Facebook to let users offer food and shelter to disaster victims

Facebook has launched a new feature to help people find basics such as food, water and shelter when natural disasters strike. The addition, called Community Help, connects people near natural and accidental crises so that they can ask for help or offer support to victims.

            Users that are in an area affected by a disaster will have access to the new section, which lets them connect with people nearby for help including access to transport and supplies. "Hopefully there are far fewer crisis in 2017 than there have been in the past," said Preethi Chethan, product designer at Facebook. "But if something does happen, we hope this product can help make a difference in people’s lives.

            Community Help, only available to people over 18 and in the affected region comes as an update to the Safety Check button, which was added to the social network back in 2014 to let users tell their friends they're safe when disasters occur. When Facebook receives an alert that an incident has happened it checks local users' posts and, if it sees a spike in activity, activates Safety Check.

            Initially only available for natural disasters, such as earthquakes, tsunamis and fires, the company first activated it for human disasters during the Paris attacks in 2015. The feature is available in six countries to begin with, including the US, India and Saudi Arabia, with a plan to expand to all countries after a few weeks of testing.

            "After the flooding in Chennai, India, we heard story after story of people opening their homes to their neighbours, cooking and travelling miles, sometimes through chest deep water, to deliver food to badly affected neighbourhoods," said Chethan.

            Facebook designed Community Help in response to try and make it easier for people to assist one another in the event of such disasters. Once turned on in an area, it remains active for 60 days. The feature raises security fears as it connects people that aren't friends on Facebook. But the company said it has added a series of checks users can follow, as well as prominently displaying any mutual friends you have. It will also moderate any posts reported as suspicious. Facebook said. "If an account is extremely new or we think you're a bot then you're not going to have access to this."

Question 1: [2,5 POINTS] Indicate whether the following statements are true or false and write down which part of the text justifies your answer.

      

       a) The new feature is only for victims of natural disasters.

       b) The number of emergencies is expected to decrease this year.

       c) The system was first meant to be used in case of natural disasters

       d) Facebook is now checking that the system works.

       e) Alerts will only be received among Facebook friends.

Question 2: [1,5 POINTS] Find words or phrases in the text that correspond to the words     and definitions given.

      

       a) to make available (par.1)

       b) to change (par.2)

       c) increase (par.3)

       d) to help (par.6)

       e) to show (par.6)

Question 3: [2 POINTS] Choose the most suitable answer (a, b or c) according to the text.

1. Community Help...

      a) is the only security feature in Facebook.

      b) replaces old security features.

      c) brings up to date other security features.

2. Safety check is turned on...

      a) as long as a number of alarms is reached.

      b) when any two people get in touch to inform about an emergency.

      c) if an official alarm is reported.

3. The system will go on working...

      a) as long as the emergency is active.

      b) until Facebook switches it off.

      c) for two months.

4. The system might not be available...

      a) if your Facebook friends are not in the affected area.

      b) if an account is considered to have been recently opened.

      c) unless you send repeated alerts.

Question 4: [4 POINTS] Write a short essay (about 120-150 words) on the following topic:

Modern technology and devices have made our lives easier. Do you agree?

KEY

Question 1: [2,5 POINTS] Indicate whether the following statements are true or false and write down which part of the text justifies your answer.

      

       a) FALSE “they can ask for help or offer support to victims“

       b) TRUE "Hopefully there are far fewer crisis in 2017 than there have been in the past"

       c) TRUE “ Initially only available for natural disasters, such as earthquakes, tsunamis and fires”

       d) TRUE “with a plan to expand to all countries after a few weeks of testing”

       e) FALSE “ it connects people that aren't friends on Facebook”

      

Question 2: [1,5 POINTS] Find words or phrases in the text that correspond to the words and definitions given.

      

       a) (to) launch / (have) launched

       b) (to) make a difference

       c) spike

       d) (to) assist

       e) (to) display / displaying

Question 3: [2 POINTS] Choose the most suitable answer (a, b or c) according to the text.

1. c) brings up to date other security features.

     

2. a) until a number of alarms is reached.

     

3. c) for two months.

     

4. b) if an account is considered to have been recently opened.

Mom’s interview

Watch the first part of the video (2minutes 40 seconds) and answer these questions.

1.- What’s the first requirement needed?

2.- How are you going to be most of the time?

3.- Are there any breaks?

4.- When can you have lunch?

5.- What skills are necessary?

6.- What knowledge is necessary?

7.- When are you going to have holidays?

8.- Is there time to sleep?

9.- What’s the salary?

10.- What are the adjectives used by the interviewed?

Key

1.- Mobility.

2.- Standing up.

3.- No, there aren’t.

4.- After the associate.

5.- Negotiation and interpersonal skills

6.- Medicine, finance and culinary arts.

7. Never.

8.- No.

9.- Nothing.

10.- Legal?, intense, carazy, cruel, sick twisted joke, inhumane, insane.

Robot monitors in homes of elderly people can predict falls

Robotic movement sensing systems in the homes of elderly people can predict with a high level of accuracy when a person is at high risk of having a fall and send warnings to support workers or relatives, say researchers.

            The US study found that telltale signs, including a sudden decline in walking speed, were linked to an 86% chance of having a fall within the next three weeks. Elderly residents who were monitored by the system, which allowed clinicians to intervene before injuries occurred, were able to live independently for 1.8 years longer than those without the technology.

            The professor Marjorie Skubic said: “Our goal is to help people age in the home of their choice, which in many cases will be their existing home. People say ‘I want to stay in my own home’.”

            Skubic challenged the common assumption that the later years of life are accompanied by a depressing but inevitable downward trajectory in mental and physical abilities. With consistent monitoring and interventions, she said, it is possible to “square the life curve”, keeping people fit, healthy and living independently until they die.

            With this goal in mind, Skubic has even installed the system in the home of her own parents, Lou and Mary Ann, and gets daily readouts of any sudden changes in their physical activity. “This is very personal to me,” she added. “My mother just turned 93 and my father is 95. They live in their own home in South Dakota and they do not want to move. For my mother’s 93rd birthday I went to visit them and installed a sensor network in their own home. I hope that my parents die in their own beds, asleep, in their own home.”

            In one study, the scientists monitored 23 residents of an independent-living facility for elderly people, called Tiger Place, for between three months and four years each. They collected continual data on a Kinect-style system, which provided silhouette images that could be used to track a person’s daily movements.

            The system could also pick up health issues such as urinary tract infections, which can cause rapid physical and mental declines in elderly people if untreated, by spotting when someone started going to the bathroom more frequently. According to Skubic, participants in the scheme tend to find the idea of monitors watching their every movement reassuring rather than sinister or intrusive. “Some people talk about how they feel more secure,” she said.

Adapted from The Guardian 17^th February 2017

Question 1: [2,5 POINTS] Indicate whether the following statements are true or false and write down which part of the text justifies your answer.

      

      a)  The system can be considered trustworthy.

      b)  It is probable that an old person who starts walking slowlier is going to fall in a near future.

       c)  Skubic wants that elderly people live at their own homes.

       d)  The system will help people live without decline.

       e)  Skubic’s mother has celebrated her birthday recently.

Question 2: [1,5 POINTS] Find words or phrases in the text that correspond to the words and definitions given.

      

       a)  help par. 1

       b)  significant, important. par 2

       c)  objective par.3

       d)  unexpected. par 5

       e) facts par. 6

Question 3: [2 POINTS] Choose the most suitable answer (a, b or c) according to the text.

1.   The system can inform ...

      a)   both relatives and staff

      b)   people who are in charge of the elderly.

      c)   Professor Marjorie Skubic.

2.   If elderly residents hadn’t been monitored, they ...

      a)   wouldn’t have lived so long.

      b)   wouldn’t have lived so independently.

      c)   would have lived independently for longer.

3    Marjorie wishes ...

      a)   her parents died at home.

      b)   she had installed a sensor at her parents’ home.

      c)   her parents would live with her.

4.   Participants...

      a)   feel happy about being monitoriced.

      b)   feel they are being spied.

      c)   haven’t been asked to install the monitors.

Question 4: [4 POINTS] Write a short essay (about 120-150 words) on the following topic:

“Elderly people should live at old people’s homes” Do you agree with this statement?.

KEY

Question 1: [2,5 POINTS] Indicate whether the following statements are true or false and write down which part of the text justifies your answer.

      

       a)  True. “can predict with a high level of accuracy”

       b)  True. “a sudden decline in walking speed, were linked to an 86% chance of having a fall within the next three weeks”

       c)  False. “Our goal is to help people age in the home of their choice”

      d)  True. “, it is possible to “square the life curve”, keeping people fit, healthy and living independently until they die.”

       e)  True. “My mother just turned 93”

Question 2: [1,5 POINTS] Find words or phrases in the text that correspond to the words and definitions given.

      

       a)  support

       b)  telltale

       c)  goal

       d)  sudden

       e)  data

Question 3: [2 POINTS] Choose the most suitable answer (a, b or c) according to the text.

1. b)   people who are in charge of the elderly.

     

2. b)   wouldn’t have lived so independently.

     

3. a)   her parents died at home.

     

4. a)   feel happy about being monitoriced.

Impersonal Passive

Make passive sentences starting with the words in italics.

1.            It is felt that the project is too expensive.

               

2.            It was said that the tax changes helped poorer people.

               

3.            It is alleged that a fight between rival fans broke out after the match.

               

4.            It has been reported that more bad weather is on the way.

               

5.            It was believed that the company were about to announce redundancies.

               

6.            It was later considered that his behaviour had been unacceptable.

               

7.            It is expected that new supplies will arrive soon.

               

8.            It had been claimed that the drug was perfectly safe.

               

9.            It is presumed that everybody escaped unharmed from the wreckage.

               

10.          It is now thought that the number of injured is lower than was feared.

KEY

1. The project is felt to be too expensive
2. The tax changes were said to have helped poorer people
3. A fight between rival fans is alleged to have broken out after the match
4. More bad weather has been reported to be on the way
5. The company was believed to have been about to announce redundancies
6.  His behaviour was later considered to have been unacceptable
7.  New supplies are expected to arrive soon.
8.  The drug had been claimed to have been perfectly safe.
9. Everybody is presumed to have escaped unharmed from the wreckage.
10. The number of injured is now thought to be lower than was feared.

New 12-sided pound coin to enter circulation in March

            The round £1 will be legal alongside the new, more-secure coin until 15 October. The public are being urged to use their current £1 coins or bank them before they lose their legal tender status.The government estimates around a third of the £1.3 billion worth of coins stored in piggy banks or saving jars around the UK are the current £1 style. Some of those returned by the public will be melted down and used to make the 12-sided version.

            The new style was announced in the 2014 budget and has been named by the Royal Mint as "the most secure coin in the world".

            Why the new coin is harder to counterfeit?

• 12-sided - its distinctive shape means it stands out by sight and by touch
• Bimetallic - The outer ring is gold coloured and the inner ring is silver coloured .
• Latent image - it has an image like a hologram that changes from a '£' symbol to the number '1' when the coin is seen from different angles
• Micro-lettering - around the rim on the heads side of the coin tiny lettering reads: ONE POUND. On the tails side you can find the year the coin was produced
• Milled edges - it has grooves on alternate sides
• Hidden high security feature - an additional security feature is built into the coin to protect it from counterfeiting but details have not been revealed

            Its introduction will come as a new set of coin designs are also brought into circulation, celebrating the achievements of Jane Austen and Sir Isaac Newton. The Royal Mint said the new designs have a "strong pioneering theme" and will start appearing this spring.

            A Jane Austen £2 coin will celebrate the author 200 years after her death, while another £2 version will remember the Royal Flying Corps. A 50p coin will mark the achievements of mathematician Sir Isaac Newton, a one-time Master of the Royal Mint.

            Dr Kevin Clancy, director of the Royal Mint Museum, said: "This is a particularly significant year in Royal Mint history as we welcome in the new 12-sided £1 coin, with its innovative security features. This year we also mark the achievements of Jane Austen, Sir Isaac Newton and the Royal Flying Corps - all pioneers in their own field."

Question 1: [2,5 POINTS] Indicate whether the following statements are true or false and write down which part of the text justifies your answer.

a)     The Royal Mint will use old coins to manufacture the new ones.

b)    People will be able to know when the coin was made.

c)     All the security features will be known by the public.

d)    The Royal Mint will introduce the new coin as part of a collection.

e)     Sir Isaac Newton once belonged to the Royal Mint.

Question 2: [1,5 POINTS] Find words or phrases in the text that correspond to the words and definitions given.

     a)    to encourage (par.1)

     b)    to be distinctive (par. 2)

     c)    edge (par. 2)

     d)    characteristic (par. 5)

     e)     to point out (par. 5)

Question 3: [2 POINTS] Choose the most suitable answer (a, b or c) according to the text.

      1.  People can use the old coins...

a)      ...no longer than 15 October.

b)     ...until the new coin is released.

c)      ...even after 15 October.

       2. People are encouraged to...

a)     ...keep their coins stored.

b)    ...use their coins as soon as possible.

c)     ...ask the bank what to do.

       3. People will be able to recognise the new £1 coin because...

a)      ...the rings will have different sizes.

b)     ...both sides will have different patterns.

c)      ...of its weight.

4     4. The new coins...

a)      ...will add new security features.

b)     ...might add new security features.

c)      ...needn't add new security features.

Question 4: [4 POINTS] Write a short essay (about 120-150 words) on the following topic:

                        Advantages and disadvantages of shopping on-line

KEY

Question 1: [2,5 POINTS] Indicate whether the following statements are true or false and write down which part of the text justifies your answer.

a.  TRUE “Some of those returned by the public will be melted down and used to make the 12-sided version.”

b. TRUE “On the tails side you can find the year the coin was produced”

c. FALSE “an additional security feature is built into the coin to protect it from counterfeiting but details have not been revealed”

d. TRUE “ Its introduction will come as a new set of coin designs are also brought into circulation”

e. TRUE “Sir Isaac Newton, a one-time Master of the Royal Mint.”

Question 2: [1,5 POINTS] Find words or phrases in the text that correspond to the words and definitions given.

a) (are being) urged / (to) urge

b) (to) stand(s) out

c) rim

d) feature

e) (to) mark

                     

Question 3: [2 POINTS] Choose the most suitable answer (a, b or c) according to the text.

1.- a) ...no longer than 15 October.

2.- b)...use their coins as soon as possible.

3.- b)...both sides will have different patterns.

4.- a)...will add new security features.

US man pays $3,000 tax bill with five wheelbarrows of pennies

          

               Nick Stafford delivered five wheelbarrows full of coins to his local Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to pay sales tax on two new cars, a haul weighing more than 1,600 pounds. It took staff over seven hours to count the coins, with the office’s automated counting machines unable to cope with the load.

            Mr Stafford collected hundreds of rolls of coins and hired 11 people to help him break them open with hammers, a process which took four hours and cost him $440 (£360) in labour. He also purchased five wheelbarrows at $400 (£330) to transport the coins, bringing his total expenses to $840 (£670).

                Mr Stafford’s dispute with the DMV started when repeated inquiries to his local office went unanswered, leaving him feeling aggrieved, the Bristol Herald Courier reports. Eventually, he resorted to filing a Freedom of Information request to obtain his local office’s direct number, but to no avail - a withholding of information that he believed violated public records law. Mr Stafford subsequently filed three lawsuits against specific employees at the Lebanon DMV and against the DMV itself to obtain direct phone numbers for offices in Abingdon, Clintwood, Gate City, Jonesville, Marion, Norton, Tazewell, Vansant and Wytheville.

                “If they were going to inconvenience me then I was going to inconvenience them,” he said.

                A judge dismissed the lawsuits at Russell County General District Court on Tuesday however the state’s attorney general handed Mr Stafford a list of the requested phone numbers in the courtroom. “The phone numbers are irrelevant to me,” Mr Stafford said. “I don't need them. I told the judge ‘I think I proved my point here.’”

                He paid $165 (£135) for the three lawsuits, bringing his total spend to $1,005 (£825) to obtain 10 phone numbers and the satisfaction of delivering 300,000 pennies.

                Brandy Brubaker, a spokeswoman for the Virginia DMV, said it was happy with the outcome of the lawsuits. “We are pleased that the court agreed with our counsel that the argument was not a sufficient request to invoke the FOIA statutory penalties,” she said. “We make every effort to share information with citizens as state and federal law allows.”

                Mr Stafford said the DMV had to accept his unusual form of payment because the US Coinage Act of 1965 says that coins are "legal tender for all debts, public charges, taxes and dues".

From The Guardian

Question 1: [2,5 POINTS] Indicate whether the following statements are true or false and write down which part of the text justifies your answer.

a)     The money was counted with the help of special machines

b)    Nick Stafford employed 11 people to help him take the money to the bank.

c)     Mr Stafford sued the administration.

d)    Mr Stafford tried to bother DMV.

e)     Mr Stafford didn’t win his case.

Question 2: [1,5 POINTS] Find words or phrases in the text that correspond to the words and definitions given.

a)     To buy (par. 2)

b)    Argument, quarrel (par.3)

c)     Request (par. 3)

d)    Finally (par.3)

e)     To deliver, give (par.5)

Question 3: [2 POINTS] Choose the most suitable answer (a, b or c) according to the text.

1.     Nick Stafford needed wheelbarrows

a)     in order to pay taxes.

b)    so as to carry money.

c)     to collect money.

2.     Mr Stafford

a)     is happy because he could get the telephone numbers.

b)    is happy because he showed he was right.

c)     is not happy because he had to pay.

3.     Brandy Brubaker states that

a)     they would give information if they could.

b)     they always share information with citizens.

c)      they share information when requested.

4.     DMV was said

a)     to have accepted the coins.

b)    to can accept the coins.

c)     that Mr Stafford would accept the coins.

Question 4: [4 POINTS] Write a short essay (about 120-150 words) on the following topic:

                    

                                       How should taxes be spent?

KEY

Question 1: [2,5 POINTS] Indicate whether the following statements are true or false and write down which part of the text justifies your answer.

a. False:  with the office’s automated counting machines unable to cope with the load. 

b. False: hired 11 people to help him break them open with hammers

c. True: Mr Stafford subsequently filed three lawsuits against specific employees at the Lebanon DMV and against the DMV itself.

d.True: “If they were going to inconvenience me then I was going to inconvenience them,” he said.

e. True: We are pleased that the court agreed with our counsel

Question 2: [1,5 POINTS] Find words or phrases in the text that correspond to the words and definitions given.

a. Purchased, to purchase
b. dispute
c. inquire(s)
d. eventually
e. to hand, handed

Question 3: [2 POINTS] Choose the most suitable answer (a, b or c) according to the text.

1. b) so as to carry money.

2. b) is happy because he showed he was right

3. a) they would give information if they could

4. a) to have accepted the coins