英语听力精选进阶版 13858（在线收听）

BBC Learning English 

Words in the News  

30 May 2012 

Hotel in the air 

Transcript: 

It looks like something out of a sci-fi movie. 

But these hanging pods are in fact a temporary hotel. Staff lead guests through 

bizarre rituals designed to put them in tune with nature. 

They receive just the bare essentials but spend the night in comfort.  

This interactive theatre performance was dreamt up by the Belgian group Time 

Circus and is taking part in a festival in Norfolk, England. 

Vocabulary: 

sci-fi or science fiction  

a literary or movie genre that creates fantasies based on scientific discoveries 

hanging  

suspended from a height 

bizarre 

strange and unusual 

in tune with 

connected to or in harmony with something 

bare essentials  

items that people think they can't live without 

Watch the video online: Hotel in the air    

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. 

sci-fi / hanging / bizarre / in tune with / bare essentials 

1. The BBC's Jim Muir in Beirut says the overall casualty figures for Friday, 

though they may be revised upwards, were very much lower than many had 

feared. That is ________ the overall state of the ceasefire itself, our 

correspondent says. 

2. We sat together on his bright, fluffy pink, red and white rug and an orange-flowered garland framed a ________ portrait of the revolutionary Islamic leader 

of Iran, Ayatollah Khomeini, who watched over us. 

3. A decade on, is Smith confident audiences will be receptive to another helping 

of fantastical ______ comedy, this time presented in the divisive 3D format? 

4. According to the report, absolute poverty is measured by the number of 

people who can afford only the ____________ of shelter, food and clothing. 

5. "They hear voices or they have delusions. They have ________ ideas which 

are not supported by the facts and they stick to these beliefs," he says. 

Answers: 

1. The BBC's Jim Muir in Beirut says the overall casualty figures for Friday, 

though they may be revised upwards, were very much lower than many had 

feared. That is in tune with the overall state of the ceasefire itself, our 

correspondent says. 

Source:  Syria ceasefire: Security forces 'fire at protesters' 

2. We sat together on his bright, fluffy pink, red and white rug and an orange-flowered garland framed a hanging portrait of the revolutionary Islamic leader 

of Iran, Ayatollah Khomeini, who watched over us. 

Source:  Sheikh Zakzaky: Why Nigeria could fear an attack on Iran 

3. A decade on, is Smith confident audiences will be receptive to another helping 

of fantastical sci-fi comedy, this time presented in the divisive 3D format? 

Source:  Will Smith returns with a blast in the past                   

4. According to the report, absolute poverty is measured by the number of 

people who can afford only the bare essentials of shelter, food and clothing. 

Source:  Nigerians living in poverty rise to nearly 61% 

5. "They hear voices or they have delusions. They have bizarre ideas which are 

not supported by the facts and they stick to these beliefs," he says. 

Source:  The brain is the 'most complex thing in the universe'