LINGUAWIRE
Demi Vollering wins the Tour de France for a second time, and divers find an ancient Roman shipwreck off Sicily.
A current English news story adapted for language learners at A2, with audio, transcript, vocabulary and comprehension work.
Welcome to LinguaWire English A2.
Today we have two stories: a big bike race and an ancient shipwreck.
To help you follow today's episode, full transcripts are available.
Vocabulary look-ups are available at linguawire.com.
Demi Vollering wins the Tour again.
Now we go to Noah, our LinguaWire correspondent for sport.
Demi Vollering has done it again.
She won the race for a second time.
It sounds like a hard finish.
Yes, and Sunday was the final stage of the Women's Tour de France.
Vollering crossed the line first in Nice.
That stage win also gave her the overall lead.
So she did not just win one stage.
She also won the whole race.
Exactly.
She finished 1 minute and 18 seconds ahead of last year's winner, Katarzyna Niewiadoma-Phinney.
Before the stage, she was only eight seconds ahead.
That is a very small gap.
What changed on the road?
Vollering attacked on the final climb.
She pushed hard about 800 meters from the top.
She left her rival behind.
She also got a time bonus for the stage win.
So the climb mattered.
And the attack mattered too.
Was it a calm finish for her?
Not really.
She tried hard to hold back tears.
The Dutch anthem was playing.
After she crossed the line, she raised her bike in the air.
Later she said she thought about all the work behind the victory.
That gives the story a very human side.
She was not only racing.
She was carrying a lot of feeling.
Yes, and she also said she still has many dreams.
This win was her fifth Grand Tour victory.
It puts her among the biggest names in women's cycling.
And Niewiadoma-Phinney, did she stay close until the end?
She did for a while.
But on Sunday she looked tired after a hard week.
Other riders also lost time.
Marlen Reusser lost time after a crash on a downhill section.
So this last stage really changed the final table.
Yes, it confirmed Vollering's strong finish.
She took the race after a final day that was both fast and tense.
Ancient Roman shipwreck found near Sicily.
Now we go to Chloe, our LinguaWire correspondent for culture.
Italian divers have found an ancient Roman shipwreck off Sicily.
That is the kind of find people dream about.
What do officials think?
They think it is more than 2,000 years old.
It was found around 46 meters deep.
It was near the coast by Mazara del Vallo.
So this was not a simple beach discovery.
It was deep under the sea.
Exactly.
The wreck is about 21 meters long and 6 meters wide.
That is according to local reports.
It was full of hundreds of old containers called amphorae.
Amphorae are those tall jars used for goods, right?
Yes.
People used them for wine, olive oil, and grain.
The cargo gives experts a clue about trade in Roman times.
What made the divers notice it in the first place?
One diver said he saw something on his scanner.
It looked like a large rock.
He went down to check.
It was not a rock at all.
He said his heart stopped when he saw the jars.
That is a strong moment of surprise.
He really thought he had found an ordinary stone.
Instead, he found a piece of history.
He also said it felt amazing.
He said they were among the first people in nearly 20 centuries.
They saw the place again.
And now the site needs protection.
What happens next?
Special police divers have been sent there.
Officials say safety steps will be taken.
Experts will study the wreck and its cargo.
They want to learn more about the ship.
They also want to know how it was used.
So the discovery is exciting.
But the work is just starting.
Yes, and the culture minister called it one of the most important underwater finds.
That was in recent years.
For archaeologists, this is both a discovery and a careful job now.
First, three words from the shipwreck story.
Amphorae means old ceramic jars.
They were used for carrying goods.
Example: The museum showed an amphora from an old ship.
Cargo means the goods carried by a ship.
In the story, the cargo was the amphorae and the goods inside them.
Example: The ship's cargo included boxes of fruit.
Wreck means a damaged or sunk ship.
In the story, the wreck was an old Roman ship under the sea.
Example: Divers found a wreck near the island.
Now one grammar point: has done it.
We use this for a finished action in the recent past.
Example one: Demi Vollering has done it again.
Example two: She has done a lot of work before the final stage.
Repeat after me: has done it
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