BBC News Review: Great Barrier Reef in Danger

Some scientists say Australia's Great Barrier Reef is under threat from the effects of climate change. Now a UN delegation is going to assess its health. It wants to assess whether its World Heritage status should be changed to "in danger".

Rob and Roy look at the vocabulary used in the headlines about this story.

Related stories:
News Review; Great Barrier Reef 'severely damaged' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13E9-3PvAsA
The English We Speak: Punch above your weight https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nb_3Uji-tzk

Video chapters:
0:00 - Introduction
0:38 - Story
2:02 - Headline 1: UN considers listing Great Barrier Reef as ‘in danger’
4:50 – Headline 2: UN weighs listing Great Barrier Reef ‘in danger’
7:40 - Headline 3: Dire Warning for Great Barrier Reef as UN Inspection Begins: Climate Council Briefing
10:32 - Language summary

Key words and phrases:
in danger - at risk
The badly maintained house is in danger of falling.
The island is in danger of being submerged as sea levels rise.

weighs - carefully considers facts in order to make a decision
The teacher weighed all the facts before deciding who started the fight.
We need to weigh the benefits against the cost of buying a new car.

dire - extremely serious
The situation in the war-torn country is dire.
There will be dire consequences if you break the rules.

To download the audio and a transcript and test your understanding, go to our website: https://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/english/course/newsreview-2022/unit-1/session-11

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