With fuel prices soaring and temperatures dropping, many people are turning to wood to heat

their homes.

Wood markets are thriving but not all sources of wood are legitimate.

A special day for 62 penguins and one sea lion rescued late last year off the Brazilian coast after
getting lost during migration.

They’ve been looked after in a rehabilitation centre and now, after having been tagged, are
being released into the ocean to catch a current to take them home.

The sea is choppy but, with a little help, one by one they slip back into the sea.

Vocabulary:

migration the movement of certain animals from one place to another – often when the seasons
change

rehabilitation the looking after and caring for someone or something while it returns to good
health

tagged fitted with a device which can be tracked electronically

a current the movement of water in a particular direction

choppy with a lot of little waves caused by the wind

It could be possible to discover all of the species on Earth by the end of this
century, a new study published in the journal Science claims. BBC science
reporter Rebecca Morelle has more:

We've already found more than a million species, but unearthing the rest was thought to be an
impossible task. But now it seems an army of amateur scientists have taken up the cause. A new
study concludes that, thanks to them, we're in a golden age of discovery, with 20,000 new finds
charted each year. There could also be far fewer plants and animals left for them to find. The
researchers say rather than tens of millions of species living on Earth, there could be between two
and eight million. If the appetite for discovery continues to grow, they say a full ecological audit
could be a possibility within the next 100 years. The scientists also looked at the numbers of
species going extinct, and said this had been overestimated. Professor Mark Costello, from the
University of Auckland, is the lead author of the study: "Suddenly people say we're in the middle of
a mass extinction crisis well that's a bit premature because when we look at the extinction rates
that are actually happening they're not as bad as people have been letting on"

But the International Union for the Conservation of Nature disagreed with the team's conclusion
that the rate of new species found was higher than the numbers being lost. The organisation's
deputy director said it was more important to save species than to count them.
unearthing discovering things after careful searching

taken up the cause become actively involved in a movement

a golden age a period of time in which things are very successful and people are happy

charted recorded, listed

appetite for discovery desire to find out and learn about new things

ecological audit a thorough study of all plants and animals and the environmental conditions in
which they live

overestimated thought that something would be greater than it is

mass extinction a large number of plants and animals becoming extinct at the same time

premature happening too early, before the normal time

Pop star Beyonce has admitted she did not sing the American national anthem live during
President Obama's inauguration last month. She revealed the truth at a news conference for the
forthcoming Super Bowl. This report is from the BBC’s Ben Wright:

It was one of the most talked about moments of the inauguration: Beyonce's soaring, flawless
rendition of the Star Spangled Banner in front of President Obama and millions more.

But doubt was soon cast on the authenticity of the performance. There was speculation it was
taped, that the megastar had mimed.

Today came her response. She strolled into a news conference for Sunday's Super Bowl, at
which she will sing, asked the audience to stand and raised her microphone: Beyonce singing
American national anthem:

"Oh say, can you see, by the dawn's early light?"

After belting out the national anthem she asked, with a laugh, if there were any questions. And
then she admitted to singing along to a pre-recorded track last week because she didn't have
time to practise.

Beyonce said she had not wanted to risk anything going wrong on such a big occasion.

But she will be singing live during the half-time show on Sunday - to one of the biggest audiences
of her career.

soaring

rising or flying up into the air

flawless

perfect, without faults

rendition

a version of a song or performance

authenticity

reality

speculation

guessing about a subject without enough evidence

taped

recorded (of a sound)

mimed

moved lips along to a song without making a sound

strolled

walked slowly and in a relaxed way

belted out

sang very loudly and with a lot of enthusiasm

pre-recorded track

song which been recorded earlier

China has banned TV and radio adverts which encourage extravagant gift-giving ahead of
Chinese New Year, which begins this weekend. Expensive watches, gold coins and alcohol are
among the items that are affected, according to the state media. Martin Patience reports for the
BBC:

During Chinese New Year it's common to give gifts to bosses and officials as a way of gaining
favour. But now the authorities have announced a ban on advertisements that have been
encouraging people to give luxury items. In a statement, the authorities said these radio and TV
ads were spreading "incorrect values" and creating a "bad social ethos". According to reports, the
ban relates to promotions which suggest products are "must-have items for superiors". It's the
latest move by China's leader, Xi Jinping, to try and cut down on government extravagance and
corruption. At many official occasions, banquets have been banned or scaled back, red carpets
are out, and the floral arrangements are no longer there. China's new generation of leaders are
keen to display a more frugal administration in the face of growing public anger over official
corruption. Senior officials have repeatedly warned that corruption poses the greatest threat to the
rule of the Communist party.

gaining favour

getting acceptance

luxury

expensive and desirable

ethos

values or belief

superiors

senior or higher ranking members of the communist party

corruption

dishonest or fraudulent conduct by those in power

scaled back

reduced in size

frugal

more economical (in relation to money)

in the face of

as a reaction to a threat from

Industries must radically cut the amount of materials they use to combat resource shortages and
climate change for a planet of nine billion people, according to a report for the Royal Society. The
BBC’s Environment Analyst Roger Harrabin reports:

This discussion paper says the antidote to fears about resources is what's known as material
efficiency; that's making the things we want, but with less material. The researchers say we could
use half as much cement in buildings, for instance, if we designed and built them with more time
and care. We don't do it now because labour’s dear and materials are cheap. We could
drastically reduce steel in cars, if governments deterred the trend towards bigger, more powerful
vehicles.

The researchers say material efficiency is vital for tackling climate change, too. For the UK, for
instance, to generate clean energy so materials are produced in current quantities, would need the
equivalent of a four-fold increase in nuclear power or a 40-fold increase in wind power. That's
barely feasible, they say, so resource efficiency is the only way ahead.

The researchers say the trick will be to make sure that good design allows people to continue
getting the things they want but simply made from less. For the transition to happen fully they
urge governments to shift taxation away from people and on to resources. This would be
controversial but the researchers predict it will create jobs for people to manufacture goods in a
more intelligent way.

antidote

thing that prevents the unwanted effects

drastically
extremely or severely

deterred

discouraged

trend

a direction in which something is changing or developing

tackling

dealing with

four-fold

four times

barely feasible

unlikely to happen

transition

change

urge

try to persuade

controversial

an issue people would disagree on