alcopops

alcopops


BBC Learning English – Keep your English Up to Date Alcopops

You are going to listen to a short talk given by Professor David Crystal about language change and new developments in English.

SPEAKING 1. If you are working with a fellow student, discuss these questions: a. At what age should people be allowed to buy alcohol? b. Do you think alcopops are dangerous? c. Should alcohol consumption be more strictly controlled, or even prohibited?

VOCABULARY 2. Match these words and phrases to their definitions
 * to come into being || not very famous ||
 * lesser-known || a soft drink ||
 * controversial || fizzing or bubbling ||
 * lemonade || to appear, to start to exist ||
 * effervescing || causes disagreement ||


 * click on the mp3 file below to hear the talk**



LISTENING SECTION 1 3. Now, listen to Professor Crystal talking about a particular way to make new words in English. Listen and answer the questions below. a. How do you make a blend word? b. Which word does he give as an example?

4. Listen again and decide if the following statements are true or false. a. Professor Crystal gives two ways in which new words can appear b. Making blend words is a new or recent technique c. Many people thought alcopops were a bad thing d. People were worried that children would not like them

LISTENING SECTION 2 5. Alcopops is a blend of two words. What do you think those two words are? a. Alcohol and popular b. Alcoholic and pop c. Alcohol and pop d. Alcoholic and popular

Listen to Section 2 of the talk, check your ideas for question 5 and answer question 6.

6. Professor Crystal gives three more examples of blend words. What are they?

7. Are the following sentences true or false? a. Pop is an old word for lemonade b. Lemonade was called pop because of its sharp taste c. Brunch is a type of meal d. Helicycle is a real word Listen again and check your answers

Extra work VOCABULARY 1: : Look at the tape script and find words or phrases that mean the following. The tape script can be found in the pdf file below. a. to be worried about something b. a long time ago c. idea or concept

LANGUAGE 2: Put these blend words in the correct sentences below. Singlish satphone spyware threequel nanobots

a. A journalist uses a ............... when he is working in a remote place. The journalist can communicate with his office or the TV station with this machine. b. In the future we will use ...................more and more. They are very small machines, so small you cannot see them, and they will do jobs for us, perhaps in medical procedures. c. A ................ is the third film or book in a sequence. The characters are the same as the earlier films, but they are in a different story. d. A computer hacker might use ................... to get information from someone else’s computer a system, illegally. It is a type of computer programme. e. ....................... is spoken in Singapore. It is a type of English which includes many local words.

3: Which words are blended to make these words? What do the original words mean? You might need to use a dictionary. a. satphone is a blend of _ and _ b. nanobot is a blend of nano and _ c. threequel is a blend of _ and _ d. spyware is a blend of _ and _ e. Singlish is a blend of _ and _

4: Can you think of some new blend words?

© BBC Learning English bbclearningenglish.com

The tapescript and key can be found in the pdf below. Note that one or two very easy questions have been omitted.

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