Sunday, November 14, 2010

Weekly Bilingual News


Dear Friends:


Hello! Welcome to a new issue of the Weekly Bilingual News with a brief analysis of the main events and news of the last few days to help the members of the Spanish-English Club in your bilingual practice.

¡Hola! ¡Bienvenidos a un nuevo número del Weekly Bilingual News con un análisis breve de los principales acontecimientos y noticias de los últimos días para ayudar a los miembros del Spanish-English Club en su práctica bilingüe.

This is the English version of the issue. We suggest you try to rewrite it in Spanish. Later, we will complete the issue with the Spanish part of this Weekly Bilingual News. You can write us for comments and more bilingual vocabulary everytime you need.

On Monday, November 8, President Obama traveling across India, announced support for this Asian country that is demanding a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council. International analysts expect the initiative will have opposition from China and other countries. Do you think Brazil also will demand a permanent seat?

Also on Monday, at the Oil Spill Commission Hearing, inthe US Congress,BP, Halliburton and Transocean answered questions about the errors they made in the Deepwater Horizon rig's operation that ended in the horrible accident of the Gulf of Mexico last April.

On Tuesday, November 9, President Obama returned to Indonesia, where he spent a portion of his childhood, encouraging the United States to build stronger ties with the most populous Muslim nation in the world. The President was reminded of emotional moments from his past.

Also on Tuesday, former President George W. Bush released his memoir titled "Decision Points". Through this book, President Bush explains some of the tough decisions he made while in office, including how he dealt with September 11, the lack of weapons of mass destruction and Hurricane Katrina. Do you like to read memoirs of important leaders? Did you read the autobiographies of other presidents?

On Wednesday, November 10, a bipartisan deficit commission appointed by President Obama issued a draft proposal of drastic spending cuts including changes in Social Security and in the tax policy.

On Thursday, November 11, after months of discussions, Iraqis political rivals reached an agreement that keeps Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki in power but distributes other key positions. 

On Friday, November 12, from Seoul, South Korea, the G-20 summit set broad guidelines for the global economy but left out details on how key issues will be resolved. China, Germany and others rebuffed U.S. propositions.

In Seoul, President Obama suffered two defeats: one in the G-20 environment, and the second in the deal with the South Korea's government to improve the commercial relationships between the United States and the Asian country.

About this subject we posted the following comment for the Journal Community of Wall Street Journal: "It was not the best time for going to the G-20. If President Obama had asked me before the beginning of his trip, I would say him: "Please Mr. President, Send a delegate." When the internal problems are complex, and especially after a defeat like the November 2 election, the silence at home is better decision than a very visible footbridge across the world." Domingo A. Trassens

Also on Friday, Wall Street Journal posted an article titled "Chinese Plan to Buy Stake in GM" where this media commented the biggest Chinese auto maker plans to buy stock from General Motors. The article begins: "China's biggest auto maker, SAIC Motor Corp., is close to finalizing a plan to buy a stake in General Motors, which is preparing for an initial public offering next week."

In this case we added the following comment: "I see the potential purchase of a General Motors Co's stake by China's biggest auto maker from another perspective. Despite all the problems GM lived with, during the last years, till now it is part of the American inheritance. The Chinese companies and institutions have the capacity to advance step by step with national targets. They will be very happy buying today only a stake in GM. Surely tomorrow they will try to buy a second bigger portion of GM. What will be the GM's nationality in ten or fifteen years? Maybe in some years, we have to cry another mistake looking at the brilliant red lights of the brand new CHINESE MOTORS CO. (CM). What do you think?" Domingo A. Trassens

The main indexes of Wall Street closed the week in negative territory. Dow Jones Industrial Average went down251.50 points or 2.20% to 11192.58. Nasdaq Composite fell 60.77 points, or 2.36% in the same period, to close at 2518.21.

During the last week, the trip of President Obama abroad generated different news and analyses about the relationships of the United States and the rest of the world. In particular, the negative attitude of China to solve economic differences with U.S. gained concerns of economists and other observers.

In summary, the week ended with a new economic map of the globe. The G-20 Summit showed a world divided about economic and social issues. Some countries like Germany, Brazil and China are growing faster than United States. This international news impacted in the Wall Street indexes.

What is your summary of the week? What were the most important events from your point of view? Please explain them in a bilingual mode.

All the best,

Domingo

Domingo A. Trassens
Spanish-English Club
Electronic mail: domingo.trassens@gmail.com
URL: http://spaengclub.blogspot.com/ 

Questions - Preguntas:

1) From your point of view, what was the worst news for the last week? 

1) Desde vuestro punto de vista, ¿cuál fue la peor noticia de la última semana?

2) And what was the best news from the last week?

2) ¿Y cuál fue la mejor noticia de la última semana?

Vocabulary - Vocabulario:

- autobiography, autobiographies = autobiografía, autobiografías
- biggest = más grande
- childhood = niñez, infancia
- commercial = comercial
- defeat = derrota
- economic = económico, económica, económicos, económicas
- economy = economía
- encourage = alentar, estimular
- footbridge = pasarela
- improve = mejorar
- inheritance = patrimonio, herencia
- keep, keeps = mantener, mantiene
- map = mapa
- memoir, memoirs = memoria, memorias
- Muslim = musulmán, musulmana
- permanent = permanente
- propositons = propuestas
- rebuff = desaire, rechazo, rechazar
- rig = plataforma petrolera, torre de perforación
- seat = escaño, asiento
- Seoul = Seul 
- South Korea = Corea del Sur
- stock = acción, acciones
- ties = vínculos, lazos

MEMBERS AND LIBRARY CORNER

Thanks to Anne, Bob, Erika, John, Mary, Stephanie, and Suzanne for your messages.

This is not a Chinese car. It is a Rolls-Royce decorated by an American artist. Could the Chinese create something similar? Please write your comments in a bilingual mode.


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