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

Strange story involving Gordon Brown

I read this last week and it made me laugh – a strange story involving a protestor and Gordon Brown, the British PM. It contains lots of unusual vocabulary which are tested in the quiz below. Click here to read the story in Portuguese.

If the level of Portugese in the article is too high for you, I recommend reading the same story in English first. Click here for the English version.

Quiz questions

What do you think these words and phrases mean in English?

Be careful! Some words are homonyms – that is, they appear to be the same as other Portuguese words but have different meanings. (For example, a homonym in English is match - football match, light a match).

Click Answers above to check your results.

1) arrancou
2) bolso
3) doeu bastante
4) deu umas risadinhas
5) fontes
6) grades do portão
7) grudar
8 ) manga do terno
9) terceira pista
10) tubo de cola