Read An Article From The BBC With Me | Learn English with NEWS

Welcome to this lesson to help you learn English with the news.

We're going to read a news article together and you're going to learn a lot of advanced

grammar, natural vocabulary, correct sentence structure, and even correct pronunciation

directly from reading this article with me.

Of course, I'm Jennifer from JForrestEnglish.com.

And this is your place to become fluent confident English speaker.

Let's get started.

Hello, hello.

Welcome to our article.

Today we're talking about Dubai.

Have you been to Dubai?

Do you want to go to Dubai?

I have never been but I would really like to go which is why I saw this headline and

I said yeah, let's talk about this because I want to go to Dubai.

So let's read the headline together.

Dubai scrapped 30% alcohol tax and license speed in a parent bid to boost tourism.

All right, I really like this word here.

Scraps scraps.

So this is a verb.

Let me highlight this for you scrap.

So as a verb, we always want to think about it in the infinitive to scrap to scrap.

Now this is when you no longer continue a plan.

We use this in a very specific context.

And I would say with a plan, a plan or a project or an approach so I'll add that but simply

you can think of it as a plan plan project.

Or approach scrap to scrap let me highlight this here.

So this means that Dubai had a tax a 30% tax on alcohol, but now they're scrapping it so

they're throwing it in the garbage.

They're getting rid of it.

They're no longer doing that.

So how can you use this?

Let's say you're planning something it could be a conference and meeting a new product

or it could be something in your personal life like a trip somewhere let's say you're

planning a trip to Dubai.

And you're thinking about certain plans within this.

Oh, maybe we should go here.

Maybe we should visit this.

Maybe we should stay at this hotel.

But then you might say let's scrap taking the boat tour and visit the museum instead.

Okay, so you had a plan to go on a boat tour, but now you're not going to continue on that

plan.

Let's scrap taking.

Now notice here I have my gerund verb, because you can do two things with this verb to scrap

you can have just a something.

So let's scrap the boat tour and visit the museum instead.

So this is my now the boat tour.

Let's scrap the boat tour.

This is something but you can also scrap doing something in that sense you need the gerund

verb let's scrap sorry to copy this again.

Let's scrap What did I say let's scrap taking taking the boat tour.

So that's our sentence structure here.

You have either to scrap and you scrap something.

So this is a noun or you scrap doing something which is your GERAN verb, your verb and verb

plus, ing your base verb plus ing.

So notice that sentence structure with this verb to scrap.

So Dubai has this tax they're getting rid of it.

They're throwing it in the garbage, the tax and this license fee in a parent bid to boost

tourism.

I see a lot of students using boosts already which I really liked because it's a very natural

expression.

And if you're not using it, let me quickly explain what it means to boost something is

simply to increase it or improve it.

So in a work context, you'll hear this a lot with sales sales is something you want to

increase customer satisfaction you want to boost it you want to increase your customer

satisfaction.

So we need to boost our customer satis action.

Now let's say you develop this plan to boost your customer satisfaction, but then someone

thought of a different idea.

So you might say let's scrap that idea to boost customer satisfaction and instead use

this idea so you could use them together.

Now I said I hear a lot of students using this because I hear students say I need to

boost my I don't know why I keep writing it II boost my vocabulary.

This is a verb of course so you need to conjugate your verb I might say watching these lessons

will help you boost your vocabulary.

All right, so increase improve your vocabulary.

So that's a great verb as well so scrap and boost already have to emerges in the headline

so let's continue on.

Looks like a hotel in Dubai.

I guess.

It it being Dubai.

Remember if a noun a subject is not identified and instead it uses he she or it you always

have to just look at the last now referenced and then the last noun was Dubai.

It will also stop charging for personal alcohol licenses.

Something resident who wants to drink at home must have Alright, so Dubai will we could

say stop or what's the verb you just learned?

Scrap?

It will also scrap charging for personal alcohol licenses.

I think it mentioned that up here though the license fee as well.

So we already know that.

So stop charging or scrap.

Now notice stop and we have our verb in ING well that is because stop is a gerund verb.

So you use stop plus gerund.

And again, gerund is your verb in ing.

So I What can I say?

I stopped drinking alcohol since this article was about alcohol.

I stopped drinking alcohol.

So we need our Jaren verb and here scrap and we already know you need the Jaren it will

also scrap charging for personal license alcohol licenses.

All right.

So I guess an easy way you can think of it is stop is really the seed because when you

stop something you no longer do it right.

But remember that scrap is specifically used with where is it?

Where did I not write it out?

Oh sorry here, a plan a project or an approach remember scrap is specifically used plan project

or approach.

And a lot of times vocabulary is used only in a very specific context, especially with

phrasal verbs idioms and expressions but also just with regular verbs.

Now notice here I said I stopped drinking alcohol.

I wouldn't say I scrapped drinking alcohol because scrap because drinking alcohol is

not a plan or a project.

So I would use stop.

But if you are talking specifically about a plan a project or approach then scrap and

stop have the same meaning.

If you're ever not sure which one to use, you can use stop with this one as well.

Dubai stops 30% alcohol tax so you could do that.

As well.

Okay, let's continue on.

Dubai has been relaxing laws for some time, allowing the sale of alcohol in daylight during

Ramadan and approving home delivery during the pandemic.

Okay let's look at this to relax a law to relax well you know what who relax is right.

You're all stressed out and then you relax.

I guess you can kind of think of it in a way because when you relax a law or relax a policy,

it becomes less severe.

So you can think of it like when you're you're stressed out you're kind of like very severe

rigid, but then you relax and you become less tense.

I don't know if that analogy helps.

But maybe that will help you remember this because when you relax

a law relax a policy.

It still exists, but it's not as severe.

So to make a policy or rule a law less severe, or less stringent, which basically means if

you're just another way of seeing it.

So let's say at work, you had to wear a formal suit and tie every single day but then the

pandemic happened and people started relaxing their dress codes.

So now you don't have to wear a tie anymore.

They still want you to wear a button down shirt.

So they're the law still exists.

It's not a law.

A dress code is more of a policy or a rule.

It's still exist but it's less severe relax.

So remember this one is again vocabulary very specific to a rule a policy or a law.

So you can say purpose here and this is to relax a rule policy.

Law.

Just so you remember to use it in these various specific circumstances.

What was I going to say?

Yes, after the pandemic our company relaxed, the dress code.

So remember, the dress code still exists, but it's less severe severe, so now we don't

have to wear ties but we still have to wear button down shirts.

A button down shirt is a men's shirt that has buttons and usually long sleeves as well.

A button down shirt.

Okay.

And of course governments could relax a rule or policy.

Well, we all saw that with the COVID restrictions.

It's not that one day they were here and then they were zero right?

They were gradually relaxed so they became less stringent, less stringent and then down

to zero.

And this is our example of how Dubai is relaxing one of its policies or laws.

Okay, that's a good one.

Let's continue on.

This latest move is thought to be an attempt to make the city more attractive to foreigners

in the face.

of competition from neighbors.

I like this is thought to be of course I think you understand the meaning.

It's just the use of the sentence structure.

So we have right here we have something this latest move that's the something then we have

our verb to be is thought to be and then we have a noun.

So I might say Dubai is thought to be a great tourist destination is another way of saying

many people think Dubai is a great tourist destination.

So instead of saying many people think I'm starting with Dubai is my subject.

Dubai is thought to be a great tourist destination.

So I guess that's the difference here is you put your object and many people think Dubai

that's an object you're turning it into the subject of the sentence.

So we can use this when we're making general statements.

So the sentence structure is something to be that's your verb to be thought to be and

then your your noun or your clause like whatever comes next thought to be remember this verb

to be is conjugated, but this stays as to be.

So I'm seeing that this is conjugated.

Because I might say do by one was thought to be a great tourist destination until it

scrapped.

Its alcohol tax.

Who knows?

Maybe that will happen now.

Nobody wants to go to Dubai because it doesn't have this alcohol tax.

That's unlikely because they're doing it to attract tourists.

But notice Dubai was thought to be so it's the same thing as said saying many people

thought Dubai was a great tourist destination.

So no people no longer have this opinion.

But it was an opinion held by many in the past.

So notice this is conjugated, but this verb TO BE does not change.

It stays in the infinitive form.

Dubai was thought to be a great tourist destination, but then something happened.

So I could just leave it here period.

I'm just explaining the reason why it is no longer thought to be a great tourist destination.

Remember, this is a fake example.

I'm not saying this is true.

I'm just sharing an example.

So don't get mad if you're from Dubai.

Okay, let's move on.

Let's take a look at in the face of in the face.

Of this is an idiom.

This is an idiom.

And you can think of it as despite which also means in spite of despite and in spite of

had the exact same meaning in the face.

of competition from neighbors.

So they're doing this Dubai is getting rid of their tags.

They're scrapping their alcohol tags, despite competition from neighbors.

Okay.

So we can say for example I our sales, let me change this, our sales increased in the

face of the pandemic.

Now right here I could say our sales increased that's correct on its own.

If I want to give more information about this, I can let you know that there was a difficult

situation going on at the time, the pandemic but that did not impact our sale.

So we were able to do this action, despite the difficult situation in the face of the

pandemic, our sales increase in the face of the pandemic.

So I might say something like Dubai attracts a lot of tourists.

Sure is in the face of the extreme heat.

So Dubai is really hot right?

It gets to plus 45 In the summertime, but people still visit it's still a popular destination.

Dubai attracts a lot of tourists in the face of extreme heat.

So this is the same as despite this extreme heat, in spite of the extreme hate.

Remember that in the face of is simply an idiom.

To be honest.

I would say that despite is more commonly used in spite of is more commonly used.

But the idiom is used so now you have an idiom that means the same thing and you can practice

adding it to your speech.

Let's continue on.

The two companies which distribute alcohol in Dubai, maritime and merchantile International

MMI and African any string said they would reflect the cut in tax for consumers.

Okay, I don't think there's anything I need to explain there.

This is what we call an acronym.

I'll just say that this is an acronym and each letter represents something.

So the M represents maritime this M represents merchantile.

And this I represent international.

We see this a lot I know sometimes in English is difficult to know what acronyms mean?

Like CEO I'm sure you know this.

But Chief Executive Officer.

Now it's funny because sometimes even native speakers they'll know the acronym but they

don't actually know what it stands for.

For example, I had no idea that the company IBM was actually an acronym and each letter

stood for something.

I think it's international.

I don't know if the eyes International Business machine.

Do you know what the acronym for IBM the company IBM is?

If you do share it in the comments.

So sometimes that happens, but it is useful to get familiar with certain acronyms.

This is not an acronym you need to know because it's just a very specific company in Dubai.

But you should know the acronyms within your industry.

If you live in Dubai and you're in the the restaurant industry or the hotel industry,

you should absolutely know the common acronyms and maybe this is one okay.

Let's continue on.

Since we began our operations in Dubai over 100 years ago, the Emirates approach has remained

dynamic, sensitive and inclusive for all MMI spokesman Tyrone Reed told AP I don't think

there's anything there.

I need to explain.

If there is something that I miss that you're curious about.

Let me know in the comments, and I'll explain it.

Let's continue on.

These recently updated regulations are instrumental to continue ensuring the safe and responsible

purchase and consumption of alcoholic beverages in Dubai and the UAE.

Okay, instrumental I'm sure you know what an instrument is like a musical instrument.

So you see that word here but instrumental This is an adjective so you can think of it

as meaning essential or absolutely important, like 100% important which also means essential,

I'm just giving you an alternative to the word essential just to help you there.

So you could say scrapping the alcohol tax was instrumental

to our growth, okay.

instru and instrumental to our growth instrumental to our growth.

Alright, so was essential, absolutely important.

You needed to do it.

So notice it's to be instrumental.

Here's our verb to be is conjugated as are because we're talking about the regulations.

They that's our subject they are, they are.

So here.

My was is the verb to be in the past simple I still spelt it wrong sorry about that.

My verb to be in the past simple, scrapping the alcohol tax is instrumental to our growth,

talking about it as a statement of fact that something that's going to happen, but if it's

already happened, then I can put it in the past simple, so I'll just write out

so we'll just write out to be instrumental.

Let's see if I spelled it correctly.

Yes.

Yes.

All right.

Let's continue on.

It is not clear if the move which took effect on Sunday will be permanent.

The Financial Times described the move as a one year trial citing industry executives

informed of the decision.

All right to take effect.

This is when something officially happens right in the context of a rule a policy a

regulation.

So when when a rule Remember again, you use certain vocabulary in very specific circumstances

we're talking about when a rule or regulation a policy or law starts when it begins for

the first time.

So this is in the past simple, which took effect on Sunday.

So the move the move this represents scrapping the alcohol tax, and it was also the license

right?

I'll go haul tax scrapping the alcohol tax, that's the move the move.

They're calling it a move because it's a strategy a strategic move.

Like when you're playing chess, and you move a chess piece strategically, right?

Where am I going to move?

My king my knight?

That's what they're saying.

So Dubai is doing this strategically.

That's the move and the move is scrapping the alcohol tags, and that started, took effect,

started on Sunday.

So remember, you can use take effect but specifically with a rule regulation policy law something

very official

All right, let's continue on.

X patriots.

Oh number nationals by nine to one in Dubai.

That's really interesting, known as the Gulf party capital, and residents commonly drive

to uhm, Al Quwain sorry, I'm not sure how to say that.

Uhm, Al Quwain and other emirates to buy alcohol in bulk.

Okay, remember, we talked about an acronym?

Well, we have a, a short form for expatriates, we simply call them expats, expats verbally

and in writing.

To be honest, I never say expatriates, I always say expats expats I'm an expat.

An Expat is somebody who is not living in the country.

They were born and I'm an expat.

I live in Dubai.

I was born in Canada.

I live in Dubai.

I'm an expat.

She's an expat, an expat plural because it refers to more than one person.

All right, so for every 10 People in Dubai, if you have a group of 10 of them, only one

was actually born in Dubai or the United Arab Emirates as the country and nine of them were

born in other parts of the world.

That's a huge difference.

That's really interesting.

Okay, to buy alcohol in bulk, let me just review this year.

When you buy something notice to buy when you buy something in bulk.

It means you buy a large quantity of it.

And the reason why you do that is because you get a discount you get a discount if you

buy a large quantity.

So for example, you might say I always buy diapers in bulk.

So if you just buy a pack of 10 diapers, it might cost you $10 But you know you're going

to use diapers every single day if you have small children, right babies, so why not buy

a 200 pack of diapers and you will save a lot of money.

So to buy something in bulk to buy a large quantity that means amount of something to

save money because you get a discount to get a discount.

It's cheaper.

So what about you, is there something that you always buy in bulk?

Remember, I buy and then you state the item.

So you might say I actually for me, I always buy coconut cocoa not oil in bulk.

This might seem like an odd item to buy in bulk, but coconut oil is very expensive in

North America.

And a tiny jar of coconut oil is like $10 but a giant tub of coconut oil is like $20

at Costco and it's a really good deal when you buy it in bulk.

So I always buy coconut oil in bulk.

What about you what do you buy in bulk?

Let me know in the comments.

Dubai has historically managed to attract more tourists and wealthy foreign workers

than its neighbors in part because of his tolerance of a more liberal lifestyle, lifestyle.

So tolerance of this is the noun form of the verb tolerate, to tolerate something or even

someone.

So when you tolerate something or someone's behavior isn't usually the someone it's someone's

behavior, which is actually a something someone's behavior is a noun, it's a something.

It means you how would I say this?

I guess I would say you accept that some something even though you don't like it or approve of

it.

Let me give you an example.

My boss tolerates our casual clothes.

Remember before I was talking about scrapping the formal dress code, so my boss, you know,

he doesn't really actually like the fact we wear casual clothes, but he still allows it

he tolerates it.

So notice here, they're simply using it as a noun form because of it.

It's being Dubai because of Dubai's tolerance of a more liberal lifestyle.

So it's implying that Dubai doesn't actually like or approve of people drinking alcohol,

but they're going to allow it mainly because of tourism reasons I would imagine and notice

here we have a preposition of.

I commonly hear this with tourists tolerance towards both of them are correct.

Sometimes this happens in English, where there are just two different prepositions that are

acceptable, and both of them can be commonly used.

And I hear both of these is tolerance of is tolerance towards.

So you might say, IBM can attract workers easier because of its tolerance towards remote

work, remote work, okay, I don't know if this is true.

It's just an example.

So IBM is able to attract gain more workers.

And the reason why is because It tolerates remote work.

That's the verb form.

And the noun is because of its tolerance towards or tolerance of remote work.

So IBM doesn't actually like that people work from home, they actually want people in the

office, but it's going to accept it, even though it doesn't necessarily like it.

So that's a good one.

Remember the verb form? would be because it IBM tolerates remote work, this is the verb

form of it and you have to conjugate your verb according to the subject.

But now it faces increasing competition from rivals, developing their hospitality and finance

sectors.

All right, I don't think there's anything we need to address there.

If you have any questions about it, let me know in the comments.

And that is the end of our article.

I hope you enjoyed it found it interesting.

The most interesting part for me was probably that there are nine expats for every one person

in Dubai.

That is pretty crazy.

What did you find the most interesting about this article, feel free to share in the comments.

And now what I'll do is I will read the article from start to finish so you can focus on my

pronunciation, and you can practice your pronunciation along with mine.

So let's do that now.

Dubai scrapped 30% alcohol tax and license fee in a parent bid to boost tourism and will

also stop charging for personal alcohol licenses.

Something residents who want to drink at home must have Dubai has been relaxing laws for

some time, allowing the sale of alcohol and daylight during Ramadan and approving home

delivery during the pandemic.

This latest move is thought to be an attempt to make the city more attractive to foreigners

in the face of competition from neighbors.

The two companies which distribute alcohol in Dubai maritime and merchantile International

MMI and African and Eastern said they would reflect the cut in tax for consumers.

Since we began our operations in Dubai over 100 years ago, the Emirates approach has remained

dynamic, sensitive and inclusive for all MMI spokesman Tyrone Reid told AP these recently

updated regulations are instrumental to continue ensuring the safe and responsible purchase

and consumption of alcoholic beverages in Dubai and the UAE.

It is not clear if the move which took effect on Sunday will be permanent.

The Financial Times described the move as a one year trial, citing industry executives

informed of the decision.

expatriates outnumber nationals by nine to one in Dubai, known as the Gulf party capital

and residents commonly drive to uhm Al Quwain and other emirates to buy alcohol in bulk.

Dubai has historically managed to attract more tourists and wealthy foreign workers

than its neighbors in part because of its tolerance of a more liberal lifestyle.

But now it faces increasing competition from rivals developing their hospitality and finance

sectors.

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