Tangled: magic hair and adventure

Source: www.maganews.com.br

Movies

Tangled: magic hair and adventure

This entertaining animated film tells the story of Rapunzel, a teenager with very long, magic hair, who lives alone in a tower

       

    Tangled [1] was the most-watched film in Brazil in the first three weeks of January. Produced by Disney, the film is inspired by the fairytale [2] 

“Rapunzel,” written in the 19th century by the Brothers Grimm.  In the original story, Rapunzel is separated from her parents as a baby and raised [3] by a witch [4] called Mother Gothel.  She is trapped [5] in a high tower for several years, unable [6]  to cut her hair, until she isrescued [7] by a prince. In the version created by Disney, Rapunzel is a beautiful teenage girl with magical, 21-meter-long, golden hair. 

There is no prince charming [8], but there is a bumbling thief[9], called Flynn Ryder. After another robbery [10], he flees [11] in search of a safe place to hide. But he chose the wrong place: the tower where Rapunzel is being kept. At first Rapunzel is suspicious [12] of the strange visitor, but after a while she sympathizes with him. She realizes [13] that the good looking [14] thief may help get her out of the tower to learn about a world that she has never known. Together they will experience great adventures and fun along with two other charming characters: a chameleon [15] and a white horse.

Matéria publicada na edição de fevereiro (número 59) da Revista Maganews.

Áudio – David Hatton

Vocabulary

 1 tangled – enrolado (to tangle = enrolar)

2 fairytale – conto de fadas

3 raised – criada

4 witch – bruxa

5 trapped – aqui = confinada

6 unable – aqui = sem poder

7 to rescue – resgatar / salvar

8 prince charming – príncipe encantado

9 bumbling thief – ladrão atrapalhado

10 robbery – roubo / furto

11 to flee – fugir

12 suspicious – suspeita / desconfia

13 to realize – perceber

14 good looking – bonito

15 chameleon – camaleão

Dark Chocolate

Researchers found that six weeks of daily consumption of a dark chocolate cocoa mix significantly improved the blood vessel health of those who participated in the study.

The study is the latest in a growing number that link reduced heart disease risk to flavonoids in dark chocolate and other food and beverages, such as red wine, green tea and dark colored fruits and vegetables.

“There are hundreds if not thousands of flavonoids in every plant substance we eat”, said James Stein, director of preventive cardiology at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health.

“This is a very hot are. This study confirms what other investigators have found”.

Flavonoids have been found to relax blood vessels and thereby improve blood flow, inhibit platelets from sticking together in the blood, and have beneficial antioxidant effect. What still is not known in whether regularly eating dark chocolate, especially with its sugar and fat content, eventually will lead to an unhealthy weight gain that would erase the beneficial effects of the flavonoids found in the cocoa.

Cocoa is one of the most concentrated sources of the flavonoids catechin and epicatechin.

Consuming foods such as dark chocolate and red wine can be a double-edged sword, Stein said.

They shouldn’t be considered healthy foods, he said. “They are treats and shouldn’t be staples in the diet.”

“If they are used to replace a high-calories food with little or no nutrition, such as soda, then they may be beneficial,” he said.

The study involved 39 people with an average age of 52 who, on average, were mildly obese.

There were three six week sessions, and each person consumed a separate preparation in each session: a Hershey dark chocolate cocoa mix with sugar (230 calories); a Hershey mix that was artificially sweetened (45 calories).

Doctors used ultrasound to measure blood flow in an artery in the arm, a test that corresponds well to heart disease risk.

The artificially sweetened cocoa mix was associated with about a 37 percent improvement in blood flow. The sugared cocoa was associated with a 23 percent improvement, suggesting that sugar actually interferes with the beneficial actions of flavonoids. The placebo mix resulted in a 12 percent reduction in blood flow.

This tells you that it (cocoa) is cardio-protective said lead author Valentine Njike, a physician and researcher at Yale University School of Medicine.

He noted that the biggest effect was found with the cocoa that did not have sugar. And he said that other research indicates that milk chocolate does not have a beneficial effect.

Rosenson also said that the beneficial blood flow effect of cocoa usually diminishes with six hours, meaning that it might have to be consumed several times a day to obtain a continuous improvement.

For that reason and due to concern about calories, the ultimate answer may come in the form of a so-called biopharmaceutical, a pill that contains concentrated amounts of the desired flavonoids and no fat or sugar, he said,AE.

Curiosities about chocolate:

Chocolate drops blood pressure

A square of dark chocolate a day reduces blood pressure in healthy people ages 56 to 63 have borderline hypertension.

How much benefit?

Average drop of 2.9 in systolic and 1,9 in diastolic blood pressure.

Why does it happen?

Cocoa contains polyphenois. which make blood vessels relax.

High-calorie?

One square (6,3g) of chocolate contains only 30 calories.

Vocabulary:

Flavonoid (s): Any of a large group of water-soluble plant pigments, including the anthocyanins, which are beneficial to health (qualquer membro do grande grupo de pigmentos de plantas solúveis em água, como as antocianina que fazem bem a saúde).

Hot area: New and exciting area or issue, of intense and immediate interest (area ou tema novo e empolgante que provoca interesse imediato e intenso).

Platelet (s): A tiny colorless disk-shaped particle found in large quantities in the blood and playing an important part in the clotting process (minuscule particular incolor em formato de disco encontrada em grandes quantidades no sangue e que desempenha um papel importante no processo de coagulação).

Double-edged sword: Something that has or can have both favorable and unfavorable consequence (algo que tem ou pode ter consequências favoráveis e desfavoráveis).

Treat (s): An especially unexpected source of joy, delight, or amusement (fonte inesperada de alegria, prazer ou diversão).

Staple (s): Basic food (alimento básico).

Whey: The watery liquid that separetes from the solid part of milk when it turns sour or when enzymes are added in cheese making (liquido aquoso que se separa da parte sólida do leite quando este azeda ou quando enzimas são adicionadas para a produção do queijo).

The lead author: The most important or main author: O autor é o mais importante ou o principal

Diminishe (s): decrease in size, extent, or range (diminue em tamanho, extensão ou alcance).

What's their real name?

So sorry dear readers, I made mistake, this text is available on audio, that's why I'm re-posting it. Liked it, please RT and promote it for friends.

Source: www.speakup.com.br

Language level: Intermediate

Standard: British accent

DYLAN MADONNA YUSUF ISLAM EMINEM SHAKIRA SADE TINA TURNER DEAN MARTIN What’s Their Real Name?

 Madonna

EMINEM

Why do stars and celebrities have such weird names? How do they choose stage names of pseudonyms? Are they conscious attempts to sound different?

SIMPLICITY AND STYLE

Some unusual names are in fact real. Madonna Ciccone decided that her first name alone made her instantly identifiable. So did Bjork Gudmundsdottir, Prince Nelson, Anastacia Newkirk and Shakira Ripoll. Cherilyn Sarkisian simplified hers to Cher. Stephen Patrick Morrissey decided his surname was enough to make him famous.

What if someone else already has your name? David Jones changed his name to David Bowie for two reasons: the first was that he liked the famous Bowie knife; the second was that the Monkees singer was called Davy Jones. The Smiths’ guitarist Johnny Marr changed his spelling to avoid confusion with The Buzzocks’ drummer, John Maher.

Reginald Kenneth Dwight sounds boring and old-fashioned, so Elton John created his glamorous moniker from blues musicians, Elton Dean and Long John Baldry.

Thomas Jones woodward’s manager simply renamed him Tom Jones emphasizing his Welsh background and recalling the sex main character in the 1963 Oscar-winning film of the same name.

Others make their names less exotic. Dino Crocetti tried being Dino Martini but later settled on the more American-sounding Dean Martin. Robert Zimmerman invoked Wild West character, Matt Dillon, and Welsh poet, Dylan Thomas, by renaming himself Bob Dylan.

Farrokh Bulsara, renamed Freddie by English schoolfriends, chose Mercury (the planet and metal) to represent his shimmering rock star image. Steve Demetre Georgiou hid Greek origins with the name Cat Stevens; now he prefers Yusuf Islam. John Deutschendorf doesn’t sound like a country singer: John Denver does. Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou is difficult to remember, but George Michael sounds like a star.

NICKNAMES & HANDLES

Some mistakes simply “stick.” Did Gordon Summer choose the name Sting because of his spiky politics? No, his old jazz band leader re-christened him because of his black and yellow stripe sweater.

Paul Hewson was nicknamed Bono Vox (good voice) after a Dublin hearing-aid shop, as his voice seemed so loud, even deaf people would hear it. Bono in turn re-baptized Dave Evans, U2’s guitarist, The Edge because of his sharp features and outsiders viewpoint.

Rap artists use nicknames or “handles” to describe their opportunity. O’Shea Jackson is cool as an Ice Cube.  Marshall Mathers pronounced his real initials like M&Ms (the chocolates), to invent the name Eminem; he is a.k.a (as known as) Slim Shady, slang for a whit person who acts as though he is black. Some names invoke feelings or attitudes. Declan MacManus joined the king of rock’n’ roll’s first name with his mother’s Irish surname, to make Elvis Costello.  Richard Starkey wore rings and liked the Ringo Kid in John Wayne’s western, Stagecoach, so he became Ringo Starr.

ATTITUDE PROBLEM

Rock stars love alternative names, Vincent Damon Furrier may be the reincarnation of a 17^th century witch named Alice Cooper; or did he adopt this girlish name to clash with his controversial gothic style? James Osterberg, formerly of The Iguanas, borrowed his surname form his friend, Popp, who lost his eyebrows, after chemotherapy: perhaps this inspired Iggy Pop’s lam rock look.   Guns’n’Roses singer William Rose changed his name to Axl Rose, an unusual name, but not shocking – until you realize it’s an anagram of Oral Sex. Sex Pistol John Lydon earned the name Johnny Rotten from his bad teeth and bad attitude. When Rotten’s hamster bit John Simon Ritchie, he earned the ironic name, Sid Vicious. Although the drug-addicted bass player was later arrested for his girlfriend’s murder, Rotten Claimed that Sid “couldn’t punch his way out of a paper bag.”

Punks also change their names for more practical reasons. Joe Strummer of The Clash and Rat Scabies of The Damned couldn’t use their real names (John Gordon Mellor and Christopher Miller), in case they lost their unemployment benefit.

More Pseudonymous Pop Stars (no audio)

Rick Martin             Enrique Martins Morales

Tina Turner             Annie Mae Bullock

Dido                       Dido Florian Cloud de Bounevialle Armstrong

Sade                      Helen Folasade Adu

Pink (or Plnk)          Alecia Moore

Syd Barrett             Roger Barrett

Michael Bolton         Michael Bolotin

Fatboy Slim            Quetin Cook (a.k.a Norman Cook)

Moby                     Richard Melville Hall

Shoggy                  Orville Richard Burrell

Snoop Dogg            Cordazer Calvin Broadus

LL Cool J                James Todd Smith

Grandmaster Flash   Joseph Saddler

Vanilla Ice              Robert Van Winkie

Pluff Daddy             Sean John Combs

Marilyn Manson               Brian Warner

Shania Twain          Elleen Regina Edwards

Dusty Springfield             Mary O’Brien

Joni Mitchell            Roberta Joan Anderson

Lou reed                Louis Firbank 

A Brief History of Carnival

I recommend a Brazilian magazine for teachers and students you will find out interesting contents available on audio, excellent to improve and develop texts in the classroom for more information keep in touch there http://www.maganews.com.br

Source: Maganews

Popular Culture

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A brief history of Carnival

This party was around in Brazil's colonial times, but it only became a really popular event at the beginning of the 20th Century

   

According to some historians, Brazil’s carnival celebrations were around in colonial times. In the 17th Century the Portuguese brought “entrudo” to Brazil, which was a very different “carnival” from today’s, as it had no music and the party was nothing more than fun between people. From the 1840s the first masked balls appeared in Brazil. However, the great popularization of carnival only began at the beginning of the 20^th Century, when this party became more attractive, with marchinhas (a kind of carnival music), samba, samba ‘schools,’ and various other ingredients. In the 1930s carnival was in its golden age, thanks to the development of radio and, mainly, thanks to the fantastic work done by composers such as Ary Barroso, Lamartine Babo, Braguinha and Noel Rosa.

The 1930s: The Golden Age of Brazilian Carnival

The carnival marchinhas began to appear in the 1920s, but it was from the 1930s that the most beautiful marchinhas in Brazilian carnivals were created. Those marchinhas were such creative songs, so happy and fun that they were contagious for Brazilians and transformed the 1930s into The Golden Age of Brazilian Carnival. At that time, radio began to take off in the country and it was fundamental in spreading the beautiful carnival music to the main Brazilian cities. Some of the biggest hits of all time in Brazilian carnival were from that time. Marchinhas such as Mamãe eu Quero, Me dá Um Dinheiro Aí and Cidade Maravilhosa are popular even today. 

   Lamartine Babo and Braguinha are considered to be Brazil’s greatest composers of marchinhas. They were friends and even made music together, such as Cantores do Rádio. But besides the marchinhas they also created music of the most diverse styles. Braguinha, also known as João de Barro,  was born in Rio in March 1907. He has composed more than 400 songs – many of them becoming classics, such as Balancê, Pastorinhas and Carinhoso (in partnership with Pixinguinha).  In the 1940s, Braguinha was given a gold watch – a present from an illustrious fan called Walt Disney.

   The composer, singer and radio broadcaster Lamartine Babo was born in Rio de Janeiro at the beginning of the 20th Century. If he were still alive, he would have turned 100 years old on January 10th this year. He is considered to be the king of marchinhas and also the king of the carioca soccer fans.  This is because Lamartine is the writer of the club anthems for Botafogo, Flamengo, Fluminense and Vasco, besides also having composed the anthem for his favorite club, América. Co-writer of classics such as O Teu Cabelo Não Nega and No Rancho Fundo, Lamartine composed more than 350 songs of the most diverse musical styles.

Marchinhas in São Luiz do Paraitinga

São Luiz do Paraitinga, a small city of 10,000 people located in Vale do Paraíba, has one of the liveliest carnivals in the interior of São Paulo. Since the middle of the 1980s there have been competitions for carnival marchinhas there. The best songs are recorded on CD, played on the radio and are the soundtrack for the city’s carnivals.

Maganews Melhores Momentos – Matéria publicada na edição de n⁰ 19 da

Revista Maganews 

Foto - Xinica Medeiros

Ilustração: Calberto

Vocabulary

1 brief – breve

2 to be (was/were) around – estar no ar (no texto = já existia)

3 masked - mascarado

4 ball – baile

5 to take off – decolar / se espalhar

6 to spread - espalhar

7 lively – animado

8 soundtrack – trilha sonora

9  radio broadcaster – locutor de rádio

10 alive – vivo

11 soccer fan – torcedor de futebol

12 anthem - hino

13 co-writer – co-autor

A Big meteor crashed on February 13th Valentine's day

Source: http://www.newser.com

A meteor big enough to have ruined a lot of people's Valentine's Day streaked over the East Coast earlier this week, creating a rare daytime fireball. Large numbers of people from Connecticut to Philadelphia reported seeing the meteor, which by some accounts was as bright as the sun. Most meteorites are the size of a grain of sand, but experts believe this one was up to 5 feet across. "My crude estimate of the energy of this fireball is about 100 tons of TNT, which means it was capable of producing a crater 125 feet in diameter and about 15 feet deep," a NASA scientist tells MSNBC. Judging from the direction it was headed—and the fact that no colossal meteor smashes were reported on the East Coast—experts believe the meteor crashed into the Atlantic Ocean. (Luckily, we just missed being hit by an asteroid, too: Click for that story.)

After read this article a day before yesterday nearby my town Carnaúba dos Dantas (Brazil) local people include me, we hear a strong noise and also a blue light crossed over sky, and we supposed to be a meteor, and after this article we have sure it is. It was really a strange phenomena. 

 

Pro-jovem, part 20, Inglês vip

You should visit this website there you'll find out a lot of texts and English course, as well as podcasts.

Source: www.ingvip.com

Lucas: Hello guys! I would like to show you my new DVD
Pedro: Wow Lucas! This is great! How can you buy a DVD?
Lucas: Every month, I save(1) half of my earnings(2), and I'm paying in five installments(3)
Pedro: Good
Lucas: Let's sit on the sofa(4) here and watch the movie
Julia: Wait(5), let me get the drinks first(6). I can make some hot chocolate. Can I use your oven(7) Lucas?
Lucas: Yes, you can. The cups(8) are in the cupboard(9)
Pedro: I can prepare a pizza. Can I use your stove(10) Lucas?
Lucas: Yes, you can Pedro. Mariana, can you help me with the DVD? I don't know how to use it
Mariana: OK, where is the manual?
Lucas: It's under(11) that box
Mariana: Let's see. Connect this cable(12) on the TV and press this button(13). And it's working(14). Now, where is the movie we are watching?
Lucas: The movie? The movie is with you
Mariana: No, not with me! Julia, where is the movie?
Julia: The movie..the movie..oh! It's under my purse(15)
Pedro: Here!
 

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Pedro: Mariana, I'm learning how to cook.at my job, and if you want, tomorrow I can make you spaghetti with cheese
Mariana: Really? That's very nice Pedro.
Pedro: OK, than I pick you up at work(16)
Mariana: OK, fine
Pedro: Where is your work?
Mariana: It's next to the gas station(17), in front of the bank. I can call you tomorrow to give(18) you the right address, right?
Pedro: OK
Julia: Mariana, we must(19) go. It's late.
Lucas: Bye girls
 

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                                      Vocabulary

 1. Save = Economizar
 2. Earnings = Ganhos, rendimentos
 3. I'm paying in five installments = Estou pagando em cinco prestações
 4. Sit on the sofa = Sentar no sofá
 5. Wait = espere
  6. Let me get the drinks first = Deixe-me pegar as bebidas primeiro
  7. Can I use your oven? = Posso usar seu forno?
  8. Cups = Xícaras
  9. Cupboard = armário de cozinha
  10. Stove = fogão
  11. Under = sob
  12. Cable = cabo
  13. Press this button = Pressione este botão
   14. It's working = Está funcionando 
   15. Purse = bolsa
   16. I pick you up at work = Eu te apanho no trabalho
  17. Gas station = Posto de gasolina
  18. Give = dar
  19. Must = Dever (obrigação)
 

Movies Under the Stars

Movies Under the Stars

Source: www.speakup.com.br

Standard: American accent

Language Level: Advanced

It’s dark and everyone’s eyes are glued to the action on the big screen. A gentle wind blows across the open field. There is a smell of popcorn and pizza in the air. Around 400 cars are parked in a large open-air auditorium. Families, couples and groups of friends are gathered together under the night sky: this is the classic American drive-in movie experience.

Terry Peters is general manager of the Motor Vu Drive In, in Dallas, Oregon. She says that, despite the growth of hi-tech home entertainment, drive-in movies are still a special experience for many people, whatever the weather:

Terry Peters:

(Standard American accent)

We have die-hard drive-in folks, they love coming to the drive-in. and I don’t know if it’s the excitement of being in their cars, having the freedom to sit in their cars and…look at a first-run movie, or just the...the idea of a drive in theater; you know, you’re outside, you’re got the air, you’ve got the stars, you’ve got, you know…I, you know, and they really don’t know they can’t even give you an answer on why is it, why are you such a drive-in buff, you know?  They just love it, there’s no reason. I have people that come and it’s raining, at the end of our season –and they know it’s going to rain! It’s being predicted for rain and I’ll still have 20,30 cars out here with their windshield wipers going and everything!

The motor Vu Drive In opened back in 1953, during the heyday on drive-in movies. It has operated continuously ever since – and has expanded from 250 to 430 car spaces. It regularly sells out for big movies at weekends and its massive 15-meter-by-30meter screen is the biggest in the state.

Some movie-goers prefer to sit outside, rather than inside their vehicles. At the drive-in theater in Milton-Freewater, in eastern Oregon, it is possible to bring chairs, sleeping bags, even your own sofa!

FILLING UP ON FAST FOOD

Because drive-in theaters only charge for individual vehicle, they offer great value for families and groups of movie-goers. Terry Peters remembers one van arriving at the Motor Vu Drive In with 15 people packed inside! Indeed, with tickets costing relatively little, most theaters make their money from selling fast food to the audience.

The audio systems used at drive-in movie theaters have improved dramatically over the years. And yet there are now only around 400 drive-ins left in the USA. Rising real estate prices have seen many of the theaters, which are normally open for only six months of the year, being sold for development. For anyone who grew up in the 1950s and 1960s, this is a tragedy. This is because drive-in movies are much more than simply taking a drive to watch a movie on the big screen, says Chris Chester, a travel coordinator with Travel Oregon:

Chris Chester

(Standard American accent)

I love drive-in movies. When I was growing up that’s the way of life: you’d go to the drive-in movie in the evening and it was your social life, you met your friend, you know, you dated, that’s…that’s where you went, was the drive-in movies – they just became you whole way of life. And they’re kind of a dying breed. Drive-ins are not as popular as they once were. So there’s fewer and fewer in the United States.

(No audio available)

The Motor Vu Drive In, Dallas Oregon is open from May to November and costs $ per vehicle: 315 SE Fir Villa Road, Dallas, off Interstate 5/Route 22, 25 km west of Salem. For further information about US drive-in movies visit www.driveinmovie.com