Shadowing Practice: LA police warn of “scammers and looters” as fire death toll rises | BBC News - Learn English Speaking with YouTube

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Scammers and looters have been taking advantage of the wildfires in Los Angeles,
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Scammers and looters have been taking advantage of the wildfires in Los Angeles,
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according to police, with one man dressing as a firefighter to try to burgle a home.
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16 people have died in the fires and 16 are missing.
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More strong winds are forecast,
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but firefighters say they are making progress.
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One of the four fires burning through Los Angeles,
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the Kenneth Fire, is now 100% contained,
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meaning they've stopped it spreading.
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Firefighters are trying to prevent the sort of devastation seen in the Palisades village.
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This video shows the before and after in the upscale shopping area.
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On the left is what it looked like in March last year and on the right is how it looks now.
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Well, let's join Emma Vardy,
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who's in Los Angeles for us.
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Emma.
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Well, among all that devastation here,
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as well as people's homes,
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are a number of schools and churches also now lying in rubble.
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And today, on a Sunday,
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congregations have been finding new places to come together.
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Meanwhile, of course, that monumental firefighting effort is now being helped by new crews coming in from Mexico and from Canada
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as LA tries to sustain its resistance against the flames as this crisis continues.
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The race to stay ahead of the deadly fires enters a sixth day.
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Helicopters fly just above the smoke, below the flames rage.
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But just as progress is made, other areas ignite.
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In the fire's wake, residents continue to journey back to where their houses once stood.
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For one, the reality is overwhelming.
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Oh my God!
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Oh my God!
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There have been repeated warnings for people to stick to nighttime curfews.
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Police urging the need for order.
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I saw a gentleman that looked like a firefighter and I asked him if he was okay because he was sitting down.
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I didn't realize we had him in handcuffs.
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We were turning him over to LAPD because he was dressed like a fireman and he was not.
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He just got caught burglarizing a home.
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That was my house.
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This is the main house.
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With tens of thousands of people staying in emergency hotels and shelters,
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they're safe for now but have no idea where they will go next.
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Serenity's family of 11 fled minutes before their home burned.
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People like me without insurance,
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we don't know what we're going to do.
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We're at shelters like this,
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we are going all around town.
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Some of us have lost our cars,
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some of us have lost our sense of being.
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The city faces a massive task to provide housing for the areas that are lost.
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We will rise, we will rise, we will rise.
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It's a church in Pasadena,
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Sunday's congregation, summoning the strength to face the day.
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The community is pulling together to weather this disaster,
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but there are fears over how some are being affected.
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You know, people can take the land and they can buy the land,
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so we want to make sure they remain the landowners and they continue to retain their property.
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My concern is mainly for the underserved and the at-risk,
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which are the elderly and then also the children.
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The scale of the destruction in neighborhoods is vast.
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Whole schools gone.
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As you know, our beloved South Campus has been severely damaged by the recent fires.
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And many of our families and staff have experienced great personal loss.
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Crews have slowed the spread of the Eton fire,
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but strong winds drive it back into life.
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Well, you can see here that it's burning on both sides of us,
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up the hill and down into the valley too.
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There's helicopters flying just above us,
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just dropping water now, trying to keep those flames at bay.
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and there's a renewed sense of urgency because down here is a large NASA facility that the flames have been moving towards.
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16 people have now died in these fires.
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They are already among the deadliest in California's history.
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And officials say the death toll will rise.
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Emma Vardy, BBC News, Los Angeles.
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Well, despite the major ongoing challenges,
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firefighters have told the BBC that they are cautiously optimistic that they're beginning to gain the upper hand.
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The crucial difference, they say,
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has been the ability to bring in aircraft as the wind speeds dropped.
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Over the past week, our correspondent John Sudworth has spent days and nights watching the work of the fire crews up close,
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and he sent this report.
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In this unprecedented disaster, fire crews have faced an unprecedented fight.
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An overwhelming wildfire ripping through one of America's most densely populated cities,
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fueled by hurricane force winds.
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Let us know for you in your way too, OK?
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All right.
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Cool.
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Thanks, guys.
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But battalion chief Brent Basqua now believes their fortunes are shifting for one main reason.
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We're cautiously optimistic because it's not going to be 70 mile an hour winds.
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The rug got swept out under us from the winds downing our aircraft.
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They're just, we can't use them.
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It's too unsafe for the pilots
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and the retardant doesn't even make it to the ground when it's over 50 miles an hour.
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So we had to ground our aircraft.
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The helicopters did what they could,
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but it still just shows you how important it is to have
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that coordinated effect with the firefighters on the ground and the ones in the sky.
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Now, as those wind speeds have dropped,
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the aircraft have been able to get off the ground,
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bombarding the fire with water and fire retardant.
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For the past two days they've been flying sortie after sortie,
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right around the clock.
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In coordination with the ground teams,
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the hills around this city have been turned into into a smouldering moonscape
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as they begin to get on top of the fight.
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On Wednesday night we saw for ourselves how firefighters,
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without the air support, were left helpless.
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Facing water shortages as pressure dropped,
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this crew was forced to watch these homes burn while trying desperately to save the other side of the street.
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Two days on and the fires here have finally burned themselves out.
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As expected, every single property here now a gutted shell.
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This is where the fire truck was that night and the extraordinary thing is,
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against the odds, they won the battle they were fighting.
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Their careful use of the small amounts of water they had,
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saving every property on this side of the street.
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Many thousands were not so lucky,
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left facing a crisis on unimaginable scale.
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But in the fight against the fire at least,
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they're now daring to hope the worst may be over.
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This is still no time for complacency.
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Everybody is certain of that.
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There are still some 4,000 firefighters on this one fire alone,
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the fire they are calling the Palisades fire.
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There are more than 100,000 people across this city of Los Angeles under evacuation orders.
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And everybody is keeping a careful eye on those forecasts for strengthening winds later into the week.
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But here is the crucial difference, Rita.
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Those forecasts from late Monday through to Wednesday suggest we will
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see wind speeds with gusts of around 50 to 55 miles an hour.
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That is a long way short of the 100 mile an hour gusts we were getting on Monday and Tuesday.
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It's within the normal range of the Santa Ana winds.
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The kind of things these crews here say they are well used to dealing with,
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and it should also mean absolutely crucially,
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they can keep those aircraft that you can hear going overhead up in the skies,
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getting above the fire.
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So, you know, growing confidence,
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not complacency, but growing confidence that they are still retaining the upper hand.

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Why practice speaking with this video?

In this video from BBC News, the tragic impact of wildfires in Los Angeles is highlighted, offering an authentic context for practicing English speaking skills. Engaging with real-world stories like these not only enhances your vocabulary but also helps you develop a deeper understanding of the themes and emotions conveyed in everyday language. By shadowing the speaker, you can mimic their intonation, rhythm, and emotional emphasis, which is crucial for effective communication. Furthermore, discussing topics such as community resilience and disaster response can enrich your conversational skills, making you more adept at handling various speaking situations, especially in contexts like the IELTS speaking practice.

Grammar & Expressions in Context

As you listen to the report, pay attention to specific grammatical structures and expressions that are used effectively throughout. Here are some key ones to observe:

  • Present Continuous Tense: Used to describe ongoing actions, such as “firefighters are trying to prevent the sort of devastation.” This structure is valuable for discussing actions currently in progress.
  • Conditional Clauses: Phrases like “if they are not careful” show how conditions impact situations. Mastering conditionals will help you express possibilities accurately.
  • Passive Voice: The phrase “has been helped by new crews” highlights the importance of passive constructions in reporting events where the doer is less relevant. This is a common feature in news reports and can be useful for formal presentations.

Common Pronunciation Traps

When shadow speaking along with the video, you might encounter certain pronunciation challenges. Here are some that can be tricky:

  • Words Ending in -er: Words like "firefighter" can blend or change in pronunciation, especially under the speaker’s natural pace. It's essential to articulate the “-er” clearly while maintaining fluency.
  • Contraction vs. Full Form: Phrases such as “do not” often turn into “don’t” in rapid speech. Learning to switch seamlessly between contracted and full forms will improve your overall speaking fluidity.
  • Emphasis on Emotional Tone: Notice how the speaker varies tone to convey urgency and emotion. Practicing this will enhance your ability to express feelings through speech and improve your shadow speech practice.

By using these elements in your learning, especially through techniques like shadowspeaks and shadow speak, you'll not only improve your spoken English but also develop the skills necessary for exams like the IELTS. Embrace the complexities of pronunciation and grammar in this context, and watch your confidence flourish as you engage with real-world content.

What is the Shadowing Technique?

Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.

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