War and peace ENGLISH COLLOCATIONS IN USE (ADVANCED)

 

ENGLISH COLLOCATIONS IN USE (ADVANCED)

UNIT 39

War and peace

A	Ten days of war Bitter enemies, the Eastern and the Western regions of the country are once more engaged in hostilities. Our timeline charts the latest ­ fighting. JAN 1 The Eastern region accuses the Western region of stockpiling weapons1. The Western region accuses the Eastern region of creating instability2 in the area. Both sides deploy troops3 to the area. JAN 4 The Western region attacks an Eastern region border town. The Eastern region claims it was an unprovoked attack and violence erupts along the border. The violence escalates4 with a spate of attacks5 on both sides of the border. Both regions claim that innocent victims have been caught in the crossfire6. JAN 6 The Eastern region goes on the offensive and makes a pre-emptive strike7 on the capital of the Western region. Bombs are dropped in the city centre and it is claimed that they hit their intended targets, but that some collateral damage8 was inevitable. JAN 8 The Western region launches a counter-attack on the Eastern region by making surgical strikes9 on a number of industrial cities. They also seize power in the Eastern region border town and major rail centre. Both sides suffer a large number of casualties but neither is willing to call for a ceasefire10. 1 building up large quantities of weapons 2 making the area unsafe 3 send soldiers 4 violence increases dramatically 5 a large number of attacks 6 shot by accident as they were in the wrong place at the wrong time 7 an attack made to prevent the enemy from attacking you 8 unintentional killing of civilians and destruction of non-military targets – term used by those who cause it to make it sound less serious 9 short and narrowly targeted military attacks 10 an agreement to stop fighting
B	Ending fighting collocation example meaning uneasy truce The uneasy truce came to an end when the rebels attacked the capital. a truce that could easily be broken fragile peace There is a fragile peace in the area with hopes it will soon strengthen. a peace that could easily be destroyed ceasefire comes into effect The ceasefire will come into effect at midnight. agreement to stop fighting starts from this time restore peace The aim of the talks is to restore peace in the area. stop the fighting bring stability At last the treaty has brought stability to the region. made the region feel safe disband an army It will be hard to persuade the warlords to disband their army. send the soldiers home, as the army is no longer in existence lift a blockade They have agreed to lift the blockade on our ports. stop preventing goods from entering withdraw troops The country agreed to withdraw their troops from the area. take their soldiers out

EXERCISES

39.1	Look at A. Complete the collocations used in these newspaper headlines.
39.2	Read the article and answer the questions using full sentences. UN attempts to restore peace to this troubled region may finally be meeting with some success. A ceasefire has been agreed and will come into effect from midnight tomorrow. It is hoped this will bring an end to a decade of escalating violence between these two historically bitter enemies. 1 What is the UN’s aim? 2 What success have they had? 3 When will it start? 4 For how long have they been engaged in hostilities? 5 Has the situation been getting better? 6 What is the relationship generally like between the two sides?
39.3	Complete each sentence using a collocation from the box. collateral damage create instability fragile peace go on the offensive launch a counter-attack lift the blockade suffer casualties surgical strikes 1 The enemy have agreed to _____________ on our ports. 2 The general said that we have carried out some _____________ on the enemy. 3 There are hopes that the _____________ will develop into something more lasting. 4 It was their decision to _____________ first … 5 … and so we had no choice but to _____________. 6 It is believed that the aim of the invading army is to _____________ in the region. 7 He mentioned _____________ but didn’t say exactly how many civilians died. 8 Our army is certain to _____________, given the strength of the opposition.
39.4	Correct the collocation errors in these sentences. There may be more than one error. 1 The ceasefire makes into effect today and all hope it will bring stable to the area again. 2 The government has promised to retreat its troops next year. 3 There is an uncomfortable truce between the two sides at the moment. 4 When peace is replaced, we shall be able to deform the army. 5 The newspaper reported that the enemy had felt a defeat despite the fact that they had employed large numbers of troops to the area. 6 They accused us of piling weapons and of preparing to launch a provoked attack. 7 Some argue that the nuclear deterrent has prevented violence from excavating.
	Over to you Choose a conflict currently in the news and find reports of it in different English-language newspapers. At www.thebigproject.co.uk/news you can find links to large numbers of these. Note down collocations that you notice being used in several different reports.

 

ANSWER KEY

 

39.1 1 SPATE 2 VIOLENCE 3 STRIKE(S) 4 CAUGHT 5 POWER 6 CEASEFIRE   39.2 Possible answers: 1 The UN’s aim is to restore peace in an area where there has clearly been a lot of fighting. 2 They have managed to get both sides to agree to a ceasefire. 3 The ceasefire is due to come into effect from midnight the following day. 4 There have been hostilities for ten years. 5 No, it has been getting worse. It has been escalating. 6 The two sides have clearly been deadly/bitter enemies for a long time.   39.3 1 lift the blockade       5 launch a counter-attack 2 surgical strikes        6 create instability 3 fragile peace            7 collateral damage 4 go on the offensive  8 suffer casualties   39.4 1 The ceasefire comes into effect today and all hope it will bring stability to the area again. 2 The government has promised to withdraw its troops next year. 3 There is an uneasy truce between the two sides at the moment. 4 When peace is restored, we shall be able to disband the army. 5 The newspaper reported that the enemy had suffered a defeat despite the fact that they had deployed large numbers of troops to the area. 6 They accused us of stockpiling weapons and of preparing to launch an unprovoked attack. 7 Some argue that the nuclear deterrent has prevented violence from escalating.