NA2 4/10/17

Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont says the Spanish region has won the right to statehood following a contentious referendum that was marred /mɑː $ mɑːr/ by violence.

He said the door was open to a unilateral declaration of independence after Catalan officials said voters had backed secession with a 42.3% turnout.

Spain's government has warned it could suspend Catalan autonomy.

The constitutional court banned the vote and almost 900 people were hurt as police tried to stop it going ahead.

Officers from the national police and paramilitary Civil Guard seized/siːz/ ballot papers and boxes at polling stations.

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said Catalans had been fooled into taking part in an illegal vote.

More than 2.2 million people were reported to have voted, according to Catalan authorities, out of 5.3 million registered voters. Just under 90% of those who voted backed independence, they said.

A Catalan spokesman said more than 750,000 votes could not be counted because polling stations were closed and urns /ɜːn $ ɜːrn/ were confiscated.

con·ten·tious adjective

BrE /kənˈtenʃəs/ ; NAmE /kənˈtenʃəs/

 (formal)

1 likely to cause disagreement between people a contentious issue/topic/subject

 Both views are highly contentious.

 Try to avoid any contentious wording.

 The government’s treatment of refugees remains a highly contentious issue.

OPPOSITE uncontentious

2 liking to argue; involving a lot of arguing a contentious meeting

mar verb

BrE /mɑː(r)/ ; NAmE /mɑːr/

mar something to damage or spoil something good

SYNONYM blight, ruin

 The game was marred by the behaviour of drunken fans.

turn·out noun

BrE /ˈtɜːnaʊt/ ; NAmE /ˈtɜːrnaʊt/

 [countable, usually singular, uncountable]

1 the number of people who attend a particular event This year's festival attracted a record turnout.

2 the number of people who vote in a particular election a high/low/poor turnout

 a 60% turnout of voters

easy-peasy adjective

BrE /ˌiːzi ˈpiːzi/ ; NAmE /ˌiːzi ˈpiːzi/

 (British English, informal)

(used especially by children) very easy

Idioms

as ˌeasy as ˈanything/as ˈpie/as ABˈC/as falling off a ˈlog

(informal) very easy or very easily Fooling him was as easy as falling off a log.

bal·lot noun

BrE /ˈbælət/ ; NAmE /ˈbælət/

1 [uncountable, countable] the system of voting in writing and usually in secret; an occasion on which a vote is held The chairperson is chosen by secret ballot.

 The union cannot call a strike unless it holds a ballot of members.

seize verb

BrE /siːz/ ; NAmE /siːz/

fool verb

BrE /fuːl/ ; NAmE /fuːl/

1 [transitive] to trick somebody into believing something that is not true fool somebody You don't fool me!

 She certainly had me fooled—I really believed her!

 fool yourself You're fooling yourself if you think none of this will affect you.

 fool somebody into doing something Don't be fooled into thinking they're going to change anything.

spokes·per·son noun

BrE /ˈspəʊkspɜːsn/ ; NAmE /ˈspoʊkspɜːrsn/

 (plural spokes·per·sons, spokes·people)

spokesperson (for somebody/something) a person who speaks on behalf of a group or an organization

shoot·ing noun

BrE /ˈʃuːtɪŋ/ ; NAmE /ˈʃuːtɪŋ/

1  [countable] a situation in which a person is shot with a gun Terrorist groups claimed responsibility for the shootings and bomb attacks.

 a serious shooting incident

 Police rushed to the scene of the shooting and found one person dead and three wounded.

2 [uncountable] the sport of shooting animals and birds with guns grouse shooting

 the shooting season

3  [uncountable] the process of filming a film/movie Shooting began early this year.

 She was exhausted after a day's shooting.

Las Vegas

What happens in Las Vegas, stays in Las Vegas.

Slot machine

gam·bling noun

BrE /ˈɡæmblɪŋ/ ; NAmE /ˈɡæmblɪŋ/

 [uncountable]

 the activity of playing games of chance for money and of betting on horses, etc heavy gambling debts

mas·sacre noun

BrE /ˈmæsəkə(r)/ ; NAmE /ˈmæsəkər/

 [countable, uncountable]

1 the killing of a large number of people especially in a cruel way the bloody massacre of innocent civilians

 Nobody survived the massacre.

Obama tried to put a ban on weapons.

What bothers/ annoys me the most.

Feel curious about