This is not a word for word transcript.
William: Hello and welcome to another edition of 6 minute English. My name is William
Kremer.
Neil: And I'm Neil Edgeller.
Hollywood style music
Neil: Why the dramatic music, Will?
William: Well, that's some Hollywood-style music to accompany today's story, which is
a little bit like a Hollywood film. It has a gripping plot and an action hero.
Neil: OK, I'm intrigued.
William: Now, the setting is the Peruvian jungle...
Neil: The jungle – a thick, tropical forest. Jungles are the thickest parts of a
rainforest.
William: Now, before we go any further Neil, will you allow me to quiz you?
Neil: Ah yes, the quiz. I almost forgot about that.
William: What proportion of Peru is covered by the Amazon rainforest? Is it
a) 35%
b) 60% or
c) 85% ?
Neil: Well Peru is covered by mountains so I don't think very much, so I'll go for a)
35%.
William: Ok, well of course, we'll hear at the end of the programme what the answer is.
Now, back to our Hollywood-style story: the setting is, as I said, the Peruvian
jungle and the hero is a policeman called Luis Astuquillca. The details are still
rather unclear, but we do know that Mr Astuquillca survived an attack by the
rebel group Shining Path. But that's not all. He was separated from other
officers and survived by himself for seventeen days in the jungle before
finding his way to a village.
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Neil: Wow – he survived for seventeen days in the jungle! That is actually rather
more exciting than most Hollywood films.
William: Yes, I agree. And now Mr Astuquillca is back in the capital Lima and being
hailed as a hero. Let's hear the first part of a report by Mattia Cabitza about
this story. As you listen try to hear whether Luis Astuquillca arrived back in
Lima unharmed by his experience.
BBC correspondent Mattia Cabitza:
Luis Astuquillca is only 22 years old but already a hero in Peru. With a bandaged hand and
slightly limping, he got off a military plane in Lima and embraced his mother, sister and
grandmother. The young officer suffered bullet wounds to his leg and arm during a mission
to rescue 36 people who were kidnapped by the Shining Path rebels earlier this month.
Neil: So Luis Astuquillca was indeed injured.
William: That's right, the report said that he had a bandaged hand and was limping.
A bandage is a strip of material used to cover or protect an injury. It's also a
verb, meaning to put this material on after someone has had an injury.
Neil: To limp means to walk unevenly, usually because one of your legs or feet is
injured. Luis Astuquillca had a bandaged hand and was limping. In fact, he
had been shot in the arm and leg. But what was Luis Astuquillca doing in the
jungle in the first place, William?
William: Well he was part of a mission to rescue 36 hostages who had been taken by
that rebel group, Shining Path. Now, a hostage is a person who has been
taken by someone else, or by a group of people. Now, before they give that
person back they usually demand money or for something to be done.
Neil: Shining Path are a communist rebel group. Back in the 1980s and early 1990s
they presented a real threat in Peru, but nowadays they only operate in quite
a small part of the country. But what happened to these hostages, William?
William: Let's listen to the next clip from the report. See if you can hear what has
happened to them.
BBC correspondent Mattia Cabitza:
The rebels released the hostages six days later, but not without leaving casualties: two
soldiers and two police officers died, and Mr Astuquillca was one of two policemen who went
missing.
Neil: The hostages were released but sadly four people died. What's more, two
policemen went missing. Luis Astuquillca was one of them, but who was the
other one?
William: Well, the other policeman's name is Cesar Vilqua. And unfortunately since
Mattia Cabitza filed this report for the BBC, Mr Vilqua's body has been found
in the jungle, so sadly it looks like five people died rather than four. Now, the
Peruvian government has been criticised for its handling of this situation.
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Neil: Its handling, so the way it has reacted to a difficult situation. But why have
they been criticised for their handling of the situation? Let's listen to the final
clip from the report.
BBC correspondent Mattia Cabitza:
No details are yet known about how he survived for 17 days in the Peruvian jungle. The
government was quick to say it was thanks to his training in the police force. But the
Peruvian press has criticised the authorities for their handling of the rescue operation,
saying that the two officers who went missing were abandoned.
Neil: So the press in Peru are saying that the missing police officers were
abandoned by the authorities. If you abandon someone you stop caring for
them, you leave them to take care of themselves.
William: OK, well that was our dramatic Hollywood-style report. Now, what about that
quiz question, Neil? I asked you what proportion of Peru is covered by the
Amazon rainforest? Is it
a) 35%
b) 60% or
c) 85% ?
... and you said –
Neil: I said a) 35%.
William: Ok, you were wrong! The answer is b) about 60% of the country.
Neil: Ok then. Well before we finish, let's hear the words from today's programme
one more time.
jungle
bandage
to limp
hostage
handling
to abandon someone
William: That's all from us for this week. Goodbye!
Neil: Goodbye!
