BBC Learning English

Words in the News

10 October 2012
Swimming samurai

Transcript:

Keeping the tradition afloat… This is swimming samurai-style.

Mutsuo Koga shows off his skills in the Japanese city of Yokohama.

But once he's in the pool, it's sink or swim. The armour weighs 15 kilos.

The feared warriors developed this form of swimming around the 15th century.
They had to brave waves and currents.

Nowadays, the most difficult part seems to be getting out of the pool.

Vocabulary:

afloat

stay above the water

shows off

exhibits

sink or swim

fail or succeed

warriors

fighters, soldiers

to brave

to deal with a difficult situation

Watch the video online: Swimming samurai http://bbc.in/SP7pLl

Words in the News © British Broadcasting Corporation 2012

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Exercise:

Use one of the words or phrases below to complete each of these sentences from
BBC news reports.

Note that you may have to change the form of a word to complete the sentence
correctly.

afloat/ shows off/ sink or swim/ warriors/ to brave

1. The Persians called the nomads Saka and regarded them as fearless _______.

2. From the defeated nation of World War II to an economic power: it was a

great leap forward that Japan _________ to the world when it last hosted the
annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank in 1964.

3. "The more senior parliamentarians will always be helpful but this is an

environment where frankly you _________. No one hands anything on a plate to
you."

4. Tens of thousands of India's landless poor are marching from Gwalior city, in
Madhya Pradesh, to the capital, Delhi, ________ intense heat, surviving on one
meal a day and sleeping on the roadside at night, demanding their right to land.

5. The tragedy on 23 October 1943 during Operation Tunnel, which aimed to

intercept a German convoy in the Bay of St Malo, was due to errors made ashore
and ________.

Words in the News © British Broadcasting Corporation 2012

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Answers:

1. The Persians called the nomads Saka and regarded them as fearless warriors.

Source: Kazakh US exhibition banishes country's Borat image

http://bbc.in/V1uBtE

2. From the defeated nation of World War II to an economic power: it was a great
leap forward that Japan showed off to the world when it last hosted the annual
meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank in 1964.

Source: Lessons learned: Japan's recovery in the spotlight

http://bbc.in/R0UI0q

3. "The more senior parliamentarians will always be helpful but this is an

environment where frankly you sink or swim. No one hands anything on a plate
to you."

Source: A Kent MP's first working week at Westminster

http://bbc.in/ PSwMM2

4. Tens of thousands of India's landless poor are marching from Gwalior city, in
Madhya Pradesh, to the capital, Delhi, braving intense heat, surviving on one
meal a day and sleeping on the roadside at night, demanding their right to land.

Source: India voices from the landless march

http://bbc.in/Q7zZbG

5. The tragedy on 23 October 1943 during Operation Tunnel, which aimed to

intercept a German convoy in the Bay of St Malo, was due to errors made ashore
and afloat.

Source: HMS Charybdis survivor says Guernsey 'owed debt of gratitude'

http://bbc.in/ SXS0IY

Words in the News © British Broadcasting Corporation 2012

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