BBC Learning English – Words in the News / British sea power

Transcript

Six of the world’s first tidal lagoon power stations could be built on this bit of British coastline.

Plans have been announced to construct a number of giant man-made lakes which will trap incoming and outgoing tides.

The stations will harness the weight of the water to generate power.

Together they could make eight per cent of the UK’s electricity.

 

Vocabulary

lagoon
an area of sea water separated from the sea by rocks, sand or a man-made barrier

incoming
moving towards

outgoing
leaving/moving away

harness
control something so you can use its power

generate
(here) make energy for

 

To do 

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.

lagoon/incoming/outgoing/harness/generate

1. Bacteria living in our guts seem to be affecting our waistlines and ________ them could lead to new ways of shedding the pounds, US research suggests.

2. In October, the country began enforcing strict travel restrictions on ________ tourists including a 21-day quarantine.

3. Plans for the attraction include a seashore with ammonites and Jurassic oysters that lived in the tropical seas, ________ and beaches with fossils, interactive displays and robot swimming plesiosaurs in an aquarium.

4. The ________ Namibian President Hifikepunye Pohamba has won the world’s most valuable individual award, the Mo Ibrahim prize for African leadership.

5. In the Middle East and parts of Central and South America, oil is in direct competition with renewables to ________ electricity, so solar power in particular will suffer at the hands of cheap oil.

Answers

1. Bacteria living in our guts seem to be affecting our waistlines and harnessing them could lead to new ways of shedding the pounds, US research suggests.

See story

2. In October, the country began enforcing strict travel restrictions on incoming tourists including a 21-day quarantine.

See story 

3. Plans for the attraction include a seashore with ammonites and Jurassic oysters that lived in the tropical seas, lagoons and beaches with fossils, interactive displays and robot swimming plesiosaurs in an aquarium.

See story 

4. The outgoing Namibian President Hifikepunye Pohamba has won the world’s most valuable individual award, the Mo Ibrahim prize for African leadership.

See story

5. In the Middle East and parts of Central and South America, oil is in direct competition with renewables to generate electricity, so solar power in particular will suffer at the hands of cheap oil.

See story 

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