1. Marta è la sorella di Roberto.
2. Luisa è la moglie di Marco.
3. Rita e Michele sono i genitori di Luisa e Piero.
4. Piero è il fratello di Luisa.
5. Sara è la figlia di Marco e Luisa.
6. Serena e Piero sono gli zio e zia di Sara, Roberto e Marta.
7. Tony è il padre di Serena e Marco e il nonno di Sara, Roberto e Marta.
8. Roberto è il cusino di Piero.
9. Sara e Marta sono le sorelle di Roberto.
10. Luisa è la madre di Sara, Roberto e Marta.
11. Serena è la zia di Sara, Roberto e Marta.
12. Marco è il marito di Luisa.

by Pamela Garza

Her name was Elise Toussaint. And as I looked up at her face, I couldn’t help but feel regret. This emotion isn’t the kind that settles after long thought; it slams you in the gut and knocks the wind out of you.

I was called in by the warden of the Federal Prison for Women, who wanted me to attest to the fact that there were no more bruises or cuts on the body than there had been the day before.

You see, I was the tracker that finally caught up with this little lady after she escaped and lead the marshals on a chase of 3 days and a hundred miles. Choppers, dogs, and men were called in from all over the country to apprehend this “desperado”, this “prostitute”, this convicted “drug lord” from a nearby state. Little did I know then that she was running for her life.
“What is it, Coke?”
The impatient voice behind me wanted to hurry things along. He wanted to get this lifeless piece of trouble out of his barracks, avoid the risk of scandal. Well, as a tracker, I don’t like to be rushed; and when my name, Coke Bucknil, goes on a piece of paper that is to be taken as gospel, naturally, I take my time.
“How’d she die?”
“Broken neck. Can’t you see? She hung herself.”
“The correct term is hanged. Her toes are touching the floor.”
“So? She’s been there since 3 a.m.”
“Where’d she get all that cloth to make the rope?”
“She used the bandages.”

Yes, I remembered. In her desperation to get away, she lead me through thick bramble,  thorns, and muddy fields. She was suffering from exposure, scratches, bruises, and blisters from the bites of fire ants. How they must have hurt, but she never whimpered, not even when the officers pushed her into the mud to cuff her. She’d needed a lot of bandages.

That image of a survivor rankled in me now, as I inspected the body of one who apparently gave up in suicide.
“These red marks across her face, they weren’t there yesterday, Warden.”
“Oh yeah. I guess she made them when she slipped the noose over her head…. Come on, Coke. You’ve been long enough.”
“Well, I’ll have to mention those in my report.”
“Get this straight, Coke, if you even insinuate that this is anything but a suicide, I’ll see to it that you never work in this town OR in this state again.”
“I didn’t insinuate anything. D’you know something I don’t know, Warden?”
I enjoyed irritating him, but I didn’t want to make him mad. ‘This state’ was a large territory not to ever work in again.

As for the town, it has more than 200,000 people but only one newspaper, one whose reporters write what they’re told to write, one that has an agreement with the college to suppress reports of gang activity so that parents will not send their little darlings somewhere else. And as I stood looking up at that lifeless face, a face that had been beautiful at one time, this and other cover-ups blitzed my mind. I turned away from the body, and left the building.

One thing about trackers: like they know how to read the signs in the bush, they can read people. The warden meant what he said, and as I walked to my car thinking about Elise, I wondered if that mattered to me. If I hadn’t seen her twice, I would have written anything he told me, even rhyming poetry. But the signs made me pause. The expression on her white face was not one of peaceful suicide. It was fear, pure and vivid fear. I’d seen that kind of fear before.

Another sign: How could a woman as slight as she was jump one foot off a cot and break her neck? The act would only choke her. And… the marks on her face were not from the cloth noose. They were made by large hands that pressed the life out of her and broke her neck before they tightened the noose around her throat.

“She was murdered.” I said out loud, and drove out the gate. If I had a decent bone in my body, I’d go to the nearest Police Station and tell them my suspicions. But I had to think this through. My life, as mediocre as it was, still meant something to me. If I wasn’t careful, I’d end up like her, because the power of two states was at work here.
She’d been convicted as a drug dealer and prostitute. That was the rumor, anyway. But I don’t pay much attention to rumors.

I had my own theory about what really happened. When the idiot governor of this nearby state got tired of his mistress, he planted drugs on her, labeled her a prostitute, got her convicted, and sent her here; all because she knew too much of his organized crime activities. He had to get her out of his way so that when she was killed, he couldn’t be blamed.

With that in mind, I finally decided what I was going to do about the injustice done to Elise, and professionalism took over. From my small apartment, I did my tracking over the computer until 2:30 a.m. By that time, I had a plan of action that would take me over the next week.

By 3 a.m. I had the Warden’s mansion under surveillance from a respectable distance. I was looking for a particular activity and found it. I had a tracker’s hunch I might find the governor’s bodyguard from the nearby state, and I was right. In the early hours, the man emerged from the Warden’s mansion. There was no need to follow him; I knew where he was going.

By 4 a.m., I was home again. Settling with the warden was easy. I would use my “special-occasion” stationery. Handling it with plastic gloves, I wrote my report the way he wanted me to, activated the chemical, and slipped it in a protective plastic. I addressed the envelope, making sure it was FOR THE WARDEN’S EYES ONLY.

A few hours later, I took a plane to a coastal resort where the governor had a residence. During my week there, there was quite a commotion, when coastguards brought in the bodies of the governor and his bodyguard who had drowned, quite inexplicably, during an afternoon fishing trip. How fitting that they should be together when it happened, I thought.

Meanwhile, back home, the Warden also died suddenly, apparently of natural causes. Since he was easily replaced, I still had a job.
One thing about trackers: When they feel that gut-wrenching regret, sometimes they do things for free. I did… for Elise.

WORDS:

blisters: swollen lumps on the skin – bramble, thorns: plants with spikes and sharp points – bruise: damage under the skin –  bush: wild vegetation with small trees – choke: suffocate – chopper: helicopter – convicted: sentenced – cover-up: deliberate hiding of the truth – cuff: handcuff, tie one’s hands – exposure: the consequence of being in too much sun or extreme conditions– gospel: the truth – insinuate: suggest, imply – rankle: distress, worry – rope: cord – slams you in the gut: hits you in the stomach –  stationery: writing paper   tracker: hunter of fugitives –

!!! Note the difference between hung and hanged. Hung means suspended (anything), hanged means died from hanging. !!!

Bilisters — բշտիկներ

Choke — խեղդել

Tracker — հետախույզ

Exercise

An interview: provide the questions : FOR ELISE Several months after the events in this story, an investigative journalist from New York came to interview Coke Bucknil about the story of Elise Toussaint. Here are Coke Bucknil’s answers to his questions; what were the questions?

• When did you see her?
• When I caught up with her in the bush.
• Did you know her?
• No, I had been told that she was a prostitute and a drug dealer.
• Why didn’t you believe in that?
• Because as soon as I saw her, I could tell that she was not that kind of person.
• Why did you think so?
• Well you know, as I tracker, I know how to interpret people and situations.
• When did you go to the prison?
• Next morning.
• And why were you called in by the warden?
• He wanted me to attest to the fact that there were no new bruises on the body.
• And were there any new bruises?
• Definitely. There were a lot.
• So what did you do?
• I asked him where they came from.
• And what did he say?
• He claimed they came from the noose.
• Did you believe in that?
• Of course not; I’m a tracker. I could see she’d been strangled.
• So why did you go and leave the building?
• Well, to be honest, I didn’t want to be the next victim. …

Շրջակա միջավայրի պահպանությունը կենսական կարևորություն ունի յուրաքանչյուրիս կյանքում։ Շրջակա միջավայրի պահպանությունը անհրաժեշտ և կարևոր է բոլորիս համար, սակայն ,ցավոք սրտի, հաճախ շատերը մոռանում են այդ մասին։ Շատ անգամ մարդիկ խոսում են միջավայրը պահպանելու մասին,սակայն չեն գիտակցում, որ նախևառաջ նրանք պետք է պահպանեն այն։ Շատերը խորհուրդներ են տալիս շրջակա միջավայրի պահպանման վերաբերյալ, սակայն իրենք չեն հետևում այդ խորհուրդներին։ Այդպիսի մարդիկ աղետ են հանդիսանում միջավայրի համար և միգուցե շատ անգամ չեն էլ գիտակցում դա։

Ես փորձում եմ հնարավորինս չափով պահպանել շրջակա միջավայրը և խորհուրդ տալ, որպեսզի ինձ շրջապատող մարդիկ նույն կերպ վարվեն։

Կարևոր է որպեսզի բոլորս գիտակցենք շրջակա միջավայրի պահպանության անհրաժեշտության աստիճանը։ Յուրաքանչյուրիս քայլերը ազդեցություն են ունենում շրջակա միջավայրի վրա։ Այդ ազդեցությունը կարող է լինել թե’ վատ, թե’ լավ, և երբեմն այդ ազդեցությունը կարող է անդառնալի հետևանքների հանգեցնել որոնցից կտուժենք բոլորս։

Բոլորս պետք է մեծ պատասխանատվությամբ մոտենանք այս հարցին, քանզի յուրաքանչյուրիս ձեռքերում է շրջակա միջավայրի պահպանությունը։

1. Le statue greche sono perfette.

2. Mario ha preparato il zaino ieri sera.

3.  I gnomi invadono i giardini.

4. Piccolo e brutto è lo gnomo.

5. Tu sei  la persona che cercavo.

6.  I  giornali arrivano la mattina presto.

7. Stamattina non ho ancora letto il giornale.

8. Sì,  gli zii son già venuti

9. ma non  il loro figli.

10. Chi te l’ha chiesto di comprare il pane?

11. Mi piacciono molto il colori dell’autunno.

12.  La uva serve a fare il vino.

Angelyne – the celeb who is famous for… being famous

If you have ever been to Los Angeles, you may have seen her: probably not in the flesh – she does not spend all her time on Hollywood Boulevard – but at least you may have seen her image, looking down at you from some billboard or mural. And you maybe wondered who she is, or who she was. The answer is often written on the billboard or the mural; she is “Angelyne”.

But who, you may have asked, is or was Angelyne? Who is this ravishing  blonde in the pink pants or the pink skirt? Is she or was she a filmstar or a rock singer, a real-life Barbie-doll, or what? The answer to all of these questions is “no”; Angelyne, in short, is just Angelyne. As her name implies, she is the ultimate Angelino, a symbol of the great city city where dreams are made, a woman who is famous for no other reason than for being famous. A celeb.

To all intents and purposes, she is a pure creation of the advertizing culture – not to say the self-advertizing culture, for which the Californian metropolis is so famous. Many Angelenos say that Angelyne is not a real person at all. Perhaps they are right; it probably depends a lot on Angelenos’ varying perceptions of “reality”. Yet someone answering to the name of Angelyne certainly exists; whether this someone is one person, a collection of people, or just a fictitious creation of a clever celebrity-manager is a matter for speculation.

Although she has been called Los Angeles’ equivalent of the Loch Ness Monster, Angelyne does exist; someone calling herself Angelyne (no surname indicated) acted – or at least took a very minor part – in three relatively obscure movies between 1988 and 1989, Earth Girls are Easy, Homer and Eddie and Dangerous Love. The Internet Movie Database notes that this actress’s profession is “model” and her birthdate “1958″; but the IMD “biography” page for Angelyne is strangely blank. It is perhaps worth noting that the three movie roles actually came five years after her image had first begun to grace billboards and murals around L.A..

So the real question about Angelyne is this. Which came first ? The image on the billboards, or the person who claims to be Angelyne? Is the image based on the person called Angelyne? Of is the person who calls herself Angelyne just someone who looks like the image?

The person who claims to be Angelyne says that she is younger than the age attributed to her by the IMD; in a 1996 interview (conducted by telephone, not face-to-face) with New York Times journalist Carey Goldberg, Angelyne maintained that she was just 19 years old when the first Angelyne billboards went up in L.A., in 1984. That would make her 50 today, in 2015.

Angelyne’s youth has been hotly contested by many of those who claim to have seen her in the flesh. Needless to say, there are now several Internet sites, including an official Facebook page, devoted to this elusive female, including one which invites surfers to report any sightings they may have made of Angelyne. “She was no spring chicken “, noted Scott Stanley, who claims to have met her in a Hollywood grocery store. “Fairly geriatric,” said another. “It was humorous as I looked and noted how hard she was trying to maintain her youth, which is obviously non-existent,” wrote a surfer called Mario.

In the end, the question “How old is Angelyne?” could easily become the L.A. equivalent of the old “How long is a piece of string?” Alternatively, you could adapt a famous quip once made about Richard Nixon; “She was 33 when she was born.”

In her New York Times interview, Angelyne claimed to have been born in Idaho, and to have come to Los Angeles as a teenager to seek her fortune. She said she began life as a singer in a punk-rock band, before becoming a “model”. As for the question that many people have wanted to ask Angelyne, “What do you really do in life?”, Angelyne’s answer is simple. “I don’t do; I am.”

That of course is not true. Angelyne may not do much, but she does do some things. For instance, she will show up at celebrity parties and other functions – only celebrity events; but then given the price she charges, $8,228 per day, it is unlikely that anyone other than a celebrity would want to invite her along! Her image has also been used in several advertizing campaigns; and though many of these have been local, Angelyne has looked down from advertizing billboards as far away as Germany.

In 1998, she featured all over LA in advertisements promoting a new Chevrolet Corvette. Of all her advertizing campaigns, this is doubtless the classic example. For many years now, the image of Angelyne has been associated with Chevrolet’s classic sports car, and indeed in a city full of wannabee Marilyn Monroes and Jayne Mansfield lookalikes, it is the pink Corvette that has become the distinguishing feature of the “real life” Angelyne. It is the single common denominator that runs through the majority of claimed sightings of the elusive lady reported on the Internet site; to the disbelieving (and that includes a large number of Angelenos), it might be enough to convince you that all you need to tranform Angelyne from myth into reality is a shapely blonde and a pink Corvette.
As hype goes, it is a brilliant concept; and one has to take one’s hat off to her “manager”, Scott Hennig, who has done what no other celebrity manager has done, namely to create a legendary star out of little more than nothing! To make a person of dubious identity famous simply for being famous!

Where else could it happen but in L.A.? 

WORDS:

billboard: big sign, advertizement – mural : picture painted on a wall – ravishing: very beautiful – Angelino : inhabitant of Los Angeles –  to all intents and purposes: generally speaking – a matter for speculation : something about which we can only speculate or make suggestions – surname: family name – to grace: to appear on – needless to say: evidently – elusive: difficult to find – no spring chicken: not young – quip: short humorous statement – wannabee: potential (want to be) – feature: mark – common denominator: common element, common quality –  hype: promotional exaggeration –  

Mural — որմնանկար

Revising — հյուծում

Elusive — խուսափողական

Grammar and Exercises:

Select the nearest equivalent to the following words as used in the article, from among the alternatives suggested:

1. obscure: not well known
2. blank: empty
3. actually: in fact.
4. in the flesh:  in real life.
5. seek: look for
6. for instance: for example
7. geriatric : old
8. unlikely: improbable.
9. single: one
10. namely : which is

<<Հետապնդվող>> ֆիլմը 2014 թվականի ամերիկյան քրիստոնեական դրամա է։ Այս ֆիլմի սցենարը գրվել և նկարահանվել է Դանիել Լուսկոյի կողմից։ Ֆիլմում նկարահանված դերասաններն են Ջեյմս Ռեմառը, Բրյուս Դավիսոնը, Դեան Սթոքվելլը, Ռաուլ Թրուջիլլօն, Ֆրեդ Թոմսոնը, Բրեդ Սթայնը, Դավիթ Հաուսը և Թամաթա Շաունը։ Ֆիլմի պրեմիերան տեղի է ունեցել 2014 թվականի հուլիսի 18-ին։

Նախկինում թմրամոլ եղած մի մարդ և Ամերիկայի առաջատար ավետարանիչ Ջոհն Լութերը դեմ են գնում Սենատոր Դոնալդ Հերիսոնսի <<Հավատ և արդարություն>> օրինագծին։ Այդ օրինագիծը թույլ չէր տա, որպեսզի քրիստոնյաները ասեին, որ իրենք ունեն մի ճշմարտություն։ Լութերին ոչնչացնելու և օրինագծի ընդունումը հաստատելու համար Հերիսոնը նրան թակարդն է գցում։ Հարիսոնի այդ արարքի պատճառով Լութերին մեղադրում են անչափահաս աղջկա բռնաբարության և սպանության մեջ։

Ֆիլմը կարող եք դիտել այստեղ։

quaderno – quaderni
matita – matite
chiave – chuavi
pena – pene
insegnante – insegnanti
pagina – pagine

WHO invented the first computer? And when?

    The answer will surprise you: it was Charles Babbage, in the year 1832.
Babbage, who was born in London in 1791, was a great mathematical genius. He was a natural inventor, and invented all sorts of new products.
When he finished school, he went to study mathematics at Cambridge University. Later, he got a job teaching at the university ; and while Professor of Mathematics in this illustrious university, he designed his “first difference engine”. This was, basically, a hand-operated mechanical calculator.
He took nine years to build a part of the machine. This machine, which is in the London Science Museum, can make complex mathematical calculations. It is a basic mechanical computer.
Babbage dreamed however of more complicated machines. In fact, he did not only dream; he began to design them. The result was a series of “analytical engines” which were in fact powerful computers!
His designs contained processors (he called them “mills”), control units, a memory (he called it a store), and an input/output system. These are the four essential parts of a modern mathematical computer!
Alas, Babbage was born 100 years too soon! His “second difference engine” could not use electricity, since this had not yet become a usable source of power; so Babbage had to make do with mechanical systems. For this reason, the machine was big and very complicated, and very expensive. Though Babbage produced complete plans for the machine, he could not build it. It was too sophisticated for its age!

It was not until almost 160 years later that Babbage’s “second difference engine” was finally manufactured. The first working version of this machine was built by the Science Museum in London, for the Babbage bicentenary in 1991. It can now be seen at the  Museum; a second machine was then built for an American high-tech millionnaire, who put it in the Computer History Museum, in Mountain View, California.
Babbage’s analytical engines would have used “programmes” like those used in the textile industry to make complicated patterns; but they were never built. This brilliant mathematician really was too far ahead of his time !

WORDS: 

invent: – discover – genius: very clever person – engine: machine – dream: imagine – powerful: strong – store: reserve – make do with: use nothing except – working: operating, functioning – bicentenary: 200th anniversary

Bicentenary — երկամյակ

STUDENTS’ WORKSHEET

Explain:

Can you explain, in English, the following words and expressions?

• an inventor: a person who invented a particular process or device or who invents things as an occupation.
• mathematics: the abstract science of number, quantity, and space, either as abstract concepts ( pure mathematics ), or as applied to other disciplines such as physics and engineering ( applied mathematics ).
• a university: a high-level educational institution in which students study for degrees and academic research is done.
• a memory: 1. the faculty by which the mind stores and remembers information. 2. something remembered from the past.
• mechanical systems: power to accomplish a task that involves forces and movement.
• a museum: a building in which objects of historical, scientific, artistic, or cultural interest are stored and exhibited.
• a millionnaire: a person whose assets are worth one million pounds or dollars or more.
• the textile industry: is primarily concerned with the design, production and distribution of yarn, cloth and clothing.

Ciao — բարև, ցտեսություն

Buongiorno — ողջույն, բարի լույս

Arrivederci — ցտեսություն

Grazie — շնորհակալություն grazie mille — շատ շնորհակալություն

Per favore — խնդրում եմ

Mi scusi — կներեք, ներողություն

Mi scusi, poso farle una domanda? — Կներեք, կարող եմ մի հարց տալ?

Come stai? — Ինչպես ես?

Come sta? — Ինչպես եք?

Bene, grazie — լավ, շնորհակալություն

Ti voglio bene — Ես քեզ սիրում եմ։

Ti amo — Ես քեզ սիրում եմ։

Mi dispiace — կներեք, ցավում եմ scusa — կներեք, ցավում եմ

Piacere di conoscerti — Հաճելի է ծանոթանալ

Piacere di conoscerla — հաճելի է ծանոթանալ ձեր հետ