Learn English From The News - U.S. Soldier Killed By Detonation of Iranian Drone, Ceasefire Unravels

[00:00:00]In today's lesson, I have intermediate and advanced English words that I'm going to teach you. So, call a friend and let them know Jay has some breaking news. [music] Breaking news that never gets old. [laughter] Well, hello all of my students. I hope you're having a fantastic day. My [snorts] name is Jay. Welcome back to the channel where I have the opportunity to help improve your English. Today I am going to read through an English article at a moderate pace, have some fun explaining key vocabulary words and phrases to help improve your English.

[00:00:44]Make sure you're paying attention. As I said, I'm going to have intermediate and advanced words today, and I will quiz you on six of them throughout today's lesson. So, if you're ready for some learning and some laughter, let's dive into today's lesson. According to Al Jahir, US soldiers were killed during detonation of Iranian drone as cease fire unravels. So detonation is a word I am going to teach you here shortly.

[00:01:26]That's it's actually one of my main words. So let's hold off on what that means. When something unravels, it becomes evident. So, if you're watching a mystery movie, you may not know who the culprit or the guilty person is, but as the movie unravels, the truth becomes clear. Okay? So, when something unravels, it becomes obvious or evident. Okay? Uh, so for instance, you might say, "My shirt is hiding my muscles, but if I took it off, I would begin to unravel the distinct figure."

[00:02:05][laughter] Unravel. Let me stop. [laughter] Okay, let's continue with the story. A US soldier was killed in northern Iraq during a controlled detonation. Okay.

[00:02:23]Detonation of unexloded material from a downed Iranian drone. So, a detonation has to do with the act of causing an explosive device to explode. Say that with me.

[00:02:43]Detonation.

[00:02:45]Sometime sometimes the T is silent.

[00:02:47]Detonation.

[00:02:49]or some people may say detonation.

[00:02:53]So you might say residents heard a controlled detonation near the construction site. So in other words, it's when someone pushes the button to cause an explosion or you remember on cartoons where they would press down on the box and the bomb would detonate.

[00:03:15]Okay, it would explode.

[00:03:18]Now, a downed Iranian drone. Something that is downed is no longer in the air. It's down. It's on the ground. The drone is downed. The plane is downed. The chopper is downed.

[00:03:33]It's on the ground. Okay. US Central Command said another service member suffered minor injuries during the operation.

[00:03:45]Minor injuries is a very common I don't know if I would call it phrase but two words that we use in English. Minor injuries. It describes someone that has uh been hurt and it's not that serious.

[00:04:02]It's not insignificant or not important.

[00:04:05]It's just a small injury. Maybe a cut, a scrape, uh a small gash, a minor injury.

[00:04:14]the death raised, okay, or increased. Okay, you can raise a window or a person can get a raise in pay on their job. But when you talk about statistics or numbers, the death raised, it increased.

[00:04:35]Okay. The number of US troops killed since the war began in Iran to 17. So maybe the number was six. Now it was raised to 17. Increased. All right.

[00:04:54][snorts] So it was raised. The incident occurred as con the incident occurred as the conflict between the United States and Iran intensified.

[00:05:10]Occurred. It happened. Okay. When something occurs, it happens. The storm occurred while I was asleep. Okay.

[00:05:23]Occurred the conflict. Very common. I would say this is a beginner level word.

[00:05:29]Conflict has to do with a disagreement or a fight. Now, here's a great word. An interim ceasefire signed a month earlier had unraveled and both countries resumed attacks connected to the struggle over the strait of Hormuz. So, what does all of this mean? First of all, let's look at the first vocabulary word. An interim.

[00:06:02]Say that with me. Interim.

[00:06:05]Interim.

[00:06:07]Okay. Interim is an adjective.

[00:06:10]It's something that is temporary and used until something more permanent is arranged. All right. an interim manager led the office until a replacement was hired. Okay, so it's someone who's not officially in charge, but the manager was placed there until an official manager was hired. So that person would be interim. So, we use this term when we talk about uh let's say a coach may have gotten fired and so they put an interim coach in position until they hire a new head coach. All right?

[00:06:56]Now, don't confuse interim with intern.

[00:07:00]Okay? Intern is [snorts] uh a student or a person that is working a position uh to learn what a company and how a company works. All right? So don't confuse intern with an intern.

[00:07:20][laughter] They sound the same but they are different. Now notice here unravel or unraveled when something unraveled or becomes unraveled it's gradually falling apart or failed or as I said earlier something unravels it becomes clear okay so when we say unraveled in this context it means to fall apart their vacation plans unraveled traveled after the flight was cancelled. So, this is another one of those words that I consider to be intermediate to advance because it has a couple of different meanings. I told you one meaning earlier, but unravel also has to do with something gradually falling apart. Okay, let's look at our first few uh quiz questions. Okay, retaliation. I think that's actually the next word that I'm going to give you, but let's go ahead and put it in the quiz anyway. Uh, retaliation, uh, detonation, and unraveled. Okay, these are your choices. Use the comments section. Number one, the business agreement blanked after months of disagreements.

[00:08:49]Number two, the controlled blank destroyed the unsafe device.

[00:08:56]That one should be easy. Number three, the company feared blank after reporting the illegal activity.

[00:09:07]Okay, detonation, unraveled, and retaliation are your options. Let's continue with the story. Iran continued launching missiles and explosive drones at US military sites across the Gulf in retaliation. There it is for American strikes. Okay, retaliation. Say that with me.

[00:09:38]Retaliation.

[00:09:39]Very common advanced word.

[00:09:42]Retaliation. harmful action taken in response to another action. Okay, so [snorts] you might say he avoided retaliation and reported the problem to his manager, retaliation.

[00:10:01]Okay, so if my wife asked me to buy her a purse and I said, "I'm sorry, babe. I don't have any money." And then the next day I came home with a brand new car. [laughter] She would seek retaliation and maybe she would go purchase 30 purses [laughter] or let's say my wife uh had an affair.

[00:10:33]Unfortunately, I might seek retaliation and go do something just as crazy. Okay.

[00:10:41]Maybe I would go and I'm not going to even say it, [laughter] but you are taking harmful action uh in response to to what someone else did to you. All right? So, sometimes we we describe that with a phrase by saying tit for tat. Okay? So, you hit me, I'm going to hit you. You hurt me, I'm going to hurt you. Okay?

[00:11:09]>> [snorts] >> So you become vengeful. You retaliate.

[00:11:13]All right. [snorts] Iran Iranianmade Shihad drones are relatively inexpensive, but the interceptors used to destroy them can cost millions of dollars. So when we use this word here, this word relatively, okay, it's when you are assuming something, you're making an approximation.

[00:11:44]How much was your vacation? I would say it was relatively inexpensive.

[00:11:50]So I'm not telling you how much the vacation cost, but I am telling you an approximate amount. It didn't cost that much. It was relatively cheap. Okay.

[00:12:03]Woo. That's a nice car you have there, Jay. Oh, it's relatively expensive, so don't touch it. [laughter] Okay. So, it I'm letting you know it cost me a lot of money. Interceptors.

[00:12:18]Okay. Here's a word. What is an interceptor?

[00:12:22]All right. You hear this word pretty often, uh, especially during this time when you're talking about war. An interceptor, weapons or vehicles designed to stop an incoming attack.

[00:12:38]Notice the the key word intercept. Okay, so that's to stop something. The military launched interceptors to stop the approaching missiles. So, let me give you a visual. Let's say I shot a missile in the air towards you and [snorts] you did not want the missile to hit and detonate your home. So, you had a device that would shoot at my missile and stop it from coming in your direction. And once it intercepts in the air and explodes, you would say the interceptors worked. We no longer have to worry about the missile. Okay? So, an interceptor, something that stops a missile in the air. Okay.

[00:13:35]Iranian attacks were also reported against US military equipment in Kuwait. While, how do you say that?

[00:13:48]Uh, Bahrain intercepted another attack.

[00:13:53]I hope I'm pronouncing that correctly.

[00:13:55][snorts] Jordan said it destroyed three Iranian missiles and summoned, Say that with me, summoned. an Iranian diplomat to protest the recent strikes.

[00:14:09]So what the article is saying thus far is that there is a back and forth [laughter] of fighting between the countries and they're shooting missiles. They're intercepting the missiles. They're protesting. Now why are you shooting these missiles at us? We agreed on a cease fire. Okay. So, it's just a lot going on. And in the midst of the fighting, people are dying. Okay. Now, notice this word summoned. When something or someone is summoned, they are officially ordered to appear. Okay? So, when you summon someone, come come here. Here, not there. Come, come here. Right now, you're summoning.

[00:15:01]The supervisor summoned both employees to discuss the argument. Okay. So, I may summon my wife. Girl, did you have an affair? Come here. I'm summoning her to come here to discuss the activity she's been doing outside of our marriage. [laughter] I am summoning. Okay. You may summon your children. Okay. Who made this mess?

[00:15:28]Come here. You're summoning them.

[00:15:31][snorts] The continuing attacks have disrupted energy supplies and increased fears of global inflation.

[00:15:40]Officials have not indicated when the fighting may end. Indicate. So when you indicate something, you you tell information. Okay? You give information.

[00:15:52]I am indicating something. I am letting someone know about something. Okay. All right. Before I give you our final quiz today, I am moving swiftly, [snorts] which means I am moving fast. Let's read through today's article at a faster pace without stopping and then I will give you our final quiz with the answers. Now, the purpose of me reading the article at a faster pace if this is your first time watching is to help increase your English listening and to help your reading and comprehension skills. Okay?

[00:16:34]So, let's see if you can understand what I am reading or what you are hearing.

[00:16:40]Okay. A US soldier was killed in northern Iraq during a controlled detonation of unexloded material from a downed Iranian drone. US Central Command said another service member suffered minor injuries during the operation. The death raised the number of US troops killed since the war with Iran began to 17. The incident occurred as the conflict between the United States and Iran intensified.

[00:17:15]An interim ceasefire signed a month earlier had unraveled and both countries resumed attacks connected to the struggle over the Strait of Hormuz.

[00:17:27][snorts] Iran continued launching missiles and explosive drones at US military sites across the Gulf in retaliation for American strikes strikes. Iranian-made Shihad drones are relatively inexpensive, but the interceptors used to destroy them can cost millions of dollars. Iranian [snorts] attacks were also reported against US military equipment in Kuwait while Iran intercepted another attack. Jordan said it destroyed three Iranian missiles and summoned an Iranian diplomat to protest the recent strikes. The continuing attacks have disrupted energy supplies and increased fears of global inflation.

[00:18:16]Officials have not indicated when the fighting may end.

[00:18:23]Alrighty then. [snorts] Okay, let's look at our last quiz question for today.

[00:18:35]Let me pull that up. Here we are. Interm summoned, and interceptors are your options. Number one, the military launched blank to stop the incoming missiles.

[00:18:50]Number two, the manager blank everyone to an emergency meeting.

[00:18:58]And number three, and blank director managed the department temporarily. Now, I've got to be honest, you should be able to get all of these correct. I think I did fairly well explaining these tougher these tougher terms. Okay. All right. I'll give you the answers in just a moment. If you have enjoyed today's lesson, make sure you hit that button or the like button. If you're not a subscriber, make sure you do subscribe.

[00:19:31]And for those of you who do not know, I do have another channel and I post uh videos there. uh relatively frequently.

[00:19:42]I try to do at least one a week and I normally have short stories on [snorts] this channel and I do a lot of reading and repeating uh shadowing if you may.

[00:19:54][snorts] But I am now going to do something someone asked me to do idioms.

[00:19:59]So my most recent video I did one I'm starting some easy idioms okay that you can learn very quick. I did one here called Break the Ice and a Piece of Cake and I break those down in that quick English lesson. I believe it's under five minutes. So, make sure you go to that channel and check out some of the videos I have there. I have a few hundred I believe [laughter] uh if I'm not mistaken or close to a hundred lessons there. It's called Parlay with Jay. And parlay is a meeting. So, we meet up to talk. All right, [snorts] that link should be down in the description or on the homepage of my YouTube channel. Okay, so with that being said, I hope you take advantage of those free lessons there. Here are the answers to today's quiz questions. Okay, make sure you do not cheat. [laughter] And as always, if this is your first time, I have two strategies here on the channel. I simply want you to take at least two words from today's lesson and practice using them in a conversation or a sentence speaking to someone else in English or yourself.

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