40 ways to make the world a better place

To celebrate 40 years of their publication, Veja magazine has invited specialists from different fields to comment on how to make Brazil a better place. The list, with short explanations, is an excellent mini-manifesto on how to make the world a better place. Apart from being very interesting, it’s also packed with loads of essential vocabulary!

You can read it here: http://veja.abril.com.br/100908/p_110.shtml#17

Reading the Olympics

Olympics 2008

So, the Olympics start tomorrow – the Opening ceremony will begin at the unhelpful time of 9am in Brazil. I recently read a series of short interviews in TAM Nas Nuvens Magazine which were with Olympic debutant Brazilian athletes. It was a good read – of special interest was one of them, Rogerio Clementino, who will be the first black competitor in show-jumping (hipismo) ever to compete at the games.

The interviews can be found on the TAM Nas Nuvens magazine. It takes a bit of getting used to navigating this website, but basically click here to access the site. Then click on the pictures of the magazines on the right hand side. Then click on Outros Ediçoes at the top of the page. Click on the No.7 July 08 magazine (with a picture of two brothers on the front). Once the magazine opens you have to navigate to pages 69-79 by clicking on the page numbers below. There is a indice at the top which helps a bit too. Found it? If so, then have a read of the 5 short interviews – using the English translation along side to help with any words you don’t know – and see if you can do this quiz.

Finally, if the Olympics is your thing and you can’t get enough of it – have a browse of the most recent Veja magazine which has dozens of articles on all sides of the Olympics.

Quiz Questions

Read the questions below and decide which athlete is being referred to (A-E). As usual click Answers at the top to see if you were right.

A = Cesar Cielo
B = Rogerio Clementino
C = Fabiana Murer
D = Bruno Fontes
E = Yane Marques

Which two athletes talk about the importance of understanding animals? 1___ 2___
Which three athletes have trained/will train in a country other than China or Brazil prior to the Olympics? 3___ 4___ 5___
Which athlete entered their sport thanks to encouragement from parents? 6___
Which athlete entered their sport thanks to the hobby of a cousin? 7___
Which athlete sees their humble up-bringing in life as a motivation to succeed? 8___
Which athlete says people often mistake their sport for another? 9___
Which athlete compares their sport to a game of chess? 10___

Uma chance de viver (Animal Prosthetics)

I read a genuinely fascinating article recently in the print addition of Veja on prosthetics used for animals. It raises some interesting questions – are animals worth the time and expense of top scientists and developers when the human need is still so great? But, as the article explains, maybe the developments in animals prosthetics will benefit humans too. The text has some complex and technical words but is rich in the vocabulary of the animal kingdom, body, health and science. I’ve included a short glossary below and then some T/F questions to see if you’ve comprehended the text well. Click the Answers page above to see how you did. You can read the article here: http://veja.abril.com.br/180608/p_140.shtml

A short glossary of words from the article:

águia = eagle
bico = beak
cachorro = dog
cão (pl. cães) = big dogs/hounds/canines
cauda = tail (i.e. flipper on a fish)
ceifadeira de trigo = scythe, large knife (lit. chopper of wheat)
desafio = challenge
golphinho = dolphin
doença desconhecida = unknown illness
leve = light
osso = bone
osséa = bony
parafusos = screws
pata = animal foot/paw
tiro = bullet

True or False?

1. The eagle lost part of its beak as a result of human action.
2. The eagle has a permanent beak made from nilon.
3. The elephant lost its foot by stepping on a land mine.
4. The elephant already has a prosthetic foot much lighter than 10 kilos.
5. Two dolphins are mentioned in the article – one is from Fiji, the other Florida.
6. The dolphin called Winter was injured by a speed boat.
7. The suction gel developed for a dolphin proved to be useful for an American soldier.
8. Fixing prostethics to bones involves a high risk of infection.