Lesson 5, Ex.5

I interviewed a girl from Malawi, Janet. I’d like you to listen to this short conversation. Janet lives in a village in Malawi with her brothers, sister and a blind grandmother. Both her mum and dad died in the epidemic of AIDS – the disease kills more people in Africa than wars, famines and floods. Janet is just one of thousands of children who have lost their parents because of AIDS and now must fend for themselves.

LK: What’s your name?

J: Janet.

LK: How old are you?

J: 15.

LK: Where do you live?

J: I live in Malawi.

LK: Do you go to school?

J: I used to go to school before my parents died. Now I have to work in the fields to support my brothers, sister and grandmother. I’d love to go back though!

LK: What do you do to have fun with your friends?

J: I don’t have time to have fun.

LK: What time do you have to go to bed?

J: When it gets dark.

LK: Do you have any pets?

J: The village has some chickens.

LK: How did you celebrate your birthday last year?

J: I don’t know when my birthday is exactly.

LK: What do you worry about?

J: Not having enough food to feed my family with.

LK: If you could change anything in your life, what would it be?

J: To have enough food and be able to go to school again.

LK: What do you want to be when you grow up?

J: I feel pretty grown up already, and I can’t imagine my life ever being different to how it is now.

Lesson 7, ex.2, 3b

100 Years after Titanic

The ship that sank 100 years ago, on April 15th, after crashing into an iceberg, was named Titanic. But it had several nicknames: The Unsinkable Ship, The Last Word in Luxury, The Millionaire’s Special, The Wonder Ship, and The Ship of Dreams. History tends to repeat and a century after the Titanic’s shipwreck, it was the Italian cruise ship Costa Concordia that ran aground off the Italian shores last week. On board were 4,229 people. Survivors are saying that Celine Dion’s song from the Titanic was playing in a restaurant on the cruise ship as it started going down.

So how do the two shipwrecks compare?

• The Titanic struck an iceberg in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. The Costa Concordia was shipwrecked in a populated area 20 metres from shore.

• The Titanic sank in below freezing waters so people died within 10 to 15 minutes after entering the water. The waters at the Costa Concordia sinking were relatively warm.

• The Titanic’s deaths toll was 1,517. There were 705 survivors. The Costa Concordia’s death toll is 17. Several people are missing.

• The Titanic went down within two hours of striking an iceberg. Half of the Costa Concordia remains above sea level and is at rest.

• The Titanic did not have enough lifeboats and the rescuing ship Carpathia was four hours away. The Costa Concordia was immediately surrounded by a helicopter and a fleet of pleasure and fishing boats.

Philippines at Risk Again

Landslides caused by heavy rain buried a village on the Philippine island of Mindanao on Monday killing six people, disaster officials said.

Last month, 5 people were killed in a similar landslide in the southern Philippines. Across the country, communities are at risk from landslides during the Philippines rainy season, which usually starts in May and lasts until December.

Last year, at least 1,850 were killed or declared missing and tens of thousands were left homeless and without livelihoods after several typhoons crashed into the centre of the country.

Governor Schwarzenegger Declares Emergency

Two separate fires are still burning in California’s wild lands, officials say. A third fire erupted 60 miles away Thursday afternoon.

“Each time we have one of these fires in California, it points up the need to prevent such disasters. When you have houses built in a fire-prone area, you’re asking for trouble. The houses are extremely vulnerable surrounded by dead trees and bush.”

So far several multimillion-dollar mansions and a small college have suffered damage in the celebrity area in California. Oprah Winfrey, Steven Spielberg, Michael Douglas and Arnold Schwarzenegger all have houses in the danger area.

“It was nuclear winter. It was like Armageddon. It looked like the end of the world,” Mitch Mendler, a San Diego firefighter said. “If we weren’t here, the whole neighbourhood would go up”.

Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency. “It’s tragic time in California,” he said.

Tornado Hits

At least 89 people have been killed after a tornado hit the city of Joplin in the US state of Missouri, officials have said. Homes and businesses were destroyed and a hospital damaged. Power lines are down and telephone connections are largely cut off. The tornado caused fires around the city overnight.

The Governor of Missouri has declared a state of emergency and warned that more storms are on the way.

Cities in three other Midwestern states have also been badly affected. Last month, tornadoes and storms killed at least 350 in Alabama and six other southern states.

The Red Cross opened a shelter at the local University for victims.

New York in Danger

Hurricane Irene officially made landfall in New Jersey. There is a danger of flooding; the strong wind continues to cause tree damage. Coastal areas will be hit by large waves and a powerful storm.

There are hurricane warnings for New York and Long Island.

Moscow Choking

Russian health officials are warning people in Moscow to stay inside as smog from the worst wildfires in modern Russian history fills the city. Smoke is spreading through Moscow's streets, getting into the Metro network, and some people are wearing face masks indoors. Air pollution is terrible. According to some experts, inhaling the polluted air is as dangerous as smoking several packets of cigarettes a day. Daytime temperatures in Moscow remain close to 40C. Reports suggest it leads to a 30% rise in the city's mortality rate in July. The national death toll due to wildfires is 52. Up to 2,000 homes have been destroyed in the blazes, officials say.

Nearly 560 fires were still burning across central Russia as of Friday. Of these, 39 were peat bog fires, 27 of them in the Moscow region alone, accounting for the acrid smoke choking the capital.

Heatwave in Canada and USA

A massive heatwave has hit the USA and parts of Canada. People are exposed to temperatures up to 37C. Half the US population has been told that the heat in their area could be dangerous, and it's thought 22 people have died. Unfortunately, there's no sign of the intense weather disappearing until Sunday. Canadians who usually take cool summer weather for granted are especially affected.

Heat combined with humidity makes it hard for the human body to cool itself. In New York City, children have been out playing in park fountains and even burst water pipes in the street to cool down.