Month: July 2021

African American spelling bee champ makes history with flair

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Read time : 3 mins

Level : Advanced

By BEN NUCKOLS Associated Press

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) — Zaila Avant-garde understood the significance of what she was doing as she stood on the Scripps National Spelling Bee stage, peppering pronouncer Jacques Bailly with questions about Greek and Latin roots.

Zaila knew she would be the first African American winner of the bee. She knew Black kids around the country were watching Thursday night’s ESPN2 telecast, waiting to be inspired and hoping to follow in the footsteps of someone who looked like them. She even thought of MacNolia Cox, who in 1936 became the first Black finalist at the bee and wasn’t allowed to stay in the same hotel as the rest of the spellers.

But she never let the moment become too big for her, and when she heard what turned out to be her winning word — “Murraya,” a genus of tropical Asiatic and Australian trees — she beamed with confidence. It was over.
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50 years after his death, fans honor Jim Morrison in Paris

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Read time : 3 mins

Level : Intermediate

By DEBORAH GOUFFRAN and SYLVIE CORBET undefined

PARIS (AP) — Paris on Saturday was the only place to be for die-hard Jim Morrison fans.

Fifty years after his death at age 27, rock music lovers from France and across the world came to the Pere-Lachaise cemetery in eastern Paris where The Doors’ frontman is buried. Many brought candles and pictures, and some burned incense sticks near his grave as police watched nearby.

“Jim and The Doors have been heroes of ours since we were kids. It’s an honor to be here and celebrate the 50th anniversary of his death today,” said Dutuar Platzek.
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UNESCO watching as Venice grapples with over-tourism

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Read time : 3 mins

Level : Advanced

By COLLEEN BARRY Associated Press

VENICE, Italy (AP) — Away from the once-maddening crowds of St. Mark’s Square, tiny Certosa island could be a template for building a sustainable future in Venice as it tries to relaunch its tourism industry without boomeranging back to pre-pandemic day-tripping hordes.

Private investment has converted the forgotten public island just a 15-minute waterbus ride from St. Mark’s Square into a multi-faceted urban park where Venetians and Venice conoscenti can mix, free from the tensions inherent to the lagoon city’s perennial plague of mass tourism.

“This is the B-side of the Venetian LP,” said Alberto Sonino, who heads the development project that includes a hotel, marina, restaurant and woodland. “Everyone knows the first song of the A-side of our long-play, almost nobody, not even the most expert or locals, know the lagoon as an interesting natural and cultural environment.”
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5 years after Brexit vote, divided UK still feels shockwaves

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Read time : 4 mins

Level : Intermediate

By JILL LAWLESS Associated Press

LONDON (AP) — Five years ago Wednesday, Britons voted in a referendum that was meant to bring certainty to the U.K.’s unsettled relationship with its European neighbors.

Fat chance.

Voters’ decision on June 23, 2016 was narrow but clear: By 52% to 48%, they chose to leave the European Union. It took over four years to actually make the break and the former partners are still bickering, like many divorced couples, over money and trust.

And five years after a fractious referendum campaign that sparked family arguments and neighborhood disputes, Britain is still as split over Europe as ever.
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