Demonstrations have been taking place in Russia after Alexei Navalny, President Putin’s most high-profile critic, was arrested on his return to Russia a week ago. In the summer last year, Navalny was poisoned. Catherine and Neil have the vocabulary you need to talk about this story.
Video chapters:
0:00 – Introduction
0:30 – Story
1:58 – Headline 1: Alexander Navalny’s political gifts could spell the beginning of the end for Vladimir Putin
4:35 – Headline 2: Russia Navalny protests: Kremlin hits out at West as it downplays rallies
8:19 – Headline 3: Echoes of Belarus in Russia’s Navalny protests
11:11 – Language summary
Key words and phrases
spell the end
indicate a major change is going to happen
*Electric cars spell the end for the petrol engine.
*Everyone is hoping the vaccine will spell the end for the pandemic.
downplays
makes something seem less important than it is
*It’s important not to downplay the threat of coronavirus.
*The minister downplayed her role in the corruption scandal.
echoes
reminders of past events
*There are echoes of 80s pop in lots of new music.
*Some say the attack on the Capitol had echoes of 1930s Germany.
More here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/english/course/newsreview/unit-16/session-178