Riassunto esame Lingua Inglese, prof. Reggiani, libro consigliato Food for Thought, Blanc, Murchison, Law

JUNK FOOD CAUSES 40.000 DEATHS A YEAR

This text deals with the problem of the high number of deaths in Britain caused

by junk food and an extremely high level of salt and fat in the diet of most

English people.

Junk food is considered to be responsible for more than 40,000 deaths a year,

because it brings about (causa) cardiovascular diseases, such as heart attacks

and strokes.

The NICE (National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence) has published a

guidance in which it explains how to prevent all these deaths: the

organisation’s goal is to encourage an healthier lifestyle and an healthier diet,

with less fat and less salt.

This guidance is made up of different points:

food which contains less salt and fat should be cheaper than the

- unhealthy food;

advertising of junk food should be banned until after 9 pm and lots of fast

- food outlets should be closed, especially near schools;

food producers and farmers should be paid to produce healthier food;

- local authorities should encourage people to do physical activitie, such as

- walking and cycling.

Lots of experts have expressed their opinion about this topic.

For example Klim McPherson, the Chairman of the NICE, says that their aim is

to make the healthy choice also the easiest and the cheapest choice.

On the other hand, the Food and Drink Federation has accused the NICE of not

considering the real facts: the food industry is reducing the quantity of salt and

fat contained in their recipes, improving also the quality of nutritional

information on packs. Cricket

This text chronicles (ripercorrere) the history of cricket.

This game was invented during Saxon and Norman times by children living in

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the south of England and then, in 17 century, adults began playing it too.

Different words are thought to be possible sources for the name “cricket”, but

the most likely is a Middle Dutch expression which means “with the stick

chase” and which also suggests a Dutch connection in the game’s origin.

The first direct reference to this game is found in 1598, but it started being

played by adults only in 1611, when two men were prosecuted for playing

cricket on Sunday instead of going to church and, in the same year, a

dictionary defined cricket as a boy’s game.

During the Civil War and then the Commonwealth, cricket was contested by the

Church and the new Puritan government also issued some laws which made

cricket’s popularity decrease: for example the government banned all those

raucous games played during the Sabbath, which was the only free time

available to the lower class.

After the Restoration, cricket became a gambling sport and it was mentioned in

the newspapers for the first time. In this period the first “county teams” were

also formed and they used county names.

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During the 17 century cricket was introduced to North America and in the 18

century to other parts of the world, such as India and Australia, while during

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the 19 century it also arrived in New Zealand and South Africa.

In 1969, cricket was so popular that a national league was created.

Furthermore, cricket began to be broadcasted on TV: technology, and in

particular the use of cameras, became very important, because it allowed

viewers to participate to the match and to understand the umpire’s (arbitro)

decisions.

Today cricket is still one of the most important sports in terms of participants,

spectators and media interest.

WHY THE OLYMPICS STILL MATTER

This text deals with the Olympics, which were born in Greece and which are still

today a very important sports event, able to inspire and unite the world.

The first Summer Games were organized in Athens in 1896, while the first

Winter Games were organized in Chamonix, France, in 1924.

These Games have accompanied historical events, from the rise of Hitler’s

regime to the Cold War.

Today, they are trying to survive, combining tradition and the necessity to

attract new generations.

The most famous part of the Olympics is obviously the Opening Ceremony,

which consists of a parade of athletes from all over the world, who wave their

national flags with joy. During this Ceremony, it seems that the world becomes

as one.

This march is accompanied by pre-recorded music, songs and dances and it’s

becoming a sort of religious rite, in which some national myths are re-created,

according to which is the nation that hosts the Games.

Lots of athletes take part to the Olympic Games: some of them have

professional contracts, while many others have instead to find funds in order to

train. Most of them are men, even if the number of female competitors is rising.

The athletes compete, but the most difficult struggle for them is the one with

their selves: in fact they have to do their best, after having spent four years on

training.

Today a lot of new sports have been added to the traditional ones, such as

snowboarding, freestyle skiing, curling and ice hockey, which have also favored

American and Canadian athletes.

All these new sports are necessary to attract the attention of the younger

generations because they make the Games more interesting for them.

It’s true that the Olympics are a sports event, but we also have to consider

them from an economic and political point of view.

Every four years the different nations compete to host the Olympics, because

they think that if the host the Olympic Games they will have huge reward and

economic benefits, a thing that doesn’t generally happen.

On the contrary the Olympics leave cities in debt. They are in fact described as

“disposable” events, that means that lots of infrastructures and facilities are

built with lots of years of hard work, but then, when the Olympics are over,

they are no longer used.

According to the some economists host cities should reduce their investments

in new infrastructures and facilities.

Mass media

This text deals with “mass media”, a term which identifies the section of the

media which has been created to reach a large audience.

The first printed book was produced in China in 868, but, because of the slow

spread of literacy to the masses and the high cost of paper, the earliest printed

mass-medium was European.

Gutenberg printed in fact the first book in 1453 and his invention of the

printing press with movable types totally transformed the way in which people

received printed materials, even if books were still too expensive to be called

mass-media. th

Later, during the 20 century, technological innovations promoted the growth

of mass media: printing, film duplication, for example, allowed the duplication

of books, newspapers and movies addressed to a large audience at low prices.

The main mass-media are:

♦ Journalism: it is the discipline of collecting, analysing and spreading

information about events, social situations, trends.

♦ Public relations: is the art and science of managing communication

between an organization or a company and its target in order to build and

mantain a positive image of the organization itself.

Public relations can be used for example by companies in order to give

information about their products or services to potential customers; or for

example by politicians in order to attract votes.

♦ Film: the term “film” comes from the expression “photographic film” and it is

considered a very important art form, which is still today able to entertain,

educate and inspire people.

Films are produced by recording people and objects with cameras and by using

animation techniques and/or special effects.

♦ The Internet: the Internet is also called “the Net” or “the Web” and it

consists in a great number of different networks which are interconnected.

The terms “Internet” and “World Wide Web” are often used as synonymous, but

they actually denote two different things: in fact, while the Internet is the

system of interconnected computer networks, the Web is the contents, it

contains the documents which are linked.

The advent of the World Wide Web has transformed the world, in fact today

each individual can reach a global audience through the Net and obtain a vast

amount of information, imagery and commentary.

However, the great circulation of information makes it difficult to attest the

authenticity and reliability of information contained in web pages.

♦ Mobile phones: they were invented in Japan, but they became a mass

media only in 1998 when Finland introduced the possibility to download ringing

tones.

Today mobile phones are so popular in Japan that five of the ten best-selling

printed books were originally released as mobile phone books.

What is reality TV doing to society?

This text deals with reality TV and in particular with how reality TV shows have

developed and evolved through time.

The very first broadcasted reality TV show was “Candid Camera”, in which

people were unwittingly filmed in embarrassing situations, but their privacy

and dignity were protected.

Then the situation changed during the 1960s, the years of sexual revolution,

the civil rights movement, the anti-war movement, feminism and protest.

People became more sexually open and violent in their behaviour and,

consequently, television programs became more sexually explicit and violent

too.

In this period “An American Family” was broadcasted: this was a reality TV

show in which the Louds, an American family, was filmed every day for seven

months and all most intimate details of their life were revealed.

Today competitiveness and materialism are two keywords to represent reality

TV, because people take part to reality TV shows and they hard compete, in

order to win love or money.

However, many viewers are attracted by reality TV shows, because they can

identify with the ordinary people who are chosen as participants and then

become famous, or also because they like the competitiveness of the show.

On the other hand, many analysts find today reality TV shows ethically and

morally reprehensible, firstly because some of them are physically dangerous

for the participants; moreover, because they give more importance to

superficial characteristics, such as physical beauty, giving a bad example to

teenagers.

For this reason, despite the reality TV shows’ success, many critics hope that

their popularity will decrease in order to let innovative documentaries and

news programs develop. Budget airlines

This text deals with budget airlines and it reveals that sometimes these airlines

are more expensive than people think.

In the first part the article speaks about Ryanair, a famous budget airline, which

has raised its per-bag fee during the summer period, in July and August.

According to Ryanair, this extra fee will incentivise passengers to travel light,

without heavy suitcases and checked-in bags.

However, some e