Brasileira foi a única morta no acidente dos Estados Unidos

Source: http://www.bbc.com/portuguese/internacional-37511368

Vocabulary:

1. apurou
2. serviço ferroviário
3. bombeiro
4. interrogado
5. locomotiva 
6. descarrilhamento

Text:
Brasileira morre em acidente que deixou mais de 100 feridos nos EUA
Uma brasileira morreu e pelo menos 100 pessoas ficaram feridas após um trem de passageiros descarrilhar e bater em uma estação em Nova Jersey, nos Estados Unidos, na manhã desta quinta-feira.
A Brazilian woman died in an accident which let more than 100 injured people in the USA.
A Brazilian woman died and at least 100 people were injured after a train of passangers derailed and hit in a station in New Jersay, in the USA, in the morning of this Thursday.

Segundo o Jornal Nacional, Fabíola Bittar de Kroon, de 34 anos, teria sido a única vítima fatal do acidente. O Itamaraty ainda não conformou a informação, mas a BBC Brasil apurou com fontes próximas ao caso que se trata mesmo da advogada, que é de Santos e morava há um ano nos Estados Unidos com o marido holandês.
According to the National Journal, Fabiola, 34 years, would have been the unic fatal victim of the accident. The Itamarty did not confirmed the information, but BBC Brazil found with near sources to the case which is about of the prosecutor, who is from Santos and used to live in one year in the United States with the Dutch husband.

O acidente aconteceu na manhã desta quinta-feira, por volta das 8h30, no terminal de Hoboken. Ainda não há detalhes sobre as causas.
O trem teria invadido a área de recepção e controle de passagens do terminal.
Hoboken fica a onze quilômetros de Nova York e muitos usam a estação para viajar a Manhattan.
Ben Fairclough, uma testemunha que estava no terminal, disse à BBC que o trem pareceu ter saído completamente dos trilhos.
The accident happened in the morning of this Thursday, nearly 8h30, in the terminal of Hoboken. There are not still details about the causes. The train would invade the reception area and control of passengers of terminal. Hoboken is eleven kilometers of New York and many people use the station to travel to Manhattan. Ben, a witness who was in the terminal, said to BBC that the train seemed to leave completely of trails.

"Eu não estava no trem, mas cheguei logo depois que aconteceu. Havia água caindo do teto e pessoas saindo pelas janelas", contou.
"Havia pessoas sentadas com as cabeças sangrando. Tinha muitos feridos."
O serviço ferroviário regional foi suspenso. E uma enorme operação de serviços de emergência teve início após o acidente, com bombeiros e funcionários do transporte ajudando pessoas a sair dos vagões danificados.
I was not in the train, but arrived afterward this happened. There was water falling from the ceiling and people leaving from the windows, said.
There were people sitting with the heads blooding. There were a lot of wounded people.
The regional train service was suspended. And an enormeous operation of emergency services had beginning after the accident, with firefighters and workers of transport helping people to leave from damaged cars.

Falando à CNN, o governador de Nova Jersey, Chris Christie confirmou uma morte e disse: "A única coisa que sabemos é que o trem estava em uma velocidade alta".
Ele afirmou ainda que o engenheiro que dirigia o trem está recebendo tratamento no hospital e será interrogado.
Talking to CNN, the governor of New Jersey, Chris confirmed one death and said: "The only thing we know is that the train was in a high velocity". He affirmed the engineer who was driving the train was receiving special treatment in the hospital and will be questioned.

Segurança de trens
Em 2008, o Congresso americano aprovou uma lei exigindo que todos os trens do país instalassem os sistemas de segurança Positive Train Control (PTC) até o fim de 2015.
O sistema foi desenvolvido para tomar o controle do engenheiro que opera o trem se a locomotiva estiver indo rápido demais. Na prática, é uma medida protetora contra falhas humanas, que poderiam causar descarrilamentos ou colisões.
Security in the trains
In 2008, the American congress approved a law demanding every trains in the country have to install the systems of security Positive Train Control (PTC) until the end of 2015.
The system was developed to take control of engineer who operates the train if the locomotive be too fast. In the practice, is a protective measure against human fails, which could cause derailments or collisions.

O sistema usa wi-fi, GPS e um sistema específico de código para enviar informações em tempo real dos trens para os centros de controle.
Mas a maior parte das empresas de transporte nos EUA não conseguiu instalar os sistemas - que são caros e complexos - até o prazo determinado. Algumas delas, incluindo a de Nova Jersey, ameaçaram fechar caso a lei fosse aplicada. Em resposta, o Congresso estendeu o deadline para instalar os sistemas PTC até 2018.
The system uses wi-fi, GPS and a specified system of coding to send information in real time of trains to the control centers.
But most parts of companies of transport in the USA did not install the systems - which are expensive and complex - until the determined deadline. Some of them, including the New Jersey, threatened to close if the law was applied. In response, the Congress extended the deadline to install the systems PTC until 2018.

De acordo com o relatório mais recente da New Jersey Transit sobre o progresso das instalações, nenhum dos 440 trens que circulam na região estão equipados com o novo sistema de segurança.
According to the most recent report from New Jersey about the progress of installations, none of the 440 trains which circulate in the region are equiped with the new system of security.

Milhares de pessoas não irão se tornar cidadãos à tempo

Source: Thousands Eager to Vote Won’t Become Citizens in Time

Vocabulary:

1. hefty fees
2. oath of citizenship
3. has been fiercely debated
4. naturalizations swelled
5. registration deadline
6. an acute case
7. could be pivotal
8. The naturalization backlogs
9. stirred by a combination
10. said they shifted employees
11. immigrants are fuming
12. It really is outrageous

They stayed up late studying for civics tests. They went to classes, paid hefty(=pesadas) fees and underwent background checks.

During the last year, nearly a million legal immigrants applied to become American citizens, many of them hoping to take the oath(=juramento) of citizenship in time to cast their first ballots on Nov. 8 in a presidential race where immigration has been fiercely(=ferozmente) debated.

But as the number of aspiring citizens grew this year, the backlog at the federal agency that approves naturalizations swelled(=inchou). With the agency now reporting that it takes up to seven months to complete the process, Obama administration officials are reluctantly admitting that many — perhaps most — of the immigrants in the backlog will not become citizens in time to vote.

“I’ve been checking my mail every day, but I haven’t heard anything,” said Francisca Fiero, 73, a Mexican immigrant in Las Vegas. “I’m starting to get very worried.”

Ms. Fiero, who has had a green card for a decade, applied in January and gave her fingerprints in June. Since then, nothing. The voter registration deadline(=data limite) in Nevada is Oct. 18.

In the last year almost 940,000 legal immigrants applied to become citizens, a 23 percent surge over the previous year. As of June 30, more than 520,000 applications were waiting to be examined, a pileup that increased steadily since last year.

Immigration officials “anticipated that there would be a spike in applications this year, but the increase has exceeded expectations,” said Jeffrey T. Carter, a spokesman for the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, the agency in charge of naturalizations.

The official figures revealing the backlog, published in late September, came as a shock to immigrant groups that put on a nationwide push early this year to help eligible immigrants to naturalize. Some of the biggest increases in applications came in battleground states where they had focused their efforts, including a 30 percent increase over a year earlier in Colorado, a 40 percent increase in Florida and a 53 percent increase in Nevada.

“The agency has developed an acute (=agudo) case of the slows, and it could not be a more critical moment,” said Tara Raghuveer, deputy director of the National Partnership for New Americans, a coalition of 37 groups that held citizenship workshops around the country. The groups scrambled to file applications before May 1, she said, after the immigration agency originally advised them that the process would take four to six months.

This year for the first time the naturalization drive also had high-profile backing from the White House, which sponsored ad campaigns, gave $10 million to community groups and made fixes to make it easier to apply. But officials said the White House was not monitoring the results to confirm that the immigration agency was completing naturalizations in a timely way.

In the presidential race between Hillary Clinton and Donald J. Trump, the immigrant vote could be pivotal(=essencial), especially in states with large numbers of Latino immigrants.

The naturalization backlogs(=acumulo) are bad news for Mrs. Clinton because polls in those states show Latinos favoring her over Mr. Trump by gaping margins. In Florida, for example, more than 66,000 potential new voters stuck in the backlog could be enough to affect the outcome of a race that polls show is a virtual tie.

Citizenship applications generally surge during presidential election cycles. In 2007 and 2008, more than 1.4 million immigrants became citizens, stirred(=agitados) by a combination of an impending fee increase and the historic candidacy of Barack Obama.

This year, immigrant groups set a goal of one million naturalizations, and the application numbers were on track to reach it. In May, the Obama administration announced another fee increase for later this year, which could have moved some latecomers to apply. Then the backlogs emerged.

Many immigrants decided to become citizens because they just wanted to vote, without being drawn to a particular candidate.

“I want to put in my voice to be heard just like everybody else,” said Geraldine Rolle, a 65-year-old immigrant from the Bahamas, who has been a legal resident since 1991 and now lives in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. She worked for years as a housekeeping supervisor in Miami hotels.

She applied in February. After having her photograph taken in April, she heard nothing more. “They keep telling me you have to be a citizen to vote, and now it doesn’t look like I’m going to get that before the elections,” Ms. Rolle said sadly.

Ms. Fiero, in Las Vegas, has had a rocky time. She came to the United States as a legal resident and has always kept her green card up to date. A cafeteria worker in an elementary school, she applied to naturalize in January. But the agency rejected her application as incomplete.

When many similar rejections were reported in Nevada, the Culinary Workers Union, which helped Ms. Fiero and many others to apply, appealed to Senator Harry Reid. Immigration officials acknowledged to Mr. Reid that the applications had been denied by mistake. Ms. Fiero was allowed to apply again a month later.

Like many Latino immigrants, Ms. Fiero said she was eager to vote because she does not like Mr. Trump and is a fan of Mrs. Clinton’s. “She seems like the right person to help poor families get better houses,” Ms. Fiero said.

Officials at the citizenship agency said they shifted(=deslocou) employees to offices where the workload had mounted and authorized overtime for many offices. But Mr. Carter, the spokesman, said that nationwide the agency was “still within our normal processing times.”

Internal emails from the immigration agency’s Houston office, which were recently leaked by Republican leaders in the Senate, show it was working to pick up the pace. A message on July 21 exhorted employees to finish as many naturalizations as possible before Oct. 1 “due to the election year needs.” The Houston office opened on two Saturdays that month to try to address the backlog.

But in New York, citizenship groups have heard from anxious immigrants who have waited as long as a year with no end in sight. In Nashville, city officials had to cancel a swearing-in ceremony planned to take place this weekend during a festival. The judge scheduled to conduct it reported no immigrants were ready. Immigration officials said other demands on agency employees’ time got in the way.

The agency is also facing pressure to slow down. In a letter last week, Senators Charles E. Grassley of Iowa and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, both Republicans, cited a recent case in which more than 800 immigrants who had been ordered deported were granted citizenship because of gaps in the agency’s vetting.

Rather than speeding up, the agency “should instead be putting on the brakes,” the senators wrote.

But at the Culinary Workers Union in Las Vegas, immigrants are fuming(=fumegante). “It really is outrageous(=fulmegante) that people can do everything right and still be denied an important right as a citizen,” Yvanna Cancela, a union official, said.

Colombia reintegration

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/01/world/americas/colombias-52-year-war-is-ending-now-comes-the-hard-part.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=photo-spot-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0

Vocabulary:

1. southern plains
2. commanders trudged in from across
3. government stepped up its attacks
4. rebels forged a lifestyle

Text: Colombia’s 52-Year War Is Ending. Now Comes the Hard Part.

It was a five-decade war — and it ended with a party on Colombia’s southern plains (=planícies).

In late September, Colombia’s main rebel group — the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or the FARC — gathered for a last time before a peace agreement ending its 52-year insurgency. Rebel fighters and commanders trudged(=marchou) in from across Colombia for the event, a prelude to laying down arms and joining Colombian society.

The war exacted a heavy toll. At least 220,000 people were killed and five million were displaced.

As rebel groups around Latin America were defeated or entered politics, the rebels continued to persist in the jungle, financed by the cocaine trade. As the 21st century began, the rebels had created a 1960s Communist time capsule of sorts where rebels were taught Marxism under the banner of Che Guevara.

The turning point came in the early 2000s, when the government stepped up (=intensificou) its attacks against rebels. Many of the rebel leaders were apprehended and rank-and-file soldiers defected, weakening the group.

After four years of peace negotiations in Havana, the rebels and the government announced in August that they had a deal.

With the war over, the rebel fighters must now decide how to reintegrate into Colombian society. Some are preparing to run for office. Others simply are planning to head home to towns and villages that some of them have not visited for years, where they will seek a start as farmers or tradespeople.


The treaty marks the end of the road for the rebels, many of whom have been in the jungles so long that a life outside of hammocks and tents is almost unimaginable. Beyond creating an insurgency, the rebels forged(=forjou) a lifestyle in the mountains replete with mobile kitchens and movable campsites.

The reintegration of the rebels into Colombian society is perhaps the most urgent task for its leaders. Many experts warn that if the government does not find opportunities for the former guerrilla fighters, they will become easy recruits for paramilitary groups eager to fight for a piece of the drug trade.

It also remains unclear how popular their leadership — pictured here at the conference’s closing ceremony — will be in Colombian politics. While the group is guaranteed at least 10 seats in Congress starting in 2018, it is reviled by many Colombians who remember the bloodiest days of the war.

The gathering offered the rebels a taste of what life outside the jungle would be like. Not only will the rebels be wearing civilian clothes when they disarm, but they will also have the chance to marry. The FARC forbade marriage for its fighters, saying they were wed only to the revolution.

Now, the ball is in the court of the Colombian people. On Sunday, the country will hold a referendum to ratify the agreement. Many prominent voices have mounted opposition to the measure, including Colombia’s last president, Álvaro Uribe. However, polls show the referendum passing by a wide margin.

If that happens, Colombians will enter an era that many have wanted. And for the first time in decades, the Americas will be free of war.

Novos partidos que disputam as eleições municipais

Source: http://www.bbc.com/portuguese/brasil-37502688

New vocabulary:

1. eleitor
2. vereador
3. solidariedade
4. prazo
5. ligeiramente 
6. derrubou
7. tribunal 

Quais são e o que pensam os novos partidos que disputam as eleições municipais pela 1ª vez
What are and what think the news parties which dispute the municipal elections for the first time.

Há 16 anos o eleitor brasileiro não tinha tantos novos partidos para votar em uma eleição municipal quanto neste próximo domingo.
Seis disputarão pela primeira vez os cargos de vereador e prefeito: Partido Ecológico Nacional (PEN), Partido da Mulher Brasileira (PMB), Partido Novo, Partido Republicano da Ordem Nacional (PROS), Rede Sustentabilidade e Solidariedade.
In 16 years the Brazilian voter did not so much new parties to vote in a municipal election as on the next Sunday.
Six parties will dispute for the first time the positions of counselor and mayor: National ecological party, party of Brazilian woman, new party, republican party of national order, network of sustainability and solidarity.


É o mesmo número da eleição de 2000, só superado em 1992, quando houve sete novas legendas. Hoje, o Brasil tem 35 partidos políticos registrados.
Quanto custa o horário eleitoral no rádio e na TV a cada brasileiro?
Lembra do Orkut? Prazo para salvar dados do perfil termina na sexta
Dentre as novas legendas deste pleito, PEN, PROS e Solidariedade foram criadas a tempo de disputar as eleições de 2014.
This is the same number of election of 2000, only overcome in 1992, when there were seven new legends. Today, Brazil has 35 politicial parties registered.
How much costs the electoral time in the radio and on TV for each Brazilian?
Remember of Orkut? Period to save data of perfil ends on Friday.
Among the new legends of this plea, PEN, PROS and solidarity were created in time to dispute the elections in 2014.

Juntos, estes partidos têm 42.867 candidatos, ou 9% dos 475.839 que disputam estas eleições. A idade média de seus representantes é de 42 anos, ligeiramente abaixo da média geral de 45 anos.
Mas o que leva a um número tão grande de novas legendas neste pleito?
Mudança na lei eleitoral
Cientistas políticos ouvidos pela BBC Brasil apontam duas decisões cruciais da Justiça que criaram um sistema eleitoral que estimula o surgimento de partidos.
Together, these parties have 42.867 candidates, or 9% out of 475.839 which dispute these elections. The average age of their representants is 42 years, slightly below the general average of 45 years. But what leads to a number so big of new legends in this plea?
Change in the electoral law
Political scientis heard by BBC Brazil points out two crucial decision of Justice which have created an electoral system which encourages the creation of parties.

Em 2006, o Supremo Tribunal Federal (STF) derrubou a cláusula de barreira, que restringia o acesso ao horário eleitoral gratuito e aos recursos do Fundo Partidário das legendas que não obtivessem ao menos 5% dos votos para deputado federal no país.
Ficar sozinho pode ser a melhor maneira de descansar, diz pesquisa
Dois anos depois, o STF confirmou a decisão do Tribunal Superior Eleitoral sobre a fidelidade partidária, segundo a qual o mandato pertence ao partido e não ao eleito. A troca de legenda implica na perda do cargo - a não ser que o ocupante do cargo migre para uma nova legenda.
In 2006, the Supreme Federal Tribune brought down the clause of barrier, which restricted the access to the free electoral time and to the resources of funding party of legends which did not get at least 5% of votes for the federal deputy in the country.
Stay alone can be the best way to rest, says the research.
Two years after, the STF confirmed the decision of Electoral Superior court about party fidelity, according to the mandate belongs to the party and not to the elected one. The change of legend implies in the loss of position - unless the occupant of position goes to a new legend.

"Essas decisões estimularam a proliferação de partidos. A decisão sobre a fidelidade partidária criou, por exemplo, uma saída para mudar de partido sem perder o mandato", diz o cientista político Cláudio Couto, da Fundação Getúlio Vargas de São Paulo (FGV-SP).
"Sem a cláusula de barreira, criar um partido se manteve como um bom negócio, uma fonte de renda. Com acesso a tempo de TV e rádio e ao Fundo Partidário, é possível barganhar e oferecer vagas a candidatos, que pagam à legenda para bancar a campanha."
No ano passado, o STF disse que a regra só se aplica a eleições proporcionais (vereador, deputado estadual e deputado federal), mas não às majoritárias (prefeito, governador, senador e presidente da República).
These decisios encouraged the proliferation of parties. The decision about fidelity party created, for example, an exit to change of party without lose the mandate, says the political scientists Claudio, from GETULIO VARGAS organization of Sao Paulo.
Without clause of barrier, creating a party have been kept as a good business, a source of income. With access in time of TV and radio and the Partidary funding, it is possible to bargain and offer vacancies to candidates, who pay to the legend to finance the campaign.
Last year, STF said the rule just applies the proportional elections (counselor, state deputy and federal deputy), but not the majorities (mayor, governor, senator and president of Republic).

(...)

Derailed train

Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/30/nyregion/new-jersey-transit-train-crash-hoboken.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=a-lede-package-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0

Vocabulary:
A commuter train
about the facility
He said he crawled
when it abruptly came
came to a halt
like a major skid
saw the derailed train

Text: Hoboken Train Crash Leaves at Least One Dead and Dozens Injured

HOBOKEN, N.J. — A commuter(=someone who regularly travels between work and home) train crashed at a station in New Jersey during the Thursday morning rush, killing at least one person and injuring about 100 others, a number of them seriously, the authorities said.

“There are fatalities,” said a senior transportation official who did not want to be identified because he was not authorized to speak publicly. “There are a significant number of injuries. The train was going very fast. There are structural concerns about the facility (=instalação).”

Jim Smith, a spokesman for New Jersey Transit, said a commuter train struck the Hoboken Terminal building on Track 5 around 8:45 a.m. The train was No. 1614, traveling from Spring Valley to Hoboken on the Pascack Valley line .

Michael Larson, an agency employee, was in the station when the train crashed. He said he crawled(=rastejou) on his hands and knees to pull people out of the first train car.

“The first car was pretty well destroyed,” he said at the station. “The whole roof was caved in. The seats were broken.”

Mr. Larson, who had blood on his pant leg, said that “by looking at the damage” he suspected there had been fatalities.

The train went “over the bumper block, through the depot,” and came to rest at the wall right before the station’s waiting area, Mr. Larson told reporters during a segment that was broadcast on CNN.

“One of the worst days I’ve ever seen,” he said.

Rail service was suspended into and out of the station, including service provided by the PATH system, which runs between Manhattan and New Jersey. Local buses and ferries were accepting New Jersey train tickets as a result of the accident.

Jason Danahy, who was on the train, said it was filled with commuters and pulling into the station when it abruptly (=repentinamente) came to a halt (=parada).

“From the fifth car, it felt like a major skid(=derrapagem),” he said. “A creaking noise and a skid. I was lucky to be on the fifth car.”

When he got off the train, it was chaotic in the station.

“I saw bloody noses,” Mr. Danahy said. “I saw people crying.”

Shortly after the crash, Hoboken, which sits along the Hudson River, was aglow with blue, red and yellow lights of emergency vehicles flooding its southeast corner, near the train station.

The Jersey City Medical Center was expecting to receive 40 people with minor injuries and 10 people with serious injuries, according to a statement. Those numbers could rise. A spokesman for Care Point Health said 16 patients were taken to Hoboken University Medical Center, and at least one to Christ Hospital in Jersey City.

Ben Fairclough said he was transferring at the station when he saw the derailed(=destrilhado) train, which was blocking part of the terminal.

“There were wires down, water pouring from the ceiling, the roof had collapsed and there was people climbing out of windows of the train,” he said.

A video taken by Mr. Fairclough shows passengers climbing out of the train, walking over the debris from the crash. Metal beams are on the ground; wires hang haphazardly. “Clear the area,” someone shouts.

Mr. Fairclough said one person appeared to be unconscious on the ground. Others were bloody, he said.

“Cars drive into houses,” he said. “This was a train that drove into the terminal.”

Tom Spina said he was in the terminal when “we heard a loud boom.” He walked toward the chaotic scene.

“You saw folks bleeding from the head, limping, folks were on the ground,” he said. “It was awful.”

Matthew Lehner, a spokesman for the Federal Railroad Administration, said the agency was aware of the crash and had dispatched investigators.

Debate entre hillary e donald

Source: http://www1.folha.uol.com.br/opiniao/2016/09/1817472-comparacao-direta.shtml

Text:
Realizado na segunda-feira (26), o primeiro de uma série de três debates entre o candidato republicano Donald Trump e a democrata Hillary Clinton teve ares de cerimônia do Oscar. A noite de gala da corrida pela Casa Branca registrou audiência recorde de 84 milhões de espectadores nos EUA.
Realized on Monday (26th), the first out a series of three debates between the republican candidate Donald and democrat Hillary had a certain climate in the ceremony of Oscar. The night of the galla ball in the run for the white house registered a new record of audience of 84 million of spectators in the USA.

O interesse deve-se a um embate particularmente acirrado e que, como cereja do bolo, traz à cena a novidade preocupante de uma figura de fora do status quo político, que suplantou nomes tradicionais e parte ponderável da máquina partidária para chegar à disputa.
The interest is due to a deal particularly fierce and, as a cherry cake, brings to the scene the worrying news of a picture outside of political status, which supplanted the traditional names and ponderable part of the party machine to reach the dispute.

Do ponto de vista da dinâmica, o debate, a despeito de eventuais problemas, se provou bem mais desenvolto, livre e interessante do que costumam ser os similares brasileiros, que não raro padecem de excesso de regras, falta de fluência e tempo exíguo para verdadeira defesa de ideias e propostas.
From the point of view of dynamics, the debate, regarding to any problems, have been proved much more developed, free and interesting  of what is used to be the common Brazilians, what is not rare suffers of excess of rules, lack of fluency and time exiguous to the real defense of ideas and purposes.

Outro aspecto vantajoso, na transmissão americana, é a opção de usar permanentemente a tela dividida ao meio, dando oportunidade ao público de observar as reações de um dos postulantes enquanto seu adversário discursa.
Another beneficial aspect, in the American transmission, is the opction to use permanently the screen split in the mid, giving the opportunity for the public to observe the reactions of one of the postulants while his opponent talks.

Nesse quesito, Trump mostrou-se mais irrequieto e invasivo do que Hillary. Empregou com frequência as palavras "não é verdade" enquanto a rival discursava e, em algumas oportunidades, tentou atropelá-la durante as explanações.
In this topic, Trump showed more unquiet and invasive than Hillary. Used with frequency the words "it's not true" while the rival talked and, in some opportunities, tried to knock her down during the explanations.

Embora o republicano tenha mais cancha como empresário e homem de TV —o que faz dele uma espécie de candidato midiático a CEO do país—, Hillary tem larga experiência política e não apenas parece, como de fato é mais bem preparada para ser presidente.
Although the republican has more "cancha" as entrepreneur and man of TV - what makes him a species of mediatic candidate to CEO of country, Hillary has a large political experience and not only seems, as indeed is more than prepared to be president.

Com seu figurino populista de direita, que não deve ser confundido com a sólida tradição conservadora americana, Trump apela para propostas que soam tão fáceis e bombásticas quanto irrealizáveis.
With his costume populist of rightside, what it shouldn't be misunderstood with the solid American conservative, Trump appeals for purposes which seem to be so easy and bombastic as unrealizable.

O mundo surge como seu principal inimigo: o planeta inóspito impede a América de voltar a ser grande ao exportar imigrantes e terroristas, por exemplo, ou ao roubar suas fábricas e não remunerar os serviços de segurança internacional que presta aos aliados.
The world surges as its main enemy: the inhospitale planet prevents the American to become big again and export immigrants and terrorists, for example, or when stealing yours manufactures and do not reward the services of international security which provide services to allies.

Hillary Clinton não deixa dúvida de que conhece mais a fundo a situação dos Estados Unidos e o intrincado xadrez internacional.
Hillary doesn't let doubt that she knows more in depth the situation of United Stats and the intricated international chess.

Em suas intervenções, procura ir ao encontro da realidade mais nuançada das famílias, das dificuldades do trabalhador, da vida empresarial e da política externa. Por isso, talvez, deixe a impressão de ser mais prolixa e menos capaz de resolver os problemas.
In your interventions, search to go in the meeting of reality more nuanced of families, of difficulties of worker, of the business life and external politics. So, perhaps, let the impression of being more prolix and less capable to solve problems.

Mesmo assim, a democrata soube fustigar Donald Trump, evidenciando o que já estava claro: o republicano não reúne condições para liderar a maior potência mundial.
Even with this fact, the democract knew how to fustigate Donald, evidencning what was already clear: the republican didn't gathered conditions to leader the biggest world potency.

MH17 missel veio da Russia

Source: bbc news

Vocabulary:

1. International prosecutors
2. narrowed down the area
3. linked to the crash
4. site was pinpointed

Text: MH17 missile 'came from Russia', Dutch-led investigators say

International prosecutors (=promotores) investigating the downing of flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine in 2014 say the Buk missile that hit the plane was from Russia.
They also narrowed down (=diminuiu) the area it was fired from to a field in territory controlled by Russian-backed rebels.
All 298 people on board the Boeing 777 died when it broke apart in mid-air flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur.
Russia says the conclusions are "extremely political" and its Buk missiles "never shot down" the plane.
"Based on the criminal investigation, we have concluded that flight MH17 was downed by a Buk missile of the series 9M83 that came from the territory of the Russian Federation," chief Dutch police investigator Wilbert Paulissen said in a news conference on Thursday.
The missile launcher was later taken back to Russia, he said.

An inquiry by the Dutch Safety Board last year found that a Russian-made Buk missile hit the plane but did not say where it was fired from.
But Russia has rejected the conclusions, calling them "extremely political".
"This is of course a provocative statement... it has nothing to do with investigating the tragedy that took away the lives of so many people," said Leonid Slutsky, the head of the parliamentary committee for the CIS (Commonwealth of Independent State).
"These conclusions seek to achieve only one objective - to further marginalise the image of Russia in the global political and information space," he added.
Who gave the order?
Prosecutors have narrowed the missile launch site down to a specific field near the village of Pervomaiskyi, which was then in rebel hands.
They established the identities of about 100 people "linked to the crash(=acidente) or the transport of the Buk" missile, but they are yet to determine who could be held criminally responsible.
There is a need to establish who gave the order to move the missile launcher into eastern Ukraine, and where the order for it to be fired came from, investigators said.
The Dutch-led Joint Investigation Team (JIT) consists of prosecutors from the Netherlands, Australia, Belgium, Malaysia and Ukraine.

Many witnesses
Prosecutors played recordings from intercepted phone calls during their news conference.
They said witnesses reported seeing the missile launcher move from Russia into Ukraine and presented pictures and videos.
The launch site was pinpointed (=ponto localizado) by "many witnesses", prosecutors said.
Relatives were briefed before the JIT released their preliminary findings.
"They told us how the Buk was transported [and] how they came to that evidence from phone taps, photo, film material, video," Robby Oehler, whose niece was killed in the crash, told the BBC.

Separatist rebels have denied they were involved.
"We never had such air defence systems, nor the people who could operate them," Eduard Basurin, military deputy operational commander at the rebel Donetsk People's Republic, told the Interfax news agency.
"Therefore we could not have shot down the Boeing [flight MH17]."
Earlier this week, Russia said it had radar data showing that the missile was not fired from rebel-held territory.
The JIT does not yet have access to that data, prosecutors said.

Russia's changing story
In the two years since MH17 was shot down, Russian officials have presented several theories about what happened

21 July 2014: Four days after the tragedy, Russia's defence ministry presented satellite photos and other images suggesting it was downed by a Ukrainian surface-to-air Buk missile or a Ukrainian military jet
June 2015: Russia's Investigations Committee named a "key witness" - a Ukrainian "aircraft ordnance technician" - who claimed that the Boeing was downed by a Ukrainian Su-25 fighter
October 2015: Buk missile producer Almaz-Antey said that the plane was indeed downed by a Buk, but an old one - which Russia no longer had in its arsenal
September 2016: Russia's defence ministry released what it said were radar data suggesting MH17 was shot down by a missile, but not one fired by Russian-backed rebels

IELTS academic and Helium post

Source: http://takeielts.britishcouncil.org/prepare-test/free-sample-tests/reading-sample-test-1-academic/reading-passage-3

Vocabulary:
concerning 
demise 
radioactive decay
feasibility for helium
The dwindling supplies
so artificially deflated

Text: Helium’s future up in the air

A) In recent years we have all been exposed to dire media reports concerning(=em relação) the impending demise(=falecimento) of global coal and oil reserves, but the depletion of another key non-renewable resource continues without receiving much press at all. Helium – an inert, odourless, monatomic element known to lay people as the substance that makes balloons float and voices squeak when inhaled – could be gone from this planet within a generation.

B) Helium itself is not rare; there is actually a plentiful supply of it in the cosmos. In fact, 24 per cent of our galaxy’s elemental mass consists of helium, which makes it the second most abundant element in our universe. Because of its lightness, however, most helium vanished from our own planet many years ago. Consequently, only a miniscule proportion – 0.00052%, to be exact – remains in earth’s atmosphere. Helium is the by-product of millennia of radioactive decay(=decaimento) from the elements thorium and uranium. The helium is mostly trapped in subterranean natural gas bunkers and commercially extracted through a method known as fractional distillation.

C) The loss of helium on Earth would affect society greatly. Defying the perception of it as a novelty substance for parties and gimmicks, the element actually has many vital applications in society. Probably the most well known commercial usage is in airships and blimps (non-flammable helium replaced hydrogen as the lifting gas du jour after the Hindenburg catastrophe in 1932, during which an airship burst into flames and crashed to the ground killing some passengers and crew). But helium is also instrumental in deep-sea diving, where it is blended with nitrogen to mitigate the dangers of inhaling ordinary air under high pressure; as a cleaning agent for rocket engines; and, in its most prevalent use, as a coolant for superconducting magnets in hospital MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scanners.

D) The possibility of losing helium forever poses the threat of a real crisis because its unique qualities are extraordinarily difficult, if not impossible to duplicate (certainly, no biosynthetic ersatz product is close to approaching the point of feasibility(=viabilidade) for helium, even as similar developments continue apace for oil and coal). Helium is even cheerfully derided as a “loner” element since it does not adhere to other molecules like its cousin, hydrogen. According to Dr. Lee Sobotka, helium is the “most noble of gases, meaning it’s very stable and non-reactive for the most part … it has a closed electronic configuration, a very tightly bound atom. It is this coveting of its own electrons that prevents combination with other elements’. Another important attribute is helium’s unique boiling point, which is lower than that for any other element. The worsening global shortage could render millions of dollars of high-value, life-saving equipment totally useless. The dwindling (=encolhimento) supplies have already resulted in the postponement of research and development projects in physics laboratories and manufacturing plants around the world. There is an enormous supply and demand imbalance partly brought about by the expansion of high-tech manufacturing in Asia.

E) The source of the problem is the Helium Privatisation Act (HPA), an American law passed in 1996 that requires the U.S. National Helium Reserve to liquidate its helium assets by 2015 regardless of the market price. Although intended to settle the original cost of the reserve by a U.S. Congress ignorant of its ramifications, the result of this fire sale is that global helium prices are so artificially deflated(=deflacionadas) that few can be bothered recycling the substance or using it judiciously. Deflated values also mean that natural gas extractors see no reason to capture helium. Much is lost in the process of extraction. As Sobotka notes: "[t]he government had the good vision to store helium, and the question now is: Will the corporations have the vision to capture it when extracting natural gas, and consumers the wisdom to recycle? This takes long-term vision because present market forces are not sufficient to compel prudent practice”. For Nobel-prize laureate Robert Richardson, the U.S. government must be prevailed upon to repeal its privatisation policy as the country supplies over 80 per cent of global helium, mostly from the National Helium Reserve. For Richardson, a twenty- to fifty-fold increase in prices would provide incentives to recycle.

F) A number of steps need to be taken in order to avert a costly predicament in the coming decades. Firstly, all existing supplies of helium ought to be conserved and released only by permit, with medical uses receiving precedence over other commercial or recreational demands. Secondly, conservation should be obligatory and enforced by a regulatory agency. At the moment some users, such as hospitals, tend to recycle diligently while others, such as NASA, squander massive amounts of helium. Lastly, research into alternatives to helium must begin in earnest.

Hologramas em 3 dimensoes

Source: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/09/160921164147.htm

Vocabulary:
bulky and expensive
ring-shaped crest

Text:

Sound can now be structured in three dimensions. Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems and the University of Stuttgart have found a way of generating acoustic holograms, which could improve ultrasound diagnostics and material testing. The holograms can also be used to move and manipulate particles.

Peer Fischer, a Research Group Leader at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems and Professor at the University of Stuttgart, normally works on micro- and nanorobots. His lab also develops the nanofabrication methods that are needed to develop such tiny swimmers. Holography was not one of his core interests. "However, we were looking for a way to move large numbers of microparticles simultaneously so that we could assemble them into larger more complex structures," explains Fischer. His research team has now found such a method with acoustic holography, and it reports the first acoustic hologram in this week's issue of Nature. The method promises a number of applications in addition to particle manipulation.

Until now sound could only be shaped using complex technology

It is well known that holograms in optics offer a means to take photography into the third dimension. Unlike photos that are taken with a conventional camera, holography exploits the information where reflected light reaches its maximum intensity. Physicists talk about the phase of the wave. Upon reflection from a three-dimensional object, the phase shifts and provides information about the spatial structure of the object. This gives holograms their characteristic three-dimensional appearance.

Manipulating the three-dimensional structure of acoustic waves was previously only possible with what physicists call a phased array transducer. This is an ensemble of many acoustic sources positioned side by side that can individually emit sound with varying phase delays. The necessary driving electronics, however, is bulky (=volumoso) and expensive. "We can now generate sound in a 3D without this complex technology," says Kai Melde, who conducted the experiments at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems as part of his Ph.D. research.

Picasso's dove of peace painted using sound

The researchers first demonstrated a hologram that generates sound pressure in the shape of Pablo Picasso's dove of peace. Microparticles suspended in a liquid follow the pattern and form the image. To achieve this, the team first computed where and how strongly the acoustic waves, or more specifically their phases, needed to shift to translate the lines of the dove into an area of increased sound pressure. In this way, they attained a map of the phase shifts. Based on this map, they then fabricated the acoustic hologram: using a 3D printer they created a relief from a plastic that transmits sound faster than the surrounding liquid. The printer applied different thicknesses of material depending on the required phase delay.

Ultrasound waves transmitted through the hologram interfered behind the relief plate in such a way that the sound pressure reproduced Picasso's dove of peace. And as soon as they positioned a container filled with water and microparticles in the focal region, the particles were quickly pushed into the shape of the dove. The researchers showed that the technology can also work in 3D by forming a holographic stack with the images '1', '2' and '3'.

Microparticles that surf and fly

"While our technology does not dynamically modify the three-dimensional structure of the sound field, it can nevertheless cause dynamic motion," says Peer Fischer. "We are surprised that nobody has come up with this idea before."

Even if the Stuttgart-based researchers cannot change the acoustic sculptures on the fly, they are able to move particles on defined trajectories. They demonstrated this with a polymeric particle on water: using the sound pressure hologram, they generated a ring-shaped crest(=crista) on the water's surface which looked as if they had frozen the ripple caused by a stone that was thrown into the water. A particle floating on the water and influenced by the sound pressure quickly swung to the crest of the wave and surfed along the circle until the sound was switched off. "Such contact-free methods to move particles using sound could be interesting as a material transporter for process engineering," says Kai Melde.

Ultrasound fields with complicated shapes for medical diagnostics

Acoustic holograms create even more possibilities for manipulating particles than the researchers originally had in mind. And apart from exposing particles to acoustic waves, holograms could also be used with ultrasound, for example in medicine and material testing. "There's a great deal of interest in using our invention to easily generate ultrasound fields with complex shapes for localized medical diagnostics and treatments," says Peer Fischer. However, it is not yet clear where exactly acoustic holograms will be used. "But I am sure that there are a lot of areas that could be considered."

Dicas de iluminação para chroma key

Source: http://nofilmschool.com/2014/12/advanced-lighting-tips-help-pull-perfect-croma-key

Vocabulary:
pulling off: To accomplish in spite of difficulties or obstacles; bring off: pulled off a last-minute victory.
straightforward: simples, direto, claro
blur: borrão


Text: When working with green screen, lighting is everything. (Almost)
The basics of pulling off a good chroma key are pretty straightforward: light evenly, put some distance between your subject and the green screen, etc. But, how do you know if you're lighting your scene evenly? If you said, "Um, just look at it with your eyeballs, dummy," you might be in for a very frustrating, very expensive and time consuming surprise in post.

That's why this lighting tutorial from director/cinematographer Matthew Rosen is so helpful. In it, Rosen shows you how to use a waveform monitor to make sure that your chroma is balanced, how to expose correctly using color bars, and how to set your shutter speed to reduce motion blur. (Rosen says "shutter angle" which is essentially the same thing, only it's typically the term used when using film cameras -- or Blackmagic cameras.) Check it out below:

Remember to consider this before you start setting up your green screen: your needs are going to change depending on how large of an area you're trying to pull a key from. Rosen's area is pretty big -- considering the size most low-budget filmmakers and web series videomakers use -- and because of this, he had to use a lot of lighting to properly expose the screen and balance the light. Now, if you're going for the size of a medium shot to a close up, you're obviously not going to need as much lighting. If you're trying to get a wide shot or larger, you're going to need more.

If you're a professional who works in a large studio and has access to the lighting gear used by Rosen in the video, excellent! The video definitely gave you some tips that you can try out on your projects. However, if you don't have access to this type of equipment, you'll have to find some cheap and easy lighting workarounds, and we've got a ton of them here in our archives.

How do you light for a chroma key? What kinds of lights, materials, cameras, etc. work best, in your opinion, when working with green/blue screen? Share your tips in the comments below.