Learning English - Words in the News - Brazilians who won't play ball

Last updated at 13:56 BST, Wednesday, 30 May 2012

Brazilians who won't play ball

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Report and vocabulary

Transcript: They are the descendants of the first Brazilians.

Members of different indigenous groups have been living as squatters on the doorstep of the famous Maracana stadium in Rio de Janeiro.

But they're not looking forward to the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. The stadium's renovation works might put them at risk of eviction.

The derelict building used to house the first museum dedicated to their culture.
descendants: the living relatives of previous generations
squatters: people who occupy an area without permission
renovation works: repairs done to a building
eviction: to be forced to leave a place
derelict: abandoned and in bad condition

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.

descendants / squatters / renovation works / eviction / derelict

1. Israel's prime minister has asked his defence minister to delay the ______ of Jewish settlers who took over a house in the Arab part of Hebron.

2. _________ had originally occupied the building in 1990 and it later became a major housing project.

3. Painted in mainly red ochre on a wattle and daub panel, it was discovered behind 18th century panelling during __________ in the 1960s.

4. Two doors down is a ___________ building. Shockingly there are still two families living in the rubble filled rooms. One is a mother with three little girls. The other is a refugee from Azerbaijan's devastating war with Armenia during the 1990s.

5. And you can still see its influence in the mosques and minarets, in the spice markets and in the faces of the so-called Swahili people - the Muslim __________ of marriages between local Africans and Arab traders and settlers.