Tuesday, May 29, 2012

No Job

http://www.rong-chang.com/nse/se/nse019.htm

Kimberly was not happy. She was sad. She needed a job. She asked everyone for a job. Everyone told her no. No one had a job for her. She came home every day and cried. How could she live without a job? She had only $1,000. After she spent the $1,000, she would have no money. Then what would she do? She had nowhere to go. She had no friends. She had no family. She was all alone. She was very worried. She looked in the newspaper every day. She was ready to take any job. If someone gave her a job, she would be so happy.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1) List
everyone - todos
told - disse
cried - chorou
without - sem
spent - gasto
gave - desse
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I found the text easy and I liked the story, but it is very sad. The character has a difficult life.
The text helped me pratice the English because it is easy to understand.

Brazil President Rousseff vetoes parts of forest law

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-18213892


Brazil President Rousseff vetoes parts of forest law
Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff has vetoed parts of a controversial bill which regulates how much land farmers must preserve as forest.
Among the 12 articles which President Rousseff rejected is an amnesty for illegal loggers.
Brazil's farmers' lobby had argued that an easing of environmental restrictions would promote food production.
Environmentalists oppose the law, which the say will lead to further destruction of the Amazon rainforest.
The bill was approved by the Brazilian Congress a month ago. Environmentalists had urged President Rousseff to veto the entire bill.
President Rousseff rejected 12 articles from the bill and made 32 modifications to the text.
The exact details of the revised document have not yet been made public, but Brazilian Environment Minister Izabella Teixeira said the government wanted to avoid diminishing protected areas of the Amazon and other sensitive ecosystems.
The version of the bill passed by the Brazilian Congress last month would have allowed for huge areas of the country, which had been illegally logged before July 2008, to be opened up to farming.
It would also have allowed farming closer to riverbanks, which are especially vulnerable to erosion if trees are chopped down.
Officials said Ms Rousseff had rejected the article dealing with the riverbanks, ensuring their continued protection.
At a news conference, the ministers for the environment, agriculture and development said the president had struck a balance between preservation and sustainable development.
Brazil's farmers have long pushed for changes to the forest code.
They argue that uncertainty over the current legislation has undermined investment in the agriculture sector, which accounts for more than 5% of GDP.
But environmentalists campaigned for a total veto of the bill, which they said would spur deforestation in the Amazon rainforest.
Activist group Avaaz said it handed the government a petition with nearly two million signatures collected online from people in dozens of countries demanding a total veto.
The revised articles will now be sent back to Congress for another vote before they can come into force.


---------------------------------------------------------------------


List



land farmers – agricultores de terras

Among – entre
Amnesty – anistia
loggers.  -madereiros

argued -  argumentou
huge  - enorme
 allowed – permitido
riverbanks – margens do rio
chopped – picado
dealing – lidar
ensuring – assegurando
 development – desenvolvimento
struck – atingiu
uncertainty – incerteza

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

I liked the textvery much! It's very interesting, because it talks about a current issue. I had some difficulty to understanding it because many words were unknown.

Just a funny thing I found on the internet!

Saturday, May 26, 2012

South Sudan: Murle torture in Jonglei denied by army



NEW WORDS: 
1. spokesman - porta-voz
2. aid - ajuda
3. cattle-herding groups - criadores de gado
4. outbreaks - surtos
5. clashs - confrontos
6. raids - invasões
7. gained - obtive
8. awash - repleto/inundada
9. wealth - riqueza
10. lean season - estação magra
11. dowry - dote
12. drowning - afogamento
13. widespread - generalizada

MY OPINION ABOUT THE TEXT:

  • I like this text but, I'm very concerned with the situation of people of South Sudan. They gained their independence last July but they still suffer while try to get over. Seems like the other community doesn't agree about their independence.

Get Dressed


He put on his underwear. He put on his slacks. He put a belt through the belt loops in his slacks. He put on a pair of black socks. Then he put on his brown shoes. He tied the shoelaces. He stood up and walked over to his closet. He found a short-sleeve golf shirt. It was blue and white. He pulled it on over his head. He tucked the shirt into his slacks. He zipped up his slacks and buckled his belt. He looked at himself in the mirror. He buttoned the three buttons on his golf shirt. He made sure the collar lay flat. He put his keys and wallet in his pocket. He left his apartment.


New Words: underwear, slacks,  belt loops, pair. tied, shoelaces, stood, short- sleeve, pulled, tucked, buckled, himself, buttoned, pocket.

How did you like the reading? Whay?

Interesting text,  because I learned new words that are used everyday life, but story is a bit confusing.

Friday, May 25, 2012

Calcium pills pose 'heart risk'

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-18175707


I learned

concerned- preocupado
Therefore- portanto
loss- perda
flawed- falho

Opinion about the material
 

I found this text very interesting because it talks about the dangers of the use of supplemental calcium they can cause heart attack and that is the subject of health which is my area of study

Thursday, May 24, 2012

A Clean Car

http://www.rong-chang.com/nse/se/nse086.htm


He had a beautiful car. It was a Cadillac. It was a 1993 Cadillac. It was a four-door Cadillac. It was light brown. It had a big engine. The big engine didn't leak oil. The big engine didn't leak water. He drove his car only five miles a day. He took good care of his car. He washed it every week. He washed it by himself. He washed it with dishwashing soap and water. He dried it with paper towels. He vacuumed inside the car every week. He vacuumed it with a small vacuum cleaner. The outside of his car was clean. The inside of his car was clean. He never ate anything inside his car. He never drank anything inside his car.




1) LIST

Tires - pneus
Felt safe - sentir seguro
Everywhere - em toda parte
Dirty - sujo
Hood - Capo
Trunk - porta malas
Bumpers - pára choques
Shiny - brilhante
Bucket - balde
Towel - toalha
Dried - secou

2) How did you like the reading? Why?

No, I didn't like it. The story talks about the difference of a clean car. But the story is very silly, it could be more interesting.

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Yokogawa Appoints Ian Verhappen as Head of Canadian Business

link :
http://www.automationworld.com/control/yokogawa-appoints-ian-verhappen-head-canadian-business

list of the most relevant words I learned:
 overseeing, headquarters, leadership, career

Opinion about the material:

With this reading, I learned new words that are part of the field of automation like "customers" and "networking".
Yokogawa Canada is part of a major automation company in Canada and around the world, and Ian Verhappen will be the new managing director of this company. Mr. Verhappen has been part of the technology world for several years and his appointment will be very important for the Yokogawa.Verhappen’s professional career covers the fields of engineering, managerial, consulting.

Sunday, May 20, 2012

Reading and sharing!

Dear students,

I have created this blog so you can share what you are reading and learning. From now on, you are going to select at least one text available on the Internet for you to read per week. After reading it, you are going to create a new post on this blog with the link to the text, a list of the most relevant words you learned from the reading, and your opinion about the material. My purpose is to encourage you to select your own reading materials according to your interests and to have your selection of texts as suggestions of readings for the other students. Let's see how it works!

I hope you enjoy reading and sharing!


Julia Zara