A magician with numbers - EOI Aragón inglés B1 resuelto

Daniel Tammet has an extraordinary gift for mathematics. 

He can also speak 10 languages as well as his own invented language, "Mänti". 

Daniel’s mathematical abilities are so extraordinary that it took a long time for them to be recognised. He struggled at school. He got a B at Maths GCSE. He wasn't diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome until three years ago, at 25. Sooner would have been better "both for me and my parents".

 “As a child I didn't speak very much. I used to put my fingers in my ears to feel the silence. It was hard for me to find my voice because I was, for so long, absorbed in my own world," says Daniel "I had to teach myself to look in somebody's eyes," he explains. "Before that, I used to look at their mouth, because it was the part of their face that was moving."

Daniel's condition brings him great riches: his visualisation of numbers means he can perform extraordinary mathematical achievements. Daniel's world is a rich and strange one, where every number up to 10,000 has colour, texture and emotional resonance. More remarkable still, he has described it all in Born on a Blue Day, his memoir of his life with a rare form of Asperger's; consciousness-raising is part of his motivation for writing his book. "My condition is invisible otherwise."

Scientists at California's Center for Brain Studies were amazed when, two years ago, they discovered his facility for discerning prime numbers. They had assumed he must have been trained to do it. But to him, it is more like an instinctive process.

"The scientists and researchers come to me so I can help them design the parameters of their experiments," he says. It is important to Daniel that he uses his gifts responsibly, perhaps for science, perhaps for teaching: he is already devising a new system of visualisation to help with language learning and dyslexia.

Daniel was lonely. Forming relationships was difficult. "I was desperate for a friend and I used to lie in bed at night thinking about what it would be like. My younger brothers and sisters had friends and I used to watch them playing to try to work out what they did and how friendship worked. Then, I would have traded everything for normality”.

Falling in love with Neil has changed everything. They have been together for six years. Now his emotional life is more like everyone else's. "Neil is very patient with me, and the routines I need to have to help with my anxieties," says Daniel. "I don't know what I'd do without him."

Generally, Daniel feels he is progressing all the time towards "outgrowing" his autism." He is getting steadily better at social interaction. "Every experience I have I add to my mental library and hopefully life should then get easier." I've learned that being different isn't necessarily a bad thing." In this, he seems to sum up the progress we all hope for.

Slow movement - EOI Canarias inglés B1 resuelto

The Slow Movement began with a protest against the opening of a McDonald’s restaurant in Piazza di Spagna, Rome that sparked the creation of the Slow Food organization. Over time, this developed into a subculture in other areas, such as Slow Travel, Slow Shopping and Slow Design. A principal characteristic of the Slow Movement is that it is propounded, and its momentum maintained, by individuals that constitute the expanding global community of Slow. Although it has existed in some form since the Industrial Revolution its popularity has grown considerably since the rise of Slow Food and Cittaslow in Europe, with Slow initiatives spreading as far as Australia and Japan.

 

Slow Parenting

Slow parenting encourages parents to plan less for their children, instead allowing them to enjoy their childhood and explore the world at their own pace. It is a response to hyper-parenting and helicopter parenting, the widespread trend for parents to schedule activities and classes after school every day and every weekend, to solve children´s problems, and to buy services from commercial suppliers rather than letting nature take its course. It was described most specifically by Carl Honoré in "Under Pressure: Rescuing Our Children From The Culture Of Hyper-Parenting".

 

Slow Travel

Supporters of slow travel argue that all too often the potential pleasure of the journey is lost by too eager anticipation of arrival. Slow travel is a state of mind which allows travellers to engage more fully with communities along their route, often favouring visits to spots enjoyed by local residents rather than merely following guidebooks. As such, slow travel shares some common values with ecotourism. Its supporters and devotees generally look for low-impact travel styles, even to the extent of avoiding flying.

 

Slow Art

Slow art is a developing movement championed by such proponents as Michael Kimmelman, chief art critic and columnist for the New York Times. It supports appreciating an art work in itself as opposed to a rapid, ephemeral state of art common in a chaotic societal setting. One of its central beliefs is that people often search what they already know as opposed to allowing the artist to present a journey or piece in itswhole.

Adapted from www.en.wikipedia.org

Les telephones intelligents, trop envahissants? - EOI francés B2

L'usage excessif des iPhone et Blackberry, commence à inquiéter certaines entreprises qui n'hésitent pas à les faire interdire pendant les réunions pour que les salariés restent concentrés.

Les "téléphones intelligents", trop intelligents, seraient-ils devenus la bête noire des entreprises ? La salve est venue d'Alain Afflelou qui s'est lancé dans une diatribe pour dénoncer les BlackBerry, le 12 novembre dernier sur Europe 1. Il mettait en avant la question de la sécurité, pour les données confidentielles, ainsi que l'addiction engendrée selon lui par les BlackBerry. Décision a été prise de les remplacer par un ordinateur portable, alors que c'est lui-même qui les avait introduits au sein de sa société, il y a un an.

Sans aller aussi loin qu'Alain Afflelou, des entreprises ont déjà commencé à les interdire pendant les réunions, pour que leurs salariés restent concentrés. Si pour le moment aucune étude sérieuse n'a été faite sur les dangers de ces supers téléphones au travail, Bernard Salengro, médecin du travail et membre de la CFE-CGC, la Confédération française de l'encadrement, joint par TF1 News, reconnaît plusieurs remontées de témoignages de la Médecine du travail qui confirment une dépendance à ces appareils. Il met en avant le manque de dialogue et le stress. Stress engendré, entre autre, "par le manque de séparation entre vie privée et publique". Il ajoute :"Les employés sont soumis a une pression permanente, ils ne se déplacent plus pour parler à un collègue mais communiquent uniquement par portable mobile. Il n'y a aucune pause pour le cerveau qui n'a pas été construit pour ce rythme là".

Virginie Govaere, chercheuse à l'INRS, dans le département "Homme au travail", rechigne à parler d'addiction mais constate qu'il y a "une segmentation de l'activité : ces outils, ultra-performants, nous interrompent, demandent des décisions rapides sans le temps de la réflexion et à chaque interruption demandant un effort de reconcentration".

D'autres pays ont commencé à s'alarmer de ce phénomène. Le site BusinessMobile.fr rapporte que le phénomène d'addiction aux terminaux BlackBerry inquiète les autorités canadiennes. Selon Reuters, Richard Fadden, ministre adjoint de la Citoyenneté et de l'Immigration au Canada, a envoyé une consigne à ses employés pour appeler à un usage raisonnable du terminal. Dans sa lettre il recommande à ses équipes d'éteindre leur appareil entre 19h et 7h ainsi que le week-end et en période de congés.

D'après le journal britannique Independent on Sunday plus d'un tiers des utilisateurs de BlackBerry au Royaume-Uni, montrent des signes d'addiction presque semblable à des symptômes de l'alcoolisme. Aux Etats-Unis, certaines entreprises auraient déjà fait l'objet de plaintes de la part de leurs employés qui les accusent d'être directement responsables de leur divorce. Le Blackberry plus fort qu'une maîtresse ? 

Source: ©  TF1 News le 19 novembre 2009

My last birthday - EOI Extremadura inglés A2

Mathew

I've spent my last few birthdays in Japan - birthdays, along with Christmas, are the times that I miss family and friends back home a little more than usual. Last birthday all my friends were working but I had the day off, so after feeling sad about it all the day before, I went snowboarding for the day.

 

Alan

Last birthday.......I was floating in the Dead Sea in Jordan....;-)!! With about 11 new friends that I met during the trip from Egypt to Jordan!! It was an amazing experience ;-)!!!! I have been living in Dubai for over a year and when you live in the centre of the world you just use every opportunity to explore other countries....;-)!!

 

Jane

I was in San Francisco for my cousin's wedding. We are a big family, so we rented a huge house and all stayed in it together. In the morning I walked from the Golden Gate Bridge to downtown Toyko and back again for a day adventure. Truly one of my favourite cities to visit. When I got home my aunts had bought a huge chocolate cake and I blushed as they all sang to me in the dining room. Good family is an amazing gift.

 

Nikki

Today is my boyfriend's birthday. We are off to the zoo here in Munich when my daughter gets home from school. Then, afterwards, a restaurant in the centre of Munich and a walk around the old town with some ice creams.

The life of a record shop owner - EOI Asturias inglés A2

David Griffin left school at seventeen, went to college and then worked as an assistant in hisparents’ newsagent’s. After two years, he went to work for a big national chain record store as an assistant manager although very soon he got a job as a store manager. In May 2005, tired of working for others, he opened a shop called Elvis Shakespeare.

This is what he tells us about his job.

“As its name suggests, in my shop literature goes hand in hand with music -my main interests-. Prices go from £2 for second-hand books to £200 for rare collector’s items and I expect that, very soon, you can benefit from our excellent online payment facilities.

My shop is in Leith Walk and I spend most of my time buying small and large collections, which I get in the Edinburgh area. I hardly ever travel abroad.

Last week, I was alone in the shop and I had to work from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. and with Christmas coming, next month I am going to work from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. every day but my working hours are normally from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.”

Adapted from different Internet sources

Spanish supermarket chain finds recipe - EOI Asturias inglés B2

You are going to read an article about Mercadona, a popular Spanish supermarket chain.

As Country's Jobless Rate Approaches 25%, Mercadona Keeps Hiring and Boosting Sales Using a German Template

By D. BALL and I. BRAT

MADRID—Spain's unemployment rate is near 25%, retail sales have declined for 25 straight months and the country is closer than ever to a bailout from the European Central Bank. Yet supermarket chain Mercadona S.A. hired 6,500 employees last year, more than any Spanish company, and its sales increased 8% and remain on the rise.

The secret to its success: a German-style recipe for higher productivity that includes flexible working conditions, extensive employee training and performance-linked bonuses - a rare mix in Spain. As a result, the family-controlled retailer is fast becoming a model in a country urgently trying to rewrite the rules for its economy.

A decade ago, corporate Germany reached a compromise with employees who agreed to work more hours and for wages growing more slowly than productivity. In return, workers were awarded better job security, even in difficult times. Labour costs fell 1.2%, while productivity rose 9% between 1999 and 2006, according to Deutsche Bank. But in Spain, easy money silenced companies into accepting rigid labour contracts. Corporate earnings were artificially boosted by inflation, relieving the pressure to keep costs under control. The result: Spanish labour costs rose 23% over the same period.

"The whole country went over the top - including trade unions, businessmen, bankers and politicians," Juan Roig, Mercadona's billionaire owner, said at a company presentation this year.

Mercadona has become a point of reference in Spain, though it will take a while for anyone to copy it, says Luis Simoes, who runs the Spanish office of consulting firm Kantor Worldpanel. "Mercadona has invested in its employees for years and years." The chain had 1,356 stores and 70,000 permanent employees at the end of last year. Profit increased 19% to €474 million on €17.83 billion in revenue. The closely held company doesn’t release quarterly figures.

Mr. Roig's drive to transform Mercadona began in the early 1990s. Big international chains such as Carrefour S.A. started raising competitive pressure on Mercadona, which started as a butcher shop in eastern Spain in the 1970s. Mr. Roig decided that Mercadona needed to offer consistently low prices to compete. "We had to find a model that would differentiate us from our competitors," he says by email. Among his models was Wal-Mart Stores Inc.

Mr. Roig visited his stores and noticed poorly stocked shelves and managers checking employee bags for stolen items at the end of shifts. He decided that temporary contracts - which then covered about 60% of Mercadona's workers - hurt morale. He abolished the practice. Today, about 90% of Mercadona workers have permanent, full-time contracts. At other big Spanish retailers, 60% of employees work part-time, according to the country's General Workers' Union.

Mercadona invests about €6,500 and four weeks of training in each new employee - largely unheard of in Spain. Employees receive an additional 20 hours of training a year. The Spanish government recently followed Mercadona's example by granting all workers in the country a right to 20 hours of training a year.

Mercadona also pays above-average wages and never has conducted mass layoffs. If the company hits certain profit targets, nearly all employees receive a bonus of up to two months' salary. In exchange, Mercadona requires dedication from its employees. They are sometimes called on to help with other jobs around a store, giving the company freedom to adjust to changes in shopper traffic. Workers are trained to keep a close eye on customer needs. When a shopper spends a long time before a fresh-food shelf, for example, an employee can offer help in around seven seconds, the company says.

Although Mercadona unions have expressed support for the company, the approach occasionally causes tension. Workers with minor medical conditions face pressure to consult company physicians instead of independent doctors who might authorize longer sick leave, some union officials say. A company spokesman says workers are free to visit any doctor and that under federal law, sick-leave can only be approved by state health-service doctors.

Adapted from online.wsj.com 23 October 2012

La dieta mediterranea è come Venezia

Come la Laguna di Venezia, i Trulli di Alberobello, il Machu Picchu, Notre-Dame di Parigi, la Statua della Libertà o la Grande Barriera Corallina, anche la dieta mediterranea è entrata a far parte del patrimonio dell’umanità dell’Unesco. La proposta è stata della Spagna e L’Unione Europea l’ha sostenuta in pieno. La decisione ha grande valore per l’Italia, nella cui cucina tradizionale si trovano ingredienti capaci di contrastare l’invecchiamento delle cellule e le malattie cardiovascolari e conseguentemente, di farci conquistare il primato europeo della longevità (con una media di 77,2 anni per gli uomini e 82,8 per le donne) e quello dei cittadini europei meno grassi. L’uomo italiano, con i suoi 168 centimetri, è più basso di due centimetri rispetto alla media europea, ma ha un peso di 68,70 chili, di molto inferiore allo standard comunitario (72,2).

Il 36% dei nostri ragazzi intorno ai 13 anni sono però obesi o in sovrappeso, contro il 20% di quelli europei: di qui l’importanza di riscoprire il sano modello alimentare mediterraneo.

È poi recente la notizia che alcuni scienziati di New York hanno scoperto un altro beneficio della dieta mediterranea che, in base ai loro studi, combatterebbe anche il morbo di Alzheimer.

Frutta, verdura, legumi, cereali, acidi grassi insaturi (olio d’oliva) e pesce riducono il rischio di ammalarsi e, una volta contratta la malattia, ne rallentano l’evoluzione.

Un "bonus malus" alimentaire controversé

Un rapport parlementaire sur la prévention de l'obésité envisage de moduler la fiscalité des aliments en fonction de leur qualité nutritionnelle, l'augmentant pour les produits trop gras, trop salés ou trop sucrés, et la baissant pour les fruits et légumes. Ce rapport doit être présenté ce mardi à la commission compétente de l'Assemblée par la députée UMP Valérie Boyer. En 25 propositions, elle veut faire de l'équilibre nutritionnel et de la lutte contre l'obésité une grande cause nationale pour 2009, avec comme priorité absolu les enfants, puisqu'un enfant obèse a 80% de chances de le rester toute sa vie.

Plus encore, le rapport propose d'appliquer le principe de taxation détaxation en fonction de la qualité nutritionnelle, afin d'orienter consommateurs et industriels vers des produits pas trop gras, salés ou sucrés. Il s’agirait, précise le texte, d’assujettir les produits de grignotage et de snacking au taux normal de TVA de 19 % au lieu du taux réduit de 5,5% actuellement applicable.

À l’inverse, on devrait engager une procédure au niveau européen pour pouvoir assujettir les produits non transformés, dont les fruits et les légumes, à un taux de TVA de 2% au lieu de 5,5% . " Est-il normal qu'un kilo de pommes soit taxé comme une pâte à tartiner ? ", s'interroge Valérie Boyer.

La proposition de taxer la " malbouffe " a suscité une levée de boucliers aussi bien au gouvernement que chez les industriels de l'alimentation. Dès cet été, le ministre du budget, Eric Woerth, estimait qu'il était hors de question d'augmenter la TVA sur des produits alimentaires, surtout dans un contexte de difficultés de pouvoir d'achat pour les Français.

Son collègue, Xavier Bertrand, a renchéri dimanche, estimant que cela entraînerait une hausse des prix, sans forcément pour autant changer les comportements. Il ne mentionne toutefois pas le "bonus" préconisé pour les aliments sains.

Le rapport suggère également d'actualiser les taxes sur l'alcool et les boissons sucrées. Côté publicité, il imagine de renchérir la taxe sur la publicité pour les produits avec ajout de sucre en la portant de 1,5 à 5%, et de supprimer l'exonération dont ils peuvent profiter. D'ailleurs le contenu en calories devrait figurer dans les publicités et sur les tickets de caisse des fast-foods. La publicité pour les produits de grignotage et les boissons sucrées devrait être limitée dans les programmes à forte audience d'enfants et d'adolescents. L'information nutritionnelle, souvent " cacophonique ", pourrait être "labellisée" afin d'être plus fiable.

Le rapport suggère d'aider à la distribution gratuite de fruits et légumes de saison dans les écoles et les entreprises et d'étudier l'extension de l'utilisation des chèques restaurant pour l'achat de fruits et légumes. Il demande encore d'interdire les acides gras trans, utilisés par l'industrie pour éviter le rancissement des produits, d'augmenter le nombre d'heures de sport à l'école et de créer des salles de sport en entreprise.

© www.lexpress.fr – Texte adapté pour cette épreuve

Mince à tout prix - EOI francés A2

Dire adieu aux kilos ? Oui, mais à condition d’être sûr(e) qu’ils soient de trop. (...)

Elle s'appelait Ana Carolina Reston. Elle avait 18 ans. Elle était mannequin, brésilienne, et pesait 40 kg pour 1,74 m. Elle ne mangeait plus que des pommes et des tomates. Le 14 novembre 2006, elle est morte. D'anorexie. Une véritable maladie dont tu as sûrement entendu parler. Elle touche surtout les filles. Les symptômes ? On se trouve grosse, on mange de moins en moins. On perd des kilos et des kilos. Parfois, jusqu'à en mourir. Heureusement, un séjour à l'hôpital et un traitement avec un psychologue peuvent aider à en guérir.

Ce complexe ne concerne pas uniquement les filles. Les garçons, eux, veulent surtout améliorer leurs résultats sportifs. «Pour maigrir et grandir en même temps, que dois-je faire? Un régime?» demande un garçon de 13 ans. Attention: s'il y a un mot dangereux, c'est bien "régime"! Quand on commence à sauter des repas, à tout calculer, cela peut être le droit chemin vers l’anorexie.

Seul un médecin peut te guider. «Les ados cherchent à manger moins de calories, mais ils ne satisfont pas leurs besoins en substances indispensables, comme les oméga 3, le fer, ou les vitamines», explique le docteur Coudron, médecin micronutritionniste.

Alors, tu es moins concentré(e) en cours et les notes s'en ressentent! Astrid Renaudin, infirmière scolaire, l'a constaté: «Beaucoup d'élèves sautent le petit-déjeuner. En fin de matinée, ils sont trop fatigués. Beaucoup de maux de tête ou de ventre viennent de là». Si tu te prives, après, tu as envie de manger davantage.

Comment faire alors? «Équilibrer son alimentation et faire du sport, insiste le docteur Coudron. En grandissant, la silhouette s'affine». En attendant, n'oublie pas de te faire plaisir. Et cherche des astuces cuisine. Évite de trop ouvrir le frigo et prépare des plateaux-repas équilibrés.

D´après le texte de Noélie Viallet, © Okapi nº 823, 01/04/07

Black Friday - EOI Asturias inglés A2

The day after Thanksgiving has become America's biggest shopping day. Closed all day on Thursday, shopping centres all across the nation open early on Friday. Some of them open at 12:01 Friday morning, while others open at 4 a.m. Some "sleepyhead" shopping centres, like Target this year, don't open their doors on Friday until 6 a.m. From Friday to the day before Christmas, this is the season when businesses make nearly 25 per cent of what they earn in a year. This season puts many businesses "in the black", that is, they make the money they need for the year. Reporters from local TV stations interview people who sleep in tents in front of the shops a day or two before the doors open on Friday. These people patiently wait in queue to get products that are 50 per cent cheaper or more.

"Oh, we have fun," said one of the persons queuing. "We sometimes bring games to play, we watch TV and order lots of pizza, and we often meet interesting people. And, most important of all, we save a lot!" The problem, of course, is that only a very small number of products have big reductions in their prices. Apart from a few big discounts, each shop has other things that are reduced from 10 to 50 per cent, saving shoppers from $10 to $400 per item, and so Americans want to go shopping.

Not all Americans enjoy shopping. Reverend William Graham wants to change Black Friday’s name. "We want to call it Remember Jesus Friday. People should start the season with the right attitude. Christmas has become a Season of Shopping. We want to make it a Season of Giving. And we don't mean giving material things. We mean giving your back, your mind, and your hands. Help an old lady clean up her house. Teach a kid how to read. Visit sick people in the hospital or in nursing homes. Give food to the Red Cross. Celebrate Christmas by remembering Jesus and forgetting Santa Claus."

Adapted from http://www.eslyes.com

Support for domestic violence victims at risk - EOI Extremadura inglés B2 resuelto

New multi-agency schemes are under threat despite their success in helping women and children who have been abused

Tens of thousands of women most at risk of being seriously harmed or even killed by violent partners are not getting access to the help that could save them, domestic violence experts claim.

More than 28,000 adult and 40,000 child victims of domestic abuse were supported by a Multi-Agency Risk Assessment Conference (Marac) last year – where agencies join together to help high-risk victims. Many have been raped, strangled and beaten. But they are a fraction of the 120,000 adults and 117,000 children at high risk of severe abuse, according to a new report out tomorrow.

More than 200 multi-agency schemes currently operate nationally – fewer than the 300 that experts estimate are needed. The resulting provision lottery forces some women to wait weeks before they get help.

Diana Barran, the chief executive of Co-ordinated Action Against Domestic Abuse (Caada), which produced the report, said: "In some areas there are local committed individuals, but other areas don't have those individuals and there is very little in the way of commitment."

She said the death of a child as a consequence of domestic abuse was often the catalyst for more resources being given to Marac teams.

The report warns that the new approach, first piloted in 2007, is being hampered because there is no legislation making Maracs statutory. They are vulnerable to being cut and even closed down, it warns. The future of the service is under threat, with funding due to run out in 2011, according to the charity, whose report calls on the Government to give legal protection to Maracs and to commit £120m in funding.

A national roll-out of the multi-agency approach, with support for the independent domestic violence advisers who play a key role, could save the taxpayer £740m a year, the report argues, by reducing the amount of time and money spent on dealing with repeat victims.

Up to 60 per cent of those helped by Marac report no further violence. And for every £1 spent on the multi-agency approach, at least £6 could be saved in direct costs to the police, health, criminal justice system and children's services.

The report comes amid fears that the economic climate could cause a surge in domestic violence. Although cases have declined recently, partially because of greater efforts by the police and the growth of specialist services, they remain prevalent, said Professor Gene Feder from Bristol University. Professor Feder, who advises health ministers on domestic abuse, added, "It's still incredibly common, and we still have a major problem. When it comes to health consequences it ranks up there with major causes of ill health such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease. We are entering into years of economic pressure on households, which I think is going to manifest itself in increased violence."

Backing calls for more support for victims, Sandra Horley, the chief executive of Refuge, said: "Only one in four high-risk victims receives support from a Marac at present. That is simply not enough. All women and children experiencing domestic violence must have access to this level of support. It not only makes financial sense; it makes moral sense."

Wiltshire's chief constable, Brian Moore, the lead officer on violence and public protection at the Association of Chief Police Officers, warned: "Engagement in the multiagency process is on a voluntary basis and, as a result, there is inconsistency in attendance and they are not operating to their full potential."

The Government has pledged to ensure Maracs cover all of England and Wales. A Home Office spokesman said: "To ensure every area has a Marac in place and that every relevant statutory agency attends them, the Government can see a case for this change, but it is important that we consult fully on the best way of achieving this. It is our intention to launch a public consultation by the summer 2010."

The stakes could not be higher, said Ms Barran. "I have people ringing me who say, 'I just want you to know this woman would be dead if it hadn't been for the Marac'. This is the single most important advance in dealing with domestic violence since the start of the refuge movement and it would be a travesty to lose it."

Instant recall - EOI Navarra inglés B2 resuelto

I was idly flicking through blogs when I stumbled upon a website. It was a collection of polaroid photographs and gradually I began to realize that there was one for every day between March 1979 and October 1997. There was no way of telling who they belonged to, no commentary or captions, just the photos, arranged month by month like contact sheets. There was a sense, too, that I was not supposed to be there, browsing through these snaps of friends and family, of baseball games and picnics, but they were funny. There were pictures of things that did not exist any more as well as car parks and swimming-pools.

Slowly it became apparent whose collection it was – friends would come and go but one man regularly popped up over the 18 years documented, doing ordinary stuff like eating dinner or unusual things in faraway countries. In one picture he is proudly holding a skinned goat, in another he is on stilts. A lot of the time he looks serious while doing ridiculous things. During the 80s there are lots of pictures of him playing music with an avant-garde street performance outfit called Janus Circus. There are pictures of TV screens – ball games, Frank Zappa’s death, president Carter, Reagan and Clinton.

Then, in 1997, events take a dark turn. There are pictures of the photographer in hospital, then with a long scar across his head. He is gravely ill. For a short while his health appears to improve and he returns home. In October there is a picture of a ring, then two days later a wedding ceremony. But just a few weeks after that he is back in hospital with some friends from the early photos. On October 25 the series ends. The photographer has died.

Of course I was not alone in discovering this remarkable site. Since the end of May it has been passed from blog to blog across America. “The first I knew about it was when all my other websites started to closing down under the strain,” says New Yorker Hugh Crawford, who was responsible for putting his friend’s pictures on line after his death. “Initially it was not meant to be looked at by anyone. A group of us were putting on an exhibition of the photos and the site was a place where we could look at the pictures while we talked on the phone.”

The photographer’s name was Jamie Livingston. He was a film maker and editor who worked on public information films, adverts and promo videos for MTV. Taking a single photo every day began by accident when he was 22 and studying film with Crawford at Bart College, in upstate New York. “He’d been doing it for about a month before he realised he’d been taking a photo about one picture a day, and then he made the commitment to keep doing that,” says Crawford. “That’s what he was like. There are some people who have flashes of brilliance and do things in a huge rush or creative burst but he was more of a steady, keep-at-it kind of guy and he did amazing stuff. Part of the appeal of the site is that Jamie was not this amazing-looking guy. He led an incredible life, but there’s an every man quality to the photographs.”

There are a lot of visual jokes, funny shots and fluted self-portraits, but the plan was to take one picture and keep it no matter how it turned out. Once they found themselves walking with a circus of elephants through the heart of New York, late at night. Crawford turned to his friend and suggested this could be the picture of the day. “He was like, “No, I took a picture of my lunch, it’s already been taken,” laughs Crawford. […]

Only one mystery remains about Livingston’s life: “There’s one woman who appears a lot (in the earlier photographs) who seems to have been a girlfriend but no one knows who she is,” says Crawford, much of whose own life story is told within the pictures as well.

The more famous the pictures become, the more likely it is that one day he’ll find out.

© The Guardian 13.08.08

Jamie Oliver - EOI Islas Canarias inglés A2

I was born in 1975 and straight into the business. My dad ran a lovely pub-restaurant, in Clavering, Essex. I remember it was a cool place, everyone worked together to make that lovely food and laughed while doing it.

By the time I was 11, I wasn't bad at preparing the meals. Many boys at school thought that cooking was a girl's thing. I didn't really care, as I could buy the coolest trainers with the money I earned from working at the weekend.

When I was 16, I didn't really have the results to continue at school and I knew by then that I wanted to be a chef. So I went to Westminster Catering College and then spent some time in France, learning as much as I could, before coming back to London to work as Head Pastry Chef for Antonio Carluccio at The Neal Street Restaurant where I worked for five years.

It was there that I first got in front of a TV camera. A documentary about the restaurant was being filmed and the editors decided to show a friendly man who really liked cooking. The day after the programme was shown; I got calls from five different production companies to talk about a possible show.

The result was “The Naked Chef” programme and that's where it all started. Right now I've never been busier in my life! The only thing is that I would like to have more time for my family - my three lovely girls.

A night of terror - EOI Aragón inglés B2 resuelto

Patricia Morgan and Carlo Fraizzoli had had a hectic week in Baltimore. But now, aboard Carlo's sailboat they were heading for a scenic cove 25 miles south on the Magothy River. 

Morgan saw that clouds to the north had darkened the skies over the city. She asked Carlo to put the motor on and head to shore as two lightning bolts crackled behind the boat. Within seconds, the sunlit sky above them had turned dark. Whitecaps sprang up on the water, and sheets of rain began to batter the boat. Morgan jumped up to get a life jacket from the cabin. Before she could grab one, a powerful gust slammed into the boat, tilting the sloop onto its side and sending the mainsail into the water. As the boat tipped, Morgan lost her balance and tumbled onto the rail. Looking facedown into the waves and fearing the boat was capsizing, she made a split-second decision—"I'll be safer in the water" and jumped into the bay.

As Morgan floundered in the waves, Fraizzoli righted the boat. He threw her a life preserver. It slipped through her hands as the current began to pull the boat away from her. Fraizzoli started the motor and steered the boat toward the sound of her voice. She missed it, and the motor stalled. Morgan watched the powerless boat drift away and out of sight. It was after 9 p.m.

Morgan wasn't a strong swimmer and wasn't wearing a life jacket. She started swimming toward dim lights on the shore, about two miles away. Then, directly ahead of her, she saw an enormous looming shape: a 200-foot barge, being towed by a tugboat. She'd been pulled into the middle of a shipping channel.

The barge is going to run her over, Fraizzoli thought. The mainsail was in tatters, shredded by the repeated pounding of 60 mph winds. The docking line was now wrapped around the propeller of the outboard motor, jamming it. Fraizzoli had left his ship-to-shore radio at home in Baltimore. Suddenly, he remembered Morgan's cell phone and dug for it in her purse. He punched in 911. Fraizzoli was unsure of his location but rescuers would determine the coordinates of the boat by tracking the cell phone signal.

Morgan, meanwhile, swam away from the barge. After the hulking vessel passed her, she began a frenzied crawl stroke, knowing that in the darkness, another ship could run her down. But the waves kept coming at her. She tried diving underneath them. Her arms burned, her legs dragged, and her heart hammered so hard in her chest that she gasped for air. She felt fear gnawing at her. Morgan spotted the lighthouse off Gibson Island. Thinking there might be a ladder, she headed toward it. But the ladder was set high above the water to deter vandals. In the distance, she could see lights along the shore. She headed for them.

By 10 p.m. rescue boats were nearing Fraizzoli's sloop. Fraizzoli described to the rescue crews the last place he thought he'd seen Morgan. They assumed Morgan had attempted to swim toward shore, so they steered the boat slowly back and forth along the two-mile-wide strip of water between the shipping lane and Gibson Island, stopping every few minutes to look and listen.

A fireboat scanned the waves with a handheld spotlight. The water temperature was a survivable 60-plus degrees, but the relentless pounding of the waves was sure to exhaust even an experienced swimmer. Morgan would have been in the water for nearly two hours by now. Fire officials were preparing to switch the mission from a rescue to a body retrieval. Suddenly someone shouted, “I think I heard somebody scream.” They stopped the engines. The men strained to hear.

Morgan had seen the boat's searchlight and yelled. But her strength was failing.

The men shut down the motor twice more so they could listen. Finally, the spotlight shone on Morgan's head. The men shouted and held out the boat hook so Morgan could reach the life jacket they had hung from it. She grabbed at it but missed. Morgan summoned a final bit of strength and paddled toward the boat. They dropped her a life ring, then reached toward her and grabbed her arm. Three men were able to maneuver her along the side of the boat to the swim platform at the stern. They hauled her on board, where she collapsed. Taken by ambulance to a nearby hospital, Morgan was treated for dehydration and exhaustion and released after a few hours.

Fraizzoli and Morgan did marry, two months after her rescue, at the Baltimore city courthouse. He credits the near tragedy for bringing the two of them closer. "I realized I didn't want to lose her again."