ANDRE X SALLY: WHAT A COUPLE! [que casal!]

                                                                    CHAPTER 1 :

It never gets you anywhere. 

                [Isto não vai ti levar a lugar algum]

Andre Souza is a natural worrier [naturalmente encucado].

It is something he has inherited from [herdou do seu pai]his father.

But then there are those who are never happy unless they have a problem to solve [nunca fica feliz até ter o problema resolvido].

Andre worried about the weather [clima], the state of the Real, Dollar or Euros and stocks, his health, the cost of living[custo de vida] and once he even worried because he thought he wasn't worrying enough. 

But that was in the past [mas isto é passado].

Things have changed because something happened to him exactly two years ago[exatos 2 anos atrás].
It was in the spring[ foi na primavera] when leaves appear on trees and nature prepares herself for renewal [preparando para se renovar].

Other things happen too — people often fall in love [pessoas sí apaixonam].

Now Andre doesn't have a romantic disposition.

 He never looks up at the leaves starting to grow [não olhava para folhas crescendo],     sighs and says: "Ah here comes the spring!" He simply thinks to himself:

"I live in a small village by a little stream[cidadezinha com seu riozinho] and around this time of year lots of creatures start to wake up and make a lot of noise.

"In Porto Alegre, where stands on the River Guaiba people make a lot of noise all the time! [pessoas fazem muito barulho]".

I apologize for the simplicity of these statements [perdoe-me a forma simples] but I want to illustrate the unimaginative nature which Andre possesses.

Towards the end of this story I give examples[até o final da história darei exemplos de] to show the extent of the change that he passed on.
The other character in this anecdote [outra personagem da estória] is a young woman called Sally Bastos.

She too lives in same small town village as André.

Now Sally is an entirely different kettle of fish [totalmente diferente e não está nem aí para as coisas complicadas].

Her philosophy runs as follows: "Worrying never gets you anywhere and life is too short to waste time imagining the worst [preocupação não leva a nada; e a vida é breve para si preocupar e ficar pensando no pior]."

In a word she is the complete opposite in temperament of Andre.

Here comes another cliché: Opposites attract. But you must remember that two years ago the two main characters hadn't met [até há 2 anos o casal nunca havia se visto antes], which was surprising when you consider the proximity of Andre's house and Sally's flat.

If you take the first left after the post office [posto do correios], you come to Sally's place and if you take the second turning to the right after that you come to the house [chega até a casa] where Andre lives.

The next participant in this village drama is the weather [é o clima], which plays a very significant part in Gauchos life [a vida do gaucho].

It was late September and the sun had disappeared behind dark heavy rain clouds but Andre had already set off for the local pub [entrar no boteco local].

Naturally he had his umbrella with him and a heavy coat following that aphorism his mother always used [o ditado que sempre tua mãe dizia]: 

                          "Never cast a cloud before august is out."

                                                  (to be continued...)
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]-->
<!--[endif]-->

A dangerous game to play. [uma jogada perigosa]

 The legal limit for driving after drinking alcohol is 80 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood[sangue] when tested.

But there is no sure way of telling[Mas não há uma forma clara de afirmar]  how much you can drink before you reach this limit. It varies with each person depending on your weight, your gender [depende de cada pessoa, seu peso, sexo], if you´ve eaten and what sort of drinks you have had.

Some people might reach their limit [algumas pessoas atingem seu limite] after only about three standard drinks.  In fact, your driving ability can be affected by just one or two drinks.

Even if you [mesmo sí voce estiver] are below the legal limit, you could still be taken to court if a police officer[pego por policiais e fiscais] thinks your driving has been affected by alcohol.

   It takes about one hour for the body puts out the alcohol in one standard drink.   

So, if you have a heavy drinking session in the evening[si voce tomar uma cachaçada(sic)] you find that your driving ability is still affected the next morning, or you could even find that you are still over the legal limit. 

In a test with professional drivers, more alcoholic drinks they had had the more [mais e mais quantidade de alcool ingerida]certain they were to performance their ability to drive on... and less able they were to do it!

Alcohol is the major cause of road traffic accidents.

 One in three drivers have been killed [um a cada três motoristas assassinados] on road accidents have levels of alcohol which are over the legal limit, and road accidents after drinking are the biggest cause of death among young men.

More than half of the people stopped[mais da metade das pessoas que são paradas] by the police to take a breathalyzer [bafometro – aparelho para medir concentração de alcool no organismo] test have a blood alcohol concentration more than twice the legal limit.

So the only way to be sure you are safe is not to drink at all.

AMERICA: YORK x NEW YORK

This Is YORK in Yorkshire, which is in England

...and this is New York in America

                          .What differences between these two cities?

                          .What similar things do they have?

                                       

                                         Let´s talk about New York.

New York is a very interesting place. It is a world city. 

Do you know what I mean by that?

There are people from everywhere in New York. It is a mix. 

It is a mixture. 

It is a big mixture. It is a melting pot. 

New York is an international city. 

New York is a world city. New Yorkers called The BIG APPLE. 

Many singers, bands made songs celebrating New York. Movies, plays, documentaries, and the biggest and famous events taking place every year in this city. Everybody dream to come for a time to New York City. Don´t you?

Can you recognise these four hot spot place from New York?

__________________________________________

·        Do you know are these five famous New Yorkers?

 __________________________

Begin the Begin

After America became independent from England, many people went to America.
Some people wanted a new beginning. They wanted a new life. 

They needed a fresh start. So some people were following a dream and other people were running away from persecution. They are remembering by The Pilgrims.

·                  Do you know the Pilgrims history?  

This is the Boat that navigated with first english families from England to US.

   

                           

There was another group of people too: slaves. They were forced to go to America. There was another group living in America. They were the Native Americans.

·        Can you say 3 Native American tribes? 

_____________________________

People from all the nations of the world have contributed to the creation of the United States of America as African, Native Americans, Irish, Dutch, Italian, Asiatic, Latin America, Mexican, Jewish, German, French, etc.

SPORTS ARE NECESSARY!

Sports are necessary in our life, because physical exercises keep us healthily.

It’s important to have regular practice if you want to be healthy.

Some sports have different technical skills and it’s necessary to practice many times until you are in a good shape.

 We can play some sports as basketball, volleyball

or soccer in teams.

 Tennis, gym, running, swimming are individual sports.

Competition is very import, but not essential.

I used to play soccer and go to Judo when I was

young, but nowadays, I prefer aerobic sports as 

jogging and running.

By the way, notes my advice: “practice sports. t’s good for your body and soul”.

SEEN AROUND!

VIVA!

THIS BLOG HAS BEEN SEEN AROUND THE WORLD IN 2011!

Brasil 1.245 Estados Unidos 170 Reino Unido 32 Alemanha 13 Croácia 5 Canadá 4 Letônia 4 Portugal 4 Austrália 3 República Dominicana 3

Thanks everyone!

DIGITAL DIVIDE!

There is a theory that the society has been divided itself between 2 groups:  “have” and “have nots” - and there is a kind of segregation them.  

 In fact, what really happens is: Economic enequalities cause this not accessibility for some products, services and knowlegments.

After the computers have been spread quickly is a cause of they are became cheaper to buy and easier to use. If the population gets a facility and opportunity to access it they really use it. The prices having been falling and this digital divide have been breaking down.                                           Now we are living a great moment: 

-How to introduce in an effective way computers into the public schools?

-Are the students and teachers prepared for it?

-How computing could turn it more friendly and effective?

-How training and coaching our teachers be implemented for this new technology in a day-by-day scholar program?

A Latin America foundation prepared a researched and found that there is 1 computer for each 25 students at the public chain schools. 

Some countries as Argentine, Chile and Uruguay are more updating.                       There is 1 computer for each 9 students.

Good number instead with Brazil, Colombia and Venezuela; 1 computer for each 19 students.

This numbers show up the challenger that the authorities must face up next years.

Prospects studies proved that implantation computing in schools produces gains in test scores. But more than it, each computer could provide a large number of info’s and attract students to effort interest in study again.

Computing skills produces a better development in student’s minds in all levels degrees. It´s necessary to introduce it since the primary school.

The digital divide suggested a simple solution for a poverty helping into society.

How most the students – poor classes at least – getting the contact with this new technology – they will could scape from poverty; giving them other opportunities and a new vision of the world.

This gap between high and low classes can be disappear when the society could integrate whole the knowledge information that having been connecting by internet and many educational software to teach and discute into a class room. Mainly at the public classes room. 

The history of piercing

Body piercing has been practiced since five thousand years. It had begun with the first tribes and clans.  There are many stones, inside caves pictures in Africa, Asia, Egypt pyramids, India temples and it had been used to design Roman officials.

It has, in the beginning, as it is now, been used as a personal expression, a religious ritual or more often recently like a trend in fashion body.

During the great navigation discoveries, pirates were another group that used body piercing to show up their extravagant and bizarre looks alike.

After those times and during about one century body piercing had been seen not more used and it was almost completely forgotten.

By 1990´s, piercing returned had finally reached attention of entire global looking, linking from ancients with modern.

The parts of body most common placed piercing parts are the ear lobes, noose, lips, tongue, the nipples, belly-hole and eye-lashes.

It´s very interesting notice that body piercing has been showed up the changing’s into society´s behaviors. 

You´d like to put one piercing? Check it out on youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6o7KzDeQ42g

Exercise:

Find out and re-write 3 present perfect and 3 past perfect moments:

Present perfect:

_________________________________________________________

Past Perfect:

__________________________________________________________