0:00

This is the BBC. You

0:30

can learn more English from news headlines.

0:32

Now, the story. After

0:35

weeks of violence and demands

0:37

from heavily armed gangs, the

0:39

Prime Minister of Haiti has

0:42

agreed to resign. Ariel

0:44

Henri will step down after

0:47

many Haitians questioned why he

0:49

was still in power despite

0:51

being unelected. The

0:54

Caribbean country is under a

0:56

month-long state of emergency after

0:59

attacks, including on the

1:01

airport, the prison and

1:03

the national palace. You've

1:07

been looking at the headlines, Beth. What's

1:09

the vocabulary that people need to understand

1:11

this story in English? We have

1:14

run rampant, paralysed

1:17

and tightened grip. This

1:19

is News Review from BBC Learning English.

1:31

Let's have a look at our first headline.

1:33

This is from CNN. Haiti's

1:36

leader to resign as

1:39

gangs run rampant through

1:41

country engulfed in crisis.

1:45

So the headline says that gangs

1:47

run rampant in Haiti. That's the

1:49

expression we're looking at and it

1:51

contains run, which we all know,

1:53

but rampant, Beth. What

1:56

does that mean? OK, well, rampant is

1:58

an adjective. Let me

2:00

tell you about it. my

2:02

garden, Neil. It's full of

2:04

weeds. They are everywhere. Now,

2:06

rampant means spread out of

2:08

control. And to make this

2:10

a verb, we say run

2:12

rampant. So, I could say

2:14

in my garden, weeds run

2:16

rampant. OK, so this expression

2:19

run rampant means spread out of

2:21

control. Gangs run rampant. That means

2:23

they can't be controlled and they're

2:26

spreading across Haiti. The authorities are

2:28

trying to contain them, but they

2:30

can't. It's not working. What

2:33

else can run rampant? Well,

2:35

it's not only used for

2:37

big, serious things. Maybe children

2:39

at a birthday party might

2:41

run rampant. They're out of

2:43

control after all that sugar.

2:45

OK, let's look at that

2:47

again. Let's

2:56

have a look at our next headline. This

2:58

is from the Herald Scotland. States

3:02

of emergency extended in

3:04

Haiti as gang attacks

3:06

paralysed capital. So,

3:08

gang attacks paralysed the capital of

3:10

Haiti. Now, this word paralysed is

3:13

the one we're looking at. And

3:15

I recognise it, Beth, because it

3:18

means that someone can't move part of

3:20

their body, usually after an accident. Is

3:22

there a connection between that paralysed and

3:24

the one in the headline? There

3:27

is. Now, paralysed in the

3:29

headline is a verb that

3:31

means to cause something, to

3:33

stop moving or operating. Now,

3:35

in Haiti, gangs have disrupted

3:37

the capital, so things aren't

3:39

working or moving as they

3:41

normally would. Yes, that's right.

3:44

So, for example, flights have stopped,

3:46

medical care isn't coming in or

3:48

going out, movement

3:50

has stopped, basically. Can

3:53

we use paralysed in other ways? Yeah,

3:55

so paralysed can also mean that

3:57

you're unable to think or act.

4:00

in a normal way. So maybe

4:02

if you're really scared you might

4:04

be paralysed with fear. You can't

4:06

move. OK, let's look at

4:08

that again. Let's

4:17

have our next headline. This is

4:19

from BBC News. So,

4:27

let's break this headline down.

4:29

Haiti spirals to collapse. Now

4:31

spirals means moves very quickly,

4:34

out of control. It means

4:36

the country's collapsing, it's falling

4:38

apart. We're looking at

4:40

the expression, tighten grip. Now Beth,

4:43

this mug here I've got in my

4:45

grip and I'm holding it very tight.

4:48

You can see maybe my knuckles turning white as

4:50

I hold it really hard. You're not going to

4:52

get this from me. No,

4:54

because you are literally tightening

4:57

your grip. Now, here in

4:59

this headline, tighten grip is

5:01

metaphorical. These gangs are

5:03

taking more control every day

5:05

and in a violent way.

5:08

It's like they have the country in

5:10

their grip and they are tightening it,

5:13

so adding pressure to the country. Yes,

5:15

and that's damaging the country and its people.

5:18

Now, it's common with this expression, tighten

5:20

grip, to add the preposition on. So

5:23

what else can we tighten our grip on? Well,

5:26

a football team at the top

5:28

of the league might tighten their

5:30

grip on the title if they

5:32

win three games in a row,

5:34

for example. Yes, or a

5:36

dictator could tighten their grip

5:38

on power by, for example,

5:40

banning elections or making other

5:42

parties illegal. Let's have

5:44

a look at that again. We've

5:53

had run rampant, spread out

5:55

of control, paralyzed, caused

5:57

something to stop operating, and...

6:00

and grip. Take more control. Watch

6:02

more news review on our website and

6:05

learn how to talk about world events in

6:07

English. Thank you for joining us and goodbye.

6:09

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