Exercise 1

Polly writes that "Horatio has recovered our monkey".
In this context, this means:

Horatio has healed the monkey.

To "heal" someone means to "take care of their injury" or "bring them back to a state of good health". Example: The wound "healed" by itself, without any medication. Giuseppe was kidnapped, and Horatio found him and brought him back, which indicates that Horatio "recovered" Giuseppe, not that he "healed" the monkey. It is true that the verb "to recover" can indicate this sense of "medical improvement" in another context, and in the active voice.

Horatio has comforted the monkey.

This is not the best choice. To "comfort" a monkey means to "help him to relax" or "calm him down". Example: The flight attendants comforted the passenger who was afraid of flying.

Horatio has rescued the monkey.

This is the best choice. The term "recovered" means to "get something back that has been lost" in this context. Example: We "recovered" the files that had been accidentally deleted. Note that in another context, "to recover" can mean "to feel better" or "recuperate" from an illness or injury. "To rescue" expresses a similar meaning to the verb "to recover" in this context.

Horatio has put the monkey in a bag.

This is not the best choice. "To recover" does not indicate that Horatio has put the monkey in a bag. Although a similar term, "to re-cover" can mean to cover something second time with cloth or other material. Example: We "re-covered" the two old chairs in the living room. However, this does not share the same meaning with the term "recovered" as it is used in Polly's email.

Exercise 2

Fill in the blanks with words used in the broadcast!

This is a sum of money that criminals (for example hijackers) want in exchange for prisoners. "They wanted a massive in exchange for the President's son, whom they'd kidnapped."

This is a synonym for the term "surrounded". "The hotel is by very high mountains. It's so picturesque!"

This is a piece of equipment used to amplify a person's voice. "The was set at maximum: I wanted to make sure that the whole crowd would hear me."

This is an operation meaning "to save" someone or something. "My dog fell off the bridge and landed in the river. We needed the firemen to come and her."

This means to be "hurt", "harmed", or "wounded". "I was very badly whilst skiing last year. I fell 100 ft from the ski lift."

I don't know

Fill in the blanks with words used in the broadcast!

This is a sum of money that criminals (for example hijackers) want in exchange for prisoners. "They wanted a massive ransom 1 in exchange for the President's son, whom they'd kidnapped."

This is a synonym for the term "surrounded". "The hotel is encircled 2 by very high mountains. It's so picturesque!"

This is a piece of equipment used to amplify a person's voice. "The loudspeaker 3 was set at maximum: I wanted to make sure that the whole crowd would hear me."

This is an operation meaning "to save" someone or something. "My dog fell off the bridge and landed in the river. We needed the firemen to come and rescue 4 her."

This means to be "hurt", "harmed", or "wounded". "I was very badly injured 5 whilst skiing last year. I fell 100 ft from the ski lift."

1 ransom: "Ransom" is the right answer. A "ransom" is an amount of money demanded (under threat) as payment for the release of a captured person. Here's another example: "The businessman paid the £4 million ransom for his son, but his captors killed him anyway. You can't trust criminals".

2 encircled: "Encircled" is the correct answer. Other useful synonyms for to "encircle" include "hem in" or in this context "cordon off". Some difficult phrasal verbs today! For example, "The police encircled the area. There was a suspicious package, so they called the bomb squad."

3 loudspeaker: "Loudspeaker" is the correct term here. A loudspeaker is a device that transforms a voice or electrical signals into loud sounds. It increases the volume and is useful when talking to a large group of people, for example at a demonstration or march.

4 rescue: "Rescue" is the right answer. To "rescue" means to "save" or to "recover from danger". Another example of this is: "After surviving three weeks on the side of the glacier by eating his fingers and toes, a helicopter finally came to rescue him."

5 injured: "Injured" is the term we were looking for. To "injure" here means to "hurt" or "cause bodily harm". It is used in the adjective form in the dialogue. The noun is "injury". (Don't forget it becomes "injuries" in the plural). You now know everything about this word!

Rescue meaning in English

Definition

Examples

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