大象传媒

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Last updated at 12:00 GMT, Wednesday, 21 March 2012

Singing grannies

Video

Report and vocabulary

transcript

Ah, a Russian village - a haven of tranquillity!

Or is it?! This is their unexpected entry for the Eurovision Song Contest.

There are no spring chickens in this band: most of the singers in the Buranovo Grannies are in their 70s, but they still have plenty of stamina.

They've been rehearsing their song, Party for Everybody, in the village hall but their household chores don't leave much time for it.

haven

a safe place

unexpected

surprising

no spring chicken

a polite and informal phrase meaning old

stamina

physical and mental strength

household chores

domestic tasks

Exercise

Use one of the words or phrases below to complete each of these sentences from 大象传媒 news reports.

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

haven / unexpected / no spring chicken / stamina / household chores

1.

Prof Pasquino says that as the leader of his own party, Silvio Berlusconi still has some influence, but is simply too old to run for office in 2013, when at 76, "he is unlikely to have the _________ to ride a long electoral campaign".

2.

Robots are about to invade our lives. From performing __________, to entertaining and educating our children, to looking after the elderly, roboticists say we will soon be welcoming their creations into our homes and workplaces.

3.

During a recent visit to London, its director and cast members offered their own theories on the film's ________ success. "It shows that everyone wants a story," says Tate Taylor, an actor turned director who, prior to The Help, had only one feature film to his credit.

4.

He said: "We will not give up on this mission because Afghanistan must never again be a safe _________ for al-Qaeda to launch attacks against us."

5.

In the main event Hopkins, himself ____________ at 46, lost his title after injuring his shoulder in the second round.

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To take away:

Exercise

Answers

How did you do?

1

stamina

2

household chores

3

unexpected

4

haven

5

no spring chicken

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