BBC News Review 现代史上最快的冰川融化

From BBC. Learning English. This

is Learning English from the news.

I'll podcast about the news headlines in

this program, fastest glassier melt in modern history.

Hello, I'm Beth, and

I'm Georgie. In this program, we look at one big new story and the vocabulary in the headlines that will help you understand it.

You can find all the vocabulary and headlines from this episode, as well as a worksheet, on our website, bbc learning english dot com.

Okay, so let's learn about this story.

An Antarctic glacier named Hectoria shrunk by nearly 50% in just two months.

Three years ago, according to a new study, this was the fastest eglacier has retreated that scientists have recorded in modern history.

Retreated means melted and got smaller.

Hectoria is a type of glacier which rests on the sea bed and doesn't float.

Glaciers like this generally retreats only a few hundred meters a year.

But between November and december 2022, victoria retreated by 8 km.

According to the study, scientists are concerned, because if more glaciers like this shrink as quickly, there could be a much faster rise in sea level.

And our 1st headline is about the glacier shrinking.

This is from New Scientist, a Scientific magazine, antarctic glacier's alarming Retreat is the fastest ever seen.

And that headline, again, from New Scientist, A scientific magazine Antarctic Glaciers Alarming retreat is the fastest ever seen.

So this headline says, the glacier is retreating again.

That means melting and moving backwards faster than ever before.

We're looking at the word alarming.

Is this related to alarm? By any chance?

Beth, it is. Yep. So, georgie, if you think about a fire alarm or a burglar alarm, they warn you about danger.

Now, the adjective alarming is used here, and it means that something is causing fear or serious worry.

Yes, so in this headline, the glassier retreating is happening so quickly that scientists find it worrying or alarming.

And alarming has this sense of danger and urgency, so it's often used in serious situations like this.

Whether is concern You might see a headline about an alarming rise in temperatures or crime levels could be alarming if they keep increasing.

We've had alarming cause fear and worry, e.g.

the nurse called for help when the patient had an alarming drop in blood pressure.

This is learning English from the news.

Our podcast about the news headlines today, we're talking about an Antarctic glacier that has retreated very quickly.

This glacier, hectoria, was small, but scientists say that if this speed of melting happens in other areas of Antarctica, it could speed up sea level rise.

Climate change is making the loss of ice shelves.

Those are the big areas of ice that you see in the Antarctic and Arctic regions much more likely.

And our next headline is about the relationship between the glassier melting and rising sea levels.

This comes from CNN, which is an American news broadcaster.

Antarctic Glacier saw the fastest retreats in modern history.

It could spell trouble for sea levels, report finds.

And that headline again, antarctic Glacier saw the fastest retreat in modern history.

It could spell trouble for sea levels, report finds, and that is from CNN in the United States.

This headline is about what melting glaciers could mean for the planet.

We're focusing on this phrase Spell trouble.

Now, I can spell trouble, T-R-O-U-B-L-E.

Well done. You can that Georgie.

That is literal. And this headline is metaphorical.

When something spells trouble, it means it will lead to problems in the future.

So we use it to predict a negative result.

So in this story, scientists are warning that the glassy is very quick retreat could cause a rise in sea levels, which would be a very serious problem, especially for coastal areas.

Exactly spell trouble is quite dramatic.

It suggests there is danger or bad news coming.

So, e.g. falling sales. Could spell trouble for a shop?

Yes. And we can change the word trouble to other nouns, like disaster, change, or maybe the end of something spell in this context, means to cause something to happen.

Yes. So another example could be a new manager could spell change for the structure of a company.

We've had spell trouble cause trouble.

E.g. a new supermarket could spell trouble for smaller local shops.

This is learning English from the news.

Our podcast about the news headlines.

Today, we're talking about the fastest retreating

glacier in modern history. Now, at 1st, scientists say there was no obvious cause as to why this glacier retreated so quickly.

But researchers on this new study say they have now found out why it happened.

It's a complicated scientific process that scientists say has never been seen in the modern world, although other researchers have questions the study's findings.

Our next headline comes from an article about this.

It's from BBC news Antarctic Glaciers Rapid retreat Sparks Scientific Who done it?

And that had learned again from BBC News Antarctic Glaciers Rapid retreat sparks Scientific Who done it?

Okay, so this headline describes how scientists have been trying to understand why the glacier melted so quickly.

We're focusing on who done it.

And Georgie this makes me think of a mystery well, but that's where it comes from.

Who done it is an informal noun, which comes from the question, who has done it?

It's most commonly seen in crime or detective stories, whether question would be, who committed the crime?

Okay, so why is it being used here?

So in the headline, who Done It is a quote The scientists described the investigation as a Who done it?

It was used metaphorically to mean they are investigating the mystery of the glassier melting so quickly.

And just like detectives, they're looking for clues by gathering evidence.

Now, we should say that in this case, nobody has done it.

We're not looking for a person here, but using who done it is quite a dramatic way of encouraging the audience to read the news article.

We can use Who done it in other non crime situations, but there always needs to be a mystery that needs solving, e.g., the Missing cake created an office.

Who done it? We've had Who done it?

A story about a mystery or crime, e.g., when money went missing from the business accounts, it turned into a Who done it?

That's it for this episode of Learning English from the news.

We'll be back next week with another news story.

And if you want to practice what you've learned, go to our website to see more example sentences and try our free worksheet.

And don't forget to follow us on social media.

Find us at BBC, learning English.

Good Bye for now. Good Bye.

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