Tag Archive: world news – intermediate
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2017年3月14日
Pre-reading questions: Do you like to travel by water? Have you ever ridden a boat? What do you think about self-driving vehicles? Self-driving boats called “Roboats” will head for the waterways in Amsterdam in 2017. This is a product of a $27 million partnership between the Massachusets Institute of Technology (MIT) and the Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Metropolitan Solutions (AMS), and will be a solution to public transport through water . Dr. Stephan van Djk, the research program manager at AMS, says that they will try to shift the transport of goods and people to the waterways to ‘get people out of their cars and reduce traffic in…
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2017年3月9日
Pre-reading questions: How is Christmas celebrated in your country? Is there an international school near your area? German media report that an international school in a predominantly Muslim Istanbul bans Christmas celebrations and teachings. It was said that staff at the international school Istanbul Lisesi were told that Christmas traditions and carol-singing would no longer be allowed. Istanbul Lisesi is a Turkish-German school attended by Turkish students but partly subsidized by the German government. Spiegel Online reports that teachers were instructed not to teach about German Christmas Traditions during class as well as to remove Advent calendars from the classrooms. German Politicians were outraged with the actions of…
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2017年2月9日
Pre-reading questions: Who do you think is the most popular artist in your country? Why is s/he popular? How do you protect yourself in public? Do you post your activities on social media? A drunk South Korean passenger attacked some airline staff during a flight from Hanoi, Vietnam to Seoul, South Korea last Tuesday, December 20. Female flight attendants spent four hours trying to calm the drunk man down. One of the passengers of the said flight were Richard Marx, a popular 80’s singer, and his wife. Marx, along with other male passengers, tried to restrain the drunk man. The drunk passenger became more aggressive and violent. The…
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2017年1月30日
Pre-reading questions: Have you ever experienced a disaster? What are some kinds of disasters? What kind of disasters are common in your country? Areas in the southern part of the United States were hit by tornadoes causing 18 people to die while leaving 50 people wounded. The strong tornadoes and storms were brought by the severe weather in states of Georgia and Mississippi. These calamities caused casualties and damages in homes, roofs, cars, and trees. Some people shielded themselves in buildings which were left standing after the tornado. Georgia was declared under state of emergency in the badly affected area to give support to the residents and to evaluate the…
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2017年1月19日
Pre-reading questions: Do you know what a tsunami is? Do you know someone who has been affected by a tsunami? Can a tsunami be prevented? How? A school in Miyagi prefecture was hit by the 2011 tsunami attack. The school opened to the public for the very first time. Vehicles swept in the 14-meter waves remain on the grounds of Miyagi Kesennuma Koyo High School. Debris are scattered all around the building. I thought I had known what the disaster was like from news, but seeing a car sitting on the third floor taught me how powerful the tsunami was, said Satoshi Tanaka, a Kanagawa prefectural government official….
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2017年1月18日
Pre-reading questions: What is climate change? What do you think causes climate change? How does climate change affect our way of living? The Paris Agreement gains approval to prevent climate change. It aims to limit the global temperatures to 2°C or possibly to 1.5°C. However, the steps to accomplish the agreement are yet to be figured out. Fatih Birol, the executive director of the International Energy Agency in Paris, said that temperatures will still be up to 2.7°C even if the countries that signed the agreement fully achieve their primary promises. Some companies are still thinking of ways to address climate change. The agreement also made the market…
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2017年1月6日
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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2016年12月22日
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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2016年12月16日
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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2016年12月14日
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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