News for the week of March 29-April 4, 2020:
- Covid-19: The World Bank could release $160 billion to help the poorest countries. [spp-timestamp time=”00:00:45″]
- War between America and France to get masks [spp-timestamp time="00:01:44″]
- Auto industry gets into respirator production [spp-timestamp time="00:02:31″]
- COP26 2020 postponed to 2021 [spp-timestamp time="00:03:26″]
- Terrorist knife attack in France [spp-timestamp time="00:04:02″]
- Explanation of the week's vocabulary [spp-timestamp time=”00:04:36″]
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Transcription
Hello,
Welcome to HelloFrench's press review, the podcast that immerses you in the news of the week, to help you improve your French.
On the front page for this week of March 29-April 4, 2020:
- On the front page for this week of March 29-April 4, 2020:
- Covid-19: The World Bank could release $160 billion to help the poorest countries.
- It's a mask war on the tarmac of Chinese airports
- Tesla factory will soon start making respirators
- The international climate conference COP26 2020 postponed to 2021
- Two dead in a terrorist knife attack in southeastern France.
160 billion dollars to help the poorest countries. This is the amount of money that the World Bank is ready to give during the next 15 months. [tooltips keyword="The goal" content="the goal"] ? [To fight against the coronavirus epidemic and to prepare for the economic crisis that lies ahead. In a first phase, 1.9 billion dollars will be distributed among 25 countries. India alone is expected to receive one billion dollars. Among the first countries to receive aid, we also find Pakistan, which should receive 200 million dollars and Afghanistan, which will receive 100 million. These are very poor countries with more vulnerable populations. In this context of crisis, the World Bank also helps the most disadvantaged countries to access essential medical supplies. The World Bank is currently conducting health aid operations in 65 countries.
Faced with the Covid-19 epidemic, [tooltips keyword="all is fair" content="All is fair"]. Indeed, a real war is being waged on the tarmacs of Chinese airports. This week, the Americans have outbid each other to buy masks from the base ordered by France. To obtain these precious masks, they are ready to pay three to four times the price initially planned, all [tooltips keyword="in cash" content="cash"]. These masks have therefore ended up flying to America and not to Europe. Practices denounced by leaders of regions in France who are facing a real [tooltips keyword="parcours du combattant" content="assault course"]. Rather than going by air, some have decided to use shipping companies to limit the risks of [tooltips keyword="theft" content="the theft "].
Tesla boss Elon Musk announced this week that he will [tooltips keyword="reopen" content="reopen"] one of his factories to make respirators in Buffalo, New York. He announced on Twitter that Tesla will do what is necessary to help in these difficult times. To be able to manufacture these respirators, Tesla is working with Medtronic, a company specializing in medical equipment. Other car manufacturers have also come forward this week to offer their help. This is the case of Jaguar, Toyota or Ford. The Italian manufacturer Fiat and the Czech Skoda, for their part, have started to produce masks. A Renault factory in France has also transformed its activity: workers now make [tooltips keyword="visors" content="visors"] of protections for [tooltips keyword="caregivers" content="cargiver"].
COP 26, the international climate conference, was to be held in November in Glasgow, Scotland. The British government has announced its postponement to 2021, without specifying a date. The reason, as for [tooltips keyword="the cancellation" content="the cancellation"] or the postponement of most major events of the year: the Covid-19 crisis. The decision was taken by the UN, in consultation with the British authorities. No postponement is foreseen, however, on the objectives set for the ecological transition for the European Union.
Attack with [tooltips keyword="knife" content="knife"] in the South-East of France. A refugee from Sudan has [tooltips keyword="killed" content="killed"] two people this Saturday. Witnesses told [tooltips keyword="investigators" content="the investigators"] that the man had been feeling very ill for a few days because of the confinement. Two other people were also injured in the attack. The attack took place in the streets and shops of downtown Romans-sur-Isère. So far, [tooltips keyword="the attacker" content="the attacker "] was not known to the police. He says he does not remember the event. A psychiatric expertise is planned.
Vocabulary of the week
Enrich your French vocabulary, download our list of key words for the week of March 29 to April 4, 2020.
| The objective | This is the goal to be achieved, the target to be reached. |
| Fighting against | To oppose something. |
| The epidemic | It is a disease that spreads, that spreads. |
| Poor (adjective) | Who is not rich, who does not have much money. |
| Vulnerable (adjective) | Who is quite fragile, who can easily be hurt by a situation or someone. |
| Disadvantaged (adjective) | Who is not rich, who does not have much money. Who doesn't have a lot of resources to live on. |
| All the blows are allowed | You can do anything, there is no justice anymore. |
| The mask | Something you put on your face to disguise yourself, to hide it or to protect yourself. You can put on a mask for the carnival or a mask to protect yourself from catching a disease. |
| The tarmac | The airport floor, the place where the planes land. |
| In cash | In cash, in cash money. |
| The practice | The fact of doing something, the way of doing something. |
| The obstacle course | Very complicated, very difficult procedures. |
| Limiting the risks | To avoid that something bad happens, something that could hurt people or prevent a success. |
| Theft | Take something from someone that doesn't belong to us. |
| Reopen (verb) | Open again. Something had been closed and finally is open again. |
| The respirator | A device in hospitals that helps people with breathing problems. This device allows the patient to breathe in an artificial way. |
| The industrialist | The owner of a factory, a brand that owns factories. |
| The visor | The front of a cap, the part that protects the eyes. |
| The caregiver | The person who cares for us, medical personnel. For example, a doctor or a nurse. |
| The cancellation | Something or some event is cancelled. For example, "My train was cancelled again this morning. I keep getting cancellations lately." |
| Postponement | An event is not cancelled but postponed, it will be organized at another time. |
| The knife | A slicing tool that is used to eat with a fork. It can also be used as a weapon to hurt people. |
| The refugee | Someone who had to leave his country because his life is in danger because of his ideas, his ethnicity .... He is therefore a refugee in another country. |
| To kill (verb) | To make someone die, to make him lose his life. |
| The investigators | Police working on an investigation, looking for the truth about an event. |
| The assailant | The person who attacks, the aggressor. |
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