BBC News Report Apr 2015 with transcript video

May 102015

Breaking News: The British Prime Minister David Cameron has called a general election. Has called is an example of present perfect. You’ll see and hear it a lot in breaking news.

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Following months of unofficial campaigning the UK General Election has begun in earnest.

Parliament has been dissolved and the candidates have started hitting the campaign trail in their attempts to win the hearts, minds and votes of the people of Britain.

The issues that are likely to dominate the campaign in the run-up to the election on 7^th May include the economy and spending cuts, Britain’s membership of the European Union, the future of the National Health Service and immigration.

The incumbent Conservative prime minister, David Cameron, has said he wants to complete the job of “turning the country around,” and that he would offer the “strong leadership” that was needed. The Conservatives have also pledged that there will be a referendum on Britain’s European Union membership.

Labour leader Ed Miliband said the Conservatives’ policy towards the European Union was bad for business. He has outlined his party’s business manifesto, which includes a promise to “return Britain to a leadership role” in Brussels.

Deputy Prime Minister and Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg has commented that his party would occupy the “reasoned centre ground” during the campaign. He has said that on the issue of Europe there was a real danger of British politics being pulled to the right and the left.

Many commentators believe there is currently no firm favourite to win the election. It is a distinct possibility that there will be another coalition government. This could mean that some of the smaller parties, such as the Green Party, UKIP and Scottish National Party could be vital in determining the final balance of power.

campaigning
making promises or commitments to do certain things as a politician

in earnest
seriously, officially

dissolved
formally ended

candidates
individuals who want to be the political representatives for particular areas in the country

hitting the campaign trail
beginning the process of travelling around trying to persuade people to vote for them

incumbent
person who currently holds a particular elected position

Conservative
one of the political parties of the UK

pledged
promised

a referendum
a public vote on a single political issue

Labour
one of the political parties of the UK

manifesto
document which contains the aims and plans of a political party

Brussels
the European Union

Liberal Democrat
one of the political parties of the UK

coalition
government formed with more than one political party

Job interviews: Job interviews can be one of the most stressful things in life. There are many different ways to prepare to make sure you’ve done everything to sell yourself and prove you’re the one for the job.
But there are some things that you should definitely not do – like lie!

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A job interview is one of the most stressful situations we can put ourselves in. We have only a short amount of time to sell ourselves, to prove that we are worthy of the job being offered.

There are many ways to prepare for an interview and different strategies for coping with the interview itself. However, there are some pitfalls that every interviewee should try to avoid.

Don’t lie! Everyone exaggerates on their CV, don’t they? Well, that’s fine unless you get caught out. That shows the interviewer that you are dishonest. Probably not one of the character traits they’re looking for.

Find out about the company you are applying for. That means more than a quick internet search. It’s easy to come up with a few superficial things but a wily interviewer is likely to see through the veneer if you really know nothing about the company. The only sure solution is to prepare thoroughly.

Be presentable. This means more than just wearing appropriate clothes. As well as dress, there’s body language, the way you shake hands, the way you sit, the tone and pitch of your voice. Every mannerism is scrutinised.

However, not every aspect of the interview can be prepared for. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg says there’s just one test he uses for potential employees.

He would only hire someone he himself would want to work for.

So far, it seems the test has served the billionaire entrepreneur well.

He employed Sheryl Sandberg as his chief operating officer and now considers her a mentor.

Facebook has more than a billion users but its workforce is relatively small, with fewer than 10,000 people employed by the company.

Zuckerberg says the most important thing when looking for a job is to “just have faith in yourself and trust yourself”.

pitfalls
possible problems that can be anticipated

caught out
discovered doing something wrong

character traits
elements of your personality

anarchic
without rules, order, or control

superficial
simple, not very detailed

wily
smart, intelligent

to see through the veneer
to realise easily that your knowledge is not very detailed

mannerism
someone’s individual way of speaking or moving

scrutinised
examined on close detail

entrepreneur
someone who starts their own businesses

mentor
someone who gives advice, support and encouragement; a role-model

workforce
all the people who work for a company

The future of travel?: How bad is the traffic where you live? Well, if you’re fed up with sitting in cars, buses or trains with thousands of other people, perhaps taking to the sky is the answer!
A company in New Zealand is building a one-person pack that will let you fly to school, college or work. It will be on sale from 2016.

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Are you fed up of endless traffic jams and overcrowded trains? Then how about travelling to school, university or work in your own jetpack?

A company in New Zealand is building a one-person jetpack that will go on sale in 2016.

It’s designed to be used by emergency services but the chief executive of the company believes that it won’t be long before it’ll be available for everyday transport.

Realistically though, personal flight is likely to remain elusive for most of us.

Across the world, with populations growing, congestion, pollution and travel stress look likely to rise.

Major cities are approaching this challenge in different ways. Some are spending money on big infrastructure projects. Others see the future lying in greener transport alternatives such as electric and hydrogen-powered vehicles.

Cities like Copenhagen, Paris, Madrid, Barcelona and Mexico have rolled out electric bike-sharing schemes.

But the really big change lies not in the type of transport but how we use it. According to some experts in 10 or 20 years the types of transport may not be that different, we will still have buses, tubes and trains, but everything will be integrated.

We’ll simply decide where we want to go and an app will work out the fastest and cheapest way to get there.

It’ll give you choices based on its knowledge about you, the traffic situation and even the weather. For example it might calculate that it’s a nice day, there is congestion on your normal route so it will book you an e-bike or an automated taxi.

fed up of
tired of, bored of

overcrowded
where there are too many people

jetpack
a machine you wear which has a powerful engine that enables you to fly

elusive
very difficult or impossible to get

congestion
the situation when there is so much traffic and too many people that it is difficult to move around

infrastructure
projects plans to build railways lines, roads, bridges etc.

greener transport
alternatives ways of travelling that cause less pollution

rolled out
introduced

integrated
designed to work together smoothly

Health stories: Do carrots help you see in the dark? Can vitamins cure a cold? And does too much sugar make children go crazy?
These are just some of the ideas about health that are believed by large numbers of people. But are they true?

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The world of health is full of old wives’ tales.

Over the years many of these have been debunked as our knowledge of the world has developed. Some still persist though and may even contain a modicum of truth.

Take Vitamin C, for example. It used to be said that taking regular doses could ward off colds.

Recent research has shown though that for most people, taking vitamin C does nothing to prevent us from catching a cold.

There is some evidence that it might slightly shorten the length of time we feel under the weather when we have a cold, but this is not conclusive.

Another myth that used to be popular was that eating carrots could help you see better at night.

This one does have some basis in fact. Carrots are a good source of Vitamin A, which is essential for healthy night vision.

However, increasing your carrot consumption won’t give you exceptional vision at night. It only has an effect if you have a Vitamin A deficiency to start with. Night vision can only improve to the level of a healthy person.

Another popularly held belief is that giving children sugary drinks and snacks makes them hyperactive. This might seem common sense when you look at the behaviour of children at parties, for example.

However, the way our bodies process sugar does not result in excess energy that has to be worked off. Children get hyperactive because they are children and get excited. Sugar-filled treats might fuel their activity, but it doesn’t cause it.

debunked
proved to be untrue

a modicum of
a small amount of

ward off
fight off, protect against

under the weather
unwell, ill

conclusive
proven beyond doubt

myth
old story that people believe to be true, but isn’t

consumption
eating

exceptional
excellent, super

deficiency
medical condition of not having enough of something that the body needs, such as vitamins or minerals

popularly held belief
something that a lot of people think is true

snacks
small items of food eaten between meals or at parties, for example

hyperactive
very energetic and unable to concentrate or sit still

treats
(here) food that is nice to eat but not usually very healthy

Surviving the tsunami: Over 230,000 people lost their lives in the Asian tsunami of 2004. But there were also stories of incredible survival. In this News Report we hear about a woman called Kay Howells who was on holiday in Thailand when the disaster struck.