6th January 2000

What does this millennium hold?

turn of the millennium: the end of the previous 1000 years and the beginning of the next 1000 years

impelled: when you feel forced to do something; formal language

succeed in sending: manage to convey people: note the structure - succeed is followed by in and then by the -ing form of the verb

genetic engineering: changing the structure of a living organisms; altering genes

succeed in making: manage to cause people to become

meet challenges: face up to a problem, usually with a successful outcome

advance bookings : reservations made before - in advance of - the date of travel

"Other scientists predict that the average human life span will grow to 130 years, and that microchips implanted in people's bodies will enable them to control machines or even communicate with other people without using words at all.

Scientists at the British Meteorological Office say that if global warming continues at it's present rate, in another one thousand years the Earth will be eleven degrees warmer, so much of it will be uninhabitable. Kofi Annan, the United Nations Security-General, marked the new millennium with these sober words: 'More than ever before in human history we share a common destiny. We can master it only if we face it together.'"

predict:if you predict an event, you say that it will happen

life span: the period of time during which someone is alive

microchips: small pieces of silicon inside a computer, on which electronic circuits are printed

implanted:to put something inside a person's body by means of an operation

enable: if someone enables you to do something, they make it possible for you to do it

without using words: note that without is followed by the -ing form of the verb to use

global warming: the problem of the temperature increase in the Earth's atmosphere

present rate: the speed at which something is happening now

so (that) much of it: "so" here is a conjunction: it introduces the result of something we have been hearing about

marked: drew attention to the millennium

common destiny: the things that will happen to everybody