BBC Learning English Video Words in the News

1January 2014

Death of a traditional craft

Transcript: The ancient Afghan art of silk making. The craft has been handed down through generations but is now under threat. Demand for the delicate material has been falling for decades. Undercut by cheap imports, it's too expensive for ordinary Afghans. And the tourists haven't returned since the bloody civil war. Silk producers want investment and regulations to cut smuggling, which they say is ruining the industry.

Vocabulary: silk soft cloth produced from the thread of a type of worm handed down passed from one generation to the next under threat in danger undercut negatively affected by a competitor selling the same product at a lower price smuggling taking a product from one place to another illegally

Watch the video online: Death of a traditional craft http://bbc.in/1elXyte

Video Words in the News bbclearningenglish.com

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Exercise: Use one of the words or phrases below to complete each of these sentences from news reports. Note that you may have to change the form of a word to complete the sentence correctly. silk / handed down / under threat / undercut / smuggling

1.

Iraq has the world's third largest reserves of crude oil but attacks, corruption and _________ have crippled exports.

2.

More than 700 jobs are _________ in three tax offices in north-west England, the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union has said.

3.

Since a Chinese empress supposedly dropped a cocoon into her hot tea and started to tease out the single thread of _________ that came loose, the smoothest of luxury materials has provided a status symbol for the rich and powerful.

4. 5.

The book has been _________ through his family over the generations. Companies that think they can _________ competitors by employing illegal workers should be warned that they will face heavy fines and possible prosecution.

Video Words in the News bbclearningenglish.com

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Answers:

1. Iraq has the world's third largest reserves of crude oil but attacks, corruption and smuggling have crippled exports. Source: Iraq profile http://bbc.in/1djVJhX 2. More than 700 jobs are under threat in three tax offices in north-west England, the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union has said. Source: More than 700 tax jobs in Bootle, Preston and Salford' at risk' http://bbc.in/1cBFlt3

3. Since a Chinese empress supposedly dropped a cocoon into her hot tea and started to tease out the single thread of silk that came loose, the smoothest of luxury materials has provided a status symbol for the rich and powerful. Source: How a northern town became a silk powerhouse http://bbc.in/1ipuTZz 4. The book has been handed down through his family over the generations. Source: Book of soldiers' stories from World Wae One uncovered http://bbc.in/1eQbgcw 5. Companies that think they can undercut competitors by employing illegal workers should be warned that they will face heavy fines and possible prosecution. Source: Belfast New Century Takeaway employed four illegal workers http://bbc.in/1cPn0dB

Video Words in the News bbclearningenglish.com

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