Learning English

A disease from the past

Doctors in Australia are blaming poor modern diets for a rise in the number of people suffering from scurvy. The disease has been diagnosed in seven diabetic patients in Sydney.

Language challenge

British sailors used to eat a certain type of fruit to make sure they didn't get scurvy. It led to an insulting name that Americans used to call British people. Was it…

a) Lemony?
b) Limey?
c) Orangey?

ነቲ ቪድዮ ብምዕዛብ ነቲ ስራሕ ዕመምዎ

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The story

In Sydney, Australia, doctors have been seeing patients with a disease called scurvy. Scurvy is a disease caused by a lack of vitamin C, which you find in fruit like oranges and lemons. Sailors on long trips used to get it but you don't really hear about it these days. The doctors say it's due to poor diet – people not eating any fruit.

Key words and phrases

comeback
a return of something after a period of time

resurgence
the start of something again which used to happen

archaic
old; belonging to the past

To do

Try our quiz to see how well you've learned today's language.

Downloads

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Language challenge - answer

b) Limey. This was an insulting word used by Americans to talk about British people.

End of Session 2

Join us in Session 3 for Pronunciation in the News - our video which teaches you words from the news using the latest BBC World News bulletins. This time, we're looking at the word immigration.