Dear all,
today we bring you a series of activities for you to improve your listening comprehension skills. It's a 10-minute program aired on CNN on May 24th, 2010. So, the pieces of news you'll be working with are relatively recent.
Hope you find the exercises both interesting and useful!
EXERCISE (answers included)
Kind regards,
Prof. Mariano Ignacio
Centro Univ. de Idiomas
29 de mayo de 2010
27 de mayo de 2010
2010: Year of the Bicentennial
2010 is an important year of bicentennial celebrations in the Americas. Argentina, Chile, Colombia and Mexico all commemorate 200 years of independence.
Following is the video message and transcript of Secretary Clinton on "Year of the Bicentennial":
This year, people across our hemisphere will celebrate the “Year of the Bicentennial.” Argentina, Chile, Colombia, and Mexico are marking 200 years of independence. All of us across the Americas are joining together to honor our shared history and the values of democracy, diversity, and tolerance that form our common heritage.
In the last year, our hemisphere has been challenged -- from Honduras to Haiti to Chile. And our ability to respond to these crises as a community has been tested. But we have met these challenges together, with faith in our institutions, confidence in our values, and compassion for our friends and neighbors.
We must strive to carry that same spirit of cooperation beyond times of crisis in order to meet the challenges and seize the opportunities facing the people of the Americas. There is so much we can learn from each other and so much we can accomplish together. We can encourage broad-based prosperity, champion democracy and human rights, and ensure that every child born in the Americas has the opportunity to fulfill his or her God-given potential.
This “Year of the Bicentennial” is a time to honor our past while we look to the future -- as we continue on our common journey to create better lives for our citizens and even stronger ties between our nations. On behalf of President Obama and the people of the United States, congratulations and best wishes.
Following is the video message and transcript of Secretary Clinton on "Year of the Bicentennial":
This year, people across our hemisphere will celebrate the “Year of the Bicentennial.” Argentina, Chile, Colombia, and Mexico are marking 200 years of independence. All of us across the Americas are joining together to honor our shared history and the values of democracy, diversity, and tolerance that form our common heritage.
In the last year, our hemisphere has been challenged -- from Honduras to Haiti to Chile. And our ability to respond to these crises as a community has been tested. But we have met these challenges together, with faith in our institutions, confidence in our values, and compassion for our friends and neighbors.
We must strive to carry that same spirit of cooperation beyond times of crisis in order to meet the challenges and seize the opportunities facing the people of the Americas. There is so much we can learn from each other and so much we can accomplish together. We can encourage broad-based prosperity, champion democracy and human rights, and ensure that every child born in the Americas has the opportunity to fulfill his or her God-given potential.
This “Year of the Bicentennial” is a time to honor our past while we look to the future -- as we continue on our common journey to create better lives for our citizens and even stronger ties between our nations. On behalf of President Obama and the people of the United States, congratulations and best wishes.
15 de mayo de 2010
Kim Peek: Video Excerpt
Dear all,
as we continue exploring Kim Peek's intelligence, we want to share with you a video clip featuring Kim Peek.
Hope you find it amazingly fun and interesting. When watching it, you may activate the Closed Captions (CC) on the bottom right of the screen -red button CC-
as we continue exploring Kim Peek's intelligence, we want to share with you a video clip featuring Kim Peek.
Hope you find it amazingly fun and interesting. When watching it, you may activate the Closed Captions (CC) on the bottom right of the screen -red button CC-
Prof. Mariano Ignacio
Centro Univ. de Idiomas
10 de mayo de 2010
Kim Peek, the man who inspired "Rain Man"
Dear people,
In all your courses, you must have read already, or may be about to do so, about Kim Peek -the man who inspired Rain Man-.
Below you will find an article published on The Telegraph, in the UK.In all your courses, you must have read already, or may be about to do so, about Kim Peek -the man who inspired Rain Man-.
Enjoy!
Prof. Mariano Ignacio
Centro Univ. de Idiomas
________________________________________
Kim Peek
Kim Peek, who died on December 19 aged 58, was the model for the autistic character Raymond Babbitt in the 1988 film Rain Man, starring Dustin Hoffman.
Hoffman's portrayal of a middle-aged savant's complex interaction with the world through astonishing mental facilities and childlike emotions earned him an Oscar for best actor. But it was Peek, who suffered from Agenesis of Corpus Callosum (a condition similar to autism), whom Hoffman and Barry Morrow – Rain Man's writer, who also won an Oscar – acknowledged as the inspiration behind the performance.
When Hoffman thanked Peek in his Oscar acceptance speech, media interest in Peek's highly unusual abilities was immediate. This prompted Kim and his father, Fran, an advertising executive, to embark on a series of speaking tours throughout America, spreading awareness and acceptance of the "different" and the disabled. The public exposure, in turn, led to pioneering scientific research.
Kim Peek was born on November 11 1951 in Salt Lake City, Utah – both his parents were Mormons. Despite his mother's uneventful pregnancy, Kim's head was 30 per cent larger than normal at birth. He was a sluggish baby who cried frequently, and doctors soon discovered that he had a blister inside his skull that had damaged the left hemisphere of his brain, which controls language and motor skills.
By the time he was nine months old he was expected to be mentally impaired for life. His parents were advised to place him in an institution, but they dismissed the idea, deciding to bring him up normally alongside their other son and daughter.
They were soon astounded by his progress. At the age of 16 months Kim taught himself to read children's books. When he was three he consulted a dictionary to clarify the meaning of the word "confidential"; it was then that his parents realised that he could also read newspapers. Yet for all his brilliance, his oversized head required physical support because of its weight; and, unusually, he was unable to walk until he was four.
When Kim was six, a visit to Utah by the renowned brain surgeon Peter Lindstrom resulted in his being offered a lobotomy. His parents declined, and Kim went on to memorise the entire Bible before his seventh birthday.
At this point he was sent to a local school, but was expelled on his first day for being disruptive. The lack of provision in America in the 1950s for special needs children meant that his father had to have him tutored at home by a series of retired teachers. By the time he was 14, Kim had completed the high school curriculum, though the local authorities would not recognise the achievement and refused to award him a certificate.
Before the release of Rain Man – by which time he was 37 – Peek had an insular existence, knowing only about 20 people. Unable to describe his condition, or to dress himself, cook, shave or brush his teeth without help, he was looked after by his mother, Jeanne, until 1981, when his parents divorced. Thereafter his father provided the supervision he required.
At 18 he had been given a job working in the accounts department of a community centre. Spare time was devoted to absorbing literature. He read and immediately memorised thousands of texts, including the complete works of Shakespeare and every story in every volume of the condensed Reader's Digest books.
He used telephone directories for exercises in mental arithmetic, adding each column of seven-digit numbers together in his head until he reached figures in the trillions.
On a rare excursion away from home in 1984, he attended the national conference of the Association of Retarded Citizens in Arlington, Texas, and it was there that he was "discovered" by Barry Morrow. After spending four hours with Peek, the screenwriter approached Fran Peek, asking him if he realised that his son knew every postcode, area code, and road number in every state across America. He urged Fran to share his son with the world.
Not wishing Kim to become part of a freak show, Fran ignored the request. Two years later, however, Morrow contacted him to explain that a film studio had just bought a script he had written.
The story of a selfish yuppie who discovers that an autistic brother he never knew existed has inherited their father's fortune outright, Rain Man put Dustin Hoffman's acting skills to the test in the lead role. To prepare for it he spent time with three autism sufferers, including six hours in the company of Peek. It was Peek's rapid monotone, rocking motions, ability to count cards and childlike emotions that Hoffman copied for the part.
The resemblances between Peek and Raymond Babbitt ended there, however, for Peek was many times more complex and prodigious than his fictional alter ego, despite having the mental reasoning of a child of five. A scene in the film in which Raymond is taken to a casino and beats the house with his astounding skills in mental arithmetic never took place – despite the best efforts of Morrow, who asked Peek to read a book about gambling before taking him to a casino to try the experiment. Peek refused to enter the casino, saying he thought it unethical.
The success of the film had some beneficial effects on Peek's life. He made many friends, and was awarded the high school certificate he had been denied more than 20 years earlier.
Neuroscientists who conducted tests discovered that he had no corpus callosum, the membrane that separates the two hemispheres of the brain and filters information. This meant that Peek's brain was effectively the equivalent of a giant databank, giving him his photographic memory. He was also the only savant known to science who could read two pages of a book simultaneously – one with each eye, regardless of whether it was upside down or sideways on. His ability to retain 98 per cent of the information he absorbed led to his designation "mega-savant"'.
After the release of Rain Man Peek and his father embarked on a series of public lecture tours, informing students, prisoners, pensioners and politicians of the need to treat all people equally. "Learning to recognise and to respect differences in others and treating them like you want them to treat you will bring the joy we all hope for", read the card that was handed out at each talk. Fran Peek estimated that his son addressed more than two million people.
Wishing to avoid accusations that he was taking advantage of his son's condition, Fran Peek never accepted money for these engagements. The talks were also a chance for Kim to demonstrate his extraordinary memory, including his faultless knowledge of the calendar stretching back 2,000 years.
The five universities which studied him in his adult life decided that he was a genius in at least 15 subjects, including music, geography, history and mathematics. Most savants reach a similar level in one or two subjects. Even more remarkably, doctors found that his powers increased as he aged.
In 2004 a Californian hospital which works closely with Nasa persuaded Peek to undergo brain scans in the hope that a detailed map of his mind might allow them to understand more about many disorders, among them vertigo and motion sickness. By tracking the electrical impulses of Peek's brain, they were hoping to discover how people adapt to forces such as acceleration and gravity.
In 1996 Fran Peek published a book about his son, The Real Rain Man: Kim Peek.
Never having any romantic inclinations, Kim Peek did not marry and had no children. His favourite possession was the Oscar which Morrow won for writing the Best Screenplay at the 1989 Oscars. Morrow gave it to Peek, who took it with him whenever he travelled.
Kim Peek died of a heart attack. His father survives him.
When Hoffman thanked Peek in his Oscar acceptance speech, media interest in Peek's highly unusual abilities was immediate. This prompted Kim and his father, Fran, an advertising executive, to embark on a series of speaking tours throughout America, spreading awareness and acceptance of the "different" and the disabled. The public exposure, in turn, led to pioneering scientific research.
Kim Peek was born on November 11 1951 in Salt Lake City, Utah – both his parents were Mormons. Despite his mother's uneventful pregnancy, Kim's head was 30 per cent larger than normal at birth. He was a sluggish baby who cried frequently, and doctors soon discovered that he had a blister inside his skull that had damaged the left hemisphere of his brain, which controls language and motor skills.
By the time he was nine months old he was expected to be mentally impaired for life. His parents were advised to place him in an institution, but they dismissed the idea, deciding to bring him up normally alongside their other son and daughter.
They were soon astounded by his progress. At the age of 16 months Kim taught himself to read children's books. When he was three he consulted a dictionary to clarify the meaning of the word "confidential"; it was then that his parents realised that he could also read newspapers. Yet for all his brilliance, his oversized head required physical support because of its weight; and, unusually, he was unable to walk until he was four.
When Kim was six, a visit to Utah by the renowned brain surgeon Peter Lindstrom resulted in his being offered a lobotomy. His parents declined, and Kim went on to memorise the entire Bible before his seventh birthday.
At this point he was sent to a local school, but was expelled on his first day for being disruptive. The lack of provision in America in the 1950s for special needs children meant that his father had to have him tutored at home by a series of retired teachers. By the time he was 14, Kim had completed the high school curriculum, though the local authorities would not recognise the achievement and refused to award him a certificate.
Before the release of Rain Man – by which time he was 37 – Peek had an insular existence, knowing only about 20 people. Unable to describe his condition, or to dress himself, cook, shave or brush his teeth without help, he was looked after by his mother, Jeanne, until 1981, when his parents divorced. Thereafter his father provided the supervision he required.
At 18 he had been given a job working in the accounts department of a community centre. Spare time was devoted to absorbing literature. He read and immediately memorised thousands of texts, including the complete works of Shakespeare and every story in every volume of the condensed Reader's Digest books.
He used telephone directories for exercises in mental arithmetic, adding each column of seven-digit numbers together in his head until he reached figures in the trillions.
On a rare excursion away from home in 1984, he attended the national conference of the Association of Retarded Citizens in Arlington, Texas, and it was there that he was "discovered" by Barry Morrow. After spending four hours with Peek, the screenwriter approached Fran Peek, asking him if he realised that his son knew every postcode, area code, and road number in every state across America. He urged Fran to share his son with the world.
Not wishing Kim to become part of a freak show, Fran ignored the request. Two years later, however, Morrow contacted him to explain that a film studio had just bought a script he had written.
The story of a selfish yuppie who discovers that an autistic brother he never knew existed has inherited their father's fortune outright, Rain Man put Dustin Hoffman's acting skills to the test in the lead role. To prepare for it he spent time with three autism sufferers, including six hours in the company of Peek. It was Peek's rapid monotone, rocking motions, ability to count cards and childlike emotions that Hoffman copied for the part.
The resemblances between Peek and Raymond Babbitt ended there, however, for Peek was many times more complex and prodigious than his fictional alter ego, despite having the mental reasoning of a child of five. A scene in the film in which Raymond is taken to a casino and beats the house with his astounding skills in mental arithmetic never took place – despite the best efforts of Morrow, who asked Peek to read a book about gambling before taking him to a casino to try the experiment. Peek refused to enter the casino, saying he thought it unethical.
The success of the film had some beneficial effects on Peek's life. He made many friends, and was awarded the high school certificate he had been denied more than 20 years earlier.
Neuroscientists who conducted tests discovered that he had no corpus callosum, the membrane that separates the two hemispheres of the brain and filters information. This meant that Peek's brain was effectively the equivalent of a giant databank, giving him his photographic memory. He was also the only savant known to science who could read two pages of a book simultaneously – one with each eye, regardless of whether it was upside down or sideways on. His ability to retain 98 per cent of the information he absorbed led to his designation "mega-savant"'.
After the release of Rain Man Peek and his father embarked on a series of public lecture tours, informing students, prisoners, pensioners and politicians of the need to treat all people equally. "Learning to recognise and to respect differences in others and treating them like you want them to treat you will bring the joy we all hope for", read the card that was handed out at each talk. Fran Peek estimated that his son addressed more than two million people.
Wishing to avoid accusations that he was taking advantage of his son's condition, Fran Peek never accepted money for these engagements. The talks were also a chance for Kim to demonstrate his extraordinary memory, including his faultless knowledge of the calendar stretching back 2,000 years.
The five universities which studied him in his adult life decided that he was a genius in at least 15 subjects, including music, geography, history and mathematics. Most savants reach a similar level in one or two subjects. Even more remarkably, doctors found that his powers increased as he aged.
In 2004 a Californian hospital which works closely with Nasa persuaded Peek to undergo brain scans in the hope that a detailed map of his mind might allow them to understand more about many disorders, among them vertigo and motion sickness. By tracking the electrical impulses of Peek's brain, they were hoping to discover how people adapt to forces such as acceleration and gravity.
In 1996 Fran Peek published a book about his son, The Real Rain Man: Kim Peek.
Never having any romantic inclinations, Kim Peek did not marry and had no children. His favourite possession was the Oscar which Morrow won for writing the Best Screenplay at the 1989 Oscars. Morrow gave it to Peek, who took it with him whenever he travelled.
Kim Peek died of a heart attack. His father survives him.
6 de mayo de 2010
CNN - Student News
CNN Student News is a student news program targeted for the classroom that runs at 4:00AM Monday to Friday as part of the cable industry's Cable in the Classroom inititave, as presenter Carl Azuz reports the day's news in a simplified format (stories with graphic imagery or adult themes are usually left out from this newscast). It is not intended for students of English, but for High School students in the USA.
Today, we bring you the program aired on May 3rd, 2010 focusing on these pieces of news:
* Car bomb found in parked SUV
* Gulf Coast Oil Spill
* Mighty Weather conditions
* Arizona Immigration Law
DOWNLOAD TRANSCRIPT HERE
Enjoy the show!!
Prof. Mariano Ignacio
Centro Univ. de Idiomas
Today, we bring you the program aired on May 3rd, 2010 focusing on these pieces of news:
* Car bomb found in parked SUV
* Gulf Coast Oil Spill
* Mighty Weather conditions
* Arizona Immigration Law
DOWNLOAD TRANSCRIPT HERE
Enjoy the show!!
Prof. Mariano Ignacio
Centro Univ. de Idiomas
2 de mayo de 2010
The Secret in Their Eyes
Hi everyone!
It goes without saying that most of us in Argentina know what "El secreto de sus ojos" is. Though for most Americans "The Secret in Their Eyes" is just a movie that has come from distant and unknown Argentina. Critics have written strikingly beautiful reviews about Mr. Campanella's movie, and I just want to share with you one of them. Originally published by Los Angeles Times on Friday April 30, 2010. Enjoy this write-up, and also have sneak peek at the Trailer released in the US!
"There's something about a haunting mystery being solved by a haunted mind that's particularly seductive. That's just one of the many pleasures of "The Secret in Their Eyes," whose string of knots challenges and charms in a way that make its win of the foreign-language Oscar this year perfectly understandable.
Argentine writer-director Juan José Campanella has given audiences a beautifully calibrated movie in the most traditional sense of the word — the ideal marriage of topic, talent and tone. It's anchored by the unsolved murder of a young wife that won't let former criminal investigator Ben Espósito (Ricardo Darín) rest easy even after 25 years.
In addition to being one of Argentina's best-known filmmakers, Campanella has earned Emmys here, plus attention for directing episodes of "House," "Law & Order Special Victims Unit" and "30 Rock." He brought all that case-solving and comedy experience to bear in adapting the Eduardo Sacheri novel, interweaving the parallel worlds of the personal and the professional as his central character comes to realize that there is much more in his life to resolve than this single case.
The story begins in Buenos Aires in the '70s with the brutal rape and murder of the 23-year-old wife of Ricardo Morales (Pablo Rago), an ordinary young man with an extraordinary love for his wife and the life they were beginning to build. All these years later, Espósito sets about turning the case into a novel in an effort to answer all that remains unanswered.
As the puzzle of the past unfolds in flashbacks, the present reconnects him with his own lost love, Irene (Soledad Villamil), who was his young boss on the case and is now a respected judge with a family; he is just older and alone. But the spark remains, and Campanella strings a tight wire of crackling dialogue between them packed with all the tension and tease of a couple dancing around the edges of a relationship.
The filmmaker is careful not to overuse their substantial chemistry, sprinkling it through the film like a hot spice as Espósito tries to figure out what clues he overlooked years ago. Another key player in this well-cast ensemble is Espósito's partner Sandoval, a sometimes-brilliant investigator forever sidetracked by his love of booze, played with an amusing blend of ironic pathos by famed Argentine comic Guillermo Francella.
Campanella has been clever in using the blueprint of a cold-case procedural to explore a range of emotional themes from love and obsession to justice and retribution, all cast against a dark time of secret police and political intrigues in his native land. The action is moved along as much by patterns of human behavior as by events, and in doing so the filmmaker has given texture and depth to what could otherwise have become a more conventional thriller.
While Espósito sorts through his second thoughts and reconsiderations of decisions he and others made so long ago, director of photography Félix Monti and the production team work to both connect and separate the eras by keeping much of the focus on the faces and, of course, the eyes. When the camera pulls back to let more in, tension usually comes with it, as when Espósito spots the husband in a train station and learns that he spends his days moving from one station to another, hoping to spot the killer who's never been caught.
Darín is captivating as Espósito, and despite the years etched on the actor's face, he still brings his scenes as a much younger Espósito to life. He is the spine of the film, and it is the strength of the connection he builds with each character in turn — the lost love, the drunken partner, the destroyed husband, the killer — that ultimately makes the film a timepiece of precision and artistry. Like the murder at the heart of this tale, "Secret" is bound to linger in the memory for years."
Copyright © 2010, The Los Angeles Times
"There's something about a haunting mystery being solved by a haunted mind that's particularly seductive. That's just one of the many pleasures of "The Secret in Their Eyes," whose string of knots challenges and charms in a way that make its win of the foreign-language Oscar this year perfectly understandable.
Argentine writer-director Juan José Campanella has given audiences a beautifully calibrated movie in the most traditional sense of the word — the ideal marriage of topic, talent and tone. It's anchored by the unsolved murder of a young wife that won't let former criminal investigator Ben Espósito (Ricardo Darín) rest easy even after 25 years.
In addition to being one of Argentina's best-known filmmakers, Campanella has earned Emmys here, plus attention for directing episodes of "House," "Law & Order Special Victims Unit" and "30 Rock." He brought all that case-solving and comedy experience to bear in adapting the Eduardo Sacheri novel, interweaving the parallel worlds of the personal and the professional as his central character comes to realize that there is much more in his life to resolve than this single case.
The story begins in Buenos Aires in the '70s with the brutal rape and murder of the 23-year-old wife of Ricardo Morales (Pablo Rago), an ordinary young man with an extraordinary love for his wife and the life they were beginning to build. All these years later, Espósito sets about turning the case into a novel in an effort to answer all that remains unanswered.
As the puzzle of the past unfolds in flashbacks, the present reconnects him with his own lost love, Irene (Soledad Villamil), who was his young boss on the case and is now a respected judge with a family; he is just older and alone. But the spark remains, and Campanella strings a tight wire of crackling dialogue between them packed with all the tension and tease of a couple dancing around the edges of a relationship.
The filmmaker is careful not to overuse their substantial chemistry, sprinkling it through the film like a hot spice as Espósito tries to figure out what clues he overlooked years ago. Another key player in this well-cast ensemble is Espósito's partner Sandoval, a sometimes-brilliant investigator forever sidetracked by his love of booze, played with an amusing blend of ironic pathos by famed Argentine comic Guillermo Francella.
Campanella has been clever in using the blueprint of a cold-case procedural to explore a range of emotional themes from love and obsession to justice and retribution, all cast against a dark time of secret police and political intrigues in his native land. The action is moved along as much by patterns of human behavior as by events, and in doing so the filmmaker has given texture and depth to what could otherwise have become a more conventional thriller.
While Espósito sorts through his second thoughts and reconsiderations of decisions he and others made so long ago, director of photography Félix Monti and the production team work to both connect and separate the eras by keeping much of the focus on the faces and, of course, the eyes. When the camera pulls back to let more in, tension usually comes with it, as when Espósito spots the husband in a train station and learns that he spends his days moving from one station to another, hoping to spot the killer who's never been caught.
Darín is captivating as Espósito, and despite the years etched on the actor's face, he still brings his scenes as a much younger Espósito to life. He is the spine of the film, and it is the strength of the connection he builds with each character in turn — the lost love, the drunken partner, the destroyed husband, the killer — that ultimately makes the film a timepiece of precision and artistry. Like the murder at the heart of this tale, "Secret" is bound to linger in the memory for years."
Copyright © 2010, The Los Angeles Times
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