TEXTOS PARA O 3º COL PEDERNEIRAS  – CAD 04

ECONOMIC WOES SHRINK SPAIN’S POPULATION

Spain's increasing economic problems have led to a shrinking population. The country's National Statistics Institute stated that in the year to February 1st, Spain's total registered population fell by 205,788. Analysts attribute much of this decline to immigrants fleeing the country amid high unemployment and the explosion of the property bubble. There was also a sharp rise in the number of Spaniards leaving the country in search of work abroad. This brain drain represents a fall in the number of qualified and skilled workers in the event of the economy picking up pace again. Albert Esteve, a demographics expert, explained why people are leaving, saying: “Spain is less attractive because there are no jobs.”

Spain's economic woes are putting a huge social cost on all sectors of society. The middle class in particular is suffering badly. The capital, Madrid, is seeing increasing numbers of universityeducated and professional people sleeping rough. Samur, a charity for the homeless, said 25 per cent of those sleeping on the streets completed some kind of higher education. It also revealed that over 40 per cent of them are homeless as a result of losing their job. The charity also reports that homelessness has not dented enterprise. Many of those who lost their regular work are trying to make ends meet by collecting and selling scrap metal, becoming street artists or putting their musical skills to good use by busking.

(BBC)

    The Modern Matchmakers

Sex and love

Internet dating sites claim to have brought science to

the age-old question of how to pair off successfully. But

___________ they?

            FOR as long as humans have romanced each other, others have wanted to meddle. Whether those others were parents, priests, friends or bureaucrats, their motive was largely the same: they thought they knew what it took to pair people off better than those people knew themselves.

            Today, though, there is a new matchmaker in the village: the internet. It differs from the old ones in two ways. First, its motive is purely profit. Second, single wannabe lovers are queuing up to use it, rather than resenting its adverse criticism. For internet dating sites promise two things that neither traditional matchmakers nor chance encounters at bars, bus-stops and bar mitzvahs offer. One is a vastly greater choice of potential partners. The other is a scientifically proven way of matching suitable people together, enhancing the chance of “happily ever after”.

            The greater choice is unarguable. But does it lead to better outcomes? And do the “scientifically tested algorithms” actually work, and deliver the goods in ways that traditional courtship (or, at least, flirtation) cannot manage? These are the questions asked by a team of psychologists led by Eli Finkel of Northwestern University, in Illinois, in a paper released—probably not coincidentally—a few days before St Valentine’s Day. This paper, published in Psychological Science in the Public Interest, reviews studies carried out by many groups of psychologists since the earliest internet dating site, Match.com, opened for business in 1995. In it, Dr Finkel and his colleagues cast a sceptical eye over the whole multi-billion-dollar online dating industry, and they are deeply unconvinced.

                                                                       (The Economist – adapted)

MY WAY

“My Way” is a song popularized by Frank Sinatra. Its lyrics were written by Paul Anka and set to music based on the French song “Comme d’habitude” composed in 1967 by Claude François and Jacques Revaux, with lyrics by Claude François and Gilles Thibault. “Comme d’habitude” had in turn originally been written in English, titled “For me”. Anka’s English lyrics are unrelated to the original French song or the earlier English version. “My Way” is often quoted as the most covered song in history, including covers by Sex Pistols and Elvis Presley. Lyrics may vary a bit from version to version, though. (adapted from Wikipedia.org)

My Way

Songwriters: Jacques Revaux, Claude François,

Gilles Thibaut, Paul Anka

And now, the end is near

And so I face the final curtain

My friend, I’ll say it clear

I’ll state my case, of which I’m certain

I’ve lived a life that’s full

I traveled each and every highway

And more, much more than this, I did it my way

Regrets, I’ve had a few

But then again, too few to mention

I did what I had to do and saw it through

without exemption

I planned each charted course, each careful step along

the byway

And more, much more than this, I did it my way

Yes, there were times, I’m sure you knew

When I bit off more than I could chew

But through it all, when there was doubt

I ate it up and spit it out

I faced it all and I stood tall and did it my way

I’ve loved, I’ve laughed and cried

I’ve had my fill, my share of losing

And now, as tears subside, I find it all so amusing

To think I did all that

And may I say, not in a shy way,

“Oh, no, oh, no, not me, I did it my way”

For what is a man, what has he got?

If not himself, then he has naught

To say the things he truly feels and not the words of one

who kneels

The record shows I took the blows and did it my way

Yes, it was my way