World News for Students of English

26-04-2016 07:00

On Thursday, the Olympic torch began its journey from the site of the ancient games to Rio de Janeiro. It will travel six days around Greece before going to Brazil on May 3rd.

There, it will travel around 329 cities before ending at the opening of the Olympics in Rio on August 5th. This is the 80th time people carry the torch from Greece. The first one took place ahead of the 1936 Olympic Games held in Berlin.

Brazil is going through difficult times. The Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff is fighting for her political survival, and the country could not bring back its economy. Also, there are a lot of problems with preparations for the Olympic Games and there is not enough money.

However, the International Olympic Committee president is optimistic. He says that the torch is a symbol of peace and harmony, and the power of people to come together.

Difficult words: torch (something in which you can carry fire), survival (life, job, position), committee (a group of people with a specific job).

You can read the original story and watch the video in the Level 3 section.