World population increases to 8 billion: BBC News Review

Eight billion. That's how many people live on Earth,

according to the UN.

This is News Review from BBC Learning English. I'm Neil.

And I'm Sian. Make sure you watch to the end to learn vocabulary about this story.

And don't forget to subscribe to our channel, like this video

and try the quiz on our website. Now, let's hear the story.

The world's population has officially reached eight billion.

The growth is partly due to developments in health, nutrition and medicine.

It has taken just eleven years to go from seven to eight billion,

but growth in several countries is actually slowing.

Many are concerned the expanding population is destroying the planet.

You've been looking at the headlines, Sian.

What's the vocabulary?

OK. We have 'peak', 'poses' and 'shape'.

This is News Review from BBC Learning English.

Let's take a look at our first headline.

And this one is from The Telegraph.  

World population hits eight billion - as experts predict when it will peak.

The world's population has reached eight billion.

That's eight, followed by nine zeros, and experts are predicting when

the world population will peak and 'peak' is the word we're looking at.

Is there a connection to mountains, Sian?

Well, yes, kind of.

So, if you picture a mountain, the top is the peak,

so it means you can't go any higher.

But, we also use this word 'peak' to talk about data and graphs.

If you look at this, this point here is the 'peak' and it means the top.

So, in the same way, the peak of a mountain is the top.

Yes, so that top of the mountain peak and on the graph, those are nouns,

but it is also used as a verb to mean go as high as possible.

Exactly. So the headline writer is saying that the population  

is continuing to rise now, but at some point,

the population will reach the peak, so it can't go any higher,

just like an actual mountain.  

Yeah, and we use 'peak'

not just to talk about graphs and mountains.

We can use it to talk about performance, for example, in sport.

Exactly. So it's often used to mean

that a team or a person has reached their best level of performance.

- they can't get any better, they've peaked.

Yeah. And we can use this, for example, the World Cup is coming,

it's really important for a football team

not to peak too soon.

So, that means that they shouldn't be at their best level of performance

until the actual competition, not before it.

Exactly, and that's a useful phrase,

'don't peak too soon'.

And we use it for other situations, not only sport.

So, if you're revising for exams and you start doing too much too early,

you could say, 'don't peak too soon or you'll forget everything on exam day'.

Excellent advice. Let's have a look at that again.

Let's have a look at our next headline.

This one is from CNN. Global population hits eight billion

as growth poses more challenges for the planet.

And so this population growth is causing problems for the planet.

We are looking at the word 'poses' and I know this word 'pose',

it means the way you stand.

So, a model, the way a model stands for a photo,

or maybe an actor on the stage, that's a pose.

Or a painting. Yeah, it's the way you stand in a particular position or,

yoga, you can have a yoga pose, but here

it's a verb and 'poses' means creates or causes something to happen.

Yeah. So the headline is saying

that this population growth is causing problems, issues, challenges.

It 'poses' a problem.

Exactly. So we often use 'poses' with questions.

You can 'pose' a question, but it's commonly used

with negative nouns like 'threat' or 'danger' or 'problem'.

So, shall we think of some examples?

Yes. So, if a driver has been drinking alcohol,

it poses a danger to people in the road and in that car as well.

Yeah. Or a political scandal could pose problems for the government.

Yeah. OK, let's have a look at that again.

Time for our next headline.

This one's from The Conversation. As the eight billionth person is born,

here's how Africa will shape the future of the planet's population.

This headline is looking specifically at Africa and how it will shape the future.

Now it's the word 'shape'

we're looking at, Sian. Can you give me some example of shapes?

OK. So, shapes as a noun, we can have a triangle, or square, a circle.

But if you want to make something into the shape you want,

you 'shape' it. So, that's a verb,

'shape' as a verb as it is in the headline and

the headline is talking about how Africa will shape or influence the future.

Yes, and we often use this verb 'shape' in relation to beliefs or ideas

or a person's character.

So, has anything or anyone in your life shaped you as a person, Neil.

I guess. Yeah, I moved around a lot when I was a kid

and I think that shaped my personality, because, as an adult,

I've moved around a lot as well.

Let's have a look at that one more time.

We've had 'peak' - can't get any higher or better.

'poses' - causes or creates something that's usually negative.

  'shape' - influence.

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Thank you for joining us and goodbye. Goodbye.