Today on English @ the Movies we talk about the saying "power nap" from the movie "The Boss Baby." This is a funny cartoon movie about a boy who gets a new baby brother-- who looks, and sounds, like a little man. Check out the video, take the quiz and see if you know what "power nap" means!
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Friday, March 24, 2017
South Korean Businesses, Culture Face Backlash in China
China is South Korea’s biggest trading partner and many Chinese are big fans of Korean pop culture. But Korean businesses say they are suffering because of a dispute over a missile defense system located in South Korea. American forces have already begun deploying some parts of the anti-missile system, known as THAAD. U.S. and South Korean officials say the system is needed as a “defensive measure” to counter the threat of missile attacks from North Korea. But China has repeatedly spoken out against THAAD, saying the U.S. could use the system’s radar technology to monitor Chinese military activity. For months, Chinese state-run media have called for a boycott of South Korean products over the THAAD deployment. Many South Korean companies and media stars say they have lost business over the dispute. Among industries suffering economic losses is South Korean entertainment exported to China. Several “K-pop” music stars were forced to cancel planned concerts in China because of visa issues. Some popular South Korean television shows have also reportedly disappeared. Chinese and South Korean experts see the entertainment industry as intentionally targeted due to Beijing’s opposition to the THAAD system. Adam Jourdan is a correspondent for Reuters news agency who covers China. He says the popularity of K-pop music and South Korean shows makes them an easier target. “It’s an obvious target for a crackdown on Seoul and on South Korea’s economy because China is one of the biggest importers of South Korean cultural imports.” Did China sanction South Korean businesses? China has denied that economic restrictions have been placed on South Korean companies because of the anti-missile system dispute. But there are other examples of businesses suffering due to an economic backlash over THAAD. One of them is international supermarket chain Lotte Group. The company agreed to sell land to South Korea’s military so it could deploy THAAD to the area. A few days after the agreement was signed, Lotte suffered a cyberattack that took down its shopping websites for several hours. In addition, dozens of Lotte Mart stores were recently ordered shut for a month in China after officials conducted surprise inspections. The Chinese government-run newspaper, Global Times, recently wrote an opinion article in support of economic sanctions on Lotte and other South Korean companies. “While the Lotte Group provided the land to US military deployment at the expense of China's security interests, it should not be allowed to benefit from the Chinese market,” the newspaper wrote. It added that a Chinese "boycott” would also greatly harm South Korea's tourism industry. According to the Associated Press, China told South Korean travel agencies to stop selling tour packages to South Korea. Instead, Chinese visitors should seek visas themselves. South Korean airlines also cut flights to and from China as demand dropped. Adam Jourdan said such unofficial sanctions are a clear attempt by Beijing to keep up pressure on Seoul on the THAAD issue. “By targeting this area, it’s sending a clear and very visible message to South Korea, you know - back off from the anti-missile system, or we are going to continue to spread this crackdown on your stars.” South Korea said it has brought the issue to the World Trade Organization for possible action against China’s alleged retaliation against South Korean companies. Anti-China sentiment in South Korea Meanwhile, a new opinion survey shows growing anti-China sentiment in South Korea following the economic reaction to THAAD. Results of the survey were released by the Asan Institute for Policy Studies in Seoul. The survey saw China’s favorability rating in South Korea fall to 3.21 on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the highest rating. “Interestingly it was lower than that of Japan, which was 3.33,” said Kim Ji-yoon, a research fellow and co-author of the study. In past surveys, Japan has consistently ranked lower than China due to continued anger in South Korea over atrocities committed during Japanese colonization of the Korean Peninsula. South Korean opposition to THAAD also dropped from 46 percent in November to 38 percent in March. Kim said the study found that even THAAD opponents now have a lower opinion of the Chinese. “Regardless of your attitude of opinion toward THAAD deployment on the Korean Peninsula, China has lost a lot of popularity among the Korean public.” The United States – South Korea’s closest military ally – received the highest favorability opinion, at 5.71. Not surprisingly, North Korea finished last in the survey, with a rating of 2.17. I’m Bryan Lynn. Bryan Lynn wrote this story for VOA Learning English, based on reports from VOA News, the Associated Press, Reuters and other sources. Hai Do was the editor. We want to hear from you. What do you think about South Korean pop culture in China being affected by this political dispute? Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page. ________________________________________________________________ Words in This Story obvious – adj. easy to understand or see crackdown - n. an increased effort to enforce a law or rule backlash – n. strong public reaction to something cyberattack – n. an attack on computers or computer systems sanction – n. an action that is taken or an order that is given to force a country to obey international laws boycott - n. organized effort in which people refuse to buy, use or do something they do not agree with sentiment – n. attitude or opinion atrocity – n. very cruel, violent or terrible action
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Thursday, March 23, 2017
Infinitives in Everyday Speech
Imagine you are in an American city. While standing along the street, you hear someone asking for directions. "What's the best way to get to the airport?" "Continue straight and take the second right. It will only take about five minutes." "Thanks! I'm running late - I hope I can find a place to park. Take care! "Bye!" Our report today is not about asking for traffic directions. Instead, it is about another useful subject: infinitives in everyday speech. In this Everyday Grammar, we are going to explore infinitives and the words that they often modify. What are infinitives? An infinitive is the base form of the verb. Sometimes the word to appears before the base form. The word serves as a sign of the infinitive. Unlike other verbs, infinitives do not have a tense, something to express time or the length of an action. Infinitives can act as adjectives. In other words, they can describe or provide more information about a noun. English has many possible noun and infinitive combinations. You would never be able to memorize all of them! However, the good news is this: in everyday speech, only a few nouns are generally modified by infinitives. #1 Objects – thing, stuff, a lot Nouns that suggest objects are often modified by infinitives. The three most common examples are the nouns thing, stuff, and a lot. All three words are inexact, so English speakers often need to use adjective phrases to clarify their meaning. Here is an example. Imagine you hear someone say unkind words. You could say to them, "That wasn't a nice thing to say." The infinitive to say gives more information about the noun thing. The infinitive is acting as an adjective. It helps to define the word thing. In this situation, thing means hurtful words. The word stuff is also unclear. Here's an example. Imagine you are invited to a party. After inviting you, your friend might say this: "Oh! I forgot to tell you – it would be great if you brought stuff to snack on." Here, the infinitive to snack on tells us about the noun stuff. If the sentence ended with stuff, the meaning might not be clear to the listener. But by adding the infinitive, the meaning becomes clear: your friend is talking about food! When taking leave of a friend, you might say "Sorry, I have to go now. I have got a lot to do!" #2 Time, place, way Three other nouns are commonly modified by infinitives in everyday speech. They are the words time, place and way. Time and place have a clearer meaning than some of the other nouns we have discussed. Most American parents have probably told their children, "It's time to go to bed." Many tired, hungry travelers have probably said, "This looks like a great place to eat!" The word way, meaning the method in which something is done, is often used when asking questions or giving advice. So a student might ask a teacher, "Is there a better way to write this sentence?" Unstated and Stated Subjects You might notice that there is something missing from our examples. One feature of adjectival infinitives – the technical term for today's program – is that the subject is not stated. The subject is understood; it is the object in a prepositional phrase. This information comes from Martha Kolln, an expert on English grammar. Consider our earlier example: "That wasn't a nice thing to say." The understood, or unstated subject, is the word you. You is the object of an understood prepositional phrase, for you. The entire sentence, if it had all of these elements, would read: "That wasn't a nice thing [for you] to say." Our other example, ""This seems like a great place to eat!" could become "This seems like a great place [for me/for us] to eat!" Now you can understand why native speakers sometimes do not always state the subject. It makes the sentence longer, and it might not add much information. Infinitives in conversations Think back to the exchange you heard at the beginning of this program. "What's the best way to get to the airport?" "Continue straight and take the second right. It will only take about five minutes." Thanks! I'm running late - I hope I can find a place to park!. Take care! "Bye!" You will recognize that two of the nouns we discussed, way and place, were modified by infinitives. The first speaker said, "What's the best way to get to the airport?" The speaker could have said "What's the best way [for me] to get to the airport?" But as you have heard, English speakers will leave out the subject when the meaning is clear. What can you do? The nouns and infinitives we have studied today can be used in almost any situation, with the exception of stuff. While it would be acceptable to use stuff when talking to friends or family, you would not use it when speaking with someone important, especially if you did not know the person well. Stuff is not an offensive word, but it is an informal one. The next time you are reading, watching, or listening to something in English, try to notice the noun + infinitive structures we have discussed today. Ask yourself how speakers use these structures in different situations. Try using these structures whenever you get the chance. Remember: practice is the best way to improve. And now it's time to take a break. Until next week! I'm John Russell. And I'm Alice Bryant. John Russell wrote this story for Learning English. George Grow was the editor. We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section. *Conrad, Susan and Biber, Douglas. Real Grammar: A Corpus-Based Approach to English. Pearson Education, 2009. Pg. 130 ________________________________________________________________ Words in This Story infinitive – n. grammar the basic form of a verb conversation – n. a spoken exchange involving two people or a small group of people modify – v. grammar: to limit or describe the meaning of (a word or group of words) tense – n. grammar a form of a verb that is used to show when an action happened imprecise – n. not clear or exact phrase – n. a group of two or more words that express a single idea but do not usually form a complete sentence stuff – n. materials or things feature – n. the structure, form or appearance of something; a quality grammar – n. the study of words and their uses in sentences informal – adj. lacking ceremony; of or related to familiar use
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Some Canadians Disapprove of Migrants Crossing from US
A new public opinion study shows many Canadians are unhappy about people entering Canada illegally from the United States. Such border-crossers are mostly people from the Middle East and Africa. Some say they traveled to Canada because they were afraid the U.S. government would return them to their home countries. News services report that the number of refugees entering Canada rose sharply in the first two months of 2017. In January and February, Canadian police caught over 1,000 people crossing into Canada without permission. In all of 2016, that number was just over 2,000. So far this year, about 5,500 people have requested Canada accept them as refugees. Only 20 percent of them have been stopped at the border. If the trend continues, more than 30,000 people will attempt to get refugee status in Canada this year. That would be 40 percent more than last year. Due to the surge of refugees, the Reuters news agency asked Canadians what they think of people who come into Canada without permission. The study found that many Canadians think the country will not be as safe as in the past if the foreigners are permitted to stay. About 1,000 people were questioned. Almost half said the migrants should be returned to the U.S. About the same number said they did not agree with the way Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is dealing with the issue. About 400 people said they thought migrants coming into Canada from the U.S. would make the country less safe. Last month, Reuters went to the small central border town of Emerson, Manitoba. The U.S. states of Minnesota and North Dakota are south of the town. Jamie French lives in Emerson. She says last month, a group of 16 migrants came to the door of her house early in the morning. She said she was frightened. Emerson’s emergency coordinator said none of the migrants have caused any trouble, so far. Some, however, have needed medical treatment after spending hours outside in freezing temperatures. The increasing numbers of people crossing into Canada can be costly for these border towns. For example, it costs Emerson $500 every time police call firefighters to help treat the health problems of migrants. Jacqueline Reimer runs a restaurant in Emerson. She has fed some of the migrants for free. She says she wants them to feel welcome. But she also says she wonders why the Canadian government does not do more to help Canada’s homeless citizens. Some Canadians also expressed worry that even larger number of people will try to cross the border as the weather warms. I’m Kelly Jean Kelly. Dan Friedell wrote this story for Learning English based on reporting by Reuters and the Associated Press. Caty Weaver was the editor. What do you think of migrants crossing into Canada? We want to know. Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page. _____________________________________________________________ Words in This Story trend – n. a general direction of change : a way of behaving, proceeding, etc., that is developing and becoming more common status - n. the position of a person or thing according to the law migrant – n. a person who goes from one place to another, especially to find work coordinator – n. a person who organizes people or groups so that they work together properly and well
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One of the World’s Oldest Steam Engine Train Running Again
One of the world's oldest steam engine train is back on track after being repaired in India.
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News Words: Hack
This week's news word is hack. Hack has many meanings. Learn of two meanings in our report with Jonathan Evans and Anne Ball.
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Iguana Becomes Star of Tennis Match in Miami
This is What’s Trending Today. A first-round tennis match at the Miami Open in Florida was delayed on Wednesday due to a surprise visitor. Jiri Vesely from the Czech Republic was playing against Tommy Haas of Germany when he noticed an iguana. The large lizard seemed to enjoy his view from the top of the scoreboard at courtside. Vesely asked the umpire to stop play and try to remove the iguana. The umpire told Vesely he would not stop the match unless the iguana ran onto the playing surface. He said “If it’s like that, on the scoreboard, I don’t think it’s going to bother you, Jiri.” Vesely disagreed. The umpire said: “forget about it, it’s not a dangerous animal.” During their conversation, Haas, a former second-ranked player in the world, went over to the iguana and took a selfie. The fans cheered. The television commentator said: “you do not see this very often.” Haas received a lot of comments about his photo on Instagram. One person wrote: “Man, I’m going to hate it when you are truly done playing.” The iguana did become a distraction, after all. People who work at the tennis stadium tried to catch the iguana by the tail, and by throwing a towel over it, but that did not work. The iguana ran across the court to the other side, and climbed onto the scoreboard. “It’s scampering everywhere,” said the commentator. “You don’t expect to see this!” he added. Everyone kept laughing and cheering. The iguana was finally captured and taken outside the stadium. Vesely recovered from the distraction and won the match. The 38-year-old Haas said maybe the iguana got the message that it might be the last time he would be playing in the Miami Open. “He wanted to say ‘hi’ and take a peek or something,” Haas said. And that’s What’s Trending Today. I’m Dan Friedell. Dan Friedell wrote this story for Learning English based on reports by Tennis TV and The Telegraph. Hai Do was the editor. What do you think of the iguana’s appearance? We want to know. Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page. ________________________________________________________________ Words in This Story umpire – n. a person who controls play and makes sure that players act according to the rules in a sports event distraction – n. something that makes it difficult to think or pay attention selfie – n. a picture that you take of yourself especially by using the camera on your smartphone scamper – v. to run or move quickly and often playfully peek – v. to look at someone or something secretly especially from a hidden place
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March 23, 2017
A look at the best news photos from around the world.
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