The news of the week of January 19 to 25, 2020
- Coronavirus: what developments? [spp-timestamp time=”00:00:37″]
- Escape of 80 prisoners in Paraguay [spp-timestamp time="00:01:52″]
- Donald Trump displays his anti-abortion views [spp-timestamp time="00:02:37″]
- Prince Harry and Meghan Markle renounce their royal titles [spp-timestamp time="00:03:15″]
- Explanation of the week's vocabulary [spp-timestamp time=”00:04:22″]
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Transcription
Hello,
Welcome to the press review of Hello French, the podcast that immerses you in the news of the week, to help you improve your French.
In the spotlight for this week of January 19-25, 2020
- Coronavirus. 54 deaths and nearly 1,300 cases. The Chinese [tooltips keyword="metropolis" content="metropolis"] of Wuhan [tooltips keyword="quarantine" content="quarantine"].
- In Paraguay, nearly 80 prisoners [tooltips keyword="escape" content="to escape"] through a tunnel.
- Donald Trump. First U.S. president to attend a march [tooltips keyword="anti-abortion" content="anti-abortion“]
- Britain. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle renounce their royal titles.
Coronavirus outbreak in China. No more planes or trains leave the city of Wuhan. The Chinese metropolis has been quarantined even before the 11 million inhabitants can organize their [tooltips keyword="eventual" content="potential"] departure. A decision taken by the authorities on Thursday, January 23, while the epidemic begins to [tooltips keyword="to disperse" content="to disperse"] in the rest of the world. Several cases have indeed been detected [tooltips keyword="out of" content="out of"] China, including 3 cases in France, 5 cases in Thailand, 4 cases in Australia, 3 cases in Japan, 3 cases in Malaysia, 3 cases in Singapore, 3 cases in Taiwan, 2 cases in the United States, 2 cases in South Korea, 2 cases in Vietnam and 1 case in Nepal. Residents could still leave the city by car on Thursday morning. However, police officers were stopping vehicles to [tooltips keyword="take the temperature" content="measure temperature"] of passengers. The wearing of masks has also been imposed by the City Council to avoid the spread of the virus inside the city. The virus has already caused the death of 54 people. 1,300 cases have been [tooltips keyword="detected" content="detected"] of which 237 are critical. A Chinese New Year very sad this year and festivities cancelled in the city of Wuhan.
An escape worthy of an action movie. In Paraguay, 80 [tooltips keyword="inmates" content="inmate"] escaped Sunday from a prison via a tunnel. Most of these prisoners are part of Brazil's largest gang of [tooltips keyword="traffickers" content="dealers, trafficker"] of drugs and weapons. [The tunnel is 25 meters long and has been [tooltips keyword="equipped" content="equiped"] with [tooltips keyword="lighting" content="lighting"], with the complicity of a [tooltips keyword="prison guard" content="prison guard"]. The tunnel, whose [tooltips keyword="construction" content="build"] must have taken several weeks, leads directly from the [tooltips keyword="sanitary" content="sanitary facilities"] of the prison to the guard's shelter. The authorities have [tooltips keyword="removed" content="removed"] the director of the prison from his position and have arrested dozens of guards. The fugitives have still not been [tooltips keyword="spotted" content="spotted"]. 5 [tooltips keyword="vans" content="vans"], in which some of the fugitives were transported, were found [tooltips keyword="burned" content="to burn, burned"] after the Brazilian [tooltips keyword="border" content="border"]. Brazil has increased its security to capture them.
This Friday in the United States, Donald Trump is the first American president to oppose abortion by participating in the March for Life. A great honor according to the president. Yet 20 years ago, the [tooltips keyword="businessman" content="businessman"] positioned himself as "pro-choice". With the U.S. election just months away, the [tooltips keyword="billionaire" content="billionaire"] is making a [tooltips keyword="360-degree turn" content="U-turn"] to become the most anti-abortion president in the country's history. Meanwhile, the [tooltips keyword="trial" content="trial] of [tooltips keyword="impeachment"] of the president is still going on in the Senate. This follows the House of Representatives' vote in December to impeach Donald Trump for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.
With Brexit just days away, Prince Harry, Meghan Markle and little Archie are giving up their royal titles. Earlier in the month, the couple had already announced that they were giving up their roles in the royal family. So Harry and Meghan are deciding to take on a little more independence. The royal couple will stop receiving public funds and has pledged to [tooltips keyword="repay" content="refund"] past expenses, including the restoration of a residence. A heavy decision for the Duke and Duchess who wanted to be able to live from their work and [tooltips keyword="reside" content="live"] part of the year in Canada. If they are and will always be part of the family for Elizabeth II, the [tooltips keyword="queen" content="queen"] of England, they are no longer considered active members of the royal family and are released from their representative role. For Harry, this decision also means giving up his official military commitment, including his position as Captain General of the Royal Navy. A position held for 65 years by Harry's grandfather before he [tooltips keyword="pass the torch" content="to pass the torch"].
Vocabulary of the week
Enrich your French vocabulary, download our list of key words for the week of January 19-25, 2020.
■ Case: this is a fact, a situation. Here, we speak of a case to refer to situations of sick people who have been detected.
🏬🏣🏢🏪The metropolis: a very large city, the main city of a region
✋Quarantine (expression): people are separated from other people, prevented from going to other places. Usually, it is to prevent a disease from spreading.
■ Epidemic: it is a contagious disease, which can be caught, which spreads in the population, among people.
■ Eventual(le) (adjective): that may or may not happen. When we say "their eventual departure," maybe they want to leave, maybe not.
■ To spread (verb): to spread, to spread. The disease spreads; it spreads; it affects more people.
■ Detect, detect (verb): one has discovered, found. The disease has been detected or detected in people
■ Out of (expression): outside, something happens outside a place or setting. We can say "hors de" to mean "outside a country". For example, "I live outside of France" or "Out of my sight!" to say that one does not want to see someone anymore.
🚗The vehicle: it is a car, a truck, a scooter... Something that is used to transport us, a means of locomotion.
🌡Taking the temperature: finding out how hot or cold it is around us. We can take the temperature of a room or of someone, of their body.
■ Passenger: is a person who is carried by a means of transportation but does not drive it. One can be a passenger in a car, a boat or even a plane.
■ Mask: it is something you put on your face to disguise, to hide it or to protect yourself. One can put on a mask for the carnival or a mask to protect oneself, so as not to catch or transmit any disease.
■ The virus: it is a disease that spreads, spreads.
■ Escape (verb): To take flight, to leave, to escape. Generally, one escapes because one wants to avoid someone or a situation.
■ The tunnel: a passage dug into the ground.
■ The inmate: it's a prisoner, that's what we call someone who's in jail, in custody.
⛏ Dig (verb): to make a hole, you can dig in the ground to make a tunnel, dig a grave to bury someone, dig to make a basement.
■ Drug dealer: this is a person who deals drugs, who sells in an illegal way, prohibited by law.
🔫The weapon: it is a tool, an instrument that is used to hurt or kill. It can be a firearm (a rifle, a revolver...) or a bladed weapon (a knife, a sword...).
■ Prison guard: this is the person who watches over a prison, a penitentiary, who monitors the prisoners.
■ To arrange (verb): to arrange a place, to put things in place in a space. One can arrange an apartment, for example.
■ Lighting: it's what allows you to have light.
🏗 Construction: this is the creation of a building. We can build, build a house, for example.
🚿🚽 Sanitary facilities: this word is used to refer to both the toilet and the bathroom (shower, bathtub...). These are the facilities for "washing", for hygiene.
■ Fugitive: this is a person on the run, who has escaped.
■ Spot (verb): see, find. For example, "I spotted a nice skirt on sale" or "The fugitives have not been spotted yet."
🚐The van: it's a small truck. A vehicle between a car and a truck. We will, for example, use it to work or to move.
🔥Incendi (verb): To set on fire
■ The border: is the boundary between two things, usually between two countries. The line that separates them.
■ Capture (verb): To take someone or an animal prisoner.
🤰🏽L abortion: this is the act of terminating a pregnancy while pregnant. Abortion can be natural or induced. It is also called abortion: voluntary interruption of pregnancy.
⛔️Anti : it is when you are against something. "I am anti-capitalist, he is anti-abortion. We can put the word anti in front of things we are against.
📃Election: a vote to elect someone, to have someone represent us.
🙋♂️L businessman: it is a businessman (this word is also used in French), it is someone who earns money from his professional activity, a professional activity that remains a bit vague.
💰Billionaire: someone who is very, very rich, who owns billions.
■ To make a 360-degree turn (expression): to change one's opinion completely.
👨🏼🎓Le trial: it is when one goes to justice and that a judge will return a decision, a judgement.
■ Impeachment: it is a sanction that consists in depriving someone of his function (king, president, director...).
■ To depose (verb): it is the act of depriving someone of their office (king, president, director...).
■ To give up (verb): to give up a right voluntarily, one chooses to give up something.
■ Becoming independent: becoming more self-reliant from someone or something. Being able to stand on your own two feet. For example, "I became independent when I turned 18. I got a job and I pay the rent on my apartment."
💸Repay (verb): to return money one owes to someone, to a bank or to the state.
👑The duke and duchess: these are titles of nobility. Dukes and duchesses are just below princes and princesses.
🏠Reside (verb): to live, to inhabit. For example, "I reside in Japan ."
👑The queen: this is a ruler of royalty, the woman who rules a kingdom.
🔥Passing the torch (expression): handing over one's function to someone, entrusting the continuation of a task to someone else.