Nature destroying nature: BBC News Review

Animals and plants that are bad for nature. A new report

says non-native species are a danger.

This is News Review from BBC

Learning English. I'm Neil. And I'm Beth.

Make sure you watch to the end to learn vocabulary to talk about today's story.

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and try the quiz on our website.

Now, the story.

  Non-native animals

and plants are destroying biodiversity and ecosystems across the world.

A major scientific report says mosquitoes are spreading dengue

and yellow fever and rats and snakes

are killing seabird populations. Invasive species are those that come

from a different environment accidentally and cause damage.

They often arrive via ships, planes and tourists.

You've been looking at the headlines,

Beth. What's the vocabulary?

We have repelled, high stakes and running rife.

This is News Review from BBC Learning English.

Let's look at our first headline.

This is from DW, that's Deutsche Welle.

Can invasive alien species be repelled?

OK, let's start with 'alien'.

'Alien' means that these species come from a foreign country.

They are invasive and they spread quickly and they cause damage,

but we are looking at 'repelled'. Now, this word Beth, 'repelled',

reminds me of the thing I use when I go to some countries on holiday.

Now that is useful to think about - it's insect repellent.

You spray it on you or put cream on

and it keeps insects like mosquitoes away from you. Now

we're looking at 'repelled' and the verb is 'repel'

Yes. And 'to repel', the verb, means to force something away from you and

the headline writer is asking whether these alien species can be forced away.

Can they be repelled? That's right.

Now, things can also repel you.

They make you want to stay away from them and that includes people.

If you find someone unpleasant then they can repel you.

I think Beth's saying that I repel her.

OK, let's look at that again.

Let's look at our next headline.

This is from Japan Today.

World losing high-stakes fight against invasive species.

So, this headline is saying that the world is losing its battle

against invasive species and it describes the fight

as high-stakes. High-stakes is

an expression that comes from betting or gambling.

And if something is high stakes, you could win a lot.

You could lose a lot.

So, the risk is high.

Exactly. Now, high stakes is an adjective.

It means there's a lot to lose or a serious risk

if something isn't successful.

So this headline is describing the fight against invasive species as high-stakes.

Yes. And we know that these invasive species are not good for the planet

and there is a lot at risk

if we can't stop them.

We use it in other situations as well.

For example, in tests like IELTS.

This is a high-stakes test because there's a lot to lose.

If you don't get the band that you need,

you'll have to pay again.

Yes. Now, talking of risk,

Beth, I was playing poker last night.

It was a high-stakes game.

OK. How did you do?

Did you win, lose?

Well, I was wondering if you could lend me some money for lunch,

just £5 maybe?

Let's look at that again.

Let's have our next headline please.

This is from MSN. Invasive alien species running rife around Earth

at unprecedented rate.

So, we see that word 'alien' again that we've

already looked at. The headline says that alien species are running rife.

'Running rife' is what we're going to learn about.

Now, Beth, we all know 'run', but what's the connection here?

Well, 'run rife' means that something is uncontrolled.

It does not literally mean running and this idea of speed is important.

So, invasive species are spreading very quickly, in an uncontrolled way,

almost like they're running.

Yes And we can use this to talk about people as well.

So, for example, criminals might run rife in a certain area.

It means there's a lot of crime.

It's spreading fast.

Nobody can control it.

Or children might run rife at a party.

The kids are out of control!

OK, let's look at that again.

We've had repelled - forced away, high-stakes - there's a lot at

risk and running rife - it's uncontrolled.

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