Video Of the Moment / Vocabulary In the News : ‘No Appetite’ for Comprehensive Immigration Reform (taken from Newsy.com)

In his first speech on immigration, President Obama called the system “broken," urging Congress to toughen enforcement of existing laws.

Newsy’s sources: CNN / KSAZ / The Huffington Post / The Guardian / ABC

For a full transcript, go HERE!

Multisource political news, world news, and entertainment news analysis by Newsy.com

to toughen / to toughen up	-	to become more strict, or to make something more strict Example: Due to the current economic crisis, many countries are toughening (up) financial rules.
to be a matter of	-	to be a question of Example: It’s only a matter of time before he realizes the mistake he made.
undocumented (adj.)	-	lacking documentation or authentication; lacking proper immigration or working papers Example: About 60% of the illegal alien population in the US are "undocumented aliens," who are commonly known as "unlawful border crossers," or more properly known as "illegal aliens."
to make a mockery of something	-	to make someone or something seem stupid or useless Example: Ten-year marriage contracts would make a total mockery of marriage vows.
to urge	-	to advise someone very strongly about what action or attitude they should take Example: Environmentalists are urging the US Government to stop drilling for oil in the Gulf of Mexico.
an appetite for	-	to advise someone very strongly about what action or attitude they should take Example: The public’s appetite for celebrity gossip seems insatiable. Synonym: a desire for
mixed (adj.)	-	mixed feelings or emotions make you not certain how you feel about someone or something Example: Teachers have mixed feelings about the use of distance language teaching.
coverage (uncountable)	-	news about something on television or radio or in the newspapers Example: People around the world watched live coverage of the FIFA World Cup on television.
to shine a spotlight on something	-	to give a lot of importance to, to give a lot of public attention to Example: The BP oil spill is shining the spotlight on how dangerous and difficult deepwater drilling can be. Other expressions: to be in the spotlight (= to have a lot of public attention) ≠ to be out of the spotlight
after (prep.)	-	in quest or pursuit of something Example: Participants in Star Academy are seeking after fame. / Some believe that President Obama is going after amnesty for illegal immigrants.
a spin (informal / uncountable)	-	a way of presenting information, especially a way that makes something seem good or less bad Example: Not even the craftiest politician could put a positive spin on this. Other Expressions: to spin a story / a spin doctor (=someone who works in public relations or the media who presents news in a way to promote a particular political agenda, they usually try to make a situation look better or worse than what it really is)
to enact legislation	-	to make into an act or statute Example: With the president’s signature, the new legislation/bill on healthcare reform was enacted into law.
to stem	-	to stop something from spreading or increasing, especially something bad Example: France passed a new retirement policy in an attempt to stem an increasing budget deficit.
misguided (adj.)	-	a misguided idea or action is based on judgments or opinions that are wrong Example: Many people believe that the war in Iraq was misguided. Synonym: unfounded
the purview	-	the area of responsibility or influence that a person or organization has Example: Organizing new training is under the purview of the human resources department.
to put forth (formal)	-	to state or offer an idea, opinion, plan ,etc Example: The French government put forth a plan to reform retirement benefits.
to require	-	if a rule, law, contract etc requires something, you must do that thing Example: Car insurance is required by law in most countries.
to be driven by something	-	is motivated by Example: He is driven by the desire to be the best football player.
to outline	-	to give the main ideas of a plan or a piece of writing without giving all the details Example: The document outlines our company’s recycling policy.
contentious (adj.)	-	causing disagreement between people or groups Example: Abortion in the United States is a major contentious issue.
to take something/someone on	-	to fight or compete against someone Example: The United States took on Ghana at the FIFA World Cup but was eliminated by them.
pandering (from the verb ‘to pander’)	-	this is the act of saying or doing what someone wants in order to please them, even though you know it isn’t right. Example: Politicians do a lot of pandering during election time and really don’t mean a lot of what they say or promise.

 

So, what do you think? Did the president’s speech on comprehensive immigration reform make any progress or was he simply pandering? What immigration reform would you like to see in your country? Please feel free to leave your comments!

Vocabulary In The News : Arctic Blast Freezes Northern Hemisphere

From this video you’ll get some excellent vocabulary for talking about winter weather.

For the full transcript, go to: http://www.newsy.com/videos/arctic_blast_freezes_northern_hemisphere

Vocabulary

an arctic blast	-	un coup de froid arctique
to make headlines	-	faire les gros titres, faire la une
to blanket (snow, etc.)	-	recouvrir
to bring to a standstill	-	paralyser
a cold snap	-	un coup de froid
a deep freeze	-	une gelée rigoureuse
to jeopardize	-	menacer
the citrus industry	-	l’industrie des agrumes
the wind chill	-	le refroidissement éolien, le facteur vent
to be off the charts	-	dépasser les limites
a cold streak	-	une vague de froid
to set in	-	s’installer
to linger on	-	persister
a heavy snow	-	une neige abondante
a forecaster	-	un météorologue, un météorologiste
stranded	-	bloqué, isolé
to huddle together	-	se serrer les uns contre les autres
a snow drift	-	une congère
a blast of winter	-	un coup d’hiver
to make too much of something	-	attacher trop d’importance à quelque chose
a big deal	-	un grand-chose

Video of the Moment : Jimmy Carter Makes His Voice Heard (Newsy)

As a follow-up to the story in yesterday’s “Vocabulary In the News” talking about former President Jimmy Carter’s controversial remarks, here’s a video from Newsy. Use the transcript to work on your vocabulary acquisition at :

http://www.newsy.com/videos/jimmy_carter_makes_his_voice_heard

Video of the Moment : The Country Remembers 9/11

To access the transcript of this video, go to : http://www.newsy.com/videos/the_country_remembers_9_11

Culture Spot : SAT Reasoning Test (America’s equivalent of the Baccalaureate)

In this video, you’ll hear about America’s equivalent of the Baccalaureate exam. Like the Baccalaureate, the SAT exam is a requirement for entry to college or university, however it isn’t a requirement to successfully complete high school. You can obtain your high school diploma with taking the SAT. Even though on a national level all American universities and colleges require a SAT exam for entry into their institution, the test isn’t administered by either the federal or state governments.

The video studies how the latest SAT results seem to vary according to social status and race in the United States.

From September 2, 2009 - SAT results from the class of 2009 show several interesting changes in the U.S. educational landscape.

a gap	-	un écart
to narrow	-	réduire
insight	-	un aperçu
a press release	-	un communiqué de presse
to lag behind	-	être à la traîne
an achievement	-	une réussite
lower performing	-	moins performant, de faible perfomance
to point out	-	montrer, signaler
online tutoring	-	le tutorat virtuel
unfair	-	injuste
income	-	le revenu
score	-	une note, un résultat
to take something a step further	-	aller plus loin
likelihood	-	la probabilité, les chances
curriculum	-	le programme
pattern	-	un modèle
the playing field	-	le terrain de jeu (les circonstances)
an op-ed (abbreviation for opposite the editorial page)	-	une contribution, une tribune libre, une opinion
the (learning) curve	-	la courbe d’apprentissage
the issue	-	le problème, la question
a dropout	-	un lycéen qui abandonne ses études

The SAT Reasoning Test (formerly Scholastic Aptitude Test and Scholastic Assessment Test) is a standardized test for college admissions in the United States. The SAT is owned, published, and developed by the College Board, a non-profit organization in the United States, and was once developed, published, and scored by the Educational Testing Service (ETS). ETS now administers the exam. The College Board claims that the SAT can determine whether or not a person is ready for college. The current SAT Reasoning Test takes three hours and forty-five minutes and costs $45 ($71 International), excluding late fees. Since the SAT's introduction in 1901, its name and scoring has changed several times. In 2005, the test was renamed to the "SAT Reasoning Test" with possible scores from 600 to 2400 combining test results from three 800-point sections (math, critical reading, and writing), along with other subsections scored separately. (taken from Wikipedia)

Visit the College Board’s official webpage for the SATs : http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/sat/about/SATI.html

Could you pass the SAT, try out a daily question : http://apps.collegeboard.com/qotd/question.do

Learn more about the SAT at : http://www.howstuffworks.com/sat.htm

Vocabulary In the News : 8 September 2009 – New York Post & The Chronicle

NOTE! I apologize, link to images and PDFs became inactive over time.

If you’d like a more readable version of this front page(pdf format), go HERE! For the newspaper’s homepage go to : http://www.nypost.com/

- If you have a pullout in a newspaper or magazine, then this means that there is a thin book that you can keep after you have thrown the newspaper or magazine away. In this case, they have included a short 20-page booklet as a NFL 2009 guide.

-A bribe is the money or present that you give to someone to help you do something dishonest or illegal. The act itself is called bribery, which is considered a crime. In the article which you can read at the link below, several city inspectors with links to powerful crime families were taking bribes in order to overlook violations in city construction codes. These inspectors were lining their pockets when the mob bribed them.

- Other city building inspectors were involved in a drug scam. This is when you follow a dishonest plan or trickery in the hopes of making money. In this situation, some inspectors were using the constructions sites as places to deal in illegal drugs. The word is also a verb. For example, you have all gotten those spam emails from some poor widow of a dead African official who has inherited a lot of money and needs help getting it out of the country or some other sad story so she has contacted you to help her and in the process, you’ll earn some of that money! Well, whoever sent you that email with the phony story is trying to scam you out of your money. Some scammers are so good at scamming and appear legitimate that we would call them a scam artist.

- The sub headline states that there is a mob taint on the construction inspectors. In other words, the whole situation appears to have a connection to the mob; it has the appearance of corruption. It gives the idea that the situation smells or is possibly infected by the mob. The word also exists as a verb. In the United States during an important court case such as in the OJ Simpson trials, the jury was kept hidden and they were not allowed to watch television during the trial because no one wants outside influences to taint or corrupt the jury. We want them to make an honest decision based only on the facts in the case and not from what is being said on television by the media. Here’s another example of how we can use this verb. Imagine you are walking in the country enjoying the fresh air when all of sudden you pass by a farm and you smell the cows! You could say that the air is tainted by the smell of cow manure. In other words, it added a quality to the air that made it unpleasant!

To find out more, go to: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/regional/graft_shocker_3FyDTCePvamziXbKSCeOZL

If you’d like a more readable version of this front page(pdf format), go HERE! For the newspaper’s homepage go to : http://www.kcchronicle.com/

I’d like to take just one expression from the front page of the Geneva, Illinois newspaper The Chronicle, because it’s a good idiomatic expression.

- If you walk a fine line, this means that you have to be careful about what you say or do because you might offend, anger or annoy someone. You have to treat a situation with great delicacy. Alternatively, you can also say, to walk a thin line.

The headline on the front page is referring to a speech that President Obama made to school children yesterday afternoon. The President has been accused by conservatives of using his speech to spread propaganda in the classroom. To find out more, read the article by clicking on the link below.

http://www.kcchronicle.com/articles/2009/09/07/08112864/index.xml

Front pages taken from : http://www.newseum.org/todaysfrontpages/

To learn more about the above political controversy swirling around President Obama’s speech to schoolchildren, watch the following video from www.newsy.com.

To view the video at Newsy and to access the transcript, go to : http://www.newsy.com/videos/obama_in_the_schools