Category: Life Style

Read time : 3 mins

Level : Intermediate

By MASHA MACPHERSON and THOMAS ADAMSON Associated Press

PARIS (AP) — The mascots for the 2024 Paris Olympics and Paralympics have been revealed — a Phrygian cap.

The soft red cap, also known as a liberty cap, is an updated version of a conical hat worn in antiquity in places such as Persia, the Balkans, Thrace, Dacia and Phrygia, a place in modern day Turkey where the name originates. It later became a symbol of the pursuit of liberty in the French Revolution — and is still worn by the figure of Marianne, the national personification of France since that time.

The Olympic cap is triangular in shape, and comes complete with friendly smile, blue eyes, tricolor ribbon and big colored sneakers.

The Paralympic version features a prosthetic leg that goes to the knee — the first time such a mascot sports a visible disability, organizers said. Continue reading

Read time : 6 mins

Level : Intermediate

By BROOKE SCHULTZ Associated Press/Report for America

Cellphones — the ultimate distraction — keep children from learning, educators say. But in attempts to keep the phones at bay, the most vocal pushback doesn’t always come from students. In some cases, it’s from parents.

Bans on the devices were on the rise before the COVID-19 pandemic. Since schools reopened, struggles with student behavior and mental health have given some schools even more reason to restrict access.

But parents and caregivers who had constant access to their children during remote learning have been reluctant to give that up. Some fear losing touch with their kids during a school shooting.

Shannon Moser, who has students in eighth and ninth grades in Rochester, New York, said she felt parents were being pushed away when the Greece Central School District this year began locking away student phones. There’s a form of accountability, she said, when students are able to record what goes on around them.

“Everything is just so politicized, so divisive. And I think parents just have a general fear of what’s happening with their kids during the day,” Moser said. She said she generally has liberal views, but many parents on either side of the political divide feel the same way. Continue reading

Read time : 5 mins

Level : Advanced

By DANIEL COLE Associated Press

SAINTES-MARIE DE LA MER, France (AP) — In a makeshift arena in the French coastal village Aigues-Mortes, young men in dazzling collared shirts come face-to-face with a raging bull. Surrounded by the city’s medieval walls, the men dodge and duck the animal’s charges while spectators let out collective gasps. Part ritual and part spectacle, the tradition is deeply woven into the culture of the country’s southern wetlands, known as the Camargue.

For centuries people from across the region have observed Camarguaise bull festivities in the Rhone delta, where the Rhone river and the Mediterranean Sea meet. But now the tradition is under threat by rising sea levels, heat waves and droughts which are making water sources salty and lands infertile. At the same time, there are efforts by authorities to preserve more land, leaving less for bulls to graze.

“Here in Camargue the bull is God, like a king,” said Aigues-Mortes resident Jean-Pierre Grimaldi as he cheered on from the private arena stands, where he’s watched competitions for decades. “We live to serve these animals … some of the most brilliant bulls even have their own tombs built for them to be buried in.” Continue reading

Read time : 3 mins

Level : Intermediate

By KRISTIN M. HALL AP Entertainment Writer

Nashville, Tenn. (AP) — U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona’s household as a child was filled with music. Both his parents were performers, and he and his siblings were their backing band.

“My brother played the guitar and I played percussion. My sister joined in on choruses. We grew up together singing, and music was a huge part of our growing up and our connection to our roots,” he said.

But he says in too many school systems, students don’t have access to music education or instruments. After two years of dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, U.S. schools are struggling with teacher shortages in some areas, renewed calls for school security and dramatic setbacks in learning. Cardona believes music education is a part of the solution to rebuilding students and their schools.

“Now as a father, seeing how music teachers have helped my children these last two years, they were high schoolers in the pandemic, and they missed their sense of community,” said Cardona. “And those music teachers know how to reconnect them to community.” Continue reading

Read time : 5 mins

Level : Advanced

By GRAHAM DUNBAR AP Sports Writer

GENEVA (AP) — The first World Cup in the Middle East is one month away, nearing the conclusion of an often bumpy 12-year journey for Qatar that has transformed the nation.

Qatar has faced skepticism about how it persuaded FIFA to vote for the country in 2010; criticism of how migrant workers were treated building stadiums and tournament infrastructure; and derision from the soccer world for changing the dates from the traditional June-July period to November-December.

The small Arab country jutting out into the Persian Gulf has overcome all of that, as well as hostility from neighboring states who imposed a three-year economic and diplomatic boycott that ended in January 2021.

On Nov. 20, the biggest tournament in soccer will finally get started a couple hours after sunset at the 60,000-seat Al Bayt Stadium — a new venue north of Doha built for the World Cup. The maroon-and-white clad national team from the host country will open a tournament that has come to define the gas-rich emirate’s image against the team from Ecuador — probably.

All 64 games over the course of 29 days involving 32 teams will be held in the Doha area, with many more shows and cultural events planned for a soccer-led party in the conservative Muslim society. Continue reading

Read time : 3 mins

Level : Intermediate

9 Words You Should Never Use To Describe Yourself on Your Resume

By Laura Berlinsky-Schine

You toil over your resume, adding the right keywords, the best descriptions, and the perfect examples. But hiring managers typically only spend a few seconds glancing through it, on average.

You have limited space – and time – to make yourself stand out. And you may be unknowingly wasting it – if you’re using these words and phrases.

9 Words To Avoid on Your Resume

1. Go-Getter

It sounds nice enough, but the go-getter doesn’t say anything that descriptive about you. Sure, you’re hardworking and have goals, but chances are, so does everyone else applying for the job. Similar words, such as intelligent and proactive, also convey very little about your drive and just show that you have a healthy self-perception. And saying it isn’t going to make you stand out.

It’s best just to eliminate it. Alternatively, give a concrete example of a time you went above and beyond. Continue reading

Read time : 4 mins

Level : Intermediate

By ANITA SNOW Associated Press

Dave and Erica Harrig stayed true to their values when they won a lottery jackpot of more than $61 million in 2013. It made all the difference.

The couple from Gretna, Nebraska, a community on the outskirts of Omaha where Dave Harrig now is a volunteer firefighter, allowed themselves to buy a new home, some vintage automobiles and a few ocean cruises after they both quit their jobs.

But nine years later, they still live much as they always did, remaining in their community, keeping up with church, family and friends, and teaching their children to work hard to make a living despite any financial windfall that might come their way.

Many other winners haven’t been as lucky, suffering personal setbacks and lawsuits or becoming the victims of scams. The latest winner of a big jackpot came Friday, when a single ticket sold in Illinois matched the numbers for a $1.337 billion Mega Millions prize. Illinois is among the states where winners of more than $250,000 can choose to not reveal their names. Continue reading