Inglês

SPEED DATING

At best you meet the special one

Are you single but too busy to search for love? Then you need to try the Iatest dating phenomenon that is sweeping across the UK — speed dating.

Speed dating involves men and women meeting in a room and finding out as much as they can about possibe partners in three minutes. lt’s proving very popular with Britain’s young people who find that they haven’t got the time to meet that special one.

At a speed dating event you are given three minutes to talk, one on one, with a member of the opposite sex. Then a  bell is rung and you move to another person and start chatting again. By the end of the evening you will have spoken with up lo twenty men or women !

If, by the end of a conversation, you fancy the person or would Iike to see them again, you write it down on a card. Then, if the other person also fancies you, lhe organisers will contact you with their details.

But is three minutes long enough lo make an impression and work out if you want to see someone again? Research suggests that chemistry can be felt within the first thirty seconds of meeling someone, and thal is what speed dating is all about, knowing quickly if you are going lo like someone.

And what about romance? Is it possible to make a good judgment in such a short time? After all, people say you can’t hurry love. However, Britain will soon have its first marriage from a speed date.

So, if you are on a mission to find Mr or Miss Right, what have you got lo lose? worst, you still go home on your own. But at  the person of your dreams could be jusl three minutes away.

(BBC)

RAGING WORDS

Road rage, air rage, computer rage... e você? de que rage você sofre?

ALL THE RAGE:

Today our lives are fast and furious and one result is a new phenomenon called road rage: drivers become so angry that they attack other motorists because of a small offence, such as a rude gesture or a dangerous manoeuvre. There’s nothing new about rage, extreme and explosive anger. Our society is changing, however, and examples of road rage are now common. There’s also air rage where people become violent on planes. Experts have discovered that __________ alcohol at high altitudes can cause anti-social behaviour. In any case, people today are impatient and often

feel trapped in situations out of their control. This causes check-out  rage  at the supermarket, computer rage (when a computer doesn’t function) and desk or office rage at work.

In Fact the word “rage” is all the — that means it’s very popular — and newspaper invent a new version every day.

MOST VALUABLE BRANDS

The global recession has reduced the value of some of lhe world’s

biggest brand names, accarding to a recent report. The report finds

some cor and luxury product monufacturers have been seriously hit by

the economic downturn.

lt’s hard to pul a financial value on a well-known corporate name

but every year the rnarketing consultancy lnterbrand has a go. For

example, il claims the world’s top brand Coca-Cola is currently worth

$68bn, a couple of billíon dollars less than 12 months earlier.

Its latest survey suggests the recessíon has had a considerable

1mpact on the corporate pecking order. Car companies, such as BMW

and Toyota, along with Harley Davidson motorcycles, have seen above

average declines in the value of their brands- as have some Iuxury

firms, like watchmakers Cartier and Rolex, and Armani clothing. The lesson seems to be consurners don’t value expensive things they don’t actully need to buy so much when times are hard.

Meanwhíle, firms associated with relotively cheap products - McDonolds fast food and Kellogg’s cornflakes, for example - hove seen the value of their brands rise relative to others in the recession. The Google brand has also done well- maybe that’s because more people are borgain-hunting on the internet.

Âccording to the survey, the world’s five most valuable brands are Coca-Cola, IBM, Microsoft, General Elecfric and Nokia, unchanged from last year.

Mark Gregory.

HUNGER IN INDIA

A recent report which evaluates how developing

countries tackle hunger is sharply critical of India.

Despite being one of the world’s emerging economies,

there are 30 million more hungry people in lndia than

there were in the 1990s.

India may be one of the world’s fastest growing

economies but the benefit of its growing prosperity is

not reaching everyone. Accordíng to the ActionAid

report, 46% of its children are malnourished and the

number of people growing hungry is increasing instead

of coming down.

lt’s not that lndia doesn’t grow enough food - in fact it’s a major exporter of farm produce, The problem is that many people, especially poor communities, cannot access it for a variety of reasons, induding rising food prices and poor distribution.

Government schemes, such as mondatory school meals, have not been effectively implemented across the country. And large-scale migration of people seeking work or displaced by large development schemes, such as dams or industrial projects, is adding to the problem. lnvoriably women and children are the most vulnerable.

But there are some positive signs. A landmark rural jobs programme launched four years ago is showing some signs of success in battling poverty. Analysts say it now needs to be persisted with and spread out to more parts of the country.

Sanjoy Majumder, BBC News, Delhi

TV PIRATES

New figures show a surge in the numbers of people using

the internet to watch unauthorised copies of television

programmes. While Americon drama series are the most

popular, millions of people are also downloading the British

programme Top Gear.

Visits to web sites offering illegal access to music and video

have nearly doubled over the last year, and increasirigly it’s

television and films which are being sought out

The media measurement firm Big Champagne has

compiled a top ten of illegal downloads. lt’s dominated by

American drama series, with 55 million people downloading episodes of Heroes in the first half of this year. But the BBC’s Top Gear is also amongst the most pirated programmes, with hundreds of thousonds of people, many in the United States, downloading each episode of the recent series.

Despite the apparent surge in piracy, the researchers say television should not suffer as much damage to its revenues as the music business has faced.

Rory Cellan-Jones, BBC News