Why would someone want to buy Greenland?

What do you know about Greenland?

US president Donald Trump said he is postponing an upcoming meeting with Denmark’s prime minister because she is not interested in talking about selling Greenland. President Trump floated the idea of buying the island – owned by Denmark. But he said recently that such a business deal was not a top priority.

Denmark had scoffed at the idea, saying Greenland was not for sale. Trump tweeted that ‘based on Prime Minister Frederiksen’s comments, that she would have no interest in talking about selling Greenland. Trump said he will be canceling the meeting for another time. The Danish Prime Minister had called Mr Trump’s idea about buying Greenland ‘an absurd discussion.’

Mr Trump said that he was interested in such a deal for strategic reasons. But he buying Greenland was not top of his mind at this time.

The president even joked about his idea as it came in for ridicule. He tweeted a photo shopped image of a modern Trump skyscraper over a small village in Greenland. ‘I promise not to do this to Greenland,’ he joked on Monday. But in a tweet on Tuesday about the cancelation of the visit, Mr Trump wrote: ‘The Prime Minister was able to save a lot of expense and effort for both the United States and Denmark by being so direct. I thank her for that and look forward to making another meeting sometime in the future!’

Try to guess the meaning of the words in bold and match them with their closest meaning from the choices in the right. Some of the answers are very close and have similar meaning. The meaning of these words is how they are used in the reading. Some of these words have different meanings in the dictionary depending on how they are used.

 The answers are below the table.

A=3, B=8, C=1, D=6, E=7, F=2, G=4, H=5

Some example sentences using the new words or phrases from the meaning of how they are used in the reading to help you understand better.

1. We are postponing the game until next week because of the bad weather.

2. Russia has floated the idea of connecting a train from Moscow all the way to Seoul

3. Your priority is to study for the test next week.

4. Don’t scoff at his dream to be a famous musician. If anyone works hard enough they can get their dreams.

5. That price is absurd. We are not paying twice the price as other shops.

6. In the past, the mountains in Korea were strategic because they passed messages by fires to pass messages down the country.

7. Next week is the university entrance test. It is top of mind for most high school students.

8. Why do you think Denmark would think Trump’s idea is ridiculous?

    

Some questions using the new words/phrases. Try to use the words/phrases in your answer.

1. Do you think Trump’s reason to postpone the meeting with Denmark’s Prime Minister was true?

2. Why do you think people float ideas instead of directly offering an idea to buy or do something?

3. What is your biggest priority these days?

4. What ideas do you think are absurd? Why would you scoff at them?

5. Why would Greenland be of strategic importance to the USA?

6. If someone told you a ridiculous idea would you scoff at them? Can you think of a ridiculous idea you would scoff at?

7. What is top of mind for you these days?