Subtitles section Play video Print subtitles Baltimore bridge collapse. Search for missing people suspended. This is News Review from BBC Learning English, where we help you understand news headlines in English. I'm Neil. And I'm Beth. Make sure you watch to the end to learn all the vocabulary you need to talk about this story. Don't forget to subscribe to our channel so you can learn more English from news headlines. Now the story. The search for six people missing after a bridge in the US collapsed has been suspended. The accident happened when a ship hit a support column on the Francis Scott Key Bridge in the city of Baltimore. There are fears the collapse could lead to a significant impact on the world's supply chains. Investigators are now trying to understand what went wrong. You've been looking at the headlines, Beth, what's the vocabulary people need to understand this story in English? We have 'heart-pounding,' 'move heaven and earth,' and 'put something to the test.' This is News Review from BBC Learning English. Let's have our first headline. This is from The Mail Online: Heart-pounding audio of Baltimore cops rushing to stop traffic going over Francis Scott Key Bridge. So, this headline describes the recordings of police officers trying to prevent people from driving onto that bridge in Baltimore before it collapsed. Now, the vocabulary that we're looking at is heart-pounding. Heart-pounding, Beth. What is that? Well, normally, your heart beats. That's when blood flows around your body normally. But if you are stressed, your heart pounds. Now, pound means to hit very hard. So, if something is heart-pounding, it's very stressful, very dramatic. Yes. Now, heart-pounding is an adjective and it describes those situations you described. You can literally feel your heart pounding sometimes, but also we can use heart-pounding just to describe very stressful situations where you might not feel the heart pound. Yes, that's right. For example, maybe in a job interview, it's quite stressful, so you could say that's heart-pounding. Maybe you go into an exam, you turn over the exam paper and you think, "I don't know the answer." It's a bit stressful. It's heart-pounding. OK. Let's look at that again. Let's have a look at our next headline. This is from The Independent: Biden vows to 'move heaven and earth' to rebuild Key Bridge and reopen Baltimore port after collapse. OK. So, the US President Joe Biden says that they are going to move heaven and earth to build this bridge again. Move heaven and earth is our expression, Beth. What's he talking about? Well, Neil, it helps to think literally here. So, earth is huge. Heaven is huge. Imagine trying to move them. It would be very difficult, but Joe Biden says he's going to try. Of course, we're not talking literally about moving heaven and earth here. OK. So, what it means basically is to make a great effort to do something, which might be difficult, but you are determined to achieve it. What other context could we use this in? Well, it is often used for serious situations like the bridge collapse in Baltimore. We can use it for war. A government might say they will move heaven and earth to defeat the enemy. But we can also use it for more personal situations, especially when you're determined. So, for example, if you haven't seen your family in a long time and then there are train strikes, you might say, "It doesn't matter, I will move heaven and earth to see my family." Let's look at that again. Let's have our next headline. This is from Ars Technica: Bridge collapses put transportation agency's emergency plans to the test. So, this headline says that the accident will put transport agency's plans to the test. Put something to the test is our expression. What's it all about? Well, if we put something to the test, we see how good it is. Now, in this case, the emergency plans of the transportation agencies are going to be put to the test. We'll find out if they work, if the trade flows smoothly or not. Yes. Now, this is a verb phrase – put something to the test. And, for example, before the coronavirus pandemic, there were plans to deal with such a situation, but when the actual thing happened, those plans were put to the test. That's right. And put to the test is often used for these kind of complex situations, like the pandemic, but we can also use it for more everyday situations. Now, in school and at work, we have practice fire drills and then when the fire alarm actually goes off, we're putting those plans, those procedures to the test. Yes, and on a really personal level, this weekend, I'm meeting a Spanish friend. It will really put my Spanish to the test. Let's look at that again. We've had heart-pounding – describes a very stressful event. Move heaven and earth – make a great effort to achieve something. And put something to the test – find out how well something works. Now, if you're interested in learning more English from the news headlines, click here for more News Review. Don't forget to click here to subscribe to our channel so you never miss another video. Thanks for joining us. Bye! Bye!
B1 pounding heaven test baltimore earth headline Baltimore bridge collapse: BBC News Review 13706 115 林宜悉 posted on 2024/04/02 More Share Save Report Video vocabulary