Listen to News with Tara Benwell - Instructions:
1. Preview the vocabulary and read the gapfill text.
2. Play the news report and try to fill in the blanks.
3. Answer the comprehension questions by writing full sentences.
4. Use the discussion question to write an essay or discuss the story with other students.
5. Click "show Answers" to see the full text.
6. Pretend to be a news anchor by reading each story out loud.

6 comments

• Alberto says:
  

  I think governments should allow this kind of migration. Contrary to popular belief there isn´t a strong influx of the migrants and we should preserve the freedom of movement.

• Bijan says:
  

  Greetings Sir Josef,

  First, thank you so much.

  Second, I got my answer with your nice explanation very well.

  Third, my method for listening to the audio news reports is to study them carefully. Thus, I search for each word in several dictionaries and look at the sentences for finding grammar subjects that have learned them before.

  Fourth, forgive me for disturbing you and Teacher Tara. I like all of you with all my heart.

  Finally, I sincerely invite you and Teacher Tara to visit my country. My country has a lot of tourist attractions that Persepolis is one of them. In addition, I believe that I can be the best translator for you for taking to historical places of Iran.

  I hope my wish will come true soon.
  Best wishes,
  Bijan from the Persian Gulf

• Josef says:
  

  @Bijan

  a water vessel = a vessel (countable) for water (uncountable) = a boat or ship 🚢

  a water vessel is therefore countable

• Bijan says:
  

  Hi Tara,

  Sorry.

  You have said about the meaning of the word overboard “off a water vessel” while the Cambridge Dictionary says about the overboard:
  “over the side of a boat or ship and into the water.”

  I’m so sorry because I cannot get the meaning of “off a water vessel”.

  In addition, I read on English Club (nine of speech) that the word water is an uncountable noun that cannot get “a” (some water).

  Thus, I’m confused about the meaning of “off a water vessel”.

• Bijan says:
  

  Sorry.
  …what differences are there …

  Thanks again,

• Bijan says:
  

  Hi Tara,

  First, thank you for this news report.

  Second, I’m so sorry to hear about teenage migrants drowned in Yemen by smuggler.

  Third, you had talked about traffickers several weeks ago,so I wanted to know what difference are there between the traffickers and the smugglers?

  Thus, I searched for both the traffickers and the smugglers in the Cambridge Dictionary:

  Trafficker:
  “a person who trades in illegal goods, especially drugs, or who buys or sells people or makes money from the work people are forced to do, such as sex work: drug traffickers,…, Human Traffickers.”

  Smuggler:
  “someone who smuggles (to take things or people to or from a place secretly and often illegally).”

  Finally, I was confused about the differences between the traffickers and the smugglers until I found the below link:
  http://www.blueblindfold.gov.ie/website/bbf/bbfweb.nsf/page/humantrafficking-traffickingsmuggling-en

  Thanks a lot and have a great weekend,
  Bijan from the Persian Gulf