Learn English with the News: “A strange world record”

Hi beautiful people!

Everyone has heard of the Guinness Book of Records, right? Well, here is another strange world record, won by Glenn Walsh.

Find out more! This is what you have to do:

1. Read the text
2. Understand the vocabulary
3. Watch the video

Text

Their salad days may be gone, but not yet forgotten. The World Watercress Eating Championship is part of an annual celebration of England’s popular leafy vegetable.

– What we wanted to do was create something that we could mark the festival with each year that would have a little bit of competitive fun and so they’re eating a number of bags in round about 50 seconds.

And despite pressure from 2012 world watercress-eating champ, Rajesh Patel, the winner and new world record holder was Glenn Walsh. He downed two bags of watercress in just 36 seconds but says he’s done with leafy veggies for the year!

– Just keep off the greens for the whole year and then you are good for it once a year!

Runner-up Patel may have lost, but he’s not beaten.

– I will come back again and again and again because I love championship, I love food, I love it here and I love crowd.

And they love watercress!

Vocabulary

Salad – a mixture of raw green vegetables (such as different types of lettuce) usually combined with other raw vegetables.

Watercress – a plant that grows in water and that has small, round leaves which are often used in salads.

Leafy – consisting mostly of leaves.

Despite – without being prevented by (something) — used to say that something happens or is true even though there is something that might prevent it from happening or being true.

Downed – to eat or drink.

Keep off – to not do something.

Runner-up – a person or team that finishes in second place.

Video