Learning English - Words in the News - A delicate job for hard men

Last updated at 13:21 BST, Wednesday, 22 May 2013

A delicate job for hard men

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Report and vocabulary

Transcript:: An unusual sight in a tough environment.

Inmates in a Brazilian prison have been learning how to knit.

The scheme, which sees prisoners working on intricate woollen designs, is a collaboration between prison authorities and a fashion designer.

Prisoners are paid 75 percent of the local minimum wage and also earn days off their sentence.
tough: strong and difficult
inmates: people in prison
to knit: to make woollen clothes by creating knots with needles
intricate: complex
minimum wage: the least amount of money to be legally paid for work done

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.

tough / inmates / to knit / intricate / minimum wage

1. Each doll takes at least a month to make because of the __________detail and design, and thousands of brush strokes are used to create and layer the colour of each doll to make them as life-like as possible.

2. The 136-year-old jail was one of seven prisons shut by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) to cut costs. The last __________were transferred to other prisons at the end of February.

3. Bangladesh's __________ for garment workers is currently $38 (拢25) a month, the lowest in the world.

4. The parrot had plucked out most of its feathers was said to resemble an oven-ready chicken. A vet said it should be put down but Rebecca Blagg, the charity's coordinator, __________ jumpers to keep it warm.

5. The cave environment is a __________ place in which to make a living, limited in food and essential nutrients, forcing microorganisms to fight over limited resources.