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Hello and welcome to The English
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We Speak with me, Feifei...
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...and me, Roy.
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We may sound a little different - that's
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because we are not able
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to record in our normal studios
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during the coronavirus outbreak.
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In this programme, we have an
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expression that is used to describe
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the minimum number of people that are
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required to run a business.
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Speaking of which, there
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are not many people working in
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the train stations today.
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No, you're right. It's because of
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the strikes on the trains.
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Ahh, so that's why it was hard
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to get a train this morning!
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The train companies decided
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to run the trains on a skeleton crew!
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What!? Skeletons driving the trains?!
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Is this some kind of ghost story?
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I think I'll walk home!
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No, Roy! 'Skeleton crew' refers to the
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minimum number of people
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needed to run a business
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or an organisation.
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Ahh yes, and it's usually in times of crisis
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or during an emergency,
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for example the coronavirus,
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that people run businesses
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with a skeleton crew.
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Exactly, let's listen to these examples...
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Due to the financial problems of the
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company, the office will be run
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with a skeleton crew
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for the foreseeable future.
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The Covid-19 emergency means
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that we will run the buses with
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a skeleton crew until further notice.
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A skeleton crew will be needed to keep
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the park open over the winter months.
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This is The English We Speak from BBC
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Learning English and we're talking
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about the expression
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'skeleton crew', which is used to talk
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about the minimum number
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of people needed to run
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a business or an organisation.
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I love the expression 'skeleton crew'.
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It makes me think of a pirate ship
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run by skeletons.
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We can also use the words 'skeleton staff'
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with the same meaning.
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Well, one good thing when there's
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a skeleton staff at work is there's
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no queue for the cafeteria!
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Trust you to think about food!
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Well, I'm just glad there aren't real
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skeletons working at the BBC.
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That's just in horror stories!
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Exactly, you don't need worry about
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skeletons walking around.
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They're not real! It's vampires
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you need to worry about! Ha ha ha!
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What!?
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Bye, Roy.
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Bye, Feifei.
