Fluency News #42

Hello, everyone!

Sejam bem-vindos e bem-vindas a mais um episódio da nossa série de podcasts, o Fluency News! Aqui, você vai poder treinar a sua escuta e ficar por dentro do que está acontecendo no mundo, sempre com as três principais notícias da semana, tudo em inglês! Ao longo do episódio, nós também adicionamos explicações em português das coisas que achamos que precisam de mais atenção, assim você não perde nenhum detalhe!

No episódio desta semana, nós temos uma atualização do caso de Derek Chauvin e a sentença que o ex-policial recebeu. Também falamos sobre os ataques aéreos dos Estados Unidos ao Iraque e à Síria e sobre a prisão de mais um jornalista conectado ao Apple Daily.

Temos uma página de dicas de inglês no Instagram, vá conferir! @fluencytvingles

Toda semana, temos um novo episódio do Fluency News, não deixe de escutar! See you!
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Transcrição do Episódio

What is up, everyone! Welcome to Fluency News, the podcast made for you to put your English to the test! I’m Scott Lowe, one of your teachers here at Fluency Academy.
In this podcast, we’ll talk about some of the most relevant stories of the week, and when necessary, I’ll take a break from English to explain in Portuguese anything that might need an in-depth explanation.
Before we dive in, let me just remind you to go to fluencytv.com to have access to the transcript of this episode, as well as all of our sources. You can also check out free content, so you can keep studying. Alright, let’s jump into it.

We’re going to start today’s episode with an update. The death of George Floyd in 2020 sparked the biggest outcry against racial injustice in the U.S. in generations. On Friday, June 25, former police officer Derek Chauvin was sentenced to 22 and a half years in prison for the murder of George Floyd.
The punishment, which is one of the longest prison terms ever imposed on a U.S. police officer in the killing of a Black person, fell short of the 30 years prosecutors had requested.
With good behavior, Chauvin, 45, could be paroled after serving two-thirds of his sentence, or about 15 years.
In imposing the punishment, Judge Peter Cahill went beyond the 12 1/2-year sentence prescribed under state guidelines, citing “your abuse of a position of trust and authority and also the particular cruelty” shown to Floyd.
Floyd’s family attorney Ben Crump said the family had gotten “some measure of accountability”, and added: “Real justice in America will be Black men and Black women and people of color who will not have to fear being killed by the police just because the color of their skin. That would be real justice.”
<hlt>Você sabe o que a expressão “FALL SHORT” significa? Se nós traduzíssemos literalmente, ficaria “cair baixo”, o que não faz muito sentido, não é? Aqui nós temos que colocar em prática a arte de compreender o sentido, e não traduzir ao pé da letra. FALL SHORT significa “faltar”, ou “não alcançar uma expectativa”, ou “não ter o suficiente de algo”. Então quando eu digo “the punishment fell short”, eu estou dizendo que o castigo não foi o esperado, que se tinha a expectativa de algo a mais.<hlt>

An editorial writer of the Hong Kong pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily was arrested at the airport on Sunday, June 27, while attempting to leave the city, local media reported.
Fung Wai-kong would be the seventh staffer at the newspaper to be arrested on national security grounds in recent weeks. He was an editor and columnist at the now defunct paper, local media reported.
The Hong Kong police said in a statement that a man had been arrested at the airport for “conspiring to collude with foreign countries or foreign forces to endanger national security”. They added that he had been detained and investigations were continuing.
Apple Daily, a popular tabloid, was forced to close following a raid by several hundred police officers on its headquarters on June 17 and the freezing of key assets and bank accounts. It printed its last edition last Thursday.
Authorities say dozens of the paper’s articles may have violated a China-imposed national security law, the first instance of authorities taking aim at media reports under the legislation.
Critics of the law, introduced last June, say it has been used to stifle dissent and erode fundamental freedoms in the former British colony that returned to Chinese rule in 1997.
Some critics of the China-imposed national security law, responsible for the closing of the publication, say the closure of Apple Daily, which mixes pro-democracy views with celebrity gossip and investigations of those in power, marks the end of an era for media freedom in the city.
The Hong Kong Journalists Association condemned the police for targeting journalists.
“The HKJA reiterates that freedom of speech and freedom of the press are core values ​​of Hong Kong,” it said in a statement. “If even the writing of the literati cannot be tolerated, it will be difficult for Hong Kong to be regarded as an international city.”
Massive queues formed across Hong Kong on Wednesday, as people tried to get their hands on the final copy. Within a few hours, the newspaper was all sold out.
The front page of the final edition pictured the crowd outside the Apple Daily building from just hours before – their phone lights lit up in unison.
“Hong Kongers bid a painful farewell in the rain: ‘We support Apple Daily,’” said the headline.
<hlt>Quando estamos falando de números, o uso deles difere um pouco em português e em inglês. Em português, por exemplo, usamos os números cardinais para quase tudo, e os ordinais para colocações, ou o primeiro dia do mês. Em inglês, as datas são todas feitas usando números ordinais. Em português, podemos dizer “hoje é dia vinte e oito”. Em inglês, diríamos “hoje é o vigésimo-oitavo dia”. Os números ordinais geralmente terminam com um th, exceto pelos três primeiros, FIRST, SECOND e THIRD. Tentar falar todos os números ordinais pode ser um bom exercício de pronúncia do TH! Quando falamos de anos, é comum divirdimos o ano em dois. Ao invés de dizer dois mil e vinte e um, diríamos vinte, vinte e um. Então esse ano é TWENTY TWENTY ONE.<hlt>

The United States carried out another round of air strikes against Iran-backed militia in Iraq and Syria, this time responding to drone attacks by the militia against U.S. personnel and facilities in Iraq.
In a statement, the U.S. military said it targeted operational and weapons storage facilities at two locations in Syria and one location in Iraq. It did not disclose whether it believed anyone was killed or injured, but officials said assessments were ongoing.
Syria’s state-run SANA news agency said one child had been killed and at least three other people were wounded.
The strikes came at the direction of President Joe Biden, the second time he has ordered retaliatory strikes against Iran-backed militia since taking office five months ago.
“The United States took necessary, appropriate, and deliberate action designed to limit the risk of escalation — but also to send a clear and unambiguous deterrent message,” Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby said.
“As demonstrated by this evening’s strikes, President Biden has been clear that he will act to protect U.S. personnel,” the Pentagon said in a statement.
Iran called on the United States to avoid “creating crisis” in the region.
“Certainly what the United States is doing is disrupting security in the region, and one of the victims of this disruption will be the United States,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said on Monday, June 28.
Kirby said the targets were selected because “these facilities are utilized by Iran-backed militias that are engaged in unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) attacks against US personnel and facilities in Iraq”.
The Kataib Hezbollah and Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada military factions were among the “several Iran-backed militia groups” that had used the targeted facilities, Kirby added.
Two Iraqi militia officials told The Associated Press in Baghdad that four militiamen were killed in the air strikes near the border with Syria. The factions vowed to retaliate in a statement.
“We will remain the shield defending our beloved nation, and we are fully ready … to respond and take revenge,” it said.
<hlt>A linguagem usada em notícias e no dia a dia não é a mesma. Pense no português, como a linguagem que você escuta nos jornais é diferente da que você usa quando fala com seus amigos. A maior diferença no inglês está nas contrações. Na fala do dia a dia, o inglês está cheio de contrações. As contrações e reduções são tão frequentes que algumas delas são até transformadas para a escrita, como GONNA, que é a redução de GOING TO, WANNA, que é a redução de WANT TO, KINDA, que é a redução de KIND OF. São essas reduções e contrações que você não vê na escrita e nem na linguagem formal que podem deixar o entendimento um pouco mais difícil quando você está falando com um nativo. É por isso que aqui na Fluency Academy a gente sempre recomenda ter o maior contato com o idioma possível, e consumir todos os tipos de conteúdo. Quanto mais você escutar as duas formas, a informal e a formal, mais fácil vai ficar de você se comunicar no exterior.<hlt>

How about we end this episode with some good news? A simple blood test that can detect more than 50 types of cancer before any clinical signs or symptoms of the disease emerge in a person is accurate enough to be rolled out as a screening test, according to scientists.
The test, which is also being piloted by NHS England in the fall, is aimed at people at higher risk of the disease, including patients aged 50 or older.
It can identify many types of the disease that are difficult to diagnose in the early stages such as head and neck, ovarian, pancreatic, esophageal and some blood cancers.
Scientists said their findings, published in the journal Annals of Oncology, show that the test accurately detects cancer often before any signs or symptoms appear, while having a very low false positive rate.
Prof Peter Johnson, national NHS clinical director for cancer, said: “This latest study provides further evidence that blood tests like this could help the NHS meet its ambitious target of finding three-quarters of cancers at an early stage, when they have the highest chance of cure.
“The data is encouraging and we are working with Grail on studies to see how this test will perform in clinics across the NHS, which will be starting very soon.”
How awesome is that? One blood test and you can find out so much!

Alright, people! That’s where we’re going to end today’s episode. But don’t go yet!
Se você quer cortar anos dos seus estudos com todo o suporte da Fluency Academy, faça a sua inscrição na nossa lista de espera!
Assim você vai saber no momento que abrirem novas vagas nas turmas de todos os nossos 7 idiomas: inglês, espanhol, francês, italiano, alemão, japonês e mandarim.
Então se você sonha em chegar à fluência de verdade, em qualquer um dos idiomas que eu citei agora, aperte o link na descrição desse episódio e faça a sua inscrição.
Don’t forget to check back next week for more news. See you soon. Peace out. ‍

Stories

Derek Chauvin sentenced to 22½ years in prison for murder of George Floyd
https://apnews.com/article/derek-chauvin-sentencing-23c52021812168c579b3886f8139c73d
https://kstp.com/news/derek-chauvin-sentenced-to-225-years-in-prison-for-murder-of-george-floyd-breaking-news/6151225/?cat=1

Apple Daily editorial writer arrested at Hong Kong’s airport
https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/hong-kongs-apple-daily-editorial-writer-arrested-airport-78522581
http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/14382473
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jun/28/hong-kong-police-arrest-apple-daily-journalist-airport-fung-wai-kong
https://hongkongfp.com/2021/06/28/security-law-ex-apple-daily-editorial-writer-arrested-at-hong-kong-airport-amid-reported-ultimatum-to-defunct-paper/
https://www.reuters.com/world/china/hong-kong-police-arrest-former-apple-daily-journalist-airport-local-media-2021-06-27/
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-57633767.amp
https://www.reuters.com/article/hongkong-security-apple-daily/hong-kong-police-arrest-former-apple-daily-journalist-at-airport-local-media-idUSL3N2O9085

Pro-democracy Hong Kong newspaper Apple Daily’s defiant final front page
https://www.news.com.au/world/asia/prodemocracy-hong-kong-newspaper-apple-dailys-defiant-final-front-page/news-story/84728bff4a96950993e4c9b74983ce17

US military launches airstrikes against three facilities on Iraq-Syria border
https://www.foxnews.com/us/u-s-military-launches-airstrikes-against-three-facilities-on-iraq-syria-border
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jun/28/us-strikes-hit-iran-backed-militia-facilities-in-iraq-and-syria
https://time.com/6076354/us-airstrikes-iran-syria-iraq/
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/6/28/iraq-pm-slams-us-raids-as-flagrant-violation-of-sovereignty
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/6/28/us-carries-out-air-raids-on-iran-backed-groups-in-syria-iraq
https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/us-carries-out-air-strikes-against-iran-backed-militia-iraq-syria-2021-06-27/

Blood test that finds 50 types of cancer is accurate enough to be rolled out
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/jun/25/blood-test-that-finds-50-types-of-cancer-is-accurate-enough-to-be-rolled-out