BBC Learning English – Words in the News / Grass phone

Transcript

Do you want your mobile phone to stand out from the crowd?

Well, here’s a device that looks cool and is truly green – that’s because some of it is made out of grass.

Its case and internal components are made entirely from recycled, organic materials.

It’s hoped in the future this sustainable phone can be mass-produced – helping to reduce the number of mobiles that don’t get recycled.

Vocabulary

to stand out from the crowd
to be different from everything else

device
piece of equipment used for a certain purpose

internal components
parts inside a piece of equipment that make it work

organic
coming from living things, not from chemicals

sustainable
not harming the environment, therefore able to continue for a long time

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.

to stand out from the crowd / device / internal components / organic / sustainable

1. The piano is now back to professional recording standard, with all of its __________ – including soundboard, keys, hammers, pins and strings – restored.

2. Dubai now has just over five years to build what it calls “a monument to the green economy, a landmark in __________ development”, when it hosts Expo 2020.

3. Visiting a big technology show such as Berlin’s IFA is an exhausting experience. Actually, despite the mayhem, it is worth coming because there are always a few products which __________ and give a hint of where technology is heading.

4. The culinary difference between bushmeat and farmed animals in Sierra Leone is like the difference in Europe between expensive, __________ sirloin steak and tasteless frozen battery chicken.

5. Children are also now multi-screening – using more than one __________ at the same time, for example, watching TV while surfing the internet on a tablet or mobile so some of the screen time will be concurrent.

Answers

1. The piano is now back to professional recording standard, with all of its internal components – including soundboard, keys, hammers, pins and strings – restored.

See story

2. Dubai now has just over five years to build what it calls “a monument to the green economy, a landmark in sustainable development”, when it hosts Expo 2020.

See story

3. Visiting a big technology show such as Berlin’s IFA is an exhausting experience. Actually, despite the mayhem, it is worth coming because there are always a few products which stand out from the crowd and give a hint of where technology is heading.

See story

4. The culinary difference between bushmeat and farmed animals in Sierra Leone is like the difference in Europe between expensive, organic sirloin steak and tasteless frozen battery chicken.

See story

5. Children are also now multi-screening – using more than one device at the same time, for example, watching TV while surfing the internet on a tablet or mobile so some of the screen time will be concurrent.

See story

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