Foot-and-mouth in Europe – level 2

08-04-2025 15:00

Austria closed 24 small border crossings with Hungary and Slovakia to stop foot-and-mouth disease from entering the country.

Slovakia found the disease on three farms and said it is an emergency. Hungary also found the disease and sent soldiers to clean the area near the border. The disease doesn’t hurt people but makes animals like cows, pigs, and sheep sick. The animals get fever and painful spots in their mouths. If many animals are sick, countries often stop trade and kill the sick animals to stop the disease.

Austria now checks people and cars at open border crossings. People must walk or drive over a special rug that stops the virus. Police also look for meat in cars. Austria says it is ready in case the disease comes into the country.

Difficult words: enter (to get into a place), emergency (a serious and dangerous situation), rug (a flat, thin piece of cloth on the ground to clean shoes).

You can watch the original video in the Level 3 section.

How did Slovakia and Hungary react after discovering the disease, and what steps does Austria take at its remaining border crossings to prevent the virus from spreading?

LEARN 3000 WORDS with NEWS IN LEVELS

News in Levels is designed to teach you 3000 words in English. Please follow the instructions
below.

How to improve your English with News in Levels: 

Test

  1. Do the test at Test Languages.
  2. Go to your level. Go to Level 1 if you know 1-1000 words. Go to Level 2 if you know 1000-2000 words. Go to Level 3 if you know 2000-3000 words.

Reading

  1. Read two news articles every day.
  2. Read the news articles from the day before and check if you remember all new words.

Listening

  1. Listen to the news from today and read the text at the same time.
  2. Listen to the news from today without reading the text.

Writing

  1. Answer the question under today’s news and write the answer in the comments.

Speaking

  1. Choose one person from the Skype section.
  2. Talk with this person. You can answer questions from Speak in Levels.

 

Stock images by Depositphotos