英语听力精选进阶版 14292（在线收听）

BBC Learning English

Video Words in the News 

28 August 2013

Knife massage

Transcript:

It's not food she wants to chop - it's you.

This is a massage parlour in Taiwan. Trained specialists use blunt knives as well as meditation to help their customers relax. 

Knife massages date back more than 2,000 years to China, where they were given by monks or nuns.

Now Taiwan is one of the few places where this type of therapy is still practised.

Vocabulary:

to chop

to cut into pieces

massage parlour

a place where professional massages are given 

blunt

with a dull edge; not sharp 

meditation

concentrating on a single thing in order to become calm

therapy

treatment

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.

to chop / massage parlour / blunt / meditation / therapy

1.  Lord Hutton released his findings in January 2004, reporting that the scientist had committed suicide by slashing his wrist with a __________gardening knife.

2.  The roasted guinea pig - called cuy in South America - was brought to our table whole before being __________ into five pieces - four leg portions and the head.

3.  A disease which robs children of the ability to walk and talk has been cured by pioneering gene __________ to correct errors in their DNA, say doctors.

4.  Adam says that __________ is a crucial part of free-diving. "If you don't stay relaxed, you can't hold your breath," he tells BBC News. 

5.  Two men have been arrested and weapons have been seized after an armed robbery at a Brighton __________.

Answers:

1.  Lord Hutton released his findings in January 2004, reporting that the scientist had committed suicide by slashing his wrist with a blunt gardening knife.

Source: Dr David Kelly: Controversial death examined

2.  The roasted guinea pig - called cuy in South America - was brought to our table whole before being chopped into five pieces - four leg portions and the head.

Source: Could I bring myself to eat a guinea pig?

3.  A disease which robs children of the ability to walk and talk has been cured by pioneering gene therapy to correct errors in their DNA, say doctors GMT.

Source: Gene therapy trial 'cures children'

4.  Adam says that meditation is a crucial part of free-diving. "If you don't stay relaxed, you can't hold your breath," he tells BBC News. 

Source: Man v seal: How we compare with our marine cousins

5.  Two men have been arrested and weapons have been seized after an armed robbery at a Brighton massage parlour.

Source: Two arrested over Brighton massage parlour raid