Charlie Brooker – How To Report The News
Jan 31, 2010 English 1st Paragraph
Tags: humor, Humour, journalism, media, news, reporting, video
Why do people often vote against their own interests?
Jan 30, 2010 English 1st Paragraph
The Republicans’ shock victory in the election for the US Senate seat in Massachusetts meant the Democrats lost their supermajority in the Senate. This makes it even harder for the Obama administration to get healthcare reform passed in the US. Political scientist Dr David Runciman looks at why is there often such deep opposition to reforms that appear to be of obvious benefit to voters…
Tags: America, healthcare, interest, Obama, Politics, reform, Republican Party, USA
The French secret of fat
Jan 30, 2010 English 1st Paragraph
We French eat four times as much butter and 60% more cheese than the average American, but we stay thin. How do we do it?
Never have I learnt so much about food’s nutrient content and chemical formulas as in my years spent in Britain and North America. Revealingly, food in those two places is reduced to unappealing scientific denominations such as "saturated fats", "fatty acids", "trans fats", "monounsaturates" and "TFAs", to name just a few mentioned in today’s Guardian article about how more than a thin spread of butter a day is bad for you…
Gum disease care ‘aids arthritis’
Jan 30, 2010 English 1st Paragraph
People who have both gum disease and rheumatoid arthritis can relieve both conditions by treating their mouth infection, US researchers have found. Patients who had treatments such as scaling and improved oral hygiene also saw their arthritis symptoms lessened.
Squatters of the world, unite!
Jan 30, 2010 English 1st Paragraph
A group of activists squatting an uninhabited Parisian mansion have been ordered to vacate it, but why should they?
It’s a well-known fact that renting a flat in Paris is a arduous process with many socioeconomic barriers. It is exceptionally hard when you are not well off, and almost impossible, as French-Algerian writer Faiza Gueneexplained, if you are also from a visible minority: many estate agents will just not allow you to visit flats and ignore your phonecalls. If you are looking to rent while at university, when rent will be up to 60% of an average student’s budget, it might be best to give up now and, like some do every year, live on a campsite…
MALI – Des bibliothèques dans le désert
Jan 29, 2010 French 1st Paragraph
A Tombouctou, ville mythique du Sahara, subsistent des livres vieux de six à sept siècles. Ce patrimoine longtemps oublié est désormais l’objet de beaucoup d’attention, explique le Christian Science Monitor.
A Tombouctou, Ahmed Saloum Boularaf tient entre les mains une liasse de feuillets reliés en cuir datant du XIIIe siècle. Il s’agit d’une évocation poétique de la vie du prophète Mahomet, écrite en calligraphie arabe par un érudit local qui savait lire alors que certains Européens ignoraient que les livres existaient.
Van Gogh, un homme de mots
Jan 29, 2010 French 1st Paragraph
Génial, certes, mais ni aussi fou ni aussi fauché que le veut la légende : c’est ce qui ressort d’une étude de la correspondance de Van Gogh qui a duré quinze ans. Elle révèle aussi le goût du peintre pour l’écrit.
Vincent Van Gogh (1853-1890), un fou génial et sans le sou, s’est coupé l’oreille ; il n’a pas été reconnu de son vivant. Voilà à peu près l’image qu’on se fait du célèbre peintre néerlandais, du moins à en croire les livres, les films et les anecdotes dont il est le héros. Un mythe difficile à effacer s’est construit autour du peintre à partir d’une histoire romancée.
FST 2009-2010: Scientific English Course, M2
Jan 26, 2010 Université Paris Est, Créteil Val de Marne
Class information:
This is the home page for the Scientific English Course for Master 2 students at Science and Technology Faculty (Faculté des Sciences et Technologie), Paris 12 University (Université Paris Est, Créteil Val de Marne).
Class Notes:
Session 1
Session 2
Session 3
Session 4
Session 5
Test Results:
Not any… yet!
Announcements, contact and discussions:
If you have a question or would like to leave a message or make a comment regarding this class, please make a comment below. I will also use the comments section to make announcements and keep you informed of any possible changes.
Tags: anglais scientifique, Faculté des Sciences et Technologi, master, Paris 12 University, Science and Technology Faculty, scientific English, Université Paris 12
Airline defends policy of asking obese passengers to buy second seat
Jan 23, 2010 English 1st Paragraph
Air France-KLM, one of the world’s biggest airlines, was today forced to defend its practice of asking obese passengers to reserve two seats instead of one after anti-discrimination campaigners denounced it as unfair. In what the airline insisted was an attempt to ensure passenger safety on its flights, people too large to fit into a single seat have been encouraged to pay for the extra space, for which they are charged 75% of the standard rate.
Read this article on the Guardian.
Tags: aieline, Air France-KLM, discrimination, obese, seat, tourism, Travel
Italian chefs campaign for better spaghetti bolognese
Jan 23, 2010 English 1st Paragraph
Italy has begun a campaign to educate the world in how to make proper spaghetti bolognese…
Tags: Cooking, Italy, spaghetti bolognese, tradition
France joins Germany warning against Internet Explorer
Jan 19, 2010 English 1st Paragraph
France has echoed calls by the German government for web users to find an alternative to Microsoft’s Internet Explorer (IE) to protect security. Certa, a government agency that oversees cyber threats, warned against using all versions of the web browser…
Tags: IE, Internet, Internet Explorer, Microsoft, security, technology, warning
The Simpsons’ most memorable quotes
Jan 19, 2010 English 1st Paragraph
• "To alcohol! The cause of – and solution to – all of life’s problems!"
• [Reading computer manual] "To start, press any key. Where’s the ‘Any’ key?"
• "Kids, you tried your best and you failed miserably. The lesson is, never try."
Tags: memorable, quotation, quote, The Simpsons
Astronomers on the verge of finding habitable worlds
Jan 19, 2010 English 1st Paragraph
Astronomers say they are on the verge of finding planets like Earth orbiting other stars, a key step in determining if we are alone in the universe. A top NASA official and other leading scientists say that within four or five years they should discover the first Earth-like planet where life could develop, or may have already. A planet close to the size of Earth could even be found sometime this year if preliminary hints from a new space telescope pan out…
Tags: astronomy, exploration, habitable, NASA, Science, space
Participez au prix des internautes pour le meilleur court métrage 2010
Jan 17, 2010 French 1st Paragraph
Vous avez jusqu’au 24 janvier pour nous faire part de votre coup de coeur et voter pour votre court métrage préféré parmi cette selection de France Télévision ! Ce prix sera remis le 1er février, au festival de Clermont-Ferrand, par la rédaction de L’Express.
Tags: concours, court métrage, télévision
Alzheimer’s disease ‘could be detected by eye test’
Jan 17, 2010 English 1st Paragraph
A simple eye test might be able to detect Alzheimer’s and other diseases before symptoms develop, according to UK scientists. The technique uses fluorescent markers which attach to dying cells which can be seen in the retina and give an early indication of brain cell death. The research has been carried out on mice, but human trials are planned…
Tags: Alzheimer's disease, eye, Health, Medicine, simple, test
Our brains are confused about time
Jan 17, 2010 English 1st Paragraph
A recent study published in the journal Psychological Science has found our concept of time is distorted, and we consistently underestimate how much time has passed since events in the past, condensing the time…
Tags: Brain, time, underestimate
Des lentilles qui changent de couleur pour alerter les diabétiques
Jan 17, 2010 French 1st Paragraph
Les diabétiques doivent régulièrement contrôler le niveau de sucre présent dans leur sang. Mais une nouvelle technologie non invasive permet de surveiller la glycémie grâce à des lentilles de contact qui change de couleur en fonction de l’évolution du taux de sucre sanguin.
Paris floods: 100 years on
Jan 17, 2010 English 1st Paragraph
The summer had been wet, the winter even wetter, and bedraggled Parisians entered 1910 beneath an ominously heavy sky of gunmetal grey. At least, they thought, scurrying around the burgeoning Métro network of the self-anointed capital of modernity, it couldn’t get any worse. They were wrong. It got worse than they could have ever imagined…
Tags: 1910, exhibition, floods, Paris
Who will pay for Amazon’s ‘Chernobyl’?
Jan 11, 2010 English 1st Paragraph
It’s barely eight in the morning and already the dusty oil town of Lago Agrio, on the fringes of the Ecuadorian Amazon, is sweltering. Its name means "sour lake" in Spanish, after the hometown of Texan oil company Texaco – a fitting name for an area of once-pristine rainforest that has been decimated in the pursuit of oil. So severe is the environmental damage here that experts have called it an "Amazon Chernobyl"…
Tags: Amazon, Chernobyl, Chevron, Environment, oil, pollution
France: Sarkozy’s media interventions come into effect
Jan 11, 2010 English 1st Paragraph
Nobody could accuse Nicolas Sarkozy of being camera-shy. Since he came to power in 2007 the image-conscious French head of state has taken every opportunity to maximise his own visibility and has earned himself the title of "omni-president" in doing so. Even for a country well used to state string-pulling, his two-and-a-half years in power have been remarkable for the extent of government intervention in the media…
Tags: France, intervention, law, media, Sarkozy
Call for anonymous CVs to stop job interview sexism and racism
Jan 10, 2010 English 1st Paragraph
Race advisers and equality campaigners have called on the government to make "anonymous" CVs and job applications compulsory to overcome discrimination against women and people with African or Asian surnames. Some British companies have already begun stripping out personal details so those deciding who to invite for interview are only told about their qualifications and experience, and not their ethnicity, gender or age…
Tags: anonymous, Britain, CV, discrimination, France
Africa Cup of Nations begins under cloud after attack
Jan 10, 2010 English 1st Paragraph
The Africa Cup of Nations is getting under way in Angola as Togo prepare to fly home after a gun attack on their team bus which killed three people. However, as Angola prepare to play Mali at 1900 GMT, reports claim efforts to persuade Togo to stay are continuing…
Tags: Africa Cup of Nations, attack, football, Togo
60 years after ‘winter of terror’, Alpine resorts fear killer avalanche season
Jan 8, 2010 English 1st Paragraph
From the wilds of north-east Scotland to the resorts of the snow-capped Alps, Europe’s legion of winter sports enthusiasts are this weekend packing their rucksacks and taking their thirst for adventure to the mountains. Tens of thousands of Britons will be among the skiers, climbers and snowboarders all keen for a new year adrenaline rush on the slopes and ice-clad rock faces…
Tags: Alps, avalanche, avalanche season, death, ski
Police suspect inside job as Degas pastel disappears
Jan 8, 2010 English 1st Paragraph
Thieves who stole a pastel by Edgar Degas from an exhibition in Marseille left no sign of having broken in, police said.
Tags: art, Edgar Degas, inside job, Marseille, pastel, theft
Avatar smashes $1bn box office speed record
Jan 8, 2010 English 1st Paragraph
Avatar has become the fastest movie ever to achieve $1bn (£625.6m) in ticket sales around the world. Distributors 20th Century Fox say it has earned more than $350m (£217m) in the US and more than $670m (415m) in the rest of the world in only 17 days…
Tags: Avatar, box office, film, James Cameron, Titanic, video
Psoriasis Une maladie qui "colle à la peau"
Jan 8, 2010 French 1st Paragraph
Une enquête menée sur des personnes souffrant de psoriasis met en exergue le manque de stuctures et d’informations concernant cette affection qui touche environ 3 millions de personnes en France. Combien sont-ils, en France, à souffrir du psoriasis: 2 millions, 3 millions? Et comment se soignent-ils? A ces questions, personne n’est aujourd’hui en mesure de répondre précisément…
Lire cet article sur www. lexpress.fr
Tags: dermatologie, France, Medecine, psoriasis
Smile! You’ve got cancer
Jan 5, 2010 English 1st Paragraph
Cancer is not a problem or an illness – it’s a gift. Or so Barbara Ehrenreich was told repeatedly after her diagnosis. But the positive thinkers are wrong, she says: sugar-coating illnesses can exact a dreadful cost…
Tags: cancer, positive thinking
