Riassunto esame inglese, docente Carlini, libro consigliato Food for thought, James Rock

By the early 1970s, viewers were ready for more reality from television. An American Family brought TV cameras into the

home of Bill and Pat Loud. It has been the mother of all reality shows.

During the first years of the 21st century reality TV changed again: participants competed against each other to win love

or money. Competitiveness and materialism were the watchwords (motti) of this newest reality TV.

In the new millennium, watching the struggles of contestants on reality tv shows to get the girl or win money made

perfect sense.

Now, Reality TV represents a new way of telling a story, which is half fiction, in which are given rules and people are

casted (selezionate) according to specific guidelines.Participants are attracted to the instant fame that reality shows offer.

Many analysts find current reality TV shows ethically and morally reprehensible (riprovevole); because participants can

be hurted physically, humiliated and emotionally abused, glorifying superficial characters (beauty over spiritual strength).

The current contest-based shows appear to have the potential for longevity,some people yearn (desidera) for a return to

highly innovative, hard-hitting documentaries and new programs.

Anyway, reality TV has offered interesting, often controversial entertainment.

Unit 9 – Travel

46. Budget airlines

Passengers flying with budget airline Ryanair will have to pay more for the checked-in luggage during summer period.

The Irish company will raise its per-bag fee from £15 to £20 for travel in July and August. Over 70% of the passengers

will be unaffected because they travel with no checked-in bags. A writer of the Holiday Magazine Which? said that it is

the case of penalising those families who can only travel during the summer. Flying with Ryanair is not always cheap as

it appears, and they advise passengers to factor (includere) in these extra costs when they choose to fly in summer time.

Passengers are paying sky-high prices for snack food on budget airlines. The average price of food and drink is 374%

more than at supermarkets; snacks on the no-frills airlines are also generally more expensive than those you can buy at

airports. The biggest mark-ups were on items such as crisps, shortbread and muffins and the smallest discrepancy was

on chocolate bars. Bringing your own food you can avoid to think about it at all: it can be taken through security, but there

is no getting around the liquids ban, because it is expensive buying any non-alcoholic drinks in the departure area.

48. Double check your travel cover

There is a court battle on consumer protection for holidaymakers.

The system leaves millions of travellers without protection every year.

The dispute is about whether Travel Republic needs an Air Travel Organisers' Licensing (ATOL) bond (vincolo).

The CAA (Civil Aviation Authority) has been clamping down (reperire) on operators without such protections.

The CAA, which brought the action against Travel Republic, claimed during a trial, that the agent's refusal to obtain an

ATOL bond has damaged consumer protection.

Travel Republic countered (replicare) that it is not required to obtain a licence and operates its own insurance scheme

(regime).

Travel experts say it is time for a complete shake-up of the system, the government needs to review completely the

current measures to create a level playing field for all travellers.

However, while we are stuck with the current rules:

Package Deals: If you book a package holiday that includes flights, you are protected under the ATOL scheme. If you are

abroad and your airline or tour operator fails, you will be flown home for free. If it happens before you travel, you must be

offered a replacement holiday or a refund.

Independent Travel: If you book your flight and accommodation with different companies you are unlikely (è improbabile)

to receive the same protection. You will need to find a return flight with another airline and you may need to book extra

nights of accommodation out of your pocket.

Credit Cards: Anyone who uses a Visa debit card is protected by its Chargeback scheme.

Travel Insurance: Most travel policies do not cover (coprire) the collapse of a travel agent, tour operator or airline.

Play your cards right for a safe trip: If you plan to use a credit card to book your flight, take care because many airlines

will charge extra. Budget airlines are increasingly charging for debit card transactions, too. You can avoid these charges

by getting a Visa Electron card, which does not incur any fee.

Unit 10 – Employment

52. Coping as a new hire at dispirited (scoraggiata) firm

It’s hard being a new hire in a workplace that's been hit by layoffs (licenziamenti) and budget cutbacks (tagli di bilancio).

Employees are likely to feel insecure about their jobs and new staffers might find existing employees wary of newcomers.

That can make it difficult for new employees to fit in and be productive.

However, you can find a way to fit in without being brought down yourself. They advise to:

-Keep a level head: It's important to work to keep yourself from (preservare te stesso) feeling the same anxiety current

employees have been feeling. Keep moving forward. (vai Avanti).

-Stay neutral: Stay out of conflicts.

-Take initiative: Offer to lend a hand early on in order to demonstrate that you're there to help make the job easier, but

don't be surprised if you're first met with suspicion. Establish ongoing collaborations on projects invite your co-workers to

lunch – but do it one-to-one.

-Find a lifeline: Find somebody who can help you navigate the workplace and break the ice for you. Look for a mentor.

-Stay positive: Do your best to stay positive. In addition, as established staffers recognize that new hires often signal a

positive turn for their company, their attitudes are likely to change, too.

53. Time to mix up family, work and friends

Princess Yacht, a yacht maker, held a fun day for its 2,000 employees and their families: yacht assembly and furniture

making put on displays showing their work, staff and their families went out on boats in the harbour and money was

raised for charity.

Summertime company family days tend to be associated with large, manufacturing concerns.

BAE runs biennial family days: the side has about 1,700 employees and the day normally attracts 8,000 – 10,000

visitors, because were invited also neighbours.

There are a number of good reasons for holding these events. The first one is that it is a “thank you” for the employees

and a good opportunity for staff to show what they do and try to raise money for charity.

Dan Williams, of professional services firm Cooper Parry, who in the past has held family days at the local theme park

and taken over a cinema for a Harry Potter screening, says it is important to know team members outside work.

Many people prefer to keep work and family life separate, so it is important to ensure people feel it is optional, not

compulsory (obbligatorio).

Such events are not cheap to hold and they are a huge organizational effort.

Unit 11 – The Environment

59. Harnessing the tides (sfruttare le maree)

A form of renewable energy generation are underwater turbines.

These units harness the power of tidally driven currents, which flow back and forth, making it possible to generate

electricity on a predictable schedule.

Underwater turbines are more attractive than their wind-driven counterparts (equivalenti): they are less prone (soggetti a)

to damage from violent storms and they sidestep (schivare) the common objection to conventional hydropower.

Underwater turbines have long been used on a small scale, now this technique is undergoing a renaissance, with

proponents hoping soon to construct large system that produce megawatts of electric power.

There are projects of small turbines in Texas, Norway, the Norwegians are heavily influenced by the wind-power industry;

a similar project is under way in the United Kingdom but it is a bit different from the Norwegians ‘one. Other schemes for

tidal-current power generation are also being pursued; the company that develops the first commercially successful unit

will gain a significant edge (vantaggio) on its competitors.

60. Hurricanes

Hurricane season is approaching and the forecasts estimate between 14 and 23 storms that could reach levels of a

tropical storm.

14 of them are expected to be hurricanes and 3 of them could become major hurricanes with wind exceeding 111miles

an hour.

Tropics are even warmer than the toasty (calde) waters that there were during the hurricane activity of 2005, in which

there was Katrina.

However, this season’s interest is the oil spill (fuoriuscita), what happens if a hurricane tears (passa) through the Gulf of

Mexico and hits the oil spill?

The results could be two: the oil could be pushed forward or the hurricane rage (furia) could help to disperse the oil

more.

There is a debate: has the climate change made hurricanes fiercer and more frequent?

The link between climate change and hurricanes is complicated, some people say that global warming has nothing to do

with it, but on the other hand, statistical analysis of the past century ‘s hurricanes does indicate that rising ocean

temperatures could fuel hurricanes that are more intense.

Hurricanes, circular storms spinning around a region of low atmospheric pressure, are powered by energy released by

spiralling surface winds that draw heat from the ocean; warmer seas should provide more energy and make hurricanes

stronger.

It is proved that intensity and destructiveness of hurricanes have escalated (aumentati) markedly since 1970s and the

energy released has increased 70% over the last 30 years. Furthermore, (inoltre), tropical oceans have warmed about

one degree Fahrenheit in the past 50 years.

William Gray, an important figure of American hurricane science, believes that changes in ocean circulation have warmed

the Atlantic and increased hurricane activity in the past decade and that this is simply the result of normal oscillation in

natural climate cycles.

Unit 12 – The English Language

65. The Business of American English

American English is a set of dialects of the English language used mostly in the United States. Two-Thirds of native

speakers of English live in the United States.

Though the US federal government has no official language, but English has been given official status by 30 of 50 state

governments.

It was inherited from British colonization in the 17th century; there were also speakers in North America of Spanish,

French, German, Irish, Russian and others.

Immigrants to United States have to pass a test of competence in English before can gain full citizenship. American

population today is the largest body of English-speakers in the world.

American industries have made their own forms of conquest: Coca-Cola, Microsoft; and the American dollar influences

all the money markets of the world.

America has the unequalled power in the fields of communication, information and entertainment (development of

computers) and it leads the world in the design and manufacture of ha