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  • With the COP26 Climate Conference just around the corner,

  • Prince William has created and held the first ever 'Earthshot Prize',

  • which awards innovation in the attempt to tackle climate change.

  • This is News Review from BBC Learning English.

  • I'm Neil and with me is Roy. Hello Roy.

  • Hello Neil and hello everybody.

  • If you would like to test yourself on the vocabulary around this story,

  • all you need to do is head to our website

  • bbclearningenglish.com to take a quiz.

  • But now, let's hear more about this story from this BBC News report:

  • So, the Earthshot Prize was created by Prince William

  • and awards those who come up with creative solutions

  • to deal with climate change.

  • Each of the winners receive £1 million

  • to help them build on their initial ideas

  • and the ceremony, which was the first ever,

  • was held in North London.

  • OK. Well, you've been looking at this story on the various news websites

  • and you've picked out some really good vocabulary

  • that can help us talk about it and use it further afield.

  • So, what have you got?

  • Yes. We have 'star-studded', 'looms' and 'upcycled'.

  • 'Star-studded', 'looms' and 'upcycled'.

  • So, let's have a look now at your first headline please.

  • So, our first headline comes from Sky News and it reads:

  • 'Star-studded' – featuring lots of famous people.

  • Right. So, this expression is spelt:

  • S-T-A-R, hyphen, S-T-U-D-D-E-D.

  • And in the headline, it's being used as an adjective

  • and that hyphen is important.

  • Now, it's quite an informal expression

  • and it means that an event features a lot of famous people.

  • Yeah. So, the first part of this is pretty obvious:

  • the word 'star'. Obviously, there's the twinkly thing in the sky;

  • that's a star, but we obviously use this word to describe famous people.

  • The second word is... I'm not quite so clear about, Roy.

  • I can see 'stud'. I thought that 'stud' was a thing

  • that sticks out the bottom of a football boot.

  • What's... what's it got to do with this story?

  • OK. Well, it can mean that,

  • but remember that time when you decided to go

  • through that phase when you were always wearing a leather jacket,

  • and that leather jacket had lots of little metal pieces in it, didn't it?

  • What are those metal pieces called?

  • Those are called 'studs' as well, yes.

  • So, if something is 'studded',

  • it normally has lots of those metal pieces in,

  • so we call it a 'studded' leather jacket.

  • Now, when we talk about 'star-studded',

  • it normally refers to the night sky as you said.

  • So, we talk about a 'star-studded' night sky;

  • it means there's lots of stars in the night sky,

  • like on that leather jacketlots of 'studs'.

  • Now, of course, this has been used in the meaning with word...

  • where word 'star' means 'celebrity',

  • so we're talking about lots of 'stars' sprinkled all over.

  • So, there's lots of celebrities.

  • Yeah. And it's used very frequently in, sort of,

  • the headlines because they are interested in celebrity,

  • but I think it's important to point out

  • we cannot use this formula more widely, so you can't...

  • you can't describe the BBC as a 'journalist-studded' building.

  • No. It's a very fixed expression.

  • 'Star-studded' – it will... it will relate to, like, films

  • with lots of celebrities or eventssomething like that.

  • Yeah. You wouldn't... you wouldn't say, like, a school is 'teacher-studded'.

  • This is limited to 'star-studded'.

  • OK. Let's get a summary:

  • Well, if you would like to hear about a 'star-studded' event,

  • we have the perfect video for you, don't we, Roy?

  • Yes, this episode of News Review is about the Golden Globes

  • and all you need to do to watch it is click the link in the description below.

  • OK. Let's have a look at the next headline please.

  • OK. So, our next headline comes from France24 and it reads:

  • 'Looms' – is about to occur.

  • Yes. So, this word is spelt L-O-O-M-S

  • and it is being used as a verb

  • and it means that something is about to happen or occur.

  • Yeah, often something bad, isn't it?

  • So, for example, climate change.

  • Climate change 'looms' – this big, scary thing

  • is, kind of, waiting in the future.

  • This conference, though, isn't really a big, scary thing,

  • so how come it's being used here?

  • Is that an unusual use?

  • Yeah. It is a bit of an unusual use.

  • I mean, it may, as you say, refer to the climate change,

  • but quite often we use it to talk about something that is threatening

  • or, kind of, dangerous coming towards you.

  • It's making you feel unsettled, a little bit.

  • So, for example, the other day I asked you if you wanted to go to lunch,

  • but you told me you didn't want to. Do you remember this?

  • Yeah. That was right. I had a... I had a deadline 'looming'.

  • You did!

  • So, deadlinesthey're full of pressure, they can be quite difficult

  • and we talk about it 'looming'. It's almost like this presence is there.

  • This entity is 'looming' and notice the preposition.

  • We often use the preposition 'over':

  • the deadline is 'looming over' you.

  • But we don't only use it for situations or things like this;

  • we also use it for physical things:

  • a person can 'loom over' you, can't they?

  • They can. For example, I was...

  • was in the office the other day making myself a cup of tea,

  • and I took a biscuit from the biscuit tin and before I knew it,

  • Rob was 'looming over' me.

  • Unbelievable. Unbelievable.

  • So, there's an example of 'looming' used to mean

  • that there's a real person or a physical entity, which is there,

  • causing you some kind of worry.

  • Yeah. It feels like something negative is over you,

  • and another way we can use it, just very quickly,

  • is to say that 'a storm is looming' – that it's coming.

  • Again, that idea of something threatening,

  • maybe on the horizonyou can see it.

  • But it's that idea of something dangerous as well.

  • OK. Let's get a summary:

  • So, perhaps one of the biggest things 'looming' for all students is exams,

  • and we have a video about...

  • about exams and how to deal with them, haven't we, Roy?

  • Yes, we do.

  • This is from our series The Storytellers and it's for children for...

  • stories for children.It's to help children learn English.

  • So, you can learn English with a child,

  • or actually they're really, really good to watch just by yourself as well.

  • And all you need to do is click the link.

  • That's right. OK. Let's have a look at your next headline please.

  • OK. So, our next headline comes from the Telegraph and it reads:

  • 'Upcycled' – made something better or new from something old.

  • Yes. So, this word is spelt: U-P-C-Y-C-L-E-D.

  • And it means that something is created from something old

  • into something better or something of more value.

  • Now, that word is really important there:

  • the fact that it haspotentially has more value.

  • Yeah. Now, if we break down this word and look at the second part,

  • there's the word 'cycled', which is the same word we see

  • in 'bicycle' and 'recycle',

  • and it's got that idea of things going around – a kind of repetition.

  • That's... that's the same in this. What's different, though,

  • is the first partthe 'up-' rather than 're-'.

  • So, what's the difference between 'recycle' and 'upcycle'?

  • OK. So, we commonly use 'recycle' to talk about making something

  • out of something that was waste,

  • and it's probably of similar value to the original property.

  • So, you make a new bottle:

  • you 'recycle' a bottle from old bottles.

  • Or maybe you'll get some 'recycled' toilet paper from old waste paper.

  • When you 'upcycle' something, you maybe take something

  • that's old and tired, or maybe it is waste,

  • and you improve it and you make it better and you increase its value.

  • Now, the other day, Neil, I saw that you've a brand new table in your house.

  • Where did you get that table?

  • Well, it looks like a brand new table,

  • but it was a table that had just been left in the street.

  • Somebody didn't want it any more and I thought,

  • 'Ah! I can upcycle this,' so I took it home,

  • I kind of sanded it down, I painted it,

  • I made sure that the legs weren't wobbly any more

  • and I've got a – what looks like a lovely new table.

  • Magnificent.

  • And that's an example of 'upcycling'. Brilliant.

  • OK. Let's get a summary:

  • Time now for a recap of the vocabulary please, Roy.

  • Yes. We had 'star-studded' – featuring lots of famous people.

  • We had 'looms' – is about to occur.

  • And we had 'upcycled' – making something better or new from something old.

  • If you want to test yourself on the vocabulary,

  • go to our website bbclearningenglish.com,

  • where there's a quiz and so much more stuff to help you improve your English.

  • We're all over social media as well. Thanks for joining us and goodbye.

  • Bye.

With the COP26 Climate Conference just around the corner,

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