sábado, 22 de novembro de 2014

PAMELA SMART

PAMELA  SMART
Born
August 16, 1967
Coral Gables, Florida
Occupation
Media services consultant
Criminal charge
Criminal penalty
Criminal status
In custody at Bedford Hills Correctional Facility
(in New York)
Spouse(s)
Greggory Smart
(m. 1989-1990, his death)
Children
None
Parents
John and Linda Wojas
         Pamela Ann Smart (born August 16, 1967) is an American convicted of murder. She is serving a life sentence for accomplice to first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder and witness tampering in New Hampshire. Smart was convicted for conspiring with her 15-year-old lover, William "Billy" Flynn; and three friends of Flynn to kill her 24-year-old husband, Greggory Smart in Derry, New Hampshire in 1990.
          Pamela Ann Wojas was born in Coral Gables, Florida. She was the second of three children, with her sister Elizabeth, six years older, and her brother John, three years younger. Her father worked as a commercial airline pilot, while her mother worked part-time as a legal secretary.
          Smart combined her passion for heavy metal music with her career aspirations. She hosted a one-night-a-week radio show at WVFS that she called “Metal Madness", using the alias "Maiden of Metal".
          Pamela Wojas met Greggory Smart at a 1986 New Year's Eve party. They formed a serious relationship in February 1987 and married two years later. They shared a passion for heavy metal music. Greg bought her a Shih Tzu and she named it "Halen" after her favorite rock group Van Halen. Seven months into the marriage, the Smarts began having serious problems in their relationship. She took a job as a media coordinator at Winnacunnet High School in Hampton, New Hampshire.
          Smart met Winnacunnet High School student Billy Flynn at "Project Self-Esteem," a local drug awareness program at the school, in which both were volunteers. She was able to impress him with her interest in heavy metal music. Flynn, a sophomore, was always going out of his way to be helpful during the sessions and also visited Smart every day in her office. Smart also met another intern named Cecilia Pierce, who was friends with Flynn.

Aftermath

            William Flynn and Patrick Randall are serving their sentences at the Maine State Prison in Warren, Maine. Raymond Fowler was paroled in 2003 but was sent back to prison for violating his parole terms in 2004. He was paroled again in June 2005.  Vance Lattime had his 30-year sentence reduced by 12 years. In 2005, his sentence was reduced by three years, and he was paroled.
             Cecilia Pierce, who was one of Pamela Smart's interns at the time of the murder, signed a $100,000 option for the screen rights to her story.

Recent events

             William Flynn is incarcerated at the Maine State Prison in Warren, where he earned his GED, has been active in charity work and worked as an electrician at the prison. In 2007, Flynn sought a sentence reduction after serving 16 years, stating that he had vowed not to do so until he had spent as many years behind bars as he had spent free. He also apologized to Gregg Smart's family for murdering him. The Smart family opposed the request. On February 12, 2008, the request was denied, although Flynn's parole eligibility date was reduced by three years to 25 years, making him eligible for parole in 2015.  March 2009, a judge reduced Patrick Randall's minimum sentence by three years, making him eligible for release in June 2015.
                             T  E  X  T       C  O  M  P  R  E  H  E  N  S  I  O  N
01-Choose the correct sentence according to the text:
a)Pamela Smart is forty five years old                 
 b)Cecilia Pierce participated in the murder
c)John and Linda Wojas are Greg Smart’s parents      
d)Raymond Fowler and Patrick Randall were enemies
e)Pamela Smart’s dad was an airline pilot

02-The murder happened in ______________________________.
a)Florida      b)New Hampshire       c)Maine         d)New York         e)New Jersey

03-Pamela Smart has _________________siblings.
a)two           b)three             c)four            d)five             e)six

04-Nowadays Pamela Smart is in _____________________.
a)New Hampshire    b)New York       c)New Jersey        d)Florida         e)Maine

05-___________________killed Greggory Smart.
a)Billy Flynt      b)Pamela Smart        c)Patrick Randall        d)Raymond fowler      e)Vance Lattime

06-Greg bought Pamela Smart __________________________.
a)a golden jewel     b)a luxury car     c)a motorcycle       d)a weapon      e) a toy dog



TABOO FOOD

                                   TABOO FOOD
       In the predominantly-Muslim nation of Indonesia,  bat meat is known to be a prized delicacy, especially within the Batak and Minahasa minority communities, but also in Java.
       Some restaurants in the Hai Phong and Hạ Long Bay area in north Vietnam advertise cat meat hot pot as "little tiger", and cats in cages can be seen inside.
       Dog meat is used as food in parts of China (e.g. Guangxi) and Korea. Chinese authorities sought to prohibit restaurants from serving dog meat in the run up to the 2008 Beijing Olympics in order not to offend the large number of tourists that would be dining at Beijing eateries.
      In Western societies, elephants have often been associated with circuses and used for entertaining purposes. However, in Central and West Africa, elephants are hunted for their meat. Some people in Thailand also believe that eating elephant meat improves their sex lives and elephants are sometimes hunted specifically for this.
      Judaism prohibits consumption of elephant meat as an unfit-for-consumption land animal
       Horse meat is part of the cuisine of countries as widespread as Italy with 900 g per person per year, Netherlands, Belgium, France, Switzerland, where horse meat is common in supermarkets, Germany with only 50 g per person per year, it is still sold in some specialized butcher shops in eastern Austria, and also eaten in Polynesia,  Serbia , Slovenia  and Kazakhstan,  but is taboo in some religions and many countries. It is forbidden by Jewish law, because the horse is not a ruminant, nor does it have cloven hooves.
      In Indonesia, live baby mice are sometimes eaten by sailors for physical strength.
                                           TEXT COMPREHENSION
01-In ________________,  elephant meat is eaten.
a)Indonesia     b)China      c)Belgium     d)Serbia       e)Thailand
02-Java lies in ______________.
a)Slovenia      b)China       c)France        d)Indonesia           e)Italy
03-Check the correct sentence according to the text:
a)Chinese authorities prohibit restaurants from serving dog meat
b)Bat meat is eaten in Thailand
c)Horse meat is eaten in Italy
d)Horse meat is permitted by Jewish law
e)Cow meat is eaten in India
04-Dog meat is consumed in ______________________.
a)Indonesia     b)China     c)Slovenia    d)Germany      e)Austria
05-_________________is a predominantly- Muslim nation

a)Indonesia         b)Austria        c)Thailand     d)Switzerland    e)China

STEPHEN HAWKING

                    STEPHEN HAWKING

              Born in Oxford on January 8 1942 - 300 years after the death of astronomer Galileo Galilei - Professor Hawking grew up in St Albans, Hertfordshire. After being diagnosed with a rare form of motor neurone disease - amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) - at the age of 22, Hawking was given just a few years to live.
              He had a difficult time at the local public school and was persecuted as a "swot" who was more interested in jazz, classical music and debating than sport and pop. Although not top of the class, he was good at maths and "chaotically enthusiastic in chemistry". Hawking has said of his workload as an undergraduate at Oxford "amounted to an average of just an hour a day". He also said: "I'm not proud of this lack of work, I'm just describing my attitude at the time, which I shared with most of my fellow students. You were supposed to be brilliant without effort, or to accept your limitations and get a fourth class degree."Despite his workload confession, Hawking got a first and went to Cambridge to begin work on his PhD - but he was already beginning to experience the first symptoms of his illness, having fallen over twice for no reason during the last year of his undergraduate degree.
                    Hawking has credited his marriage in 1965 to Jane Wilde, a language student, as a turning point in his life at a time when he was unsure as to what the point of a degree was if he was to die soon. They went on to have three children - Robert, Lucy, and Timothy.
                   At a meeting of the Royal Society meeting, Hawking interrupted a lecture by renowned astrophysicist Sir Fred Hoyle to let him know that he had made a mistake. When asked how he knew there had been an error, Hawking replied: "Because I've worked them out in my head."
                   During the 1970s Hawking produced a stream of first class research, including probably his most important contribution to cosmology: the discovery of Hawking radiation, which allows a black hole to leak energy and gradually fade away to nothing.
                      In the 1980s, Professor Hawking and Professor Jim Hartle proposed a model of the universe which had no boundaries in space or time. The concept was described in A Brief History Of Time, which sold 25 million copies worldwide.
                     In February 1990 he left his wife of twenty five years to set up home with one of his nurses, Elaine Mason. The couple married in September 1995 but divorced in 2006.  Among some of his more unconventional theories, Professor Hawking has predicted the end of humanity - due to global warming, a new killer virus, or the impact of a large comet.
                           Hawking has examined the relationship between science and religion, writing a 2010 book Grand Design, which argues that evoking God is not necessary to explain the origins of the universe.
                              T  E  X  T        C  O  M  P  R  E   H  E  N  S  I  O  N
01-Choose the item according to the text:
a)Stephen Hawking grew up in Oxford
b)Stephen Hawking likes sport and pop
c)Stephen Hawking was born in St Albans
d)Stephen Hawking married Jane Wilde in 1964
e)Stephen Hawking predicts three possible causes for the end of the universe

02-Stephen Hawking lived _________________years with Elaine Mason.
a)eleven       b)sixteen         c)three           d)two          e)twenty five

03-Stephen Hawking was diagnosed with ALS in nineteen sixty _______________.
a)two        b)three      c)four        d)five         e)six

04-Stephen Hawking
a)married just once          b)divorced once       c)had no children
d)lived 25 years with Elaine Mason       e)divorced twice

05-“Hawking has examined the relationship between science and religion.”
The sentence is in the ________________________tense.
a)simple present        b)simple past        c)present perfect     d)past perfect

e)present continuous 

domingo, 26 de outubro de 2014

STRESS 9

01-Underline the stressed syllable:
01-DU-ET
02-CAN-BER-RA
03-A-VERT
04-RE-CESS
05-PRO-FES-SOR
06-PAR-TI-CI-PLE
07-AM-BASS-A-DOR
08-COL-LEAGUE
09-RE-HAB
10-AC-COM-PLICE
11-SIG-NA-TURE
12-CER-TIF-I-CATE
13-BI-ZARRE
14-BE-LIZE
15-GRE-NA-DA
16-MA-TURE
17-AR-TI-CLE
18-PRO-GRAM
19-DE-FAULT

20-TI-BET

STRESS 8

01-Underline the stressed syllable:
01-au-to-graph
02-teen-ag-er
03-de-tail
04-vi-king
05-pos-ses-sive
06-im-pulse
07-co-los-sus
08-rou-tine
09-gar-rote
10-or-deal
11-de-par-ture
12-dis-traught
13-gi-raffe
14-se-date
15-Bah-rein
16-in-tense
17-a-ca-cia
18-Je-ho-vah
19-Tan-ger-ine

20-cham-pagne

STRESS 7

01-Underline the stressed syllable:
01-PLA-GIA-RISM
02-GAL-LOWS
03-NON-PLUS
04-O-A-SIS
05-POR-CE-LAIN
06-EN-GINE
07-DET-O-NATE
08-O-BLIT-ER-ATE
09-U-TER-US
10-RHET-O-RIC
11-OR-GASM
12-VA-GI-NA
13-CON-CISE
14-REF-E-REE
15-SA-LI-VA
16-COM-MAND
17-PA-ROLE
18-POL-Y-GON
19-PENN-SYL-VA-NIA

20-PER-SON-NEL

STRESS 6

01-Underline the stressed syllable:
01-PRO-FILE
02-AN-VIL
03-CAN-NA-BIS
04-GAS-O-LINE
05-EN-TRANCE
06-BI-LIN-GUAL
07-CAS-TA-NETS
08-PREF-ACE
09-OC-TA-GON
10-AN-NI-HI-LATE
11-HA-RANGUE
12-FA-CADE
13-PER-I-SCOPE
14-DES-SERT
15-CAV-A-LIER
16-BA-LO-NEY
17-ES-CA-LA-TOR
18-AS-SESS
19-OR-CHID

20-PRO-TEIN

STRESS 5

01-Underline the stressed syllable:
01-SOL-ACE
02-BRU-NETTE
03-ATH-LETE
04-FA-TIGUE
05-CAT-ER-PIL-LAR
06-BI-OP-SY
07-SUR-PLUS
08-AD-MI-RA-BLE
09-BLAS-PHE-MY
10-EF-FACE
11-STAM-PEDE
12-GRE-NADE
13-O-KRA
14-COR-PO-RAL
15-HEP-A-TI-TIS
16-GLA-CIER
17-PAR-A-CHUTE
18-CRU-SADE
19-LEV-EE

20-EP-I-SODE

STRESS 4

A)Underline the stressed syllable:
01-ZO-DI-AC
02-MO-HI-CAN
03-RE-VENGE
04-SIG-NA-TURE
05-LEOP-ARD
06-MO-RASS
07-E-VENT
08-MEN-U
09-SAT-IRE
10-COM-BAT
11-LE-THAL
12-ES-KI-MO
13-DIS-CI-PLE
14-RE-MISS
15-AC-CO-LADE
16-CU-CUM-BER
17-RE-LAY
18-PHAR-AOH
19-IN-DICT

20-VE-GAN

STRESS 3

A)Underline the stressed syllable:
01-GUA-VA
02-O-BESE
03-TER-MITE
04-PSEU-DO-NYM
05-AN-A-CON-DA
06-RE-PRI-SAL
07-SAR-DINE
08-BRUS-SELS
09-COM-PARE
10-A-VEN-GER
11-CA-LIPH
12-MET-A-PHOR
13-GUF-FAW
14-DAF-FO-DIL
15-HOR-O-SCOPE
16-TOU-CAN
17-CHAM-PAGNE
18-JU-DO
19-MO-ROSE

20-EN-CORE

STRESS 2

A)Underline the stressed syllable:
01-CLAN-DES-TINE
02-JU-BI-LEE
03-SUC-CUMB
04-CI-GAR
05-PA-PA-YA
06-IM-PAIR
07-MA-CAW
08-CAB-A-RET
09-CHA-YO-TE
10-POME-GRAN-ATE
11-CA-PRICE
12-HI-A-TUS
13-LI-BRAR-Y
14-CHA-RADE
15-IM-MENSE
16-MA-LIN-GER
17-HYP-O-CRITE
18-TO-BOG-GAN
19-BI-DET

20-MA-NIAC

STRESS 1

A)Underline the stressed syllable:
01- a-gou-ti
02- syc-o-phant
03- go-ril-la
04- dom-i-no
05- pe-can
06- hes-i-tate
07- phi-lan-der
08- rec-i-pe
09- o-pos-sum
10- sou-ve-nir
11- ar-ray
12- rhi-no-ce-ros
13- my-o-pia
14- as-bes-tos
15- sub-poe-na
16- pa-ral-y-sis
17- op-tom-e-trist
18- la-pel
19- av-o-ca-do

20- per-sim-mon

sábado, 6 de setembro de 2014

FINLAND




                         T E X T

      Finland borders Norway, Sweden and Russia. It is a country of thousands of lakes and islands. There are 187,888 lakes and 179,584 islands. Forest covers 86% of the country's area. It is the largest producer of wood in Europe. At Finland's northernmost point, the sun does not set for 73 consecutive days during Summer, and does not rise at all for 51 days during Winter.  The coldest Winter days of southern Finland are usually under -4°F and the warmest days of July and early August can be over 86°F.  The largest and most important cities in Finland are the cities of Helsinki, Espoo and Vantaa. Other large cities include Tampere, Turku and Oulu. Turku is the oldest city and it was the first capital of Finland. It is also the official Christmas city of Finland.
      In 1906, Finland was the first nation in the world to give full suffrage to all citizens, including women. Finland has been an Independent Republic since December 6, 1917. Before that, it was a Grand Duchy of the Russian Empire. And before that, it was part of Sweden.
      There are 342 municipalities, and most have fewer than 6,000 residents. Today, there are 20 universities in Finland, mostly state owned. Students do not have to pay study fees.
      In 2008, President Martti Ahtisaari was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
                          
                    TEXT COMPREHENSION

01-Check the CORRECT sentence according to the text:
a) Most Finnish cities are overpopulated.
b) Finland produces little wood.
c) There are thirty universities in Finland.
d) There are few lakes in Finland.
e) The temperature of July and early August can be over 30° C.

02- Finland is bordered by _________countries.
a) seven
b) six
c) five
d) four
e) three

 
03- The women were given the right to vote and run for office in ___________________________________.
a) nineteen eighteen
b) nineteen seventeen
c) nineteen twenty
d) nineteen oh six
e) nineteen oh two

04- The city of Santa Claus is ______________.
a) Helsinki
b) Tampere
c) Turku
d) Espoo
e) Vantaa

05- Check the CORRECT sentence according to the text:
a) The whole Finland is cold all through the year.
b) Forests cover the majority of the total land area.
c) In nineteen nineteen, Finland declared its independence.
d) Finland belonged to Germany.
e) On December 6, 1906, Finland became a republic

06- Check the CORRECT sentence according to the text:
a) The midnight sun may be experienced in the Finnish
northernmost point.
b) The polar night occurs all through Finland.
c) The sun does not set during Autumn.
d) The sun does not rise during Spring.
e) There are few islands in Finland.
     

SWITZERLAND



                                                  SWITZERLAND

                  Switzerland is a landlocked country. It lies in Europe and its capital city is Bern. It is bordered by Germany, France, Italy, Austria and Liechtenstein. Its largest city is Zurich. The flag of the Red Cross is the flag of Switzerland with the colors inverted.
              Switzerland has four national languages – German, French, Italian and Romansch. But they
vary greatly in the number of speakers. Most products in the Swiss stores are labeled in German, French and Italian.
                  Out of the twenty six cantons in Switzerland, German is spoken in seventeen.
French is spoken in four cantons. Cantons Bern, Fribourg and Valais are bilingual – German/
French. Italian is spoken in Ticino and four southern valleys of canton Graubünden. Romansch
is spoken in the only trilingual canton, Graubünden.
                  Some other facts about Switzerland:
    Nestlé, founded by Swiss Henri Nestle, is the biggest food company in the world.
    Swiss Guards protect the Pope at the Vatican.
    The famous pharmaceutical companies Roche and Novartis are based in Switzerland.
    The Swiss Franc is among the world's most stable currencies.
      Some famous Swiss people:
    Actress Ursula Andress
    Engineer Loius Chevrolet
    Linguist Ferdinand de Saussure
    Philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau
    Pedagogue Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi
    Psychologist Jean Piaget
                                        TEXT COMPREHENSION

01- The largest city in Switzerland is ________________.
a) Zurich
b) Basel
c) Geneva
d) Lausanne
e) Bern

02- ______________is Switzerland's least-used national language in terms of number of speakers.
a)Spanish
b) Romansch
c) German
d) French
e) Italian

03- The Swiss Confederation consists of __________________cantons.
a) twenty four
b) twenty five
c) twenty six
d) twenty seven
e) twenty eight

04- Switzerland is bordered by ___________countries.
a) nine
b) eight
c) seven
d) five                                                                                                                                                        
e) six                                                                                                                                           

05- _______________is Switzerland's most-used national language in terms of number
of speakers.
a) Romansch
b) French
c) Spanish
d) Italian
e) German