A delicate job for hard man

An unusual sight in a tough environment.
Inmates in a Brazilian prison have been learning how to knit.
The scheme, which sees prisoners working on intricate woollen designs, is a collaboration between prison authorities and a fashion designer.
Prisoners are paid 75 percent of the local minimum wage and also earn days off their sentence.

Interesting words:
1. tough - difficult and strong
2. Inmates - people in prison
3. to knit - to make woollen clothes by creating knots with needles
4. intricate - complex
5. minimum wage - the least amount of money to be legally paid for work done

Exercise: Use one of the words or phrases below to complete each of these sentences from news reports. Note that you may have to change the form of a word to complete the sentence correctly.

TOUGH / INMATES / TO KNIT / INTRICATE / MINIMUM WAGE

1. Each doll takes at least a month to make because of the __________detail and design, and thousands of brush strokes are used to create and layer the colour of each doll to make them as life-like as possible.

2. The 136-year-old jail was one of seven prisons shut by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) to cut costs. The last __________were transferred to other prisons at the end of February.

3. Bangladesh's __________ for garment workers is currently $38 (£25) a month, the lowest in the world.

4. The parrot had plucked out most of its feathers was said to resemble an oven-ready chicken. A vet said it should be put down but Rebecca Blagg, the charity's coordinator, __________ jumpers to keep it warm.

5. The cave environment is a __________ place in which to make a living, limited in food and essential nutrients, forcing microorganisms to fight over limited resources.