Katrina: Hey! Welcome back to Babbel News – English Only. I’m Katrina from Babbel, filling in for Ted. I’ve got two more news stories for you today, sourced from Reuters. As usual, I’ll introduce the topics of the stories before we dive in, and then go over some important words and phrases directly before each clip. So, let’s hear our topics for today!

We’ll begin with a story about a female race driver who beat gender stereotypes with her recent victory. After that, we’ll hear about a new plan in New York City which is supposed to help fight against the housing crisis by allowing more office buildings to be turned into homes.

On your first listen, just focus on understanding the main idea of each news story, and don’t worry too much if you miss something here and there. You can always go back and listen again to make sure you’ve understood the rest! And if you’d like to read along while you listen, check out the transcript for this episode.
Alright. Ready? Then let’s get started.

Here is some of the vocabulary from the first story. First up is “amateur”, someone who takes part in an activity or sport for fun, without receiving money for it. Next, we have the verb “to challenge something”, which means doing something to show that you question or don't agree with an idea. See if you can hear what our race driver is challenging! Then, there’s the phrase “on an equal footing”, which is when everyone has an equal chance. After that, there’s “an old adage”, a well-known phrase that expresses something generally thought to be true. Close to the end of the story you’ll hear “perseverance”, which is when you make an effort to do or achieve something, even if it is difficult or takes a long time. For example, with “perseverance”, you'll master English! As usual, if you come across any other words that are new for you, look them up in a dictionary later. And with that, let’s hear the first story!

Reuters: “I’m so happy. It was a mixed race and I beat the boys!” This is the moment Fatumata Bah won an amateur motor drag race in Dakar.
 
The Senegalese driver and other female drivers are challenging gender stereotypes in the traditionally male-dominated sport and socially conservative country.
 
“Being a woman or a man doesn't mean anything. This is the 21st century!”
 
Bah took part in the capital's first so-called Dakar Grand Prix. Inspired by the famous Paris-Dakar rally, organizers wanted to create an event where women and men could compete on an equal footing. The race saw four men and four women competing for first place.
 
“Usually they say, ‘woman behind the wheel, death around the corner,’ which is an old adage, and today I proved that it was not the case. And tomorrow we'll do it again – I was first!"
 
Bah started racing 20 years ago after her father encouraged her to share his interest in cars. 
 
“I dedicate this trophy to my father and my husband who have always supported me in this passion, which is supposedly reserved for men.
 
"This cup is to show them that everything is possible in life – with courage and perseverance, you can do it.”

Katrina: Now, let’s go over some of the words and phrases from our next story. First is the word “developers”, companies which buy land to build houses on, or buy and change existing buildings to sell them on or rent them out. Then comes the verb “to refurbish”, to repair and improve a building. Our next phrase is “for residential use”, that is, for people to live in. After that, there is “to replicate”, which means to do something again in the same way as before, but in a different context. You’ll also hear “eligible” a couple of times. To be “eligible” for something means to meet certain criteria for it to be allowed. Here, it’s about buildings being eligible for “conversion”, so to be turned from office buildings into residential buildings. Remember, if you miss anything, you can just go back and listen again. Now, let’s head to New York City for our next story!

Reuters: New York, like other cities across the country, has a problem – not enough housing, and too many empty offices.
 
"We have a housing crisis. We know that there are buildings here, office buildings that would be better served to be housing."
 
City Planning Director Dan Garodnick is hoping to help make that happen. Private developers have long sought to refurbish commercial spaces for residential use, with some 50 developers undertaking the journey over the past decade.
 
This 24-story commercial building in lower Manhattan is one such project. Joey Chilelli said the plans were originally to upgrade the office space. "As the pandemic hit, it made us really reevaluate our office spaces, and in particular this one." Once completed, he said, the building will offer 588 apartments for rent. 
 
But it's a project that’s hard to replicate. "There are very few buildings that are able to actually take advantage of this opportunity."
 
That's because the current policies in New York City make these projects difficult – limiting the buildings that can be converted based on when they were built and what neighborhood they're in. A new plan by city and state leaders aims to change that. The goal is to increase the properties eligible for conversion, creating around 20,000 new homes.
 
Still, developers face a host of issues when repurposing commercial buildings that drive up the costs. Many modern office buildings don’t have windows that open, for example, or the floor plans are just too deep for apartments.
 
If the new policies pass, Garodnick estimates about 136 million square feet of office space would become eligible for conversion to homes.

Katrina: And with that, we’ve come to the end of this week’s episode. I hope you learned something new! If you missed anything, feel free to go back and listen again, or read along in the transcript. Thanks for joining in today! We'll be taking next week off, so check back in two weeks for another episode. See you then!