The Royal Wedding - Not everybody is a fan (video)

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Class of 2011 and the labor market (video)

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Chernobyl's Cleanup Crew 25 Years later

The nuclear accident at the Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan …………………………….. (focus) attention on a small and often heroic group of people: those who ………………… (risk) their lives by ……………. (go) inside the facility to contain the damage. Perhaps no one ……………… (know) this better than those …………………………. (involve) in the 1986 cleanup effort at the Chernobyl nuclear plant in Ukraine, scene of what ……………………….. (be considered) the world’s worst nuclear accident.

* Aleksey Breus

He ……………… (be) an engineer at Chernobyl at the time of the disaster. He ………………… (work) four straight days inside the plant after the explosion. He …………………….. (wear) protective equipment, but anyway ………………………… (receive) a large dose of radiation.

According to Breus, all “lucheviki” – the Russian word surviving cleanup workers use for describing one another – ………………………….. (have) one thing in common: illness and a lack of money to pay for medications. He …………………. (say) virtually all of them …………….. (live) in poverty.

* Aleksander Kramer

He ………………… (be) one of the first to go into the plant after the explosion. He now ……………………….. (live) in Germany and ……………………….. (remain) angry at how he …………………………… (be treated) by authorities in what ………………… (be) then the Soviet Union.

From the very beginning, he says, the authorities …………………… (doubt) they …………………………… (be) part of the clean-up effort. In 1993, former rescue workers ……………………… (have) to prove to Ukranian authorities “that their documents ………………………. (be) not a sham and that their health problems ……………….. (be) real.”

* Anatoly Gritsak

He …………………………. (consider) himself a happy man but his life …………………… (be) undeniably difficult.

He ………………………… (work) at the plant 12 years and over time ………………………….. (contract) several radiation-related diseases, including one that ………………. (lead) to the amputation of his legs.

But he ……………… (be) still alive and he ………………….. (feel) grateful.

The anniversary of the Chernobyl accident …………………… (be) an especially hard time for him. April …………………… (be) the time when the lucheviki …………………………….. (call) one another and ………………………. (remember) the day that …………….. (change) their lives. With each passing year, Gritsak ………………. (say), he ……………… (get) fewer and fewer phone calls.

Chernobyl: Evacuees (video)

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Further effects of the Japanese earthquake (video)

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After watching the video at least twice, how about asking questions to get the following answers?

1. every day
2. 20 or 30 years ago
3. 15 %
4. through the Port of Los Angeles
5. since the earthquake
6. the first week after the earthquake
7. no, they won't
8. by the fall
9. perhaps


And now, play the video again, this time with the objective of identifying the following words:

arrive at
next to
busiest
trading partner
combined
really
makes up
largest
slow down
stop
level
true
incoming
shipments
agriculture
in particular
normally
packed
drop
exportable
problems
nuclear plant
boats
refrigerate
because of
imported
officials
equipment
later
exactly
longer

Quiz: Adjective order

Click HERE to review word order.

This time it's a drag-and-drop drill.

Palestinian billionaire (video)

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The Royal Wedding - Some facts

How about taking advantage of what will happen on Friday 29th to work on tenses?

The history of the royal couple ………………. (go) back nearly 10 years - to the Scottish town of St. Andrews, where the prince ……………… (begin) university in 2001. It ……………… (be) there, protected from media intrusion, that he ………… ( meet) fellow student Kate Middleton.

Prince William's soon-to-be wife, Kate Middleton ……………….. (be) the first commoner to marry a British prince close to the throne since Anne Hyde wed the future King James II more than 350 years ago.



Catherine Elizabeth Middleton ………………… (be born) in the town of Reading on January 9, 1982. The 29-year-old …………………(be) the eldest of three children of Michael and Carole Middleton, a middle-class couple who ………………………… (gain) wealth through the launch of a successful party supplies business, Party Pieces. Kate’s mother ………………….. (be) an air hostess.

Middleton …………………….. (attend) Marlborough College in Wiltshire, where she ……………………… (study) chemistry, biology and art and ………………………(play) a number of sports, including tennis, hockey and netball, which ……………… (be) similar to basketball.

After ………....……..(spend) a year abroad in which she………...... (study) in Italy and ……...... ( take) part in a charity program in Chile, Middleton ………………………… (enroll) in 2001 at the University of St. Andrews, where she ……….... (meet) Prince William.

In 2002, Middleton ……………….. (model) in underwear and a sheer lace dress at a charity fashion show at the university -- an event that Prince William reportedly ……....……… (pay) more than $300 to attend.

They ……………………. (become) friends and …………… (share) a house with other students. Exactly when they ……….. (begin) dating is unclear.

They …………… (break up) once in 2007, but only for a few months.

After.......................................(graduate), Middleton ………………….. (work) for her family's business and also ………………….. (serve) as a part-time buyer for the clothing company, Jigsaw Junior. In 2008, she ……………. (launch) First Birthdays, a junior brand to Party Pieces.

In the media, Middleton ……………….. (be) dubbed "Waity Katie", with critics saying she ……………….. (appear) to be spending her time waiting for Prince William to propose.

William ………………….. (ask) her to marry him last year, while they ………………… (be) on vacation in Kenya.

For the most part, Middleton............................................ (try) to maintain her privacy throughout her courtship with William, largely avoiding media attention and in 2007 she even ………………… (file) a harassment complaint against a British newspaper.

Earlier that same year, after speculation about a possible engagement subjected Middleton to a sea of photographers outside her home, Prince William …………………….. (issue) a statement saying he ………… (be) "very unhappy at the paparazzi harassment of his girlfriend" and ................................. (want) "more than anything" for it to stop.

Like William's mother, the late Princess Diana, Middleton ……………… (receive) widespread praise for her sense of style. Her fashion choices ……………(be) closely watched by those both inside and outside of Britain, with her most notable wardrobe pieces getting numerous imitations.






Friday 29 April 2011 at Westminster Abbey

10:30 am - Royal Family arrives at Westminster Abbey

11:00 am - The Marriage Service begins at Westminster Abbey

12:40 pm - The Reception at Buckingham Palace

1:25 pm - Queen, Bride, Groom their families Balcony appearance Buckingham Palace

Wedding service:
* 1,900 guests (over 1,000 friends, family of bride and groom)






Reuters
Souvenier teabags are seen in London













AP
Photo of an illustration for the comic book " Kate and William: A Very Public Love Affair" . 2011 photo.






Don't miss The Royal Wedding Site for more information. You won't believe it!

A bionic arm is being developed (video)

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Another air traffic controller suspended for sleeping on the job

(A) Fill in the blanks of the following article while reading it, please

The Federal Aviation Administration ……………..(change) air traffic control work schedules last Saturday, acknowledging it …………. (have) a widespread problem with fatigue after another controller ……………………. (fall asleep) on duty in Miami.

"We …………………….. ( take now) important steps that in the future …………………….(make) a real difference in fighting air traffic controller's fatigue. But we …………… (know) we ………….. (need) to do more. This ……….. (be) just the beginning," FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt said in a statement.

Next Monday Babbitt and Paul Rinaldi, president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, ………………….. (begin) visiting air traffic control facilities. Their first stop …………….. (be) Atlanta, home of the world's busiest airport.

The latest sleeping incident - the fifth to be disclosed by FAA since late March - …………………….. (take place) just before 5 a.m. Saturday morning at a busy regional radar facility in Miami. This airport ……………….. (handle) high altitude air traffic for much of Florida, portions of the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea.

According to a preliminary review of air traffic tapes, the controller ………………… (miss not) any calls from aircraft and there ……………….. (be) no impact on flight operations, the FAA said. The controller, who that day ………………….. (work) an overnight shift, ………………………. (be suspended) almost immediately. The head of the FAA's air traffic operations …………………. (resign) on Monday.


Rinaldi …………….. (say) the Miami incident ……………….. (be) particularly disturbing because there ………… (be) ample staff on duty at the time.

Regional radar centers ……………. (be) usually large rooms, but each controller …………….. (have) a cubicle. Because of the layout, a controller can doze off without ………………. (be) noticed.

FAA rules ………………. (forbid) any sleeping on the job, even during breaks.. But present and former controllers …………… (tell) the Associated Press that unsanctioned napping at night …………… (be) an open secret within the agency.

At a radar facility, sometimes one controller …………………….. (sleep) while the other ……………. (handle) two radar positions. Then, they …………………… (swap).

Many supervisors look the other way because they …………………. (know) how tiring controllers' schedules …………………… (be), said retired controller Rick Perl of Oxnard, Calif.

Most tiring …………………….. (be) the midnight shift, which usually……………………… (begin) about 10 p.m. and …………….. (end) about 6 a.m. Staying awake during those hours …………… (disrupt) the body's natural sleep rhythms, sleep scientists say.

Last week the National Air Traffic Controllers Association ……………………….. (release) a new fatigue study, which ………………………. (find) that one of the most tiring schedules worked by controllers is a week of midnight shifts, followed by a week of early morning shifts and then a week of swing shifts that start in the afternoon and end up at night. The schedule …………………. (give not) controllers time to adjust to any one set of waking and sleeping hours.

The study's chief recommendation is that controllers ……………… (get) sleeping breaks of as long as 2 1/2 hours during midnight shifts. Some other countries - including Germany and Japan - ………………………. (provide) sleeping rooms for controllers on break at night.

Babbitt said the FAA …………………………… (implement) further changes to controllers' schedules next week , but he ………….. (describe not) the changes.

Earlier this week, FAA ……………………….. (announce) it ………………. (end) its practice of single-staffing control towers at 26 airports and a radar facility where traffic ……………….. (be) light between midnight and 6 a.m.


(B) Could you please complete these questions, based on the information provided by the article? Then supply accurate answers


B.1 What will the Federal Aviation Administration ……………?

B.2 What did the Federal Aviation Administration ……………?

B.3 What must the Federal Aviation Administration ……………?

B.4 What is the Federal Aviation Administration ……………?

B.5 What does the Federal Aviation Administration ……………?



(C) And now, how about asking questions to get the following answers?


C.1 - No, it isn't the first incident this year

C.2 - In March

C.3 - At 5 AM

C.4 - At a busy radar facility in Miami

C.5 - High altitude air traffic

C.6 - No, the suspended controller didn't

C.7 - Yes, the suspended controller did

C.8 - No, controllers can't

C.9 - Because supervisors know how tiring controllers' schedules are

C.10 Sleeping rooms for controllers on break at night.





adapted from Newser

Star Trek Next Generation Captain talks about technology (video)

Quiz: Little? Few?

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Some Japanese Evacuees Briefly Return Home (video)

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After watching the video at least twice and reading the following article, please write a report on the situation in Namie, including as many details as possible. Focus on the organization of ideas and use at least 3 of the following connectors: besides - however - although - because of - due to

In Namie - about 15 kilometers from the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant - a dog crossing the main intersection is initially the only sign of life. The traffic lights still cycle between red and green.

The virtual silence is only broken when a powerful aftershock rattles the already damaged downtown buildings.

The quake forces 3 members of the Yamagata family to come out into the street from the interior of their pharmacy, where they have returned to retrieve some medicine.

Chieko Yamagata says being exposed to potentially higher levels of radiation for a few hours does not concern her.

“I have no illusions about resuming my life here. It will be absolutely impossible to ever live here again. My town, where 22,000 people used to live, my town is now history”

At one point during March, the radiation level in Namie registered 1,600 times the normal level. Radiation levels have drastically fallen here since then, but the town is still considered a relative hot spot.

Passing through Namie on Tuesday is a man who only identifies himself as a 48-year-old air conditioning specialist at Reactor 1 of the damaged Fukushima nuclear plant.

“I had to return home to retrieve my personal seal, required to stamp legal documents. Police at a roadblock tried to convince me not to return home, even for a short time. But I know today might be my last chance before the off-limits notice becomes legally enforceable. It’s inevitable”

Japanese officials say the provisional change from Level 5 to Level 7 was made based on the amount of radiation emitted into the air in the past month from the Fukushima plant.

Let's ask some questions so as to get the following answers

1. a month ago

2. about 15 kilometers

3. to retrieve some medicine

4. no, she doesn’t

5. 22,000

6. 48 years old

7. at Reactor 1

8. on the amount of radiation emitted into the air in the past month from the Fukushima plant.

France Imposes Full Face Veil Ban

Photo: AP

An unidentified veiled woman is taken away by plain clothed and uniformed police officers in Paris, Monday, April 11, 2011

(A) While reading the following article, please fill in the blanks

Two women protesting France's new ban on Islamic face veils ………………………. (be) arrested after ……………………………… (take) part in a demonstration in front of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris.

The law ……………………. (be) approved by parliament in September and ……………………….(go) into effect Monday 11. Police say the women ……………………………… (be - not) arrested for wearing the veils, but for taking part in an unauthorized protest.

Under the new law, veiled women can be fined $215 or assigned to take special citizenship classes, but it ………………………….. (be) not a jailable offense. However, people who ……………………. (force) women to wear a veil are subject to up to a year in prison and a fine of $41,000. Police ……………………….. (force - not) anyone to take off the veil in public.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy ………………………(claim) the measure is critical to ensure the respect of women's rights and the separation of religion and state. Advocates ………………………….
(argue) the legislation ……………………….. (be) necessary for the country's estimated five million to six million Muslims to integrate.

Muslim women ………………… (object) to the new law and ……………………..(call) the veil a statement of their Islamic faith. In a media release Monday, the human rights organization Amnesty International ………………………………………(condemn) the arrests and …………………………. (say) that women in France ……………………………………….(have) the right to freedom of religion and expression.

On Saturday, police ………………………………… (arrest) 61 people in Paris for holding an unauthorized protest against the ban.


(B) And now, please ask questions so that you can get the following answers

1. After taking part in a demonstration
2. In front of the Notre Dame Cathedral
3. Monday
4. No, they weren't
5. For taking part in an unauthorized protest
6. $215
7. No, they can't.
8. To ensure the respect of women's rights and the separation of religion and state
9. For the Muslims in France to integrate
10. The new law
11. The arrests
12. The right to freedom of religion and expression
13. On Saturday
14. 61
15. In Paris
16. For holding an unauthorized protest against the ban

US Moves to Improve Food Safety (video)

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China Breaks Up Christian Worship Services

Photo: AP

Plainclothes security personnel film as they gather to load detained worshippers onto a waiting bus near a building that leaders of the unregistered Shouwang house church had told parishioners to gather in Beijing, China, April 10, 2011

Police in China detained hundreds of Christian worshippers as they gathered for an outdoor service in Beijing. The detentions are the latest in a crackdown on individuals and groups deemed by the government to be a threat to social stability.

The worshipers were from the unregistered, Christian, Shouwang House Church in Beijing. Their church leaders asked them to gather at an open-air venue for Sunday services, after they were evicted from their usual place of worship last week.

Hundreds of uniformed and plain clothes police officers were deployed to stop the outdoor service.

Around 200 Christian worshippers were rounded up and detained in a nearby school and others were forced onto buses by police and driven away to an unknown location. Several foreign journalists were detained for short periods and some were physically intimidated by plain clothes police.

Shouwang Church Pastor Yuan Ling told reporters Sunday he was unable to go to the venue because police had put him under house arrest Saturday night.

The director of the Britain-based China Aid Association, Bob Fu, says the worshipers feel this is the price they will pay gladly for what he describes as their their faith and their freedom.

"We have seen the government use very harsh tactics against believers, including extra-legal procedures, like forced disappearance, kidnapping some of the most prominent Christian human-rights activists," said Bob Fu.

The communist government is worried about uprisings similar to those in the Arab world taking hold in China, following anonymous online calls for demonstrations.

Prominent activist, lawyers, writers and artists - including internationally renowned artist Ai Weiwei - have recently been detained and charged with a variety of crimes including subversion and tax evasion.


And now, let's think of questions that would get the following answers:

1) because they are a threat to social stability
2) from the unregistered, Christian, Shouwang House Church in Beijing.
3) gather at an open-air venue for Sunday services
4) last week
5) around 200 Christian worshippers
6) for short periods
7) on Sunday
8) no, he couldn't
9) because police had put him under house arrest Saturday night.
10) yes, they will
11) about uprisings similar to those in the Arab world

US jobs (video)

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European Thieves are caught red-handed (video)

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Have ever heard of British scientist Rosalind Franklin.? (video)

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Dog rescued from floating house

• Friday April 1st

Last Friday a Japan Coast Guard rescue team flew over an island of debris some 1.8km off Kesennuma, Miyagi prefecture, one of the worst-hit areas along Japan's north-east coast.

The island of debris, which included a roof, was washed out to sea by the retreating waters of the devastating tsunami, which hit the country on 11 March.

Since the rescue crew thought there might be people alive, they lowered one of their team onto the roof.

He found no human beings but, to his surprise, he saw a dog.

Local television showed an aerial view of a brown medium-sized dog trotting around the roof of the house -- the only part of it floating above water.

The rescuer tried to get close to the dog.. However, the dog was so afraid that it disappeared through a broken section of the roof. The rescuer went in after tearing a wider opening and some minutes after he came out with the dog in his arms. They were transported back to safety by boat.

Domestic media said no people were found inside the house.

• Monday April 4th

The owner recognized the dog from a TV news report on the rescue on Friday.

The female owner and the two-year-old dog called Ban had an emotional reunion at an animal care center where she was being looked after.

"We'll never let go of her," the owner, who wished to remain anonymous, was quoted as saying by a center official.

Ban immediately jumped up and wagged her tail when her owner appeared, local media reported.

"I'm happy for the reunion, " Toshiro Suzuki, head of the animal shelter was quoted as saying by Kyodo news agency. He said the shelter is caring for 19 dogs and several cats separated from their owners after the tsunami.



And now, please ask questions to get the following answers:



1. Over an island of debris

2. Last Friday

3. Because they thought there might be people alive

4. No, he didn't

5. An aerial view of a dog

6. For 3 weeks

7. 2 years old

8. On Monday

9. 19 dogs

10. I think so

In? On? At?