This article was taken from another site (see link below) and posted on this blog by TEACHERS for EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES

In a Wednesday, Oct. 19, 2011 file photo provided by the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium shows one of two macaques that were captured by authorities a day after their owned released dozens of wild animals and then killed himself near Zanesville, Ohio.

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Proposed legislation in Ohio would ban the purchase of lions, bears and other exotic animals, but current owners of the dangerous wildlife would be allowed to keep them as pets if they meet strict new requirements.

State Sen. Troy Balderson sent a letter Friday afternoon to state lawmakers, asking them to sign on to the proposal. He plans to introduce the bill Tuesday, and hearings are planned next week planned next week.

Ohio has some of the nation’s weakest restrictions on exotic pets. Efforts to strengthen the state’s law took on new urgency in October when authorities were forced to kill 48 wild animals – including endangered Bengal tigers – after their owner freed them from his Zanesville farm and then committed suicide.

“For the safety of our citizens and the animals, our regulations must ensure that the horror inflicted on my neighbors and constituents in Zanesville never happens in Ohio again,” Balderson, a Zanesville Republican, wrote.

Terry Thompson, 62, released the animals on Oct. 18. Six were captured and taken to the Columbus zoo, where they were put under quarantine by the state. One, a spotted leopard, was euthanized after it was hit by a lowering hydraulic door and suffered a severe spinal cord injury.

If the bill becomes law, Balderson’s measure would immediately ban people from acquiring additional exotic animals. Zoo, circuses, sanctuaries and research facilities would be exempt.

Owners of lions, tigers and other large animals such as elephants and crocodiles would be banned in 2014 from keeping the creatures unless they applied to be a “private shelter” and met new caging requirements and care standards.

“It’s going to be tough to keep it, but you can keep it if you’re ready to meet the regulations,” said Josh Eck, Balderson’s legislative aide.

People who own small monkeys or certain other primates could also continue to have them, but they also would need to meet new standards.

“The senator doesn’t want the state to get into the business of seizing and euthanizing these animals,” Eck said.

The bill would let owners of constricting and venomous snakes keep their reptiles, but they must have safety plans in place in case the snakes got out. Owners could still breed and acquire new snakes, Balderson’s office said.

The proposal is less strict than a framework suggested last year by a state study committee.

The group had recommended a more stringent ban on the casual ownership of exotic animals. Those who still owned restricted wildlife – such as bears, monkeys and others – in 2014 without proper licenses or exemptions would have the animals taken away by state or local officials.

Associated Press writer JoAnne Viviano contributed to this report.

Michael Leitch

Michael Leitch is an English Teacher working in Brazil since 1998.

 Research has shown that the health benefits of laughter are far-ranging. While more studies need to be done, studies so far have shown that laughter can help relieve pain, bring greater happiness, and even increase immunity. Positive psychology names the propensity for laughter and sense of humor as one of the 24 main signature strengths one can possess, and laughter yoga clubs are springing up across the country. Read on for more findings about the health benefits of laughter, and see how to incorporate more humor and fun into your life.

Stress Management Benefits of Laughter:

• Hormones: Laughter reduces the level of stress hormones like cortisol ,epinephrine (adrenaline), dopamine and growth hormone. It also increases the level of health-enhancing hormones like endorphins, and neurotransmitters. Laughter increases the number of antibody-producing cells and enhances the effectiveness of T cells. All this means a stronger immune system, as well as fewer physical effects of stress.
• Physical Release: Have you ever felt like you “have to laugh or I’ll cry”? Have you experienced the cleansed feeling after a good laugh? Laughter provides a physical and emotional release.
• Internal Workout: A good belly laugh exercises the diaphragm, contracts the abs and even works out the shoulders, leaving muscles more relaxed afterward. It even provides a good workout for the heart.
• Distraction: Laughter brings the focus away from anger, guilt, stress and negative emotions in a more beneficial way than other mere distractions.
• Perspective: Studies show that our response to stressful events can be altered by whether we view something as a ‘threat’ or a ‘challenge’. Humor can give us a more lighthearted perspective and help us view events as ‘challenges’, thereby making them less threatening and more positive. (For more on changing your perspective, see this article on cognitive reframing.)
• Social Benefits of Laughter: Laughter connects us with others. Just as with smiling and kindness, most people find that laughter is contagious, so if you bring more laughter into your life, you can most likely help others around you to laugh more, and realize these benefits as well. By elevating the mood of those around you, you can reduce their stress levels, and perhaps improve the quality of social interaction you experience with them, reducing your stress level even more!

http://stress.about.com/od/stresshealth/a/laughter.htm

Michael Leitch

Michael Leitch is an English Teacher working in Brazil since 1998.

SÃO PAULO, Brazil — This mega-city’s authorities have waged war for years against what they call “visual pollution,” banning billboard advertising, demolishing abandoned skyscrapers and planning to raze concrete eyesores like the elevated highway known as the Big Worm.

But the battle to clean up the sprawling cityscape has become intertwined with a deeper social conflict between Brazil’s haves and have-nots, where the angry and disenfranchised lash out in a form of expression unrivaled in other cities.

The graffiti is just one reminder of the social ills that Brazil’s economic boom has so far failed to resolve, and may perhaps even be accentuating, despite recent strides in reducing income inequality.

Taking action against the establishment, young people arm themselves with black paint, rollers, spray cans and no shortage of personal daring. Their target: the landscape that society cares so much to recover.

“We practice class warfare, and there are casualties in war,” said Rafael Guedes Augustaitiz, 27. “They compare us to barbarians, and there may be a little truth in that.”

Mr. Augustaitiz is part of a subculture that executes a form of graffiti described by one scholar as an “alphabet designed for urban invasion.” It nearly envelops some of São Paulo’s government buildings, residential high-rises, even public monuments, with lettering eerily reminiscent of Scandinavia’s ancient runic writing.

The most daring practitioners risk their lives, scaling building facades at night to paint their script at the crests of smog-darkened skyscrapers. Some have fallen to their death from terrifying heights.

Their graffiti, called pichação, from the Portuguese verb “pichar,” or cover with tar, reflects the urban decay and deep class divisions that still define much of São Paulo, a city with a metropolitan population approaching 20 million. It is just one reminder of the social ills that Brazil’s economic boom has so far failed to resolve, and may perhaps even be accentuating, despite recent strides in reducing income inequality.

By; Simon Romero

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/29/world/americas/at-war-with-sao-paulos-establishment-black-paint-in-hand.html?_r=1&ref=world

Michael Leitch

Michael Leitch is an English Teacher working in Brazil since 1998.

South Korea has pledged that all elementary and secondary schools will be completely digital by the year 2015. The ministry of education will ensure that every student has access to a mobile device, a strong connection to the Internet, and a cloud-computing network dedicated to education.

In many ways, this isn’t a great leap. The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) listed South Korea—with Internet speeds on average three times faster than that in the United States—as the leading nation on their survey of digital literacy. “Digital technologies provide a great opportunity to make students more active participants in classroom learning,” said Barbara Ischinger, OECD Director of Education. “[It helps] to tailor learning … and to give students access to the world’s current research and thinking.”

What’s remarkable is that this ranking, according to the Korean Ministry of Education, is not good enough. The Ministry has since targeted their policies and some $2.4 billion in funding so that best practices in digital learning become the norm for all students within three years.

UNESCO has documented through a series of reports how South Korea has equitably integrated digital computing in schools on a national level. Formal standards for teacher education and training, among other best practices, are now being shared widely by the international agency.

School systems around the world are watching Korea, not just for its high-achievement rates, but also to see if it succeeds in being the first country to go entirely digital.

South Korea is one of the most wired places on earth. More than 80 percent of South Korean households have broadband access to the Internet, according to the statistical office here. U.S. Web hosting company Akamai has said that South Korea enjoys the fastest Internet connection in the world. South Korea also ranks first in wireless broadband subscriptions, according to an OECD release.

The 2009 OECD study says there’s a positive relationship between students’ use of computers at home for leisure and their digital navigation skills. “Proficient digital readers tend to know how to navigate effectively and efficiently,” the study found. The study found that students who read online more frequently also read a greater variety of print material and report higher enjoyment of reading itself.

Another telling example of the influence of the Internet on this nation of 50 million is the number of so-called PC rooms, or Internet cafes, which stood at 15,000 as of December last year, according to the PC room business association.

PC rooms, which usually operate around the clock, have long been the breeding ground for South Korea’s so-called professional e-gamers, whose popularity has given birth to an industry dedicated to airing their matches and promoting high-tech gadgets through them.

Those who study digital technology and education have been generally positive about introducing digital textbooks, but there have also been warnings that Internet addiction may deepen among South Korea’s teenagers.

The number of students addicted to the Internet amounted to 782,000, or 12 percent of the total student population, the Ministry of Public Administration and Security said last year. The government, worried by the problem, plans to increase the number of counselors dealing with Internet addiction to 5,500 next year.

“What is essential in digital learning is to promote as much interaction between teachers and students as possible, rather than just leaving the students to themselves,” said Kwon Jung-eun, a senior researcher at the state-run National Information Society Agency.

http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/global_learning/2012/01/no_more_pencils_no_more_books.html

http://technology.inquirer.net/2545/south-korean-students-ditch-paper-for-digital-books/

Michael Leitch

Michael Leitch is an English Teacher working in Brazil since 1998.

In the winter of 2008-9, the nephew of the Formula 1 legend Ayrton Senna was on the verge of being signed by the Honda team after impressing in a test alongside Jenson Button.

But then Honda pulled out of F1, team principal Ross Brawn was forced to spend the winter desperately trying to save the team, and when he did so at the 11th hour, he thought it better, given the circumstances, to stick with the experience of Rubens Barrichello rather than the promise he had seen in the younger Brazilian.

Now the wheel has turned full circle, and it is Senna who has deprived Barrichello of a seat in F1. But it has been a long time coming.

While Button went on to win the world title for the reconstituted Brawn team in 2009, Senna was left to scrape around for a drive in sportscars, biding his time before another chance in F1 came up, before landing a drive with the nascent HRT outfit in 2010.
The dream turned into a nightmare as the team limped through their maiden season, and for Senna it was a relief to leave, even if it again meant he did not have a full-time grand prix drive.

He spent most of 2011 as a reserve driver for Renault, doing very little driving, before being drafted in to replace the sacked veteran Nick Heidfeld for the final eight races of the year.

The fractured nature of his brief F1 career so far reflects that of his rise up the junior formulae and means it is very difficult to assess the quality of a driver on whom, realistically, a post-restructure Williams will depend to revive their failing fortunes, given the erratic form shown by his team-mate Pastor Maldonado in his debut season last year.

Senna’s path to the Williams seat was eased by a substantial sponsorship package from Brazil, a situation that will inevitably see him labelled in some quarters as a ‘pay-driver’…

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/andrewbenson/2012/01/how_good_is_bruno_senna.html

Fernando Souza

Fernando Souza has been an English teacher since 2001. He’s been working at ER since 2007, where besides teaching, he’s involved in many other projects. No matter how busy he might be, he’s always focusing in providing the best for ER’s students.

You can find more about him on Facebook.

Cultural globalization is perhaps best exemplified by pop culture. The youth in Aruba dance pretty much as the ones in Kyrgyzstan and in Norway. Chinese animé is watched in Chicago, and Mexican soap operas are lapped up by viewers in Manila. The newest release of a musical group is rapidly disseminated worldwide through a variety of video sharing websites. Personalities achieve global pop icon status through the same means.The proponents of cultural globalization point to the benefits that the exchange of knowledge and information can bring. Foremost among its proponents is big business. The more cultural homogeneity that is attained, the easier it is for businesses to sell their products globally. Certain goods such as Coca Cola® and McDonald’s® burgers are sold the world over. Many brand names are just as coveted in Madras as in New York. Economic globalization goes hand in glove with cultural globalization. Thus, it is sometimes pointed out that cultural globalization is more corporation-driven than country-driven.

The detractors of cultural globalization bewail its deleterious effects on national identities. They note the vanishing of unique cultural entities. Cultural diversity, they lament, is rapidly diminishing; cultural distinction is dissipating and cultural integrity, disintegrating. They bemoan the threat of dominant, industrialized cultures overtaking and supplanting indigenous cultures.

Source: http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-cultural-globalization.htm

Fernando Souza

Fernando Souza has been an English teacher since 2001. He’s been working at ER since 2007, where besides teaching, he’s involved in many other projects. No matter how busy he might be, he’s always focusing in providing the best for ER’s students.

You can find more about him on Facebook.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBulzuvWiYk

Almost eight out of 10 people in the second city told pollsters that they wish they had a different accent – higher than anywhere else in country

Fernando Souza

Fernando Souza has been an English teacher since 2001. He’s been working at ER since 2007, where besides teaching, he’s involved in many other projects. No matter how busy he might be, he’s always focusing in providing the best for ER’s students.

You can find more about him on Facebook.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyCPqyHRqbo

Questionnaire created by Jaime Acosta, instructor of english language at curso ER.

INSTRUCTIONS: watch the video above and answer the following multiple-choice questions.

1. according to the reporter, fast-growing countries were also known as:

a) poor

b) third-world

c) worldwide

d) third-party

2. according to the video, which countries are considered to be developed countries:

a) USA and France

b) Korea and India

c) USA and Japan

d) none of them

3. The emerging economies have grown

a) slowly

b) extremely fast

c) normally

d) quickly

4. according to the video, which of these countries is considered to be a developed nation

a) Guatemala

b) Thailand

c) South Korea

d) Argentina

5. Emerging economies account for ________ of steel consumption in the world.

a) three quarters

b) two halfs

c) one quarter

d) none of them

6. Emerging countries have increased their car sales by:

a) 45%

b) 20%

c) 52%

d) 80%

7. Cell phone subscriptions have been decreased in developed markets

a) true

b) false

8. according to the reporter, the emerging markets _______ match the developed markets on every measure.

a) will

b) cannot

c) want

d) can

9. in 1820, the emerging countries accounted for about _____ of the world´s economy.

a) 30%

b) 70%

c) 10%

d) 95%

10. The progress of the emerging countries nowadays is not a revolution, but rather a ___________.

a) renovation

b) innovation

c) inversion

d) restoration

Jaime Acosta Mendive

Jaime Acosta is a language consultant at ER. He was born in Mexico and graduated from the University of Texas at El Paso in 2009.

The EU operates through a hybrid system of supranational independent institutions and intergovernmentally made decisions negotiated by the member states. Importantinstitutions of the EU include the European Commission, the Council of the European Union, the European Council, the Court of Justice of the European Union, and the European Central Bank. The European Parliament is elected every five years by EU citizens.

The EU has developed a single market through a standardised system of laws which apply in all member states. Within the Schengen Area (which includes EU and non-EU states) passport controls have been abolished. EU policies aim to ensure the free movement of people, goods, services, and capital, enact legislation in justice and home affairs, and maintain common policies on trade,agriculture,fisheries and regional development.A monetary union, the eurozone, was established in 1999 and is currently composed of 17 member states. Through the Common Foreign and Security Policy the EU has developed a limited role in external relations and defence. Permanent diplomatic missions have been established around the world and the EU is represented at the United Nations, the WTO, the G8 and the G-20.

With a combined population of over 500 million inhabitants, or 7.3% of the world population, the EU generated a nominal GDP of 16,242 billion US dollars in 2010, which represents an estimated 20% of global GDP when measured in terms of purchasing power parity.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eu

Michael Leitch

Michael Leitch is an English Teacher working in Brazil since 1998.