英语听力精选进阶版 14196（在线收听）

BBC Learning English 

Words in the News  

3 April 2013 

Musical miners 

Transcript:  

This is Siberia – over 1,000 metres below ground. 

And miners at Russia's largest nickel mine were given the surprise treat of 

some cheerful music. 

Musicians swapped their stage costumes for hard hats and overalls for the day. 

The company says it's all part of a plan to boost productivity and hope to hold 

more underground cultural activities to keep the positive attitude going. 

Vocabulary: 

nickel mine 

a hole in the ground from which nickel, a silver-white metal, is removed  

treat 

something special and enjoyable you do or buy for yourself or someone else  

swapped 

gave something in exchange for something else  

boost productivity 

increase the rate at which goods are produced 

positive attitude 

good feeling or opinion about something 

Watch the video online:  Musical miners   http://bbc.in/12e92x2 

Exercise: 

Use one of the words or phrases below to complete each of these 

sentences from news reports.  

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

sentence correctly. 

nickel mine / treat / swapped / boost productivity / positive attitude 

1. He ________ his military fatigues for elegant business suits, but - in contrast 

to his jovial and temperamental father - remains a reserved figure. 

2. After being plant foreman of the Bindura ________ for 10 years, he climbed 

the unionist ladder until in 1988, he was elected secretary-general of the 

Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions. 

3. The usual American fast food outlets are spread around Cambridge but there 

are also takeaways or 'chippies', selling fish and chips, a national ________. 

4. "Under this funding round 121 projects from all corners of coastal Scotland 

have received ￡5.8m, to support modernisation, expansion and _________." 

5. According to a new survey by the Caucasus Research Resource Centers almost 

half of Georgians have a __________ towards Stalin. 

Answers: 

1. He swapped his military fatigues for elegant business suits, but - in contrast to 

his jovial and temperamental father - remains a reserved figure. 

2. After being plant foreman of the Bindura Nickel Mine for 10 years, he climbed 

the unionist ladder until in 1988, he was elected secretary-general of the Zimbabwe 

Congress of Trade Unions. 

3. The usual American fast food outlets are spread around Cambridge but there are 

also takeaways or 'chippies', selling fish and chips, a national treat. 

4. "Under this funding round 121 projects from all corners of coastal Scotland 

have received ￡5.8m, to support modernisation, expansion and boost 

productivity." 

5. According to a new survey by the Caucasus Research Resource Centers almost 

half of Georgians have a positive attitude towards Stalin.