READING COMPREHENSION

LEVEL: INTERMEDIATE

A PET FOR THE 21st CENTURY

In the western world, cats are becoming the most desired pet. Their needs fit

perfectly with busy lifestyles. Cats require little time and effort, and are relatively

cheap for the friendship they offer.

They are independent but loving, a combination that appeals to many people. ‘At

the end of a long day my cat is there, ready to curl up in my lap,’ says Sue Hall,

a real estate agent. ‘But during the day, when I’m at work, Storm looks after

herself.’

Cats have changed little from their ancestors of thousands of years ago. Unlike

dogs, cats have not been ‘over-bred’. For this reason they have fewer health

problems, and can live for up to 20 years.

Despite over a thousand years of companionship between cat and man, cats have

never been successfully domesticated. Although most domestic cats are well-fed

by their owners, they will often hunt birds and mice. Cats will also give the dead

victims to their owners as gifts. The owner takes the place of the leader of the

pack for the cat, proudly presenting its prey.

A cat's tail also reveals its wild nature. Tail wagging is a sign that a dog is

happy. The opposite is true for a cat. Cats move their tails from side to side when

they are unhappy or angry. The whole tail is moved, from the base to the tip.

Moving the tip of the tail is different, and it will happen when the cat is stalking

another animal. The cat’s body hides this from the hunted animal, but the

movement signals to other hunting cats that prey has been found. 

Another signal to other cats, purring, shows not only that a cat is content, but

also is thought to be a sign of submission. Purring is first heard in kittens as they

suckle milk from their mother. Adult cats normally purr when they are petted.

Cats that are very ill will purr to themselves, and it is thought they do this to

comfort themselves.

Cats are so successful at reducing stress that doctors are recommending them for

human patients recovering from major surgery.' A loving playful animal that

requires only a little care is ideal,’ says Dr Peter Hopgood, a cardiac surgeon.

‘We know that patients recover from heart surgery more quickly if they keep a

cat.’

LIAR, LIAR

How to spot someonewho's not telling the truth

In a famous fairy story, Pinocchio's nose grew longer when he was telling a lie.

Surprisingly, most of us give off signals when we are not being truthful which are just as obvious.

Personnel managers in companies are learning to look for these give-away signs to pick out dishonest employees. They hope to take credit for weeding out a future Nick Leeson, the man blamed for ruining Barings Bank, before their firm suffers a similar fate. Here are seven tell-tale signs:

1.You touch your nose more often. The tissues in your nose become swollen with blood when you lie, causing it to itch. So you touch your nose frequently to stop it itching.

2.You avoid looking directly at people - or you look at them too much. Partly because telling lies takes concentration, you tend to look away when you are lying. Or you stare at the person for too

long, checking to see that they believe you.

3.You lean forwards. Closeness is normally a sign of trust. You try to exaggerate how close you are by leaning forwards when you lie.

4.You pull your earlobe. No one seems to know why this happens, but most of us do it. Police forces in Europe are trained to watch for this behaviour when interviewing criminals.

5.You tap your feet. This normally happens when you are sitting down, especially if your legs are crossed. As the lie is told, a foot starts tapping or waves in the air.

6.You give too much information. You tell stories that are too elaborate, structured, polished and complete. You try to make absolutely certain that someone will believe you by giving them fifteen different reasons. An honest person would have the confidence to give one reason.

7.You stumble in your speech. You start to make mistakes in what you are saying, and use ‘um’ and ‘er’ a lot more, as you try to give yourself time to invent your lie.

But it isn't always that easy. Skilful liars can learn to suppress these signs. Most of us believe, wrongly, that we are easily able to spot liars. In fact, research has shown that people do better at spotting lies when they can't see the person lying. And strangely people are almost as good at detecting falsehood when they have just read someone's words.

The truth is that honesty is over-valued. Scientists at the University of California have shown that people lie on average 200 times a day. That's about once every 8 minutes! True, most of them are of the 'Great to see you' and 'I love your new dress' sort, but they are still untrue. However, as one of the University researchers puts it: 'Society would be terrible if people started telling the truth. Anyone who did would be regarded with suspicion'.  

Source: New English Digest

GLOSSARY

to spot: to distinguish (detectar)grew longer: became longer (se alargaba)to give off: to show, to give out (demostramos)give-away signs: revealing signals (señales reveladoras)to pick out: to distinguish, to detect (para detectar)weeding out: removing (eliminar)fate: destiny (destino)

earlobe: fleshy part of the ear (lóbulo de la oreja)you tap: you click your feet (golpeas los pies nerviosamente)you stumble: (in this context) you cannot speak fluently, you falter over your words (te equivocas al hablar)that easy (american colloquialism= so

tell-tale: revealing (reveladoras)tissues: cells (tejidos)become swollen: distend (se hinchan, se inflaman)to swell/swelled/swollen: to distend (hincharse)causing it to itch: irritating it (irritándola)you avoid: you abstain from (evitas)you tend to: you have a tendency to (tiendes a)you stare: you look at with fixed eyes (miras fijo)you lean: you incline, you bend (te inclinas)closeness: intimacy, nearness (la intimidad, la cercanía)

easy (tan fácil)to suppress: (in this context) to try to avoid doing something (a reprimir, a ocultar)research: investigation (la investigación)falsehood: falsity (la falsedad)over-valued: over-estimated (sobreestimada, sobrevalorada)on average: typically (en promedio)untrue: false (falsos)puts it: expresses, states (expresa, señala)

NEW YEAR ALL OVER THE WORLD

How and whendo people in

other countriescelebrate New Year?

Not all countries celebrate New Year at the same time, nor in the same way. This is because people in different parts of the world use different calendars. Long ago, people divided time into days, months, and years. Some calendars are based on the movement of the moon, others are based on the position of the sun, while others are based on both the sun and the moon. All over the world, there are special beliefs about New Year.

Long Ago Festivals

PART 1

Ancient Egypt In ancient Egypt, New Year was celebrated at the time the River Nile flooded, which was near the end of September. The flooding of the Nile was very important because without it, the people would not have been able to grow crops in the dry desert. At New Year, statues of the god, Amon and his wife and son were taken up the Nile by boat. Singing, dancing, and feasting was done for a month, and then the statues were taken back to the temple.

BabyloniaBabylonia lay in what is now the country of Iraq. Their New Year was in the Spring. During the festival, the king was stripped of his clothes and sent away, and for a few days everyone could do just what they liked. Then the king returned in a grand procession,

dressed in fine robes. Then, everyone had to return to work and behave properly. Thus, each New Year, the people made a new start to their lives.

The RomansFor a long time the Romans celebrated New Year on the first of March. Then, in 46 BC, the Emperor Julius Caesar began a new calendar. It was the calendar that we still use today, and thus the New Year date was changed to the first day of January. January is named after the Roman god Janus, who was always shown as having two heads. He looked back to the last year and forward to the new one. The Roman New Year festival was called the Calends, and people decorated their homes and gave each other gifts. Slaves and their masters ate and drank together, and people could do what they wanted to for a few days.

The CeltsThe Celts were the people who lived in Gaul, now called France, and parts of Britain before the Romans arrived there. Their New Year festival was called Samhain. It took place at the end of October, and Samhain means 'summer's end'. At Samhain, the Celts gathered mistletoe to keep ghosts away, because they believed this was the time when the ghosts of the dead returned to haunt the living.

PART 2

Jewish New YearThe Jewish New Year is called Rosh Hashanah. It is a holy time when people think of the things they have done wrong in the past, and they promise to do better in the future. Special services are held in synagogues, and an instrument called a Shofar, which is made from a ram's horn is played. Children are given new clothes, and New Year loaves are baked and fruit is eaten to remind people of harvest time.

Muslim New YearThe Muslim calendar is based on the movements of the moon, so the date of New Year is eleven days earlier each year. Iran is a Muslim country which used to be called Persia. The people celebrate New Year on March 21, and a few weeks before this date, people put grains of wheat or barley in a little dish to grow. By the time of New Year, the grains have produced shoots, and this reminds the people of spring and a new year of life.

Hindu New YearMost Hindus live in India, but they don't all celebrate New Year in the same way or at the same time. The people of West Bengal, in Northern India, like to wear flowers at New Year, and they use flowers in the colors of pink, red, purple, or white. Women like to wear yellow, which is the color of Spring. In Kerala, in Southern India, mothers put food, flowers, and little gifts on a special tray. On New Year's morning, the children have to keep their eyes closed until they have been led to the tray. In Central India, orange flags are flown from buildings on New Year's Day. In Gujarat, in Western India, New Year is celebrated at the end of October, and it is celebrated at the same time as the Indian festival of Diwali. At the time of Diwali, small oil lights are lit all along the roofs of buildings. At New Year, Hindus think particularly of the goddess of wealth, Lakshmi.

PART 3

The Far East VietnamIn Vietnam, the New Year is called Tet Nguyen Dan or Tet for short. It begins between January 21 and February 19, and the exact day changes from year to year. They believe that there is a god in every home, and at the New Year this god travels to heaven. There he will say how good or bad each member of the family has been in the past year. They used to believe that the god traveled on the back of a fish called a carp, and today, they sometimes buy a live carp, and then let it go free in a river or pond. They also believe that the first person to enter their house at New Year will bring either good or bad luck.

JapanIn Japan, New Year is celebrated on January 1, but the Japanese also keep some beliefs from their religion, which is called Shinto. To keep out evil spirits, they hang a rope of straw across the front of their houses, and this stands for happiness and good luck. The moment the New Year begins, the Japanese people begin to laugh, and this is supposed to bring them good luck in the new year.

Chinese New YearThe Chinese New Year is celebrated some time between January 17 and February 19, at the time of the new moon, and it is called Yuan Tan. It is celebrated by Chinese people all over the world, and street processions are an exciting part of their New Year. The Festival of Lanterns is the street processions, and thousands of lanterns are used to light the way for the New Year. The Chinese people believe that there are evil spirits around at New Year, so they let off firecrackers to frighten the spirits away. Sometimes they seal their windows and doors with paper to keep the evil spirits out.

New Year in the WestNew Year's Day processions with decorated floats and bands are a part of New Year, and football is also played all over the United States on New Year's Day. In Europe, New Year was often a time for superstition and fortune-telling, and in some parts of Switzerland and Austria, people dress up to celebrate Saint Sylvester's Eve. In AD 314, there was a Pope called Saint Sylvester, and people believed that he captured a terrible sea monster. It was thought that in the year 1000, this sea monster would escape and destroy the world, but since it didn't happen, the people were delighted. Since then, in parts of Austria and Switzerland, this story is remembered at New Year, and people dress up in fantastic costumes, and are called Sylvesterklauses. In Greece, New Year's Day is also the Festival of Saint Basil. Saint Basil was famous for his kindness, and Greek children leave their shoes by the fire on New Year's Day with the hope that he will come and fill the shoes with gifts.  In Scotland, New Year is called Hogmanay, and in some villages barrels of tar are set alight and rolled through the streets. Thus, the old year is burned up and the new one allowed to enter.  Scottish people believe that the first person to enter your house in the New Year will bring good or bad luck, and it is very good luck if the visitor is a dark-haired man bringing a gift. This custom is called first-footing. The song, Auld Lang Syne is sung at midnight on New Year's Eve, and this custom is now celebrated all over the world.

10 WAYS TO REDUCE STRESS AT WORK

Douglas Jasch

Productivity drives, efficiency initiatives, company cutbacks, mergers...

 

While the modern workplace is producing more for less, recent research has indicated that

increasing worker output is being accompanied by increased stress.

However, by following the simple hints and techniques mentioned below you can

effectively lower tension and find that your work life quickly improves and that you are far

better able to manage your stress. Let's see...

1. Personalise your work space.

Bring a plant to work, a photograph of the family and some personal items. The

plant will help to provide fresh oxygen in an air-conditioned environment. By

personalising your workspace you create an atmosphere in which it is comfortable

to work. This can help to increase your productivity. Whatever you decide to

do, it is important to select items appropriate to your company's culture.

2. Start the day in a positive way.

Try to be positive about going to work. Research has indicated that a positive

attitude helps to reduce stress and conflict in the workplace.

3. Prioritise your tasks.

Set a list of priorities each day. Prioritising your tasks will help to reduce stress by

ensuring that the most important things are done first which helps to avoid

emergencies and unnecessary pressure.  

4. Achieve a task a day.

When you set your priorities, make sure you include at least one task which you

will be able to complete on that day. Even if it is a very small task and there are

several complex tasks you will be working on, completing one thing each day will

help, you feel a sense of achievement and satisfaction.

5. Exercise Your body.

Try to do some exercise at least once a day. A twenty-minute stroll at lunch will

not only reduce stress but could also help you to live longer.

6. Exercise Your Eyes.

In the modern world it is not enough to only exercise your body. With the advent

of computers and the necessity in the modem office to sit looking at a screen for

hours on end, it is also important to exercise your eyes. There is little doubt that

computers have helped increase worker productivity and efficiency. Unfortunately

there is a very negative side effect from excessive computer use: bad eyesight.

By staring into the distance for one minute every hour you can greatly reduce

the likelihood of suffering eye damage. It is just as important to exercise your

eyes as your body.

7. Take Regular Breaks.

Take regular short breaks. Most people can only maintain effective concentration

for 40 minutes. Regular short breaks will help you to be at your productive best. lt

will also help to approach problems from a different perspective after a break.

Don't work through coffee breaks and always try to leave the office to eat your

lunch.

8. Eat Healthy Food.

Eating healthy food cannot only increase the length of your life, it also helps to

reduce stress. The traditional Mediterranean diet is recommended. Animal fats

and excessive alcohol intake should be avoided.

9. Avoid conflict.

Seek solutions and resolutions not confrontation. Be flexible and try to maintain

positive relationships with your colleagues.

10. Sleep.

Many executives believe that they only need five or six hours sleep a night. This

may be so for a lucky few but the reality is that most of us need between eight

and ten hours sleep a night.

Source: Think in English

GLOSSARY

productivity drives: (in this context) productivity campaigns (las campañas de productividad)cutback: personnel reduction (reducción de personal)merger: process in which two companies join together and become one company (fusión)output: production (producción)hint: piece of advice, recommendation, tip (recomendación, sugerencia) items: things, articles. belongings (artículos)whatever (you decide to do): it makes no difference what (you decide to do) (independientemente de lo que decidas hacer)to prioritise: to assign a priority to (priorizar)

task: piece of work, individual job (tarea)to achieve: finish, conclude (alcanzar, lograr)achievement: fulfilled goal (logro, objetivo alcanzado)stroll: walk for pleasure (paseo, caminata)advent: arrival (llegada, advenimiento)screen: computer display (pantalla de monitor)to stare: look for a long time (mirar fijamente)likelihood: probability (probabilidad)break (n.): period of rest (descanso, recreo)through: (in this context) during (durante)animal fats: oily substances derived from animals (grasas animales)intake: consumption (consumo, ingesta)to seek: look for, try to find (buscar)

Fast Food's Biggest Customer: Not the Poor, But the Middle ClassBy Meredith Melnick Monday, November 7, 2011 |

Contrary to popular wisdom, eating at McDonald's isn't exactly cheap, costing some $28 for a family of four. Which might help explain the results of a recent study from the University of California, Davis, which found that people's visits to fast-food joints increased along with their incomes, and that poor people were spending fewer dollars on fast food than lower-middle and middle-income Americans.

The authors said their study suggests that the availability of fast food isn't the only driver of obesity in poor groups. "There is a correlation between obesity and lower income, but it cannot be solely attributed to restaurant choice," said J. Paul Leigh, professor of public health sciences at U.C. Davis and senior author of the study, in a statement. "Fast-food dining is most popular among the middle class, who are less likely to be obese."

MORE: Why Lovin' the McRib Isn't Heart Smart

Leigh and colleague DaeHwan Kim analyzed 1994-96 data from the Continuing Survey of Food Intakes by Individuals and the accompanying Diet and Health Knowledge Survey. The data included responses from 5,000 Americans who were asked about restaurant dining habits, income, race, gender, age and education.

The researchers found that people visited fast-food restaurants more often as their household income increased — at least up to a point. Fast-food visits rose along with annual income up to $60,000; beyond that, visits started to drop back down, replaced by full-service, sit-down dining at slightly higher prices.

Based on the data, the researchers described the typical fast-food consumer as a lower-middle income head of household, who is budget-conscious and harried and likes the convenience and low price of fast food, compared with other restaurants. Poor people, by contrast, can't easily afford fast-food "value meals," and the poorest, who may rely on the FNS Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, certainly can't use food stamps at McDonald's.

LIST: Health-Washing: Is 'Healthy' Fast Food for Real?

For many years, the connection between poverty and obesity has been linked in part to the abundance of fast food in low-income areas. While the current study challenges the notion that poorer people eat more fast food than those who are better off, it doesn't absolve fast-food restaurants completely.

The study didn't take into consideration what people ate outside of restaurants, for example, and it's well established that low-income neighborhoods tend to be "food deserts" — where fresh, whole foods are scarce and where the bulk of available food is the high-fat, high-sugar stock of convenience stores. That type of environment is thought to contribute to unhealthy eating and weight gain.

"It would be a big mistake to look at the results of this report and say the environments people live in don't matter, because they do," Micah Weinberg, a senior policy adviser at the Bay Area Council who works on public health issues, told The Sacramento Bee.

The study's authors agreed that fast food certainly isn't helping the national waistline. "I'm not a big fan of fast food," Leigh told the Bee. "I'm sure that fast food in general has a big effect on obesity. This research does not contradict that."

The study will be published in Population Health Management in December

Source: TIME Magazine

MODERN URBAN MYTHS

Wilfredo FernandesThough the vast majority of urban tales are pure invention, a handful do

turn out to be based on real incidents.

Spiders in your Yucca plant

A woman buys a Yucca plant for her apartment and gives it pride of place next to her bed.

When she wakes the next morning hundreds of baby tarantula spiders have  emerged from the

plant and covered her bed.

Nasty Burglars

A family find their home burgled one day. They are so upset that they decide to take a

holiday. They return from their holiday, and send the film from their camera to be developed.

When the pictures are returned, they find that the first few were taken by the burglars.

Lethal Payphones

There are payphones in your neighbourhood that either have poisons or drugs on the keys that

will kill you when you make a call; or have HIV infected needles in the coin return slot that

will scratch you when you take your change.

The Car With Its Lights Out

A man is driving along late at night. He sees a car coming in the other direction without its

lights on. He flashes his own lights at the car to remind the other driver to put their lights on.

The other car is being driven by a gang. The gang are waiting to shoot the first person who

flashes their lights at them.

Death From Above

There was a person who was mysteriously killed while walking along a street. The autopsy

revealed that he had been killed by a solid object falling from above – a piece of frozen

human waste ejected from an aeroplane flying at 10,000 metres.

Source: New English Digest