Review/build your reading vocabulary: Protests and deaths in Egypt

How to use this entry: First, please review the vocabulary list and understand the meanings of the words.  Then, please read the article provided.  Refer back to the vocabulary list if you do not remember the meanings of some words.

By reviewing the vocabulary words over and over, they will begin to 'stick' in your memory and you will be able to use them when you speak.  Additionally, if you come across these words on the SHSAT, you will understand them easily.

Protests and deaths in Egypt:

Recently the president of Egypt was ousted (removed from power) by Egypt's military.  The military claimed that this president - Morsi - was running the country terribly.  

In the West, many leaders were happy that Morsi was removed from power.  He belongs to a group called The Muslim Brotherhood.  This group is felt to be a very extreme Islamic organization.  Yet, Morsi had been elected by the Egyptian people.

Now supporters of Morsi are engaged in a peaceful protest, and over the weekend many seem to have been killed by the new military government.

The article:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-23480957

Vocabulary to help you understand the article:

turmoil - there is social turmoil when there is a situation which is not peaceful.  Turmoil would be the opposite of peaceful.  If there is turmoil, there is trouble.

a protest - when a group of people get together to express the fact that they are unhappy or upset about a situation.

to defy someone or something - to refuse to do what someone or some group has told you to do.

a removal threat - a threat is when someone makes another person feel that he is in danger.  Here the military is threatening to remove the protesters by using force.

to be ousted - to be kicked out of office.

a sit-in - this is a type of protest where the people just merely sit down and refuse to move.

a clash - this is when two groups meet each other violently.

pro-Morsi - if a person is 'pro' something, he/she is for something (approves of something); if you are 'anti' something you are against it (you disapprove of it)

to back down - to stop fighting and to give up.

to be reinstated - to be put back in power.

to disperse - to disperse a group is to break the group up.

to oust - to get rid of; to kick out.

to condemn s/t - to say something is wrong.

tyranny - this is when one person or group dominates the government and violates the rights of the people.

a coup - this is when the military takes control of the government violently.

barricades - these are structures set up to block a road.

morale - please don't confuse this word with 'moral.'  If you are a moral person, you are a good person.  (Moral is pronounced: MORE ul).  If you have or a group has good morale (pronounced: more AL), that means you are in good spirits or optimistic and enthusiastic.  If a crowd has good morale, they are happy and enthusiastic.  Morale is a noun, moral is an adjective.

to carry out s/t - to do something.

a just cause - a 'cause' can mean something that you do or a group does to try to make the world better.  So a 'just cause' is a cause which is supported by the concept of justice.  i.e.  I think I am going to donate money to a homeless shelter - ending homelessness is a good cause.   i.e. Even though we all oppose war, most Americans felt that fighting in World War II was a just cause, sine the USA was attacked.

the death toll - the number of people who died.

thugs - criminals; a thug is usually someone young and male who looks uneducated and aggressive.

plain-clothed police - police dressed in normal clothes.

come to your senses - if someone tells you to come to your sense, he/she is telling you to accept reality.  Basically the person is saying: "Don't be stupid!"

lawsuits - legal cover -  it looks as if some people in that area went to a court and filed legal papers to have the protesters removed.  Therefore the military is using this as an excuse (legal cover) to remove the protesters.

to deny - to say that something is not true.

live rounds - real bullets.  Bullets are the things fired from guns.

tear gas - a type of gas that causes people to experience extreme pain in their eyes.

severity - the degree to which something is forceful.  Extremely severe means that something as very forceful.

an interim government - a temporary government.  A government which will be replaced by another one.

excessive - too much

to extend the barricades - to push the barricades out farther

medics - doctors or people trained in basic medical techniques

live fire - real bullets shot by real people at real people

snipers - military guys who hide on roofs or in tress and shoot at people

a confrontation - when two people or groups meet each other in anger.

to unfold - to happen.

militants - people who believe that violence is ok to accomplish what they want.

a mandate - a order; in this case, an order from the people to the government.  So after the military kicked Morsi out fo office, they encouraged people who hated Morsi to 'take to the streets' (go out into the streets) and protest.  the military felt this would show that they had a 'mandate' to kick out Morsi.

to flood an area - when people flood an area, they fill the area quickly.

remanded in custody - held by the police; kept in a prison cell by the police.

premeditated - if you commit premeditated murder, that means you thought about the murder ahead of time.  Premeditated means that someone thought about something before doing it - the person did not do something due to his immediate emotions.

alleged - apparent; if someone is an alleged criminal, it is being said that he is the criminal, but this hasn't been proved yet.

to plot something - to develop a plan to do something (usually illegal).

to conspire with - to work (illegally) with others

Vocabulary Builder: Cambodian Workers Protest at a Nike Factory

The SHSAT doesn't have a vocabulary section.  Nevertheless, it is essential that you develop your vocabulary for this test.  It is also essential that you read a variety of articles and books - not just to prepare for the test but to develop a greater understanding of the world.

Many middle schools, and even high schools, do not cover current events.  This is a shame.  Here's a very topical and meaningful article.  Many Americans do not know that their designer clothes are made by extraordinarily poor people in developing Asian countries. These workers are paid very low wages while the companies make huge profits.

Cambodia is a very poor country in SE Asia.  Here is an article about how the Nike corporation treats its female workers there.

The following vocabulary words come from this article (please review the definitions from this link before doing the exercise):

http://convostartersenglish.blogspot.com/2013/05/workers-are-harmed-after-protesting-at.html

Words to be used:

minimum wage, to decline to, to collapse
a clash, to account for, a strike,
a protest, a coffin, to be deployed


Vocabulary exercise (answers are below the exercise):

1)  Right now the US government has US soldiers _______________ in over 100 countries around the world.

2)  If we want to stimulate the economy, perhaps we should raise the __________________ law.  $7.25/hr. is way too low.  If people made more money, they would spend more and more goods and services would be needed.

3)  In the movies, Dracula, or other vampires, usually have to be inside their ____________ by daybreak, or they will finally die.

4)  There was a _____________ between protesters and police near Wall Street last year, when young people were protesting the unequal distribution of wealth in the USA (as part of the Occupy Wall Street movement).

5)  Although Bob invited his old friend to attend his wedding anniversary party, Joe ____________ come because he still felt angry with Bob over a negative situation that had happened years before.

6)  Many people now agree that the Vietnam War was one of the most foolish wars that the USA ever got involved in.  In the late 1960s thousands of young people began to ____________ the war, and this lead to the US government removing troops from Vietnam in 1973.

7)  Last month over 1,000 people died at a factory in Bangladesh because the roof was too weak and it ________________.

8)  Internet and computer companies are beginning to _________________ a larger and larger portion of the money generated in the US economy.

9)  Only if workers become truly dissatisfied do they seem to ________________.  Nobody wants to stop working and start losing wages unless he/she really has to.


Answers are below:







Answers:


1) deployed
2) minimum wage
3) coffins
4) clash
5) declined to
6) protest
7) collapsed
8) account for
9) strike

Test Your (SHSAT-level) Vocabulary

There is no vocabulary test on the SHSAT, but one way they make the reading passages more difficult is by including tricky vocabulary. 

Please test your vocabulary using this exercise.  After you try the exercise, please look up the words you don't know.  These are essential vocabulary words for a test like the SHSAT.

Vocabulary Review - Please test yourself

Words from which to choose: 

domestic, probation, cruelty,
alleged, an ultimatum, desolate,
dilapidated, to commercialize, barbaric,
an obstacle, to intercede, to stimulate,
sluggish, prominent, to be indifferent to

Verbs can be used in various tenses etc.

1)  In the morning, when I wake up, I usually feel and act a little ___________, but after I have a cup of coffee I become more energetic and active.

2)  Mitt Romney ran against Barack Obama in the last US presidential race.  One big __________ to his success was the belief by many Americans that he was a very rich person who did not care about others.

3)  Because the young man had not committed any other previous crimes, he was just sentenced to one year of ________________.  He was warned that if he committed any crimes during this period, he would be immediately thrown in jail.

4)  About 20% of Americans can be classified as living in a state of poverty, yet many politicians and newspapers seem completely ________________ to their problems.  Politicians never speak about the poor and newspapers never mention them.

5)  The economic crisis that began in the USA in 2008 was not just a ____________ issue.  This crisis has caused problems and suffering all around the world.

6)  Lee Harvey Oswald was __________ to have been the lone assassin of president John Kennedy, however many people think others were involved.

7)  When a person travels into neighborhoods on the south side of Chicago, where most of the poorer people in that city live, he/she will see many ______________ houses which cannot be restored or repaired due to a lack of money by the inhabitants.

8)  William Powers, a ______________ university president, believes that affirmative action programs are necessary to make sure that American university campuses are racially diverse. (Affirmative action is the practice of colleges giving Black and Latino college applicants extra points just because they are Black and Latino, so that they can compete effectively against White and Asian students - who, for a number of social and economic factors, seem to do better in school.)

9)  Americans were shocked by the ____________ of the man in Cleveland who held three women captive in his house for 10 years.  He regularly beat and abused them.

10)  President Obama is currently trying to decide whether the USA should _______________ between the rebels and the government in the civil war in Syria.  Most Americans do not want to get involved in that conflict, however, regardless of the suffering.

11)  President Obama has issued an ____________ to president Assad of Syria.  If Syria uses chemical weapons, the USA will intercede in the Syrian civil war.

12)  A fast food company wanted to pay a New York City school to have advertisements in the school's cafeteria.  The school, however, stated it did not want to ________________ aspects of their students' educational experience.

13)  Although many parts of the American Southwest might seem _____________, their is wonderful natural beauty to be found in the deserts there.

14)  Americans have debated this issue for many years:  Was the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki a ______________ action, or an action necessary to end World War II?

15)  In his first four years of office, President Obama borrowed a great deal of money in order to try to ________________ the American economy and create more jobs.  Unfortunately, it didn't work.


Answers are below.



Farther....


Farther...



Just a little farther below.......


OK< here are the answers!!!! :)



1) sluggish
2) obstacle
3) probation
4) indifferent
5) domestic
6) alleged
7) dilapidated
8) prominent
9) cruelty
10) intercede
11) ultimatum
12) commercialize
13) desolate
14) barbaric
15) stimulate

Vocabulary Builder: Where Are America's Poor Going?

You'll need a good vocabulary to do well on the SHSAT.  Here is a posting and article that will help you pick up a few more essential words.

The vocabulary words were taken from this posting (definitions of the words can be found here): http://convostartersenglish.blogspot.com/2013/05/where-are-americas-poor-going.html

Words to be used:

a suburb, ill-equipped, to handle
a surge, to plummet, segregated
integrated, to skyrocket, a voucher

Exercise (answers are below):

1) During the Great Depression, which began in 1929, unemployment in America ________________ from 6% to 25%.

2)  In the 1970s and 1980s, many upper middle class families decided to move to the _______________ because the cities were considered too dangerous.  Now the trend is reversing and people from the upper middle class are flooding the cities of America.

3)  In order to try to end the Iraq War, George Bush initiated (started) a troop ___________.  He sent a huge number of new soldiers to Iraq.  Apparently the strategy worked and now US soldiers have been steadily leaving Iraq.

4)  The City of New York seemed ________________ for the terrorist attack on 9/11/2001.  For instance, there was an emergency center which the city had created for a potential disaster, but the center was located at the World Trade Center Building and was made useless by the attack.

5)  There is a saying in America:  The people of the USA are never more segregated than on Sunday.  This means that in America there are very few racially _______________ churches.  Many Christian churches are either filled with all white or all black worshippers.

6) Many conservative politicians believe that poor families should be given school ______________. So instead of relying on the public school system, poor parents can use this system to pay tuition at private schools. 

7)  A good manager knows how to ______________ his staff fairly. 

8)  During the early 2000s, many internet stocks rose very quickly but then suddenly they all seemed to _______________ at the same time.  It turns out they were not worth as much money as investors had thought.

9)  The difference between Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. was that Malcolm X did not trust the dominant white culture and wished for blacks to remain _________________ from whites.  He did not think it was a good idea for the races to mix.

Answers are below:






Answers:

1) skyrocketed
2) suburbs
3) surge
4) ill-equipped
5) integrated
6) vouchers
7) handle
8) plummet
9) segregated
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Yes, I'm also the guy who created the scandal in Asia awhile ago. :P

Links:
http://nwww.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20100511000742

http://nwww.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20100512000682

http://www.shoutcastblog.com/2010/05/11/wondergirls-were-mistreated-by-jyp-entertainment/

Finnish Baby-Care Boxes

In Finland there is a 75 year old tradition in which the government provides expectant mothers with 'baby-boxes.' These boxes and the contents of the boxes are used to provide essential early care to the new baby.

Please read the article on Finnish baby-boxes.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-22751415

Vocabulary to help you understand the article:

expectant mothers - women expecting to have a baby

the infant mortality rate - the number of babies who die per year.  If a country has a low infant mortality rate, it means the country is pretty well-developed - medical care is good etc.  A high infant mortality rate could be due to poverty, improper medical care or a number of other factors.

maternity - motherhood

to opt for - to choose

the scheme - here it means 'the plan'

municipal - city

pre-natal - pre-birth

to steer - to guide, to gently push

a nascent welfare state - beginning welfare state.  A welfare state is a state or country in which the taxes are high but there are lots of free services.  Usually education and medical care are free in a  welfare state.

to be spared the effort - to be spared something means that you don't have to do it

gender neutral - the colors can be used for boys and girls.  Gender specific colors might be blue for boys and pink for girls.

Multiple choice questions:

1.  According to the article, the baby-box is a symbol of:   
a) falling infant mortality rates.  b) the equality of all Finns.  c)  the need for better baby care.  d)  the concern of the government for its people.

2.  The baby box is available to:
a) expectant moms who earn less than the average income in Finland.  b)  all Finnish women.  c)  first-time Finnish mothers.  d)  Finnish women between the ages of 18 and 35.

3.  Women seem to choose the baby box over the amount of money because:
a)  they want to be a part of the tradition.  b)  they do not feel comfortable accepting money from the government.  c)  the box and its contents are worth more than the amount of money offered.  d)  they intend to use the box over and over again.

4.  A law was passed requiring expectant moms to visit a doctor before their 4th month of pregnancy if they wanted the free box. The best explanation for this is:  
a) The Finnish government wanted to help encourage expectant moms to be more aware of the health needs of themselves and their babies.  b) The government wanted to promote the health care industry in Finland.  c)  The Finnish government wanted to keep track of  health care data.  d)  The boxes could only be used properly after receiving the doctors advice on how to use them.

5.  Which was not listed as a factor in decreasing infant mortality rates: 
a) the baby boxes.  b) a centralized hospital system.  c) a national health insurance system.  d)  better high school education concerning hygiene and fitness.

6.  A big danger mentioned in the article which the baby-boxes help parents to avoid is: 
a)  parents potentially rolling over onto the baby in a shared bed.  b)  a lack of safe clothing.   c)  dangers from sudden temperature changes in the house.  d)   the danger of an improperly constructed crib.

Answers are below:







ANSWERS:


1.  b
2.  b
3.  c
4.  a
5.  d
6.  a