me.

Thank goodness! So you could be here today to present this programme.

Thanks.

And this is quite a literal use to this word plummeting isn't there?

It is, yes, but often you hear it used in a more, sort of, figurative sense

and especially in connection with the world of business;

so we might hear about share prices, for example,

that fall dramatically and suddenly. We might hear share prices plummeting

or the value of a currency. Or, particularly at the moment with the coronavirus

and the fact that people aren't shopping and things like that as normal,

sales have plummeted. Sales have plummeted over the last few months

and it has really badly affected the world economy.

Hmm, that's right, and also I noticed – I went into London this week for the first time

and there weren't so many people around. There were fewer visitors because

visitor numbers have plummeted because people can't travel any more I suppose.

Absolutely. The number of tourists has plummeted

and it's made a very strange summer here in the Northern Hemisphere anyway.

Yeah, definitely. OK – well let's have a look at a summary of that word.

OK Neil, let's have a look at your second headline.

Second headline comes from the wcax.com website and the headline reads:

OK – so that's 'star-struck': describes someone who admires famous people greatly.

Yes, we have a two-word expression here.

'Star' is the first word: S-T-A-R.

The second word is 'struck': S-T-R-U-C-K.

Usually this has a hyphen, but it does not have a hyphen in this headline.

OK. Well, I was 'star-struck' today

when I came in and found out that I was presenting with you, Neil.

Oh! Yes, haha! Are you suggesting that I'm famous, Rob? Because...

Yes, I am.

Because I had exactly the same feeling and in fact I have that feeling right now.

You know – you are so incredibly famous that I have this feeling of admiration for you...

OK – so we are equally star-struck. ...slightly intimidating me.

We are joking of course. There are more famous people

who we get star-struck about, aren't there?

Yes, you may not believe it but there are even more famous people

than me and Rob in the world, and you have met

one of the most famous people in the world, Rob.

Yes, that's Paul McCartney – Sir Paul McCartney from The Beatles,

who I met a few years ago: I got a chance to interview him.

I was so star-struck that I almost forgot the questions

that I was supposed to ask him.

I must also say that he wasn't star-struck when he met me.

He would be if he met you now. Maybe!

But it is that admiration, isn't it, for somebody famous...

Yeah. ...somebody you really, kind of,

have a lot of admiration – you really admire the things they've done.

Absolutely. It's a bit weird in this title though, isn't it?

Yes, that's true: this headline has got nothing to do with famous people really, has it?

No, it hasn't and this is – you know – as people who watch News Review regularly will know,

headline writers love a little joke with words

and that's what we have here,

because 'star-struck', as we've been discussing,

is about that feeling you get

when you meet someone

or you see someone incredibly famous.

This story is not about meeting somebody famous,

but it is about space and so the word 'star' is relevant,

so they just put this expression in as a little joke really.

Hmm. We might be star-struck if we met a famous astronaut, maybe.

Yeah, if you met a famous astronaut or the astronauts from this space flight,

you might be star-struck. You might be star-struck if you met Elon Musk,

who is the owner of SpaceX and an incredibly famous and rich man.

Indeed. OK – well let's have a look at a summary of 'star-struck'

If you like stories about space exploration, we have a great story for you, haven't we Neil?

We do. We've got a story about SpaceX, which we did a while ago

on News Review about the time when they –

I think the first time they put a reused or reusable rocket into space.

You can find the link to that programme down below.

OK. let's have a look at our next headline.

Our next headline is from the Mail Online website and it is:

OK – so the word is 'prank.' That's: joke, trick.

Yes, 'prank' spelt P-R-A-N-K.

Here used as an adjective – a prank call.

It describes the type of call – what's a prank call, Rob?

Well, it's a phone call you make to somebody to make a fool of them, really,

and make them look stupid.

Yeah, so it's a call you make to someone as a joke.

You might, for example, pretend to be a person that you are not,

or you might make a claim or say something that isn't true

in order to make the other person – to deceive the other person –

to make a joke on the other person.

And I know all about prank phone calls, don't I Neil?

Yes, is it time to share with everyone the prank call I made about a year ago to you?

I think you should.

Yeah, so some of you may be aware that Rob does like a biscuit or two

and we may have mentioned that on News Review in the past once or twice.

And the fact is that one day I thought

that I would tell Rob in a prank call that we had ordered a huge pallet

full of biscuits to the office in order to get him to come in early,

because the truth is that Rob – he's not really an early riser,

so we tried to get him into the office. But what happened when you got in, Rob?

Well, I mean, it worked: I did get in early and I got there and

there was nothing – nothing to be seen.

No box of biscuits. You realised... you realised that we had pranked you.

Yeah, I had been pranked. Absolutely – there you can see we're using it as a verb.

So we have it in the headline there as an adjective: a prank call.

But we can say that you prank someone or someone has been pranked.

Or you can even say to 'play a prank' on someone.

That's the structure: to play a prank on someone.

And we played a prank on you, didn't we Rob?

Yes, and this is quite a big prank. I wasn't very happy

but to be honest pranks are generally quite harmless, aren't they?

They're a bit of fun. The intention is that they are harmless.

Sometimes they can go horribly wrong of course,

but the intention is that they are light-hearted.

Not this time, Neil.

I'm sorry. I've forgiven you now. I've forgiven you now.

OK – let's have a summary of the word 'prank'.

OK. So Neil, could you recap today's vocabulary please?

Absolutely. We had 'plummeting': falling quickly and suddenly.

'Star-struck' describes someone who admires famous people greatly.

And 'prank': joke, trick.

And don't forget you can test yourself on today's vocabulary by going to our website

at bbclearningenglish.com where there is a quiz.

And don't forget that BBC Learning English is all over social media as well.

OK Neil, thanks very much for joining us today

and thanks to everybody for watching. Bye for now.

Goodbye.