Tag Archive: world news – intermediate

Pre-reading questions: How do you celebrate Christmas? What are the most popular Christmas food and drinks in your country? How is Christmas celebrated in your country? A Christmas fundraiser event invited all alcohol-loving people to SantaCon. SantaCon is an annual Christmas bar crawl. The organizers say SantaCon celebrates Christmas traditions of festive dress and good cheer. It also raises tens of thousands of dollars for charity. The said event took place last December 10. The annual bar crawl was held in 380 cities across the US and in 51 countries all over the world. In New York, the bar crawl started at 23rd street Broadway Pedestrian Plaza, The Flatiron Building….
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  Pre-reading questions: Have you tried applying for a passport or a visa? Have you tried transacting with your local government offices? What do you think embassies do?   GHANA—A fake U.S. Embassy was discovered in the capital city of Accra. It was issuing illegally obtained authentic visas for the past ten years. The fake embassy was operating in an old, weathered pink two-storey building, along with the U.S. Flag outside and a portrait of President Barack Obama inside. Ghanian and Turkish organized crime rings were said to be working in the fake embassy, along with a Ghanian lawyer practicing immigration and criminal law. Turkish people who can speak English…
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  Pre-reading questions: What is your idea about Thanksgiving Day? Have you ever watched Thanksgiving Day parade? What are some Thanksgiving traditions that you know?   Thousands of people waited last Thursday, November 24, 2016 for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade. Iconic inflatable balloons floated and marched their way through New York City. Charlie Brown led the balloons as the parade kicked off at 9:00 am. Costumed characters and dozens of celebrities, including singer Tony Bennett and Olympic gold medalist Laurie Hernandez, were among the guests. However, an English Islamic State group magazine called the parade an excellent target, yet more than 3,000 officers walked among the crowds on that…
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  Pre-reading questions: How long have you been using the internet? Do you know Facebook? Do you have friends in the internet?   Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg laid out new schemes on dealing with fake news on their site. The site would include an improved detection system, easier reporting by users, and changes to its advertisement system. This step was triggered by the possibility that the circulation of fake stories on the site influenced the recent U.S. Presidential election. On the other hand, business analysts worry on how the changes to its advertisement system could hurt the social networking site’s revenue. This is amid advertisers’ claim of faulty metrics and…
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  Pre-reading questions: Do you like Onigiri? What is your favorite festival in your region/country? Have you ever attended a festival?   A 28-year old man fainted in an onigiri speed-eating contest in Shiga Prefecture last November. The man was assisted immediately by medical professionals, but he passed away 3 days after. The onigiri speed-eating contest was done to celebrate the “Friendship Festival” in the said prefecture. Higashibiwako Japan Agricultural Co-operative organized the event to boost Shiga’s agricultural products. The organizers put a notice on their website giving thanks to the medical team who responded right away during the incident. Authorities found out that they are prepared for emergencies and…
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Pre-reading questions: Do you live in an area that’s experiencing many earthquakes? Has your house been damaged by an earthquake? How can you prepare for a possible earthquake? A quake hits the South Island of the country early on Monday. It has a magnitude of 7.8. Tsunami waves were spotted along the marginal town of Kaikoura about 40 minutes after the quake. Authorities say at least 2 people perished, and several others injured. Authorities also added that some buildings collapsed and large cracks can be seen in roads. Landslides have also made some sections impassable. Telephone lines have been cut off. About 600 inhabitants and hundreds of tourists are incapable…
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  Pre-reading questions: What’s the average height of Japanese people? Did you eat healthy food when you were younger to be taller? What food did you eat? How tall are you?   A research conducted by the Imperial College of London identified that the tallest men in the world came from Netherlands and the tallest women are from Latvia. The researchers evaluated height charts of 18 year olds over a 100 year period. The study shows that Dutch men has an average height of 182.5 centimeters and Latvian women has an average height of 170 centimeters. Over 800 scientists participated in the said research. They observed that in some countries…
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  Pre-reading questions: What do you think is the effect of climate change to living things on Earth? What do you think is the difference between a developed and a developing country?   MARRAKESH, MOROCCO– One hundred ninety-six world nations gather for the Paris Agreement amidst US elections. The Paris Agreement ties all countries, developed and developing to end global warming. Despite the gathering of fifteen thousand stakeholders for the twelve-day UN talks, the world is focused on US elections, which could propel climate denier Donald Trump to US Presidency. US President Barack Obama warns that all the steps made for climate change now depends on the votes of the…
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  Pre-reading questions: What currency do you use in your country? Do you like instant food? What’s your favorite instant food? What’s your favorite food?   Inmates use tobacco as their money to buy different things inside the prison for a long time. Now a days, it has been replaced by instant ramen since tobacco was banned in 2014. In some prisons, meals are only served twice a day because of budget shortage. Inmates then are trying to nourish themselves with instant ramen. The inmates said that ramen is tastier than their regular prison food. It also has high calorie content that can give them energy for work. A pack…
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Pre-reading questions: Do you practice your voting rights? Do you think election is the best way to choose leaders? Are you familiar with the United States Presidential candidates? Donald Trump, a New Yorker businessman who’s running for 2016 United States presidential election says that his opponents would want to rig the election at the polling place. He also adds that many cities are corrupt and voter fraud is very common. But according to various studies, voting fraud is not common in the United States. A Republican campaign lawyer, Chris Ashby, explains in an interview that when you say an election is rigged, you’re telling voters and your supporters that their…
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