Staff to Leave Macquarie Island Over Bird Flu Fears
Listen to the story
Workers on Macquarie Island will leave soon. Macquarie Island is near Antarctica. The workers are part of the Antarctic program. They are leaving because of bird flu. Bird flu is a sickness that can kill birds.
Many birds live on Macquarie Island. Officials worry that bird flu will spread there. They want to keep the workers safe. This is why staff must go.
In other news, an airline called Virgin made more money this year. This happened even though there is a war between the US and Iran. Wars can make oil prices go up. High oil prices can hurt airlines.
But Virgin still made a good profit. Profit means the money a company earns after paying its costs. This is good news for the airline.
Vocabulary15 words
- bird flu
- a sickness that can make birds very sick or die
- profit
- money a company keeps after paying its costs
- Antarctic
- the very cold area near the South Pole
- withdraw
- to leave a place
- official
- a person who works for the government or a group
- risk
- a chance that something bad will happen
- airline
- a company that flies planes
- war
- fighting between countries
- spread
- to move and cover a bigger area
- safe
- not in danger
- program
- a plan of work done by a group
- island
- land with water all around it
- oil
- a liquid used to make fuel
- worker
- a person who does a job
- money
- what people use to buy things
Quiz
Answer key
1. Because of bird flu 2. Money a company earns after costs 3. False
Fill-in-the-blank listening
Play the audio again and fill in the missing words as you listen.
Workers on Macquarie Island will _____ soon. Macquarie Island is near _____. The workers are part of the Antarctic program. They are leaving because of _____.
Many _____ live on Macquarie Island. Officials worry that bird flu will _____ there. They want to keep the workers _____. This is why staff must go.
In other news, an airline called Virgin made more _____ this year. This happened even though there is a _____ between the US and Iran. Wars can make oil _____ go up.
But Virgin still made a good _____. This is good news for the airline.
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