大象传媒

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Last updated at 11:53 BST, Wednesday, 17 October 2012

Reinventing the wheel

Video

Report and vocabulary

Transcript

Some might say they are off their trolley.

But to succeed in this race, you need to be in control of your senses as well as your vehicle.

Creativity and showmanship count as much as mechanical expertise in the Red Bull Soapbox Race.

This year's event in Hong Kong featured vehicles decorated as everyday items. The hotpot got applause but it was this skull-shaped entry that won over the judges.

off their trolley

insane

in control of your senses

sane

showmanship

ability to entertain people

decorated

with added elements to make it more attractive

hotpot

cooked dish made up of meat and vegetables

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.

off (their) trolley / in control of (your) senses / showmanship/ decorated / hotpot

1. The jug was taken from the Stockwood Discovery Centre in Luton on 12 May, but has turned up in Surrey. The bronze creation is _______ with coats-of-arms and inscribed with the words "My Lord Wenlok."

2. A Lancashire _______ big enough to feed 800 people has been cooked up as part of an attempt to make the largest dish of its kind in the world.

3. However, Bolt not only delivered on all fronts in athletics terms but also lit up the Games with the sort of ______ and playfulness he has become renowned for.

4. As many in her party were turning against her, Brian Walden asked Mrs Thatcher: 'You come over as being someone who one of your backbenchers said is slightly _______ , authoritarian, domineering, refusing to listen to anybody else. Why?' She replied: 'If anyone's coming over as domineering in this interview, it's you. It's you.'

5. Mr Robson, a global training adviser, was sitting just yards from the co-pilot as he was being restrained by crew and passengers, including an off-duty member of the Canadian military, outside the galley, just behind the cockpit. Mr Robson said of the co-pilot: 'He was clearly someone not _______.'

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To take away:

Exercise

Answers

How did you do?

1

decorated

2

hotpot

3

showmanship

4

off her trolley

5

in control of his senses

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