BBC News Review 格陵兰岛_特朗普与盟友发生冲突

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From BBC Learning English,
this is Learning English from the News, our podcast about the news headlines.
In this programme,
'We have to have it' -
that's what President Trump is saying about Greenland.
Hello I'm Pippa.
And I'm Phil.
In this programme we look at one big news 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,
bbclearningenglish.com.
So, let's hear more about this story.
'One way or another we're going to have Greenland' -
those are the words of US President Donald Trump,
who has said that the US will take control of Greenland.
Greenland is a large island in between the Atlantic and Arctic oceans,
which is ruled by Denmark.
Many people in Greenland feel that the territory should become independent.
At the moment it has its own government,
but Denmark controls its foreign, defence and security policy.
The territory's strategic position in the Arctic has led
to previous attempts by the US to purchase it.
The US military currently has a base on the island,
and President Trump has stated concerns
that the territory could be taken over by Russia or China.
These fears have been dismissed by Denmark.
These latest comments by President Trump have led to criticism
from many European countries, who have said that they will support
Denmark's attempt to keep the territory as part of the Kingdom of Denmark.
President Trump has responded to these criticisms
by threatening to impose taxes on imports, otherwise known as tariffs,
on a number of European countries who are allies of the US.
Let's have our first headline.
This is from the Financial Times, a British financial newspaper.
Greenland is ground zero for Arctic
'Great Game'.
That headline again from the Financial Times.
Greenland is ground zero for Arctic
'Great Game'.
This headline is about the importance of Greenland
to powerful countries such as the US, Russia and China.
The 'Great game' means the competition between powerful countries.
However, we're going to land the expression ground zero.
The original literal meaning of the expression is the location
directly under a large explosion, especially a nuclear explosion.
It's also often been used to refer to the location of the terrorist attack
on New York's World Trade Centre in September 2001.
Ground zero is also used to talk about the areas
of most damage caused by natural disasters.
For example, we can talk about the ground zero of hurricane damage.
As a metaphor,
we can use ground zero to talk
about where something important begins to happen.
Greenland could be the start of a bigger dispute or conflict.
We've had ground zero,
the location where something important starts happening.
For example, this street is ground zero for the city's latest crime wave.
It all started here.
This is Learning English
from the News, our podcast about the news headlines.
We're talking about President Trump's comments
about taking control of Greenland.
President Trump has said that the US needs to control Greenland to stop
Russia or China taking control of the island.
The United States and Denmark are both Nato countries.
Nato is a military alliance that was formed during the Cold War
to protect European countries from the Soviet Union.
It's been suggested that conflict between Nato allies could lead
to the end of the alliance.
And that's what our next headline is about.
This headline is from CNN, an American news organisation.
Why Trump's split with Europe over Greenland
is a double edged sword for Russia.
That headline again from CNN, an American news organisation.
Why Trump's split with Europe over Greenland is a double edged sword
for Russia.
We're going to learn the expression a double edged sword.
This is a metaphor used to describe a situation that has
both positive and negative consequences for someone.
This article talks about how,
on the one hand, Russia is likely to see the split between the US
and its Nato allies as something positive.
The article then says that,
on the other hand, Russia will see greater American influence in the Arctic
as something negative.
We often use double edged sword for things that appear positive at first,
but turn out to also have negative consequences.
The spread of AI could be seen as a double edged sword.
On the one hand, it can make some tasks much easier for us.
But on the other hand, many things produced by AI are of low quality.
A different policy or approach to doing something
could also turn out to be a double edged sword.
A new job that pays you more
but is much more stressful could be a double edged sword.
We've had double edged sword,
something that has both positive and negative consequences.
For example, having a pool is a double edged sword.
It's great fun to swim in, but you have to clean it every day.
This is Learning English from the News, our podcast about the news headlines.
Today, we've been talking
about Donald Trump's intention to have control over Greenland.
Following President Trump's comments about taking control of Greenland,
a number of European countries have stated their opposition
and also sent small numbers of troops to the territory.
In response, Trump has threatened to impose
increased trade tariffs, taxes paid on products imported into the US.
And here's our next headline.
This is from CNBC, an American business news organisation.
Greenland PM issues defiant rebuke over Trump's tariff threats:
'We will not be pressured'.
That headline again from CNBC.
Greenland PM issues defiant rebuke over Trump's tariff threats:
'We will not be pressured'.
This headline is saying
that the Prime Minister of Greenland, Jens-Frederik Nielsen,
has said that his government will not give in to pressure from the US.
We're going to learn the word rebuke.
A rebuke is a strong criticism.
The author of this headline is saying
that Nielsen is strongly criticising Trump.
Rebuke is quite a formal word.
It's often seen in reports on criticism by and of politicians,
but is less common in everyday speech.
While the word is formal, the act of rebuking someone isn't necessarily.
It can just mean strongly disagreeing or disapproving.
Here, rebuke is a noun,
but it can also be used as a verb to rebuke someone.
We've had rebuke, a strong criticism.
For example, the manager rebuked her staff
after their behaviour at the party.
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 practise what you've learned,
go to our website to see more example sentences and try our free worksheet.
That's bbclearningenglish.com.
And don't forget to follow us on social media.
Find us @bbclearningenglish.
Bye for now. Bye.
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