Deadly E. Coli Strikes Europe

Some news about heatlth and food from the 3rd June.
Make sure you understand all the highlighted words and expressions.

The deadly bacteria that has killed 18 people in Europe is a new form of E. coli, the World Health Organization (WHO) says. Scientists are scrambling to find out more about the deadly strain behind the European outbreak. As well as the dead, more than 1,600 people are sick. This new outbreak is the deadliest in modern history and is the third in terms of the number of people made ill because of it. The source of the outbreak remains unknown. Germany was quick to blame Spanish cucumbers but this now appears not to be the case. Most of the sick and dead either live in Germany or recently travelled there. Authorities believe the bacteria is on salad vegetables and warned people to avoid eating salad and cook all vegetables.
The WHO says the new E. coli strain could be from a genetic merger of two different E. coli bacteria that has resulted in a super-strong bug. E. coli mostly spreads via food contaminated with human or animal feces. It leads to diarrhoea and vomiting, and can lead to kidney failure and death. Doctors say it is essential for people to wash their hands regularly to avoid contact with the bacteria, especially before eating. The outbreak is affecting Europe’s economy. Russia has banned all fruit and vegetable imports from the European Union, a move that could cost EU farmers billions. Spain’s politicians are asking Germany for compensation for blaming Spanish cucumbers for the outbreak.

Taken from http://www.breakingnewsenglish.com/1106/110603-e-coli.html

Healthy news

Some latest news about health and diet.
Check that you know and understand the highlighted words and expressions:

Family Meals Keep Kids Slimmer (3rd May, 2011)

A new study shows that family meals help children stay slim. Researchers from the University of Illinois found that kids who eat at the table with their family are healthier and have a lower risk of obesity. The research team also says that sitting down for breakfast, lunch or dinner teaches children healthy eating habits. Researcher Dr Amber Hammons wrote: “Families that eat five or more meals together have children who are up to 25 per cent less likely to encounter nutritional health issues.”
Family meals also encourage other positive behaviour in children. They learn better manners sitting at the table and are more sociable because they join their parents’ conversation. This is not the case with children who eat alone or who sit in front of the television with their meal. In recent decades, more and more children sit on the sofa watching TV. This can lead to their food going cold and them not eating it. Eating alone also means the child misses out on developing social skills.

Coffee And Cola Can Lead To Strokes (7th May, 2011)

Scientists have discovered various activities that increase the risk of a type of stroke. These include vigorous exercise, drinking coffee and cola, blowing your nose, and even being startled. Researchers at Holland’s University Medical Center in Utrecht looked at 250 patients for three years to identify what starts bleeding in the brain that leads to a stroke. A sudden increase in blood pressure can cause blood vessels to burst, which can result in brain damage or death.
The researchers said drinking coffee was the most common risk factor. The lead researcher, Dr Monique Vlak, said: "All of the triggers [create] a sudden and short increase in blood pressure, which seems a possible cause for [blood vessel] rupture." The study is a reminder to us all to think more about high blood pressure. Doctors call it the “silent killer” because it can kill us before we know we have it. It is essential to have regular health checks to monitor your blood pressure.

Doctors Refusing to Treat Overweight Women (19th May, 2011)

Doctors in Florida are refusing to treat women if they are overweight. A report from the Sun Sentinel newspaper says that 15 out of 105 gynaecology clinics in Florida have a weight limit. Doctors at the clinics will not see new patients if they weigh more than 90kg. This is even if the women have no health problems. One of the excuses they gave reporters is that their medical equipment is difficult to use with obese people. Doctors say it is not against the law to refuse patients.
Many doctors and patients are furious this is happening. People say doctors have to treat anyone who enters their office. They believe any doctor who does not see a patient is letting down the medical profession. Dr Maureen Whelihan of West Palm Beach said: “If I had that policy, I'd lose half my patients.” She has a point. The USA has one of the highest rates of obesity in the world. If doctors put weight limits on patients, much of the country would be sick.

Gender differences

Some news on Gender Equality... or not.

British Car Insurance Gender Inequality Ends (2nd March, 2011)

Britain’s system of car insurance has been turned on its head by the European Court of Justice. For decades, British motorists have paid insurance premiums based on their sex. The rationale for this was that men were far more likely to have accidents than women, and the average repair bill for men was higher. Britain’s insurance industry has until December 2012 to comply with the new ruling. The court’s decision is bad news for women, who are expected to pay an extra 25 per cent for their motor insurance. Young female drivers aged between 17 and 26 are likely to be hit hardest. Industry analysts claim their premiums could jump by as much as 40 per cent. It’s good news for men as they will see their rates fall by 10 per cent.

The insurance ruling was designed to end what the court saw as gender discrimination in Britain’s car insurance industry. However, many insurance companies are up in arms at the decision with one insurer calling it “breathtaking stupidity”. They say statistics clearly show that men, especially those in the 17-26 age bracket, cause the most accidents and are therefore a higher risk. In all other areas of insurance high risk automatically carries higher premiums. The website confused.com wrote women drivers, “cause less serious accidents and make less expensive claims than their male counterparts” and called the ruling a "gender tax on women". Another site, GoCompare.com, said: "Few drivers will welcome this ruling."

Some questions:

Are men or women better drivers?
.

Why are insurance companies unhappy with this decision?

How will men and women in Britain feel about this?

What do you pay insurance on? Are you happy to pay this?

Do you think car insurance is a good thing?
.

What would happen if we didn’t have car insurance?

Scientists Create Energy-Making Artificial Leaf (29th March, 2011)

Can you understand the highlighted words and expressions?

Scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have created what could be a breakthrough in providing clean, alternative energy. Researchers have invented an artificial leaf that splits water into hydrogen and oxygen and stores the energy in a fuel cell. The device is about the size and shape of a playing card, but is even thinner. It is made from silicon and electronic components. The MIT team says it could power a home in a developing country for a whole day just by putting it into water under the Sun. The artificial leaf is also cheap to produce. Research team leader Daniel Nocera said a prototype of his leaf in his laboratory operated non-stop for over 45 hours with no drop in activity.

Technology that can efficiently turn sunlight and water into energy has long been seen as the Holy Grail of science. The conversion of solar energy into hydrogen is one of the answers to the question of how to provide an effective alternative to fossil fuels and thus end our dependence on oil. Nocera’s invention could even help save the planet, by turning around global warming. Furthermore, in light of the events at Fukushima, Japan, it might also prove to be a safe replacement for nuclear energy. However, this is all wishful thinking at the moment. The technology, although highly promising, is still in its early stages of development. In the near future, it could provide energy to people in remote areas of sunnier countries.


Some food for thought...
 
What’s wrong with fossil fuels?
What happens if fossil fuels run out before we find an alternative?
Have we become too greedy for energy?
Do you think this invention could reverse global warming?
What do you think of nuclear energy?

Second Explosion at Japan Nuclear Plant

This is the text we saw in class this week. Without looking ;) do it now as a cloze. Later, check your answers with your worksheet.

Can you understand the meaning of the underlined words and expressions?

 

Second Explosion at Japan Nuclear Plant (14th March, 2011)

A second explosion has (1) ____ at the nuclear power plant that was damaged in Friday’s catastrophic earthquake and tsunami. Nuclear reactor 3 from the Fukushima plant suffered a (2) ____ explosion to that which hit reactor 1 on Saturday. Officials say the blast did not damage the casing which houses the uranium fuel rods in the reactor’s (3) ____. Experts believe the latest explosion was caused by a build-(4) ____ of hydrogen in the building that covers the core. Japan’s prime minister Naoto Kan has told people there is no danger of a radioactive (5) ____, but warned the situation to cool the reactors is still critical. He described recent events as "the biggest crisis Japan has (6) ____ in the 65 years since the end of World War II".
Japan is beginning to understand more details of its tragedies. The death (7) ____ is slowly rising. Police found over 2,000 bodies on the (8) ____ of Miyagi prefecture on Monday and at least ten thousand people are missing in the port town of Minamisanriku. Tens of thousands of people have been (9) ____ from a 20-km radius of the Fukushima nuclear power plants – many fear they will never see their homes again. More than 22 Fukushima (10) ____ are being treated for the effects of exposure to radiation. The whole of Japan is extremely concerned about the ongoing crisis at the power plants. Experts say a disaster on the scale of Chernobyl is highly unlikely. Nevertheless, the quiet fear and panic experienced by the Japanese raise questions about nuclear safety.

Put the correct words from the table below in the above article.

1.	(a)	occurrence	(b)	occurs	(c)	occurring	(d)	occurred
2.	(a)	similar	(b)	alike	(c)	identical	(d)	same
3.	(a)	bore	(b)	core	(c)	lore	(d)	pore
4.	(a)	in	(b)	out	(c)	up	(d)	down
5.	(a)	leaky	(b)	leaks	(c)	leak	(d)	leaking
6.	(a)	recoiled	(b)	encountered	(c)	dispirited	(d)	undaunted
7.	(a)	doll	(b)	poll	(c)	moll	(d)	toll
8.	(a)	coastline	(b)	fault line	(c)	beeline	(d)	inline
9.	(a)	excavated	(b)	evacuated	(c)	elevated	(d)	estimated
10.	(a)	residence	(b)	resides	(c)	residency	(d)	residents
11.	(a)	affects	(b)	affective	(c)	effects	(d)	effective
12.	(a)	scale	(b)	limit	(c)	grade	(d)	ratio

Japan’s Quake, Tsunami and Atomic Alert

News from the 12th of March

Japan is beginning the cleanup after Friday’s (1) ____ earthquake and tsunami. The death (2) ____ is currently at 573 with hundreds more people missing. Most of the people died in the (3) ____ tsunami, which was up to ten metres high. Japan’s Fire and Disaster Management Agency says the number of destroyed buildings has (4) ____ 3,400, but that is expected to rise. In the quake-hit areas, around 5.57 million households (5) ____ have no electricity, while more than one million homes have had their water supply cut (6) ____.

The mega-earthquake is the seventh largest (7) ____ recorded. It hit northeast Japan at 2:46 p.m. with a magnitude (8) ____ 8.9 on the Richter scale. It was felt as far away as Beijing, China. The following tsunami has completely (9) ____ away large parts of Japan’s north. The damage is      (10) ____ tens of billions of dollars. Fifty-three countries in the Pacific Rim were put on tsunami alert. Japan’s Prime Minister Naoto Kan said his        (11) ____ focus now is to stop a nuclear power plant from overheating. Scientists released (12) ____ steam from the plant to reduce the pressure inside it.

Put the correct words from this table into the article.

1.	(a)	death	(b)	dead	(c)	deadly
2.	(a)	toll	(b)	doll	(c)	roll
3.	(a)	largish	(b)	massive	(c)	tiny
4.	(a)	reaches	(b)	reached	(c)	reaching
5.	(a)	current	(b)	currant	(c)	currently
6.	(a)	off	(b)	on	(c)	in
7.	(a)	ever	(b)	never	(c)	even
8.	(a)	by	(b)	at	(c)	of
9.	(a)	washing	(b)	washed	(c)	washes
10.	(a)	on	(b)	to	(c)	in
11.	(a)	main	(b)	mainly	(c)	mains
12	(a)	radio	(b)	radioactive	(c)	radiate

Spain, last in the queue.

Read this interesting article published yesterday in ABC about English in our country in comparison with the rest of Europe.

http://www.abc.es/20110322/sociedad/abci-nivel-ingles-201103221826.html

Food for thought!

Japan Earthquake and Tsunami

Can you understand the meaning of the highlighted words without using a dictionary? 

Message from the American Red Cross 

Earthquake and tsunami in the Pacific - What you can do‏

Friend,

The pictures coming out of Japan today are just devastating. This epic 8.9 magnitude earthquake off the nation's shores set off a series of giant waves that devastated its northern coast and spawned tsunami warnings in dozens of other countries in the Pacific, including the U.S.

As I write this, the Japanese Red Cross is deploying relief workers, emergency supplies, and other assistance to help ease suffering. Other Red Cross societies in the Pacific region have provided early warning messages and assisted in evacuating those at risk. The American Red Cross opened temporary evacuation centers across the West Coast and Hawaii, providing a safe place for nearly 2,500 people to stay while they watched and waited for possible tsunami impact.

Emergency relief is needed right now for the mounting critical needs of the masses suffering such grave loss. Please donate now to support the Japan earthquake and Pacific tsunami effort:

http://american.redcross.org/Earthquake

The early reports we're receiving indicate this disaster has taken hundreds of lives and devastated thousands more.

As part of the global Red Cross humanitarian network of more than 13 million volunteers and 186 Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, we're uniquely positioned to manage catastrophic emergencies and provide assistance to those affected by emergencies like this enormous disaster.

The American Red Cross stands ready to extend support beyond the U.S. and its territories to assist other nations. Our warehouse in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia is fully stocked with pre-positioned relief supplies for thousands of families, and our disaster specialists are standing by in case their assistance is requested.

Please help us do everything we can to assist in this time of great tragedy, give generously now.

Sincerely,

David Meltzer
Senior Vice President, International Services
American Red Cross

Education Helps Keep Blood Pressure Down

Cloze based on a piece of news from 28.02.2011

A new (1) ____ shows that staying in education for a long time helps blood pressure. Scientists have found a link between the number of years spent studying and (2) ____ blood pressure. The research looked at data from 4,000 people in the USA. They found that (3) ____ who had a university education had lower blood pressure (4) ____ people who did not enter higher education.  Study leader Eric Loucks said people who left school (5) ____ were more likely to have a stressful job and low income. He said both these things contributed (6) ____ stress.
Many people think it is more stressful to stay (7) ____ in education. University exams are famous for causing students lots of stress. It also (8) ____ strange that people with university degrees have lower blood pressure than those without. Graduates usually become managers in companies, or teachers and those (9) ____ are very stressful. The report looked (10) ____ blood pressure levels at the end of a 30-year period. It (11) ____ be that people who were in education longer were richer and had a better standard of living. Money worries often (12) ____ lots of stress.

Put the correct words from this table into the article.

1.	(a)	studying	(b)	studied	(c)	study
2.	(a)	low	(b)	below	(c)	lows
3.	(a)	them	(b)	those	(c)	they
4.	(a)	than	(b)	from	(c)	by
5.	(a)	fast	(b)	quick	(c)	early
6.	(a)	at	(b)	to	(c)	on
7.	(a)	on	(b)	at	(c)	with
8.	(a)	seem	(b)	seen	(c)	seems
9.	(a)	position	(b)	positions	(c)	post
10.	(a)	at	(b)	on	(c)	in
11.	(a)	will	(b)	going to	(c)	could
12	(a)	because	(b)	cause	(c)	course

The new Speeding Law

What does this sign mean?

You MUSTN'T drive faster than 110 km/hr.

You CAN'T do it, it is prohibited/forbidden/not allowed.

You HAVE TO drive slower than 110 km/hr or you'll get a fine.

It is a race against the clock this weekend for road maintenance crews to change all the 120 km/hr signs across the country to 110 km/hr. In most cases stickers are being used to replace the signs, while in Navarra stickers are being used just to replace the ‘2’ with a ‘1’.


All the signs should be changed by 6am on Monday from when the top speed on Spanish motorways will be 110km/hr after the measure was printed in the Official State Bulletin on Sunday.


The Government has announced the measure will be in force for an initial four month period, which could be extended if there continues to be possible supply problems from oil producing countries.


The measure is not possible with the public, with a poll published in El País on Sunday showing 69% of the population are against it. The Government has called for responsibility and coherence and considers the measure will reduce petrol consumption by 28.6 million barrels a year, and save 12.5 tons of CO2 emissions.


The DGT traffic authority has said that 100 € fines will be issued for anyone clocked travelling at 111kms/hr, although some driving associations claim that fines will not be issued until 115kms/hr.

(Source: http://www.typicallyspanish.com/news/publish/article_29487.shtml#ixzz1FrHhz4RI)

What do you reckon about this new speed limit?

In the News: Sidewalk rage, Libya and Royal Wedding.

Click on the headlines to read the full article.

1,900 royal wedding invitations sent

Posted:

Feb 18, 2011. Buckingham Palace has sent out invitations for the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton. Officials have not disclosed who is invited but journalists who follow the royal family say half of the guests are family and friends.

Libya: Gaddafi's son warns of 'rivers of blood'

Posted:

Feb 21, 2011. Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's son Seif has warned of ''rivers of blood'' in a televised statement. He said Libya was in danger of civil war if the pro-democracy protestors did not stop their demonstrations.

Sidewalk rage common in big cities

Posted:

Feb 24, 2011. Do you ever get angry at people walking slowly in front of you? If you do, you might be suffering from Intermittent Explosive Disorder (IED).

Elementary School is Oscars-Bound

Carpetbagger is a section in the New York Times dedicated to cinema glamour. Reporter Melena Ryzik is visiting P.S. 22, a public Elementary School in Staten Island (NY) but why? 

What does this Elementary school have to do with Hollywood glamour?

Watch this video and answer the following questions

How many people are flying across the country?

Is this their first contact with fame and celebrity?

Why did they post videos on youtube?

What type of music do the kids bring to sing?

What happened when the Hollywood producer first rang?

What did the principal think when she got the call?

Most of the kids have never…

What happened at their holiday concert?

Who do the kids think should win an Oscar this year?

How does the teacher feel about all this?

How to choose a topic

Also, take into account the following topics included in the Syllabus for Intermediate level:

- Health and physical activity
- Food and Nutrition
- Climate and weather conditions
- Environmental issues
- Home and living

Some websites you can visit for ideas are:

- Breaking News English
- News English Lessons (easier)
- Words in the News
- VOA News

Offensive ads at the Super Bowl

Groupon is a company that offers all sorts of discounts... Their ads appeared in the commercial breaks of the Super Bowl (last Sunday 6th Feb) and caused much controversy as some of them were considered offensive, ...but can you imagine why?

Here are some of these adverts. Is there anything you find controversial, insulting or politically incorrect?







Here is the full article: And the Most Offensive Super Bowl Ad Goes To: Groupon?

To watch the complete list of Super Bowl commercials: The best and worse Super Bowl commercials

In the news: “The Daily” Digital Newspaper Launched

MULTIPLE CHOICE: Put the correct words into the article

The biggest names (1) ____ technology and newspapers came together on Wednesday to (2) ____ the world’s first digital newspaper. News Corporation and Apple joined forces to publish “The Daily,” which is (3) ____ available on the Apple iPad. News Corp. chairman Rupert Murdoch said the online paper would provide “a fresh new voice”. The Daily will be (4) ____ through Apple's App Store and iTunes. It costs 99 cents a week to (5) ____, or $39.99 a year. News Corp. will get 70 cents from each weekly subscription and Apple will (6) ____ the rest.
Publishing and charging for an online newspaper (7) ____ a big risk. Most newspapers already provide an online edition of their content (8) ____ free. It’s a little difficult to understand why The Daily will become popular and (9) ____ a profit. Mr Murdoch said his project will be successful "when we sell millions." He (10) ____: "Our ambitions are very big, but our costs are very low." Murdoch told reporters he had faith (11) ____ people reading news on the iPad and other tablets, saying: "there will be (12) ____ over a billion around the world".

Put the correct words from this table into the article.

1.	(a)	on	(b)	in	(c)	at
2.	(a)	launch	(b)	lunch	(c)	lynch
3.	(a)	one	(b)	ones	(c)	only
4.	(a)	sell	(b)	sold	(c)	sale
5.	(a)	subscribes	(b)	subscribe	(c)	subscription
6.	(a)	pocket	(b)	zip	(c)	button
7.	(a)	are	(b)	is	(c)	be
8.	(a)	for	(b)	at	(c)	from
9.	(a)	do	(b)	form	(c)	make
10.	(a)	added	(b)	divided	(c)	multiplied
11.	(a)	on	(b)	to	(c)	in
12	(a)	will	(b)	wall	(c)	well

The key can be found in the comments to this post.

Travel Chaos at British Airport

Reading Comprehension Exercise

GAP FILL: Put the words into the gaps in the text.

season   deal   spent   haul   centre   lack   heavy   frustrated   worries   mess   executive   declined   offered   aspect   storm   behalf

London’s Heathrow Airport is at the ____________ of criticism for its virtual shutdown during recent ____________ snow in England. Heathrow is one of the world’s busiest airports, yet it failed to ____________ with snowfall of 9 centimetres, even 3 days after the snow fell. Airport authorities cancelled more than 3,200 flights, leaving thousands of ____________ passengers stranded in the terminal buildings. The situation is made worse as the Christmas holiday ____________ is one of the busiest times of the year for air travel. What has been frustrating travelers most is the ____________ of flight information and basics like food and water. Passengers who have ____________ days sleeping on the airport floor are perplexed as to why only one third of flights are leaving, mainly long ____________, when there has been no snow for three days.

Colin Matthews, chief ____________ of British Airports Authority, is facing a ____________ of criticism over this problem. Mr Matthews could not give any real answers to journalists’ questions about the ____________. He said in an interview with BBC radio: "I am really sorry…We are going to crawl over every ____________ of these last few days when we've got every passenger in the right place.” Britain’s Prime Minister David Cameron has added his ____________ that the airport should not come to a standstill because of snow. He said: “I'm frustrated on ____________ of all those affected that it's taking so long for the situation to improve.” Mr Cameron ____________ the help of Britain’s Army to help clear the snow from the runways, but the airport ____________, saying they already have 200 volunteers.

Look at the comments to this post to see the key.

2011 to be the best year ever

 Make sure you remember the meaning of the highlighted words and expressions!

 

Futurologists and experts who study New Year’s resolutions predict 2011 will be the best year ever for many people. This is welcome news for the billions around the world who hope this year will be better than last year. 2011 will see more people lifted out of poverty and there will be a greater number of people with access to computers. One expert looked forward to new developments that will help the environment. California will open the world's largest solar power plant and several electric cars will go on sale, including the much-awaited Tesla. It’s going to be a great year if you study English. There will be more cool websites and applications for students to brush up on spelling, vocabulary and grammar.

It seems more of us will keep our New Year’s resolutions this year. According to a New Year’s Day poll, the top resolution is to spend more quality time with family and friends. This means talking to them rather than being on the phone or texting messages in front of them. The second most popular thing we will resolve to do is get fitter. Experts say many of us could keep this promise well into February before giving up. We usually forget about this resolution in mid-January. Other top plans include quitting smoking, getting out of debt and helping others. Of course, studying English more featured high on many people’s lists. Make 2011 your best ever year and stick to your resolutions.

What are your New Year Resolutions? Why? What are their chances of success? Are they related to any of these topics: Study, Family and friends, Health, Money, Habits, other...

What are your predictions for 2011? Make some about these topics: money, sport, war, my English, technology, environment, weather, my country, my hometown...

Lost in translation?

Look at what The Guardian (British newspaper) published yesterday about the use of interpreters in the Spanish Senate.

Lost in translation? Spanish senators allowed to debate in five languages

Opposition says allowing Castilian, Catalan, Galician, Valencian and Euskara in senate is waste of money.

You can read the full article here.

Also interesting, click here for an interactive map of the languages spoken in Spain.

What do you think about this controversial topic? 

Please feel free to share your opinion with us.

El inglés, filtro para los empleos del aeropuerto de Corvera

Las oficinas de empleo y los servicios de orientación registran las primeras colas de candidatos a conseguir una de las casi 1.300 plazas

Haz click aquí para ver la noticia en La Opinión Digital.

"No hay un perfil concreto de aspirante, pero sí un nexo de unión: la necesidad de dominar la lengua inglesa. Es lógico que al tratarse de un aeropuerto internacional quienes trabajen en él deban dominar dicho idioma, pero para muchos de los aspirantes ha supuesto toda una sorpresa. En la mayoría de los cursos se exige, como mínimo, el nivel B1 (cuarto curso de las Escuelas Oficiales de Idiomas o títulos de varias instituciones privadas que están homologados)."

In the News: Christmas

Some of the latest news in the world related to Christmas. Make sure you understand the words in bold and if you have anything to comment, an opinion to share, please do! And as I always recommend... TRY NOT TO USE A DICTIONARY unless extremely necessary!

(And I hope you're enjoying the holidays).

 

 

Brits Angry at Xmas Reindeer Steaks (16th November, 2010)

British people are angry at a discount supermarket for selling reindeer meat. The store, Lidl, is offering “Rudolph steaks” as an alternative to the traditional turkey. The German chain is selling the frozen steaks along with other "luxury meats" such as pheasant, venison and springbok. The vegetarian campaign group Viva! say that "Lidl is destroying the magic of Christmas". Animal rights group PETA said: "The idea of ‘Rudolph’ being slaughtered and sliced into steaks for a novelty Christmas dinner is revolting."

Viva! spokesman Justin Kerswell is worried the reindeer suffer a horrible death. He claimed the Siberian reindeer are chased by snowmobiles and helicopters and may be killed in a cruel way. He added that transporting the meat from Siberia to Britain increased the supermarket’s carbon footprint. A PETA spokesperson agreed, saying: "Christmas is supposed to remind us of peace and goodwill - and the rest of the animal kingdom could do with a taste of it, rather than being tasted."

10-Metre Chocolate Christmas Tree on Offer ( 28th November, 2010)

A famous French chocolate maker has built a 10-metre-high chocolate Christmas tree. The Patrick Roger chocolate factory in Paris will sell the tree at an auction and give the money to charity. The edible tree weighs four tons. It needed a special piece of architectural design to keep it standing. Mr Roger explained: “We used a sort of cavity inside to make the chocolate solid enough, because there is very strong vertical pressure." The tree, which took one month to construct, will be a highlight at France's Telethon, an event to raise money for neuromuscular diseases.

This is a great way of raising money for charity. It will also provide amazing advertising all over the world for the chocolate factory. French chocolate is amongst the yummiest in the world. It is still not clear who might buy the giant tree and what the buyer will do with it. It is certain that many children will watch the telethon on the third and fourth of December wishing they could have some of the tree. The telethon organizers are hoping there will be a world record bid for the chocolate tree. They want as much money as possible for the charity.

 

Traffic Safety for Christmas Reindeer (22nd December, 2010)

There is an increasing number of cars on roads in Norway, home to many of Santa’s reindeer. About 500 reindeer are killed each year in car crashes. Officials from the Norwegian Public Roads Administration have come up with a great idea to keep Santa’s helpers safe this Christmas – reflective yellow tags that are put on the reindeer’s antlers. The leader of the project, Kristian Oevernes, told the Reuters news agency: “It really works….This is the first time it has happened.” Oevernes told the reporter that Santa might also use this idea.

Very few people think about the problems Santa and his reindeer have at Christmas. It must be difficult to fly around the world in one night to deliver so many presents. It gets more and more dangerous every year because there are so many planes in the sky and cars on the road. Santa and his reindeer need as much protection as they can get. Another problem with delivering presents is the disappearance of chimneys. Santa has to think of new ways to get inside houses that do not have a chimney. Apartments are particularly tricky.