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| Words in the News
Friday 09 August 2002
Vocabulary from the news. Listen to and read the report then find explanations of difficult words below.
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New York gets tough on diplomatic parking
Summary: The Mayor of New York city, Michael Bloomberg, has said that from Friday the city will start removing diplomatic cars that are parked illegally if they are from countries that have refused to pay parking fines now worth millions of dollars. This report from Mike Fox:
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| | The News | |
| | | A shortage of parking spaces and the aura of immunity created by diplomatic licence plates have led some diplomats to rack up huge numbers of parking fines. Egypt is the worst offender, owing one-point-six-million dollars for more than fifteen-thousand tickets. Mayor Bloomberg has said that from Friday they'll start towing illegally parked vehicles from counties that are persistent offenders. But the US State Department is worried that such drastic action could lead to reprisals against their diplomats overseas.
It's tried to negotiate a compromise based on the model used in Washington - increase the number of parking spots and then withdraw diplomatic registration from cars that keep breaking the law. That plan was rejected. But just hours before Mayor Bloomberg's threat is due to come into force, New York and State Department officials are meeting again in an effort to reach a compromise.
Mike Fox, BBC Correspondent, New York
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| | The Words
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| | | aura of immunity
a feeling that nothing can harm you
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| | | to rack up
to accumulate
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| | | towing
pulling one vehicle behind another
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| | | vehicles
means of transport with an engine, for example: cars, trucks, motorcycles, busses
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| | | drastic
extreme, urgent, significant, noticeable
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| | | reprisals
acts of revenge
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| | | to negotiate a compromise
to talk about situation where both sides agree to accept less than they originally wanted
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| | | rejected
refused
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| | | to come into force
to become a reality
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