Fluency News 67

Hello, everyone!

Sejam bem-vindos e bem-vindas a mais um episódio da nossa série de podcasts, o Fluency News! Aqui, você vai treinar a sua escuta e ficar por dentro do que está acontecendo no mundo, sempre com as quatro 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 atualizações sobre a erupção do vulcão em Tonga, falamos sobre um incidente que aconteceu na África, prestamos nossas condolências à Elza Soares e damos uma olhadinha no James Webb, o maior e mais poderoso telescópio espacial do mundo.

Nós 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!

Este episódio foi escrito por Alessandro Ladelfa.

TRANSCRIPTION

What is up, guys! How are you doing today? I’m Scott Lowe, and you’re listening to Fluency News, Fluency Academy’s news podcast series. Here we share some of the world’s most relevant stories of the week, and we learn a bit more about unique structures and expressions of the English language with some explanations in Portuguese for you to get the most out of this episode.

Before we get started, let me just remind you to visit fluencytv.com. There, you’ll have access to the transcript of this episode and all of our sources and you’ll also find over a thousand free lessons, in seven different languages! How good is that?

Alright folks, now let’s dive in.

Last week we talked a little about Tonga and the eruption of the Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Ha’apai volcano. Now, I’m gonna give you some updates.

Nasa says that the eruption was more powerful than an atomic bomb and that more than four-fifths of the population has been affected by the tsunami and falling ash. The widespread emission of volcanic ash, gases and particles from the eruption has proven to be a massive challenge for Tongan officials. In the immediate aftermath of the eruption and tsunami, there were fears that water sources had been polluted by the thick blanket of ash, increasing the risk of diseases like cholera and diarrhoea.

In last week’s episode, we saw that the country was calling for “immediate aid”, with an urgent need for fresh water and food. Well, the good news is that there are people who are trying to help them out, yet, on the other hand, the bad news is that Tonga, which was known as the Zero-Covid island nation, fears aid could bring in the virus.

Tonga is effectively Covid-free, with just one case of infection reported last October, and the government has stressed the need for aid to be delivered in a contactless way to keep the virus out. An Australian warship on its way to the South Pacific island nation has recorded about two dozen positive cases onboard, and will now continue in a “Covid-safe manner.”

The Tongan government has implemented a strict Covid-19 policy that means people, including aid workers, cannot enter the country unless they have undergone a three-week isolation period. Aid deliveries have been contactless, with pallets quarantined for 72 hours after arrival at the airport before being distributed by Tongan authorities.

A national emergency team had already distributed 60,000 litres of water to residents, the government said last Saturday. A desalination plant, a process that takes away mineral components and salt from saline water, arrived on Friday and is capable of producing 70,000 litres a day and has started drawing seawater from Tonga’s harbour. Some services were already returning in the Tongan capital, where people lined up on Saturday to access cash after a week of chaos.

Well at least now it seems like things are getting better there. Let’s hope that everything turns out fine and that Tongans find comfort in moving on.

Vimos na notícia a palavra aftermath que não tem nenhuma relação com a palavra after, “depois”, e nem com a palavra math, “matemática”. Na verdade, aftermath é um termo muito característico na escrita jornalística e significa “as consequências ou efeitos posteriores de um evento desagradável”, e é traduzida muitas vezes como “consequências” ou “consequências imediatas”. Na notícia, a frase que ilustra essa palavra é “in the immediate aftermath of the eruption and tsunami, there were fears that water sources had been polluted” que significa “como consequência imediatas após a erupção e o tsunami, havia temores de que as fontes de água tivessem sido poluídas”.

Let’s talk about an incident that took place in Cameroon.

Eight people have died and another 38 were injured after a crush outside the Olembe Stadium in Yaoundé, the capital city of Cameroon, at the host nation’s Africa Cup of Nations tie against Comoros on Monday night.

The tragedy happened as supporters attempted to gain access to the ground’s south entrance for the match. The circumstances, including whether the injuries occurred before kick-off or as play continued, are unclear but a statement from the Cameroon government confirmed the deaths and injuries. It said seven of the injuries were serious.

Officials say about 50,000 people tried to attend the match on Monday. The stadium has a capacity of 60,000 but it was not meant to be more than 80% full for the game because of Covid restrictions. Victims were admitted to the city’s Messassi hospital in the incident’s immediate aftermath, with workers at the facility describing a traumatic scene. Associated Press quotes Olinga Prudence, a nurse, saying: “Some of the injured are in desperate condition. We will have to evacuate them to a specialised hospital.”

In a statement released on Tuesday morning, world football’s governing body Fifa sent “its deepest condolences to the families and friends of the victims who lost their lives following the tragic incident that took place at Olembe Stadium. The thoughts and prayers of the global football community are with the victims and with the ones who have been injured in this incident.”

Kick off é um phrasal verb que significa “começar”, sendo um sinônimo para o verbo start e begin. Porém, na notícia, vemos a palavra kick-off, escrita junta e com hífen, que foi usada como substantivo, significando, “o começo, o início”. Então fiquem ligados: kick off escrito separado significa começar, é um verbo. Kick-off escrito junto significa começo, início, é um substantivo. A propósito, hoje em dia é comum vermos a expressão “kick-off meeting” que é a primeira reunião entre equipe e cliente de novos projetos, para alinharem a maneira que o projeto vai ocorrer. Uma reunião que formaliza o “começo” da realização de um novo projeto.

Let’s talk, now, about a tremendous loss for Brazilian music history: Elza Soares, samba legend, dies at aged 91.

Elza Soares did not just embrace the revolutionary, liberating countercultural spirit in Brazil as the 20th century became the 21st – she was that spirit. Often called the queen of Brazilian samba, she released more than 30 albums in a career that spanned six decades. Soares also used her music to campaign against racism and other forms of discrimination.

Her family said she died of natural causes and called her a musical icon who moved people with her voice. “The beloved and eternal Elza has gone to rest but she will remain in musical history and in our hearts and those of thousands of fans all around the world,” their statement said. “As Elza Soares wanted, she sang until the end.”

An outspoken figure, she never forgot the racism she faced performing in bars and saloons during her early career, and has been celebrated for her work championing social and racial justice in Brazil. “Racism still continues, but we are going to fight it and we will make progress. Racism is a sickness,” she said in an interview last year to mark her 90th birthday.

We’re gonna miss you, Elza.

Na manchete da notícia, você notou algo de diferente em como eu pronunciei o artigo “a” em “a tremendous loss”? Bem, o artigo “a” significa um ou uma e é, na maioria das vezes, pronunciado com o som de “a”. Mas, quando queremos enfatizar esse artigo, pronunciamos ele com o som de “ei” – do mesmo jeito que pronunciamos no alfabeto, “a, b, c, d”…

Imagina a cena: seu amigo vai ao mercado e você pede para ele ou ela trazer uma barra de chocolate para você. Em inglês, essa frase ficaria “Can you get me a bar of chocolate?”. Quando o seu amigo volta, você vê que ele ou ela te traz 3 barras de chocolate! Daí, você pode falar “I asked you to get me A bar of chocolate!”, “eu te pedi que me trouxesse UMA barra de chocolate”. Notou a ênfase? A bar of chocolate.

Alright, folks, lemme shift gears now ask you a question: do you think extraterrestrial life exists?

Well, we might soon find out the answer to this question. The world’s largest and most powerful space telescope has reached its final destination – an observation post one million miles away from Earth.

Nasa’s $10 billion James Webb space telescope launched on Christmas Day last year from French Guiana on a search to behold the dawn of the universe. Due to its huge size, Webb had to launch folded inside the Ariane 5, a European rocket.

The telescope has been described as a “time machine” by scientists and will enable astronomers to peer back further in time than ever before, all the way back to when the first stars and galaxies were forming 13.7 billion years ago. That’s a mere 100 million years from the Big Bang, when the universe was created. The Webb will also hunt for signs of extraterrestrial life.

Telescopes can see farther and more clearly when operating above Earth’s distorting atmosphere. That’s why Nasa teamed up with the European and Canadian space agencies to get Webb and its massive mirror – the largest ever launched – out into the cosmos.

Crazy, right? Well, folks, this episode is coming to an end, but remember that we have a new episode every week, and we’ll do our best to bring updates to any stories that we cover.

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Don’t forget to check out fluencytv.com to have access to free content in seven different languages. I’ll see you soon. Peace out.

News:

Tonga volcano: drinking water is priority as aid begins to arrive for stricken nation:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jan/22/tonga-volcano-drinking-water-is-priority-as-aid-begins-to-arrive-for-stricken-nation
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jan/24/houses-are-just-gone-tonga-emerges-from-volcano-and-tsunami-disaster
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-60106981
https://www.bbc.com/news/60066470

Eight killed after crush outside Africa Cup of Nations match in Cameroon:
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2022/jan/24/africa-cup-of-nations-cameroon-olembe-stadium-crush
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-60120367

Elza Soares: Tributes as Brazilian samba legend dies aged 91:
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2022/jan/21/elza-soares-samba-greatest-star-brazil
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-60077774

James Webb space telescope takes up station a million miles from Earth:
‍https://www.theguardian.com/science/2022/jan/24/james-webb-space-telescope-station-a-million-miles-from-earth