Every week Lexigo picks real news stories and retells them in simple English. Read each story, then check the words in bold: they are the ones worth keeping from it. Each story links to the original article if you want to read more.
This week’s words: market value, commit, struggle, withdraw, exempt, draw on, influence, detect, protected habitat, stretch, investigate.
1. Technology shares fall as investors question AI spending
Business
US technology shares fell for a second day on Friday as investors questioned whether large artificial-intelligence investments would earn enough money. The Nasdaq had its worst monthly fall since March 2025. Intel lost 28% of its share value, removing more than $130bn from its market value. Alphabet also fell after saying AI summaries in search were affecting advertising revenue. Meta, Alphabet, Oracle, Amazon and Microsoft planned $800bn in combined spending in 2026. Amazon committed $220bn, while Intel planned more AI spending despite weaker computer demand and a lower revenue forecast.
Source: BBC News
| Word | Level | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| market value (noun) | B2 | the amount a company or asset could be sold for |
| commit (verb) | B1 | to promise to give or spend a particular amount |
2. East Central University struggles to fill faculty posts
Photo: nikolayhg / Pixabay
Education
East Central University in Ada, Oklahoma, is struggling to fill jobs. Two professor positions, in history and criminal justice, remain open after fewer people applied and candidates withdrew. The university hired its second-choice candidate in computer science when its preferred candidate rejected an offer. President Wendell Godwin and other leaders connect these problems to Governor Kevin Stitt’s effort to limit job protections. Stitt’s February order banned regional public universities and community colleges from granting tenure to new hires, but exempted the University of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State University. A wider ban passed a Senate committee but stalled.
Source: The Hechinger Report
| Word | Level | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| struggle (verb) | B1 | to have difficulty doing or achieving something |
| withdraw (verb) | B2 | to stop taking part in something |
| exempt (verb) | B2 | to officially free someone from a rule or duty |
3. Bad Brains rereleases bring attention to punk pioneers
Photo: StockSnap / Pixabay
Music
Bad Brains’ early recording sessions are being rereleased, renewing interest in a band known for powerful live performances. Their fast punk drew on groups such as the Damned and Dead Boys, as well as P-Funk, Stevie Wonder and Chick Corea’s Return to Forever. The band helped shape American punk as it developed into hardcore in the early 1980s. Its influence later reached artists including Rage Against the Machine, Deftones and the Beastie Boys.
Source: The Guardian
| Word | Level | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| draw on (phrasal verb) | B2 | to use something as a source of ideas or support |
| influence (noun) | B1 | the power to affect how someone or something develops |
4. Whale injury raises concerns about ships in Pelagos
Photo: suju-foto / Pixabay
Nature
Marine biologist Alice Barbarioli and a citizen-science team observed a sperm whale in the Pelagos sanctuary. A hydrophone detected its clicks, and Barbarioli later saw an injury on its left tail fluke, probably caused by a vessel collision. An investigation found large passenger and cargo ships often crossed protected habitat at 15 knots or more, despite advice to slow down. Collisions with ships are one of the main causes of death that humans bring to endangered sperm and fin whales. Below 10 knots, collisions are less likely to kill.
Source: The Guardian
| Word | Level | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| detect (verb) | B2 | to notice or find something that is hard to see or hear |
| protected habitat (noun) | B2 | a natural place where animals or plants are kept safe |
5. Scientists investigate a long cloud near Mars volcano
Photo: WikiImages / Pixabay
Space
NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day featured a long Martian cloud called the Arsia Mons Elongated Cloud, or AMEC. Viking Orbiter 2 recorded it in 1977, and ESA’s Mars Express has since photographed it in greater detail. Made of water ice, the cloud appears only on spring and summer mornings. It begins near Arsia Mons volcano, then winds carry it away into a tail that can stretch more than 1,500 kilometers. Scientists are investigating how it forms: the thin Martian atmosphere contains little dust, which may challenge the usual explanation.
Source: NASA
| Word | Level | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| stretch (verb) | B1 | to continue over a particular distance or area |
| investigate (verb) | B1 | to try to discover the facts about something |
How to keep these words
Reading a word once is a start; seeing it again tomorrow is what makes it stay. Pick the three or four words you’d actually use, write one sentence of your own with each, and look at them again the next day. Here is why the next day matters.
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