ENGLISH, A GLOBAL LANGUAGE

The English language is everywhere. The language of most of the Internet sites around the world is English. We are using this language to write our articles on this site, even though I am positive that English is not the first language of everybody using this website. It is not my first language, I come from Finland. I learned English at school. It is the most widely studied language in the world.

It is the language of media, medicine and business. Computing uses English as does the international airtraffic control. But is the spread of this language a good thing or a bad one, is the spread of one such a powerful language a disadvantage or an advantage?

This is a difficult question to answer. Academics in the field of linguistics have tried to find the best solution for this puzzle for decades now. One disadvantage which is often mentioned in this context is the fact that many languages have died because of the spread of English. Many still have lost a large number of speakers and are bound to be doomed in the near future. These are the disadvantages, and while they certainly seem gloomy, there are many advantages of having a global language.

Doctors, for instance, from around the world can communicate with each other while using one language. As a consequence of numerous people knowing this language there are less misunderstandings which of course in medicine could be fatal. People from all corners of the world can communicate easier because they share a common language. Media can more easily tell us the most recent news from all over the world. People can use the Internet as a tool for research, which means more people are being educated about different issues. 

I am happy that my son will speak this wonderful language as his first language, I am sure that I will learn a lot from him when he enters school in the UK. However, I wish that my son would also be able to speak Finnish as this is my mother tongue. It is important for a person's identity to remember their roots, and language is a very integral part of one's identity. Are people whose languages are being lost because of the dominance of the English language losing their identities then? As you can see, the question is a difficult one to answer, and in my opinion there is no right or wrong answer.

Font hellium

"WHAT CAUSES A TSUNAMI?" - Text

A tsunami can be generated by any disturbance that displaces a large mass of water, such as an earthquake, landslide or meteor impact.

Tsunamis can be generated when the sea floor abruptly deforms and vertically displaces the overlying water. Tectonic earthquakes are a particular kind of earthquake that are associated with the earth's crust deformation; when these earthquakes occur beneath the sea, the water above the deformed area is displaced from its equilibrium position. 

Waves are formed as the displaced water mass moves under the influence of gravity to regain its equilibrium. When large areas of the sea floor elevate or subside, a tsunami can be created. Large vertical movements of the earth's crust can occur at plate boundaries. Plates interact along these boundaries called "faults". Around the margins of the Pacific Ocean, for example, denser oceanic plates slip under continental plates in a process known as subduction. Subduction earthquakes are particularly effective in generating tsunamis.

Submarine landslides, which often accompany large earthquakes, as well as collapses of volcanic edifices, can also disturb the overlying water column as sediment and rock slump downslope and are redistributed across the sea floor. Similarly, a violent submarine volcanic eruption can uplift a water column and generate a tsunami.

Large landslides and cosmic-body impacts can disturb the water from above, as momentum from falling debris is transferred to the water into which the debris falls. Generally speaking, tsunamis generated from these mechanisms, unlike the Pacific-wide tsunamis caused by some earthquakes, dissipate quickly and rarely affect coastlines distant from the source area. However if the landslide or cosmic body is large enough, it will create a megatsunami. A megatsunami is a tsunami, usually caused by a collapsing island, asteroid impact, or huge chunks of ice falling into a large body of water, and is hundreds of meters high.font: iem/seed/pr

"THANKSGIVING DAY" - COMPREHENSION -1o ano

Thanksgiving is celebrated in the USA and Canada. In The USA, it is celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November every year. The Canadians celebrate it on the second Monday in October. It is associated with giving thanks to God. In the beginning people expressed gratitude for the harvest they reaped. It used to be a religious holiday but now it has become a secular celebration.

The most important part of the celebration is the dinner which includes the customary turkey served with cranberry sauce, and pumpkin. A lot of business goes on during this holiday. For example, restaurants take advantage of the holiday to sell turkey dinners

Families and friends usually get together for a large meal or dinner during Thanksgiving and have a lot of fun. That's why, the Thanksgiving holiday weekend is considered one of the busiest travel periods of the year. Students are given a four-day or five-day weekend vacation. Thanksgiving is also a paid holiday for most workers.

Source: wikipedia /enciclopedia/MYENGLISHPAGE

Comprehension

1. The origin of the name "Thanksgiving" comes from:
   a.  thanks given to God
   b.  thanks given for the help the early settlers got from each other. 
2. Thanksgiving is a time to
   a.  worship God
   b.  Thank god, eat and have fun. 
3. It is a vacation for
   a.  everybody
   b.  a lot of people 
4. The main food that is prepared in this celebration is:
   a.  cranberry sauce, and pumpkin
   b.  turkey

COMPREHENSION TEXTS

Read the passages and choose the correct options according to the readings. 

One of my favorite vacation places is Mexico. I really like the weather there because it never gets cold. The people are very nice too. They never laugh at my bad Spanish. The food is really good. Mexico City is a very interesting place to visit. It has some great museums and lots of fascinating old buildings. The hotels are too expensive to stay but there are more affordable options. For example, you can stay at one of the beach resorts like Acapulco. If you are planning to visit Mexico, you should definitely see the Mayan temples near Merida.

1. 
Sam likes warm weather
Sam doesn't like warm weather at all
Sam hates warm water
Sam likes cold weather

2.

His Spanish is very good
He speaks Spanish very well
He is Spanish
He doesn't speak Spanish very well

3.

There's a lot to see and do in Mexico
There aren't a lof of beautiful places in Mexico
Mexico is a dirty place
Tourists never come to Mexico

4.

Hotels are very cheap in Mexico
The hotels aren't comfortable there
Hotels are all poor in Mexico
The hotels in Mexico are pretty expensive

Last summer, we decided to spend our vacation at the beach because the weather was very hot in the mountains. The travel agent said that traveling by bus was the cheapest way, but we went by plane because it was faster. We wanted to have more time to spend at the beach. The weather was beautiful and we had a great time.

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5. We decided to go to the beach because ----.

it was cheaper than going to the mountains
the travel agent said that it was the cheapest
of the hot weather in the mountains
we wanted to spend time at the beach

6. The bus was the ---- way to travel.

best
easiest
cheapest
slowest

7. Traveling by plane was ---- than by bus.

more fun
cheaper
expensive
faster

8. We ---- our vacation.

hated
didn't like
enjoyed
regretted

9. We had very ---- weather during our vacation.

good
hot
warm
cold

SANTA CLAUS - COMPREHENSION TEXT

Santa Claus, also known as Saint Nicholas, Father Christmas, Kris Kringle, or simply "Santa", is a figure which was derived from the Dutch figure of Sinterklaas, a historical, legendary and mythological figure who in many Western cultures, is said to bring gifts to the homes of the good children during the late evening and overnight hours of Christmas Eve, December 24 or on his Feast Day, December 6 (Saint Nicholas Day).The legend is based on the tales concerning the historical figure of gift giver Saint Nicholas.

While Saint Nicholas was originally portrayed wearing bishop's robes, today Santa Claus is generally depicted as a plump, jolly, white-bearded man wearing a red coat with white collar and cuffs, white-cuffed red trousers, and black leather belt and boots (images of him rarely have a beard with no mustache). This image became popular in the United States and Canada in the 19th century due to the significant influence of caricaturist and political cartoonist Thomas Nast. This image has been maintained and reinforced through song, radio, television, and films. In the United Kingdom and Europe, he is often depicted in a manner identical to the American Santa Claus, but he is commonly called Father Christmas.

Source: wikipedia/myenlgishpages

Comprehension:

1. Santa Claus is Saint Nicolas
   a.  True
   b.  False 
2. Nowadays Santa Claus is depicted wearing bishop's robes
   a.  True.
   b.  False.
3. Today's image of Santa Claus was conceived in the United States and Canada.
   a.  True
   b.  False