President Trump wants to buy Greenland
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.
postponing
|
A
|
1
|
The most important thing to do
|
floated the idea
|
B
|
2
|
Something that is important to being able to get
another thing/goal
|
priority
|
C
|
3
|
To delay or cancel to do or meet at another
time
|
scoffed
|
D
|
4
|
The most important or first thing you think
of
|
absurd
|
E
|
5
|
To make fun of someone’s idea or how they
look or what they do
|
strategic
|
F
|
6
|
To laugh at something like it is a
stupid/foolish idea
|
Top of mind
|
G
|
7
|
Stupid idea
|
ridicule
|
H
|
8
|
To suggest something. To get people to think
about something
|
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.
We are postponing the game
until next week because of the bad weather.
Russia has floated the idea of
connecting a train from Moscow all the way to Seoul
Your priority is to study for
the test next week.
Don’t scoff at his dream to be
a famous musician. If anyone works hard enough they can get their dreams.
That price is absurd. We are
not paying twice the price as other shops.
In the past, the mountains in
Korea were strategic because they passed messages by fires to pass messages
down the country.
Next week is the university
entrance test. It is top of mind for most high school students.
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.
Do you think Trump’s reason to postpone the meeting with Denmark’s
Prime Minister was true?
Why do you think people float ideas instead of directly
offering an idea to buy or do something?
What is your biggest priority these days?
What ideas do you think are absurd? Why would you scoff at them?
Why would Greenland be of strategic importance to the USA?
If someone told you a ridiculous idea would you scoff at them? Can you think of a ridiculous idea you would scoff at?
What is top of mind for you these days?