– English Lyrics

Lyrics & Translation

[English]

From BBC Learning English,

this is Learning English from the News, our podcast about the news headlines.

In this programme,

the strongest storm of the year, Hurricane Melissa, hits the Caribbean.

Hello, I'm Beth.

And I'm Phil.

In this programme, we look at one big news story

and the vocabulary in the headlines that will help you understand it.

You can find all the vocabulary and headlines from this episode,

as well as a worksheet on our website,

bbclearningenglish.com.

OK, so let's hear more about this story, Phil.

Hurricane Melissa hit Jamaica on Tuesday

as a category five storm with violent winds that reached a high of 295km/h.

It's also now hit Cuba.

The Jamaican prime minister has declared the country a 'disaster area'

and warns of 'devastating impacts'.

It will take time to know exactly how bad the damage is

but we know homes and hospitals have been badly affected

and there is severe flooding across Jamaica.

It's the strongest storm on Earth so far this year,

and is one of the strongest storms in the Atlantic Ocean this century.

Our first headline is about the hurricane.

Hurricane Melissa makes landfall in Jamaica,

and that's from The Guardian, a newspaper in the UK.

That headline again, Hurricane Melissa makes landfall in Jamaica.

And that's from The Guardian, a British newspaper.

So this headline says Hurricane Melissa has made landfall.

And that's the phrase we're going to look at.

We know 'land' and 'fall' already, but this is one word.

So Phil, what does it mean?

Well, it means the moment when something travelling across the sea

or air reaches the land, 'make' turns it into a verb,

so 'make landfall' means reach land.

So this headline is saying the hurricane has reached land.

It's hit Jamaica.

Is this phrase often used for hurricanes?

Yes. You'll often see it in headlines relating to storms, hurricanes,

or tropical cyclones,

because 'makes landfall' usually means the moment where the damage begins

and people are really affected.

We can use it for things other than storms, though, can't we?

Yes. Another example could be after two weeks at sea,

the sailors finally made landfall.

And we can also use it metaphorically,

although it's not as common.

So for example, you could say the business made landfall

in the tech market last year, and that means the business arrived

and started to operate in the tech market last year.

We had 'make landfall' - reach land.

For example,

the storm made landfall in the early hours of Saturday morning.

This is Learning English

from the News, our podcast about the news headlines. Today,

we're talking about the hurricane that has hit the Caribbean.

Now the Caribbean Sea is currently warmer than it normally is

at this time of year by a couple of degrees,

which has made this hurricane even more intense.

There haven't been many big storms in the Atlantic so far this season,

and that means the warm air and energy

in this area hasn't been used up in previous storms.

Because of climate change,

warmer conditions like those in the Caribbean Sea are more likely,

and that makes more extreme weather events more likely too.

Our next headline is about the relationship between climate change

and Hurricane Melissa.

And this comes from AP News, an international news agency.

As the Atlantic Ocean warms,

climate change is fuelling Hurricane Melissa's ferocity.

That headline again from AP news, an international news agency.

As the Atlantic Ocean warms,

climate change is fuelling Hurricane Melissa's ferocity.

This headline connects climate change and the strength of Hurricane Melissa.

We're focusing on the word 'fuelling'. Now,

Phil, this makes me think of petrol and coal.

Well, the noun 'fuel; means a material that produces energy when it burns

like coal, petrol or gas.

If you literally fuel something,

that's the verb,

you give it the energy or power to keep going.

But here, 'fuel' is used metaphorically.

The headline means climate change is making the hurricanes stronger.

It's intensifying it,

but it's not literally giving fuel to the hurricane.

And the verb 'fuel' is often used metaphorically in this way.

We can use it to talk about things that increase your emotion.

For example, his anger fuelled the argument and made everything worse.

Or we can use it to talk about increasing an activity like social media

can often fuel the spread of rumours.

You might have noticed that the examples we gave were not positive.

'Fuel' often suggests adding energy or momentum in a negative or dangerous way.

We've had 'fuel' - give energy to something.

For example, the latest political scandal has fuelled outrage

among the public.

This is Learning English from the News, our podcast about the news headlines.

Today we're talking about Hurricane Melissa, which has hit the Caribbean.

A US Air Force Reserve crew known as the 'Hurricane Hunters',

flew through the centre of Hurricane Melissa

on Monday to collect data for the National Hurricane Center.

They recorded wind speeds of up to 282km/h,

and also filmed the centre of the storm.

Our next headline comes from an article about this.

Storm chasers fly inside the eye of Hurricane Melissa,

and that's from BBC News.

That headline again.

Storm chasers fly inside the eye of Hurricane Melissa.

And that's from BBC News.

So, this headline describes people known as storm chasers flying

into the middle of the hurricane.

And we're focusing on 'the eye of'.

The eye of the storm or hurricane

in this headline is an expression that refers to the middle of the storm.

The eye of a hurricane is actually quite calm, and the air is quite still,

while the heavy rainfall and violent winds swirl around it.

So, in this case, the headline literally means the middle of the storm,

which is where storm chasers have been flying.

However, it's very common to use 'the eye of the storm' metaphorically

in English to talk about things other than weather,

isn't it? That's right.

The phrase can be used to describe a moment of calm in the middle of chaos.

For example, the manager remained in the eye of the storm even when she heard

there were going to be even more difficult times ahead for her team.

This means she remained calm.

But we also often use it to mean someone or something is

in the centre of a dramatic, difficult or controversial situation.

And in that case, the centre isn't necessarily calm.

So, for example, after pictures of the politician were printed

in the papers, he found himself in the eye of the storm.

We've had 'the eye of the storm' - the centre of a storm.

For example,

the eye of the storm passed right through the middle of our town.

That's it for this episode of Learning English from the News.

We'll be back next week with another news story.

If you want to practise what you've learnt,

go to our website to see more example sentences and try our free worksheet.

And don't forget to follow us on social media.

Find us @BBCLearningEnglish on your favourite platform.

Goodbye for now. Bye.

Key Vocabulary

Vocabulary	Meanings
hurricane /ˈhʌrɪkən/ B1	noun - A strong tropical cyclone with very high winds.
storm /stɔːrm/ A2	noun - A violent disturbance of the atmosphere with strong winds and rain.
flood /flʌd/ B1	noun - An overflow of water that submerges land which is usually dry. verb - To cover or submerge with water.
landfall /ˈlændfɔːl/ B2	noun - The moment when a storm or ship reaches land. verb (phrasal) - To come ashore; to reach land.
fuel /ˈfjuːəl/ B1	noun - A material such as coal, petrol or gas that produces energy when burned. verb - To supply with energy or power; to intensify.
ferocity /fəˈrɒsɪti/ C1	noun - Extreme fierceness or violence.
climate /ˈklaɪmɪt/ B2	noun - The prevailing weather conditions of a region over a long period.
disaster /dɪˈzɑːstər/ B2	noun - A sudden event causing great damage, loss, or destruction.
impact /ˈɪmpækt/ B2	noun - The strong effect or influence that something has. verb - To have a strong effect on something.
warning /ˈwɔːnɪŋ/ B2	noun - A statement that alerts people to danger or a problem. verb - To tell someone about a possible danger.
headline /ˈhɛdlaɪn/ B1	noun - The title of a newspaper article that summarizes the main point.
metaphorically /ˌmɛtəˈfɒrɪkəli/ C1	adverb - In a figurative way, not literally.
intense /ɪnˈtɛns/ B2	adjective - Very strong or extreme in degree.
violent /ˈvaɪələnt/ B1	adjective - Using great force; severe.
calm /kɑːm/ A2	adjective - Free from agitation or excitement. verb - To make or become tranquil.
centre /ˈsɛntər/ B1	noun - The middle point of something; a focal point.
chaser /ˈtʃeɪsər/ B2	noun - A person who pursues or follows, especially a storm hunter.
Caribbean /kəˈrɪbiən/ B2	proper noun - A region of the Americas consisting of the Caribbean Sea and its islands.

Key Grammar Structures

• Hurricane Melissa makes landfall in Jamaica.

  ➔ Present Simple Tense

  ➔ The verb 'makes' is in the present simple tense, used to describe a habitual action or a general truth. Here, it emphasizes the action of the hurricane reaching land.

• The Jamaican prime minister has declared the country a 'disaster area'.

  ➔ Present Perfect Tense

  ➔ The verb 'has declared' is in the present perfect tense, used to describe an action that occurred in the past and has results in the present. Here, it indicates the recent declaration of the disaster area.

• It will take time to know exactly how bad the damage is.

  ➔ Future with 'will'

  ➔ The verb 'will take' is used to express a future action. Here, it indicates that knowing the extent of the damage is something that will happen in the future.

• Climate change is fuelling Hurricane Melissa's ferocity.

  ➔ Present Continuous Tense

  ➔ The verb 'is fuelling' is in the present continuous tense, used to describe an action happening now. Here, it emphasizes that climate change is currently intensifying the hurricane.

• Storm chasers fly inside the eye of Hurricane Melissa.

  ➔ Present Simple Tense

  ➔ The verb 'fly' is in the present simple tense, used to describe a habitual action. Here, it indicates that storm chasers regularly fly into the eye of hurricanes.