Mostrando entradas con la etiqueta Listening en inglés. Mostrar todas las entradas
Mostrando entradas con la etiqueta Listening en inglés. Mostrar todas las entradas

17.10.12

Which are the best cities to live in?


Listening en ingles: Where is the best city to live in?


Where we live influences many aspects of our lives, from health, education, job opportunities and crime to recreational activities.

Well, a recent survey puts Melbourne at the top of the list as the most liveable city in the world edging out, the long-time winner, Vancouver. In fact both Australia and Canada do very well in the report, most of the top positions are taken up by these two countries.

Two British cities have dropped in the list, Manchester and London. Manchester fell nine places to 51st place while London fell two spots to the 55th. The main reason for their drop is said to be due to the riots which affected both cities in the summer of 2011. But  the 2012 Olympics have provided a "definite boost for London's profile" the report says, which may improve its ranking in next year’s survey.

Both Barcelona and Madrid come out significantly better than London, at 34 and 39 respectively. The most liveable european city is Vienna at second place.

In contrast to the strong performances of Australian and Canadian cities, other cities of the world saw their rankings affected by austerity measures and unrest. The Greek capital Athens dropped five places to 67th because of recent government cutbacks and street protests, while Tripoli fell 28 spots.

The capitals of Zimbabwe, Bangladesh and Papua New Guinea, are clustered right at the bottom of the list.

Vocabulario:

edging out = pushed out - expulsar, superar.

taken up by - ocupando
  • In fact, Australia and Canada do very well in the report most of the top ten positions are taken up by these two countries. - En realidad, Australia y Canadá salen muy bien en el informe ocupando la mayoría de los diez primeros puestos.

looked at = analysed, inspected.  
  • The survey looked at 140 cities throughout the world. - La encuesta analizó un total de 140 ciudades de todo el mundo.

dropped = fell - cayó.
drop = fall - cayer.

due to = because of - debido a.
  • The main reason for their drop are said to be due to the riots... - La principal razón de sus caídas, es debido a los disturbios...

boost - impulsar, estimular; aumentar, incrementar.;
  • have provided a "definite boost for London's profile" - han proporcionado un "impulso definitivo para el perfil de Londres"

come out  (phrasal verb) - salir
  • Both Barcelona and Madrid come out significantly better than London... - Tanto Barcelona como Madrid salen significativamente mejor que Londres...

owing to = due to = because of.  Son sinónimos.

cutbacks - recortes.

street protests - manifestaciones.  

are clustered = are grouped together - se agrupan    

Gramática

Más información aquí sobre > due to, owing to, because of 


        City                         Country                        Rank
Melbourne
Vienna     
Vancouver
Toronto    
Calgary    
Adelaide   
Sydney    
Helsinki   
Perth      
Auckland

Paris      
Barcelona     
Madrid

Manchester
London
New York

Buenos Aires
Santiago
Montevideo
San Juan
San Jose
Lima
Rio de Janeiro
Asunción
Panama City
Mexico City
Quito
Bogota
Guatemala
Caracas
Australia
Austria      
Canada       
Canada        
Canada        
Australia     
Australia            
Finland           
Australia        
New Zealand

France
Spain        
Spain        

UK       
UK       
USA    

Argentina
Chile        
Uruguay   
Puerto Rico
Costa Rica      
Peru   
Brazil
Paraguay     
Panama          
Mexico         
Ecuador
Colombia    
Guatemala      
Venezuela
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

16
34
39

51
55
56

62
63
65
66
67
81
92
95
97
105
107
111
115
118




Una traducción
El lugar donde vivimos influye en muchos aspectos de nuestras vidas, la salud, la educación, las oportunidades de empleo y el crimen hasta las actividades recreativas.

Pues bien, un estudio reciente coloca la ciudad de Melbourne en el puesto número uno de la lista como la ciudad más habitable en el mundo superando, después de mucho tiempo, Vancouver. En realidad, Australia y Canadá salen muy bien en el informe ocupando la mayoría de los primeros puestos.

Dos ciudades británicas han caído en la lista, Manchester y Londres.. Manchester cayó nueve puntos al 51 º mientras que en Londres cayó dos para posicionarse al lugar 55 º. La principal razón de sus caídas, es debido a los disturbios que afectaron a ambas ciudades en el verano de 2011. Pero los Juegos Olímpicos de 2012 han proporcionado un "impulso definitivo para el perfil de Londres", dice el informe, lo que puede mejorar su posición en la encuesta del año que viene.

Tanto Barcelona como Madrid salen significativamente mejor que la de Londres, a los 34º y 39º, puestos respectivamente. La ciudad europea más habitable es Viena que se encuentra en el segundo lugar.

En contraste con la buena evolución de las ciudades australianas y canadienses, otras ciudades del mundo han visto un empeoramiento en su clasificación como consecuencia de las medidas de austeridad y el malestar. La capital griega, Atenas, cayó cinco puntos y Trípoli cayó 28 puntos.

Las capitales de Zimbabwe, Bangladesh y Papúa Nueva Guinea, se agrupan al final de la lista.


Curso ingles online. Listening en inglés.

7.10.12

The legacy of biofuels.



Listening en inglés: The legacy of biofuels. - La herencia de los biocombustibles.

  

Aziza Gonjwa and her family have lost their 5 acres of fertile land to an international biofuels business.

    

The old water sources became out-of-bounds to the communities.

 
Not long ago, biofuels were seen as a miraculous and sustainable solution to climate change. But now there is growing evidence which shows that the world’s insatiable demand for biofuels, mainly to run their cars, has led to increased greenhouse gas emissions, rising world food prices, increasing hunger and is ruining the lives of many of the worlds poorest people.
.
As foreign-owned biofuel plantations increase, the poor are being pushed off the land they have farmed sustainably for generations. In the Kisarawe region of Tanzania 8,000 hectares of common land has been taken from the community. Such transfers may generate money for the government, but its the local community that pays the biggest price.

The drama of land grabbing and ruined livelihoods is being seen across Africa and elsewhere in the name of ‘sustainable’ energy, normally for the benefit of rich countries.

There also appears to be other problems associated with biofuels. One of them, which seems fundamental, is whether producing them actually needs more energy than they can generate. After taking into account the energy needed to grow the crops, transport them and then convert them into biofuels, Cornell University researcher David Pimental concludes that the numbers just don’t add up. He carried out a study in 2005 and found that producing ethanol from maize required 29 percent more energy than the crop was capable of producing.

Another problem is that of growing enough crops to meet demand. Skeptics say that a widespread global conversion to biofuels might require converting about all of the world’s remaining forests and open spaces into agricultural land for their production. Replacing only five percent of the USA’s diesel consumption with biodiesel would require diverting approximately 60 percent of today’s soy crops to biodiesel production.

There is now a major shift in European biofuel policy after the European Commission said it plans to limit crop-based biofuels to 5% of all transport fuel. They are acknowledging that using precious food and agricultural land to fuel our cars is bad for people and bad for the environment. In a world where a billion people go to bed hungry every night, that, is immoral.


Vocabulario:
out-of-bounds = not accessable

insatiable - insaciable

ruining the lives - arruinando la vida

plantations - plantaciones

pushed off = expelled - expulsado

land grabbing > (land grab)    una adquisición agresiva de tierras

livelihood - ganarse la vida / el sustento

taking into account - tener en cuenta

numbers just don’t add up. (add up - cuadrar) - los números simplemente no cuadran.

carried out - llevar a cabo

Skeptics - Los escépticos

widespread - extendido

diverting (divert) - desviar.  

shift = change - cambio

come to their senses > (to come to one’s senses)    entrar en razón

billion - mil millón


Una traducción
No hace mucho tiempo, los biocombustibles se vieron como una solución milagrosa y sostenible al problema del cambio climático. Pero ahora hay pruebas cada vez más contundentes que muestra que la demanda insaciable del mundo para los biocombustibles, principalmente para su uso en automóviles, ha causado un aumento de las emisiones de gases de efecto invernadero, un aumento en los precios de los alimentos, más hambre y también está arruinando la vida de muchas de las personas más pobres del mundo.

Con el aumento de las plantaciones de biocombustibles en manos de extranjeras los pobres son expulsados de la tierra que han cultivado de manera sostenible para muchos generaciones. En la región de Tanzania Kisarawe, 8.000 hectáreas de tierras comunales se han transferido de la comunidad a empresas extranjeras. Estas transferencias de tierras puede generar dinero para el gobierno, pero es la comunidad que paga el precio más alto.

El drama de la apropiación de tierras se puede ver en toda África y en otros lugares del mundo en el nombre de "energía sostenible", normalmente al beneficio de los países ricos.

También parece que hay otros problemas relacionados con los biocombustibles. Uno de ellos, es, si la producción de biocombustibles requiere más energía de la que pueden generar. Después de tener en cuenta la energía necesaria para cultivar las cosechas, transportarlas y luego convertirlos en biocombustibles, David Pimental de la Universidad de Cornell David Pimentel llega a la conclusión que los números simplemente no cuadran. Él llevó a cabo un estudio en 2005 y descubrió que la producción de etanol a partir del maíz requiere un 29 por ciento más energía que la cosecha era capaz de producir.

Otro problema importante, para la adopción generalizada de los biocombustibles, es la producción de cultivos suficientes para satisfacer la demanda. Los escépticos dicen que una conversión generalizada mundial a los biocombustibles podría requerir reemplazar todos los bosques que quedan en el mundo y todos los espacios abiertos en tierra para su producción. La sustitución de sólo un cinco por ciento del consumo de diesel de los EE.UU. con biodiesel requeriría desviar aproximadamente el 60 por ciento de los cultivos de soja solo para la producción de biodiesel.

Están reconociendo que el uso de alimentos y tierras agrícolas para alimentar nuestros coches es malo para la gente y malo para el medio ambiente. En un mundo donde mil millones de personas se acuestan con hambre cada noche, es inmoral.


Curso ingles online. Listening en inglés.

2.10.12

Listening en inglés Canción I will survive


Listening en inglés: I will survive

At first I was afraid I was petrified
Kept thinkin' I could never live without you by my side;
But then I spent so many nights
Thinkin' how you did me wrong
And I grew strong and I learned how to get along
And so you're back from outer space
I just walked in to find you here with that sad look upon your face
I should have changed that stupid lock
I should have made you leave your key
If I'd've known for just one second you'd back to bother me

Go on now go, walk out the door.
Just turn around now,
('cause) you're not welcome anymore.
Weren't you the one who tried to hurt me with goodbye.
Do you think I'd crumble?
Did you think I'd lay down and die?
Oh no, not I. I will survive.
Oh as long as I know how to love I know I'll stay alive;
I've got all my life to live,
I've got all my love to give and I'll survive,
I will survive. Hey hey.

It took all the strength I had not to fall apart.
Kept trying' hard to mend the pieces of my broken heart,
And I spent oh so many nights.
Just feeling sorry for myself. I used to cry
But now I hold my head up high.
And you see me somebody new.
I'm not that chained up little girl who's still in love with you,
And so you felt like droppin' in,
And just expect me to be free.
Now I'm savin' all my lovin' for someone who's lovin' me.

Go on now go, walk out the door.
Just turn around now, you're not welcome anymore.
Weren't you the one who tried to hurt me with goodbye.
Do you think I'd crumble?
Did you think I'd lay down and die?
Oh no, not I. I will survive.
Oh as long as I know how to love I know I'll stay alive;
I've got all my life to live,
I've got all my love to give and I'll survive,
I will survive.

Oh, go on now go, walk out the door
Just turn around now, you're not welcome anymore
Weren't you the one who tried to break me with goodbye
Do you think I'd crumble?
Did you think I'd lay down and die?
Oh no, not I. I will survive.
Oh as long as I know how to love I know I'll stay alive;
I've got all my life to live,
I've got all my love to give and I'll survive,
I will survive......



Vocabulario:
At first I was afraid  - Al principio tenía miedo

by my side - a mi lado

you did me wrong . me hiciste mucho daño

get along - to be able to cope with a situation. <cope with difficulties - superar, salir adelante >
We also use get along with someone to say that someone has a good relationship with another person. - llevarse bien con alguien.

  • Jane and John get along (well) together.

I just walked in (USA) = I’ve just walked in (UK) - Acabo de entrar

upon - on

lock - cerradura

If I'd've known = If I would have known - Si me habría sabido

fall apart - aquí  desmoronarse

  • It is important not to fall apart when things don't go exactly your way. - Es importante no desmoronarse cuando las cosas no salen como se esperaba.

mend - repair

feeling sorry for myself (feel sorry for oneself) - compadecerse de uno mismo, lamentarse de tu suerte.

lay down and die - to accept a bad situation, to abandon yourself to fate, to not fight, to give up on life.  <fate - destino>

as long as = so long as - mientras

chained up little girl - (chained up > not to be free, to be trapped

dropping in (drop in) - to visit someone unexpectedly, to visit someone without an invitation.

crumble = fall apart


Curso ingles online. Listening en inglés.