Transcript Presentazione di PowerPoint

http://www.lafragola.it
PILLS
Raccolta di articoli in inglese scritti dalla
Classe 3 A
Anno scolastico 2004 – 2005
Prof. Enrica Puppo
INDEX
21 THE ASIAN TSUNAMI
YLENIA ANGIOLINI
3
WAR IN IRAQ
22 BOLLYWOOD
23 ANOREXIA
INDEX
24 WHAT IS AIDS
CRISTINA ANNIBALI
4
FEDERICA ODONE
SWOOTS…WHAT GREAT SENSE
OF HUMOUR!
5
A BONE, A LOVE TOKEN FOR YOU
6
THE LATEST FROM THE NET
25 KILLED IN COLD BLOOD
26 WHEN SHALL I HAVE A BABY?
27 THE NEW HEIR TO THE THRONE
SERENA BADARACCO
7
SEASONS OF THE ARTIC FOX
8
THE KILLER WHALE
LUDOVICA BRUNAMONTI
9
CLOUDS OR UFOS?
10 WHEN SCIENCE BECOMES A SHOW
FRANCESCA BUTERA
11 THE LATEST LITERAY CASE
JESSICA ERRE
12
DOG’S DOUBLE SOUL
13
ARS ELECTRONICA FESTIVAL
14
APRIL FOOL’S DAY
15
THE MISTRESS OF PASHMINA
16
THE POWER OF COLOURS
17
T SHIRT
18
WHY DO ENGLISH PEOPLE DRIVE
19 GLOBAL WARMING
20 HOW TO FEED OURSELVES
A LESSON IN NATURE
ANIMALS’ RIGHTS
GOLD
MIXED SPORTS
A HUNDRED BILLION PLASTERS
STRANGE THINGS OF OLIMPIC
GAMES
49 THE LEGEND OFTHE HARLEY
DAVIDSON
CORINNA OLIVERI
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
A RECORD HOTEL
ANTS’ SECRETS
A ROYAL LOVE STORY
AIDS THE NEW PLAGUE
HYDROGEN:REALITY OR DREAM?
TERRI SCHIAVO,AN AMERICAN TRAGEDY
MOUNTAINS OF PLASTERS
FRANCESCA PAMPALONI
35 SHOULD DRUGS BE LEGALIZED?
36 A STRANGE WEDDING
GIULIO PARODI
37 KOIZUMI AND JINTAO
GIULIA PARTESANA
38 THE MOST IMPORTANT DAY IN SIENA
39 TOURIST ANIMATION
ON THELEFT?
MARTA MURGIA
43
44
45
46
47
48
ELENA PASTORINO
40 ABSENT-MINDEDNESS
41 GRAVITATIONAL SPORTS
42 HOT PEPPER
ROSA PINASCO
50 VIDEOGAMES STIMULATE THE BRAIN
VIRNA TACCONE
51 A HEAP OF MEMORIES
52 DRAGONS
53 NOT ONLY BREAD AND BEER
54 WHAT TIME IS IT?
55 WORLD WATER DAY 2005
56 HEREDITARY GIFT
ISABELLA TORRE
57
58
59
60
INTELLIGENT HOUSES
COLLECTING PASSION OR OBSESSION?
LA GIOCONDA CHANGES HOME
THE SECRETS OF THE GREAT WALL
FRANCESCA VALENTE
61 OUR CIVILIZATION IS IN DANGER
62 STOP THE “M”, A DECISION OF MC
DONALD’S
63 THE FIRST MAN WITH A NEW FACE
64 THE NORTH IS MORE POLLUTED
WAR IN IRAQ
YLENIA ANGIOLINI
Every day we hear about the war in Iraq. The Americans use bombs and tanks, but, a part of the people
who live in Iraq uses something different to fight against their enemies: terrorism.
Living in Iraq is very difficult and dangerous because, at any moment, it could explode a bomb
everywhere. Terrorists have killed thousand of innocent people in this horrible way. They use to put
some explosive on a person, a “kamikaze”. When he is in a very crowded place, he makes himself
burst, so he dies, with the most part of the people he has around.
Every kamikaze becomes a hero, because he sacrifices his life for his ideals and his family gets a sum
of money. Just for this reason, some poor families sell one of their children to the terrorists to earn
some money.
In this period also kidnappings are frequent: terrorists kidnap foreign people, and in the most part of
cases they kill them. Also Italians have been kidnapped. Some of them, like Fabrizio Quattrocchi and
Enzo Baldoni were killed; others were freed, like Simona Pari and Simona Torretta.
Everybody is in danger in Iraq, even if Americans and their allies are trying to make this state flourish
again. The problem is Iraqis do not want to be helped by foreigners, because they want to solve their
problems by themselves. They want the Americans and their allies to leave Iraq otherwise they kill
all the foreigners present in their country.
This war is, by now, a world problem: everybody must be worried for the future, because even if war is
over, there is lot of fighting, there are lots of damages and lots of houses to re-build, not to mention
that thousand people died and keep on dying.
SWOTS… WHAT A GREAT SENSE OF
HUMOUR!
CRISTINA ANNIBALI
Three students of the MIT ( Massachusetts Institute of Technology) of Boston have
presented a real trick-research at the “World Mult-Conference on Systemics,
Cybernetics and Informatics”, a very serious congress in Orlando (Florida). The
paper, called “Rooter”: a Methodology for the typical Unification of Access Point
and Redundancy, is actually a whole paper of well-bound nonsense. With this
research, the boys have demonstrated the superficiality of some symposiums
promoted by highly rated researchers, who have immediately accepted their
incomprehensible academic presentation. The cleverest had created a software
able to write sentences using a scientific jargon, put together at random, just to
prepare their paper.
The software, launched online and baptised “SCIgen”, is actually the emblem of
an ethical claim, whose aim is to generate subscriptions to boycott the
congresses without any qualitative standard and organised only to raise money.
The organizers of the conference, furious for the bad publicity, declared to use
More rigorous methods of selection for the researches' admittance from that
moment on.
Moreover, to avoid other clamour, the invitations of the three boys to the congress
is not going to be retired. The students have already raised money in order to pay
for their travel to Orlando. They have already collected 2,000 dollars!
A BONE, A LOVE TOKEN FOR YOU
CRISTINA ANNIBALI
If you are so in love that you would donate a part of your body to your partner, go to
Britain!
A new English project is going to awaken the people about the engineering of our
internal bony fibres. The couples of lovers who want to exchange an original love token
have, first of all, to undergo an operation to extract some bony cells from their body.
These cells, with suitable treatments, are shaped as a ring thanks to a special ceramics
support. The rough ring will be, then, processed by some jewellers of the Royal College
of London that will decide, together with the lovers, the kind of ring to make.
Till now, no law forbids the creation of jewels made of bony fabric, even if the taking out
of the necessary substances can be done only in already foreseen operations. The young
lovers could, for example, extract their wisdom teeth.
At the moment, however, this initiative has only a demonstrative aim and not a
commercial development. So the days of goldsmiths and diamonds dealers are not yet
numbered!
THE LATEST FROM THE NET
CRISTINA ANNIBALI
For three months the browser master of Microsoft has been losing
clients in favour of its competing software, first of all Mozilla. In fact
since the end of 90’s Internet Explorer has been earning more an
more users. Its increase began in July 2004 when some information
attacks alarmed the users of Explorer about its security. According
to statistics it held the 95% of the online market in June. Noe has the
93% of it, which means that the 2% of the people who had Explorer
have passed to Mozilla or Firefox. Some say that this increase is not
dangerous, at the moment, but it could become during the years.
However the sudden popularity of Mozilla has exposed it to security
problems because it is becoming interesting for the online pirates.
So the “technicians” of this software have decided to pay the people
for helping them to discover its vulnerability.
SEASONS OF THE ARTIC FOX
SERENA BADARACCO
Small fur balls with small ears, short muzzles and hairy feet, as
those of a bunny, live in Canada, where they spend their days hunting,
playing among each other and obviously paying attention to their own
lives.
Artic life is not a very simple one because there are many periods with
lack of food. In fact they eat above all lemmings, very small mice,
which do not appear every season; fortunately they can also eat seal’s
puppies. Thanks to their sense of smell, they can find the refuges of
seals within two kilometres of distance and they dig a hall to catch
them. In winter, the fur of the most part of artic foxes, changes from
blue-brown to white, because in winter there is very much snow and
they must camouflage with it and also because it is much heavier.
Fox puppies are very playful and full of energy, however during
their games they must pay attention to eagles and owls but also
to common foxes.
It would be sufficient to watch a photo of an artic fox to fall in
love with this sweet animal; unfortunately to meet it, it is
necessary to make a very long journey.
A PARTICULAR MAMMAL THE KILLER WHALE
SERENA BADARACCO
It is strange that the word killer whale gives the name to an animal,
that looks like sweet.
Sea-lions are, for killer whales, a delicious piecemeal with moustache;
but not only them. In fact dolphins commit suicide, going on the cliffs
to escape from them.
Even if sharks are considered the kings of oceans, they are chosen by
killer whales and they already know their destiny: death.
Together with rays, sharks are the first source of food for killer whales.
This fact can happen because they move in the oceans in groups, so they
encircle their prey and kill it.
Researchers are able to recognize killer whales one by one thanks to the
dimension and the shape of their fin, particular scars and wounds,
different white spots on the fin itself. Through these details killer whale can
have a different name, which is formed by a number that follows a letter.
The letter depends on the place where they live, and the number depends
on the age, in relation to the group. It has been discovered very much
about these animals, but scientists and researchers continue their studies
to discover much more about them and to reach communication with them.
CLOUDS OR UFOS?
LUDOVICA BRUNAMONTI
They look like UFOs, but, instead, they are clouds and are
called “lenticolar clouds”, they are beautiful, oval and
perfectly designed, so that they have deceived a lot of
people.
In fact they exchanged them for extraterrestrial spaceships.
On the contrary they are clouds that in particular light
conditions take the shape of lens and look like UFOs.
By now scientists believe that life is possible on other planets
similar to the Earth, but till now there is no proof of the
landing of aliens on our planet.
All the extraterrestrial sighting of landing turned to be
something different, such as, for example, artificial
satellites, or unknown military planes. In other cases they
were space probes, meteorites or as in the case of the
Lenticolar clouds atmospheric phenomena.
WHEN SCIENCE BECOMES A SHOW
LUDOVICA BRUNAMONTI
The Science Festival” of Genoa will start on October 28th and Genoa will be, for a while, the European
capital of scientific popularization.
Scientists are ready to stir people’s interest and to spread scientific concepts as easy as possible so that
not expert people can appreciate them. They hope to involve young people. In fact they are suspicious as
regard science and prefer to apply themselves to music, art or literature to express their creativity.
However science and technology are destined to change our future and our lives even if they are not part of
common culture yet.
During this festival many famous scientists will try to persuade everybody that science and society must
walk together without mistrusting each other.
The promoters hope to have a great success and that Genoa will become a permanent centre of scientific
research.
THE LATEST LITERARY CASE
From the Authors of “SEX AND THE CITY”
FRANCESCA BUTERA
“Have you been ditched by him? It’s better to laugh about it.”
It has just been released, and in New York it’s already a cult.
We are talking about the new guide for women who are going through a bad patch because of love
Problems.
“He’s Just Not into You: the No-excuses Guide to Understanding Guys” by Greg Behrendt and Liz
Tuccillo is a collection of the most popular excuses used by men just to avoid a tête -a-tête dinner they
don’t want to participate to, or a meeting with their girlfriend.
In the book we can read hackneyed stratagems, such as: “I don’t want our friendship to be ruined”
or “I’m not searching for a serious relation” and absolutely absurd ones, such as “I’m sorry but I have
just moved to Florida”.
However, the book suggests how to face liars interpreting their sentences in the right way, just not to
be hurt too late, but with a great humour, according to Behrendt and Tuccillo’s style: in fact , they are
the main creators of “Sex and the City”, the famous sitcom about the importance of love in a big
Metropolis such as New York.Many books about the difference between men and women have been
written: the most famous one is “Men are from Mars, Women Are from Venus” written in 1992 by John
Gray. Later in 1995 Ellen Fein wrote “The Rules”; and every time these books represent a great literary
case, in fact, “He’s Just Not into You” has already reached 440,000 copies in New York
DOGS DOUBLE SOUL
JESSICA ERRE
It is a common opinion that the dog is the man’s best friend. Every dog’s master thinks that
his dog counts more than many other friends. Dogs are able to save our life but also to tear us
into pieces, because they come from the same family as wolves and jackals.
In fact they have maintained many wild instincts, like aggressiveness and the ability of
fighting. They can still couple with them and have puppies, which are able to reproduce.
After many accidents in which children and adults have been wounded or torn into pieces, the
Ministry of Health has imposed the use of the muzzle and the leash in parks, streets and
restaurants. Some experts at the University of Belfast, in Northern Ireland, have proved that
dogs have also a particular behaviour. They become irritable and bark frequently when they
listen to rock music like “Metallica” or “Iron Maiden”, while they are relaxed and educated
when they listen to Bach or Mozart.
The barking of dogs is not a casual expression. Dogs are more expressive than wolves: they
have more variations, both in tones and barking. Dogs utter atonal sounds when they are
stressed, while when they feel good, they utter more musical ones.
Dogs have their own language but they understand also ours. Rico, a “Border Collie”, has
demonstrated of understanding the meaning of 200 words. In conclusion, dogs can
understand men better than monkeys which are a species much more similar to us.
ARS ELECTRONICA FESTIVAL
JESSICA ERRE
Every year in September the Ars Electronica Festival takes place in Linz (Austria). It is the most important
international appointment for the people who are interested in the relation between art and new technologies.
During this event the city of Linz changes into a virtual stage: squares, cafés, universities, museums become a
crossroad of artists, cyber-performers, scientists and searchers from all over the world.
The most attractive thing is the set: the contrast between the typical order of the Austrian province and the
presence of many technological apparatuses.
The artist director of “Ars Electronica Festival” is the forty-year-old Gefried Stocker, a media artist who in 1991
gave birth to the X-space group composed by artists, musicians but also programmers and engineers.
Stocker will be in Genoa next year to explain the main features of his festival.
This manifestation has been taking place in Austria for 24 years just in Linz because the Austrian city was one
of the European capitals of steel.
In the 60s, after the crisis in iron and steel industries, Linz had to invent its own identity, so Leopold Seder,
One of the founders of Ars Electronica, understood that new technologies represented a great economic field.
It was important for them to be connected to society and culture: this is why it was called the festival of art,
New technologies and society.
Linz has also a slogan “Everything Starts Here”, and in fact it has changed very much in the latest years. Its
historical centre has been bettered and in 1996 a museum of the future was opened in a building made of glass
where people can experiment with virtual reality. For example they can transform themselves into superman
and fly over the houses of Linz.
APRIL FOOL’ S DAY
JESSICA ERRE
On the 1st of April, the strangest and most extravagant jokes happen again all over the world. In this day
people should pay much attention to what they read or listen to.
But why is the 1st of April dedicated to jokes and why do people speak about “fish”? There is no univocal
explanation of this fact.
Somebody thinks that this custom may come from unfruitful spring fishing. In the first days of April some
fishermen ventured in the ocean hoping to find out good fish. But many times they did not find any prey
and, when they came back to the port, the other fishermen made fun of them for their useless wandering.
Moreover, until 1582 the festivities for the New Year’s Day began on the 25th of March with ceremonies,
dances and presents.With the reform of the calendar by Gregorio XIII, the New year’s Day was moved to
the 1st of January.The people who knew about the change began to make fun of the ones who did not
know.
Someone believes that “ April Fool’s Day “ derives from the trick that Cleopatra played on her lover Marco
Antonio. She challenged him to a fishing competition but soon discovered that he was trying to cheat.
So she decided to attach a false fish to his hook to punish him.
Since ancient time people have been inventing strange and ridiculous jokes on this day. In 1970, in
Naples, the daily “Sport Sud” published the news that the great football player, Pelè, was training with the
team of Naples. It caused the Stadium to be soon full of enthusiastic fans.
In 1974, in London, the radio spread the news that the Thames estuary was blocked by a dead whale that
would be eliminated with dynamite. For this reason there were many calls of protest.
In 1967, in Paris, every newspaper published the news that the French Government had decided to cancel
the punishment for the violations to the highway code, committed before 1966. The news was true but
nobody believed in it. What a pity!
THE MISTRESS OF PASHMINA
JESSICA ERRE
The word “pashmina” derives from “pashm”, which means internal: it is referred to the under hair of
Hircus-goats.
They are animals, which live on the Tibetan plateau, at 4800 metres of altitude and shelter themselves
from cold with this tick hair.
Gaynor Bongard, a Canadian from Toronto, runs in Genoa one of the greatest firms of “pashmina”, the
precious tie made of silk and cashmere.
Bongard began to import “pashmina” from Nepal, the greatest producer all over the world, for fun five
years ago.
In 1999 she made a bet with her two sisters Sara and Susan. They bought about one hundred pashmina
to verify if they would conquer the market.
Gaynor was very doubtful. She feared that in Genoa she could not make a big profit.
Now Gaynor Bongard imports every year 30.000 “pashmina” from Nepal, to sell them in Italy and all
over the world: from Naples to Como, and from Europe to the U.S.A.
In Nepal this commercial activity offers help to many people who are specialized in this old weaving.
Gaynor goes to Kathmandu twice a year to control the quality of their production, and she has also a
good relationship with the inhabitants. Nowadays many people, including VIPs such as Lilli Gruber,
Enrica Bonaccorti and Paolo Calissano wear Gaynor’s “pashmina”.
THE POWER OF COLOURS
JESSICA ERRE
Our eyes perceive six primary colours: blue, yellow, red, green, black and white.
Human’s mind interprets them in different ways according to the age and the place.
Blue is the Europeans’ favourite colour.
For ancient Romans, it was the colour of the barbaric populations such as the Gauls and the Gaels.
In fact, they had blue eyes and they used to dye their trousers and sometimes also their hair blue.
Blue was the colour of poor people, but since the reign of Louis IX of France (1214-1270) it has become
the European king’s colour.
Noble people say even to have blue blood!
Red is connected to blood and fire and it is considered both good and evil. People can get warm with
fire but they could also burn themselves.
For Christians, blood is the symbol of life and remission of sins if it is given, but it is the symbol of
death and fault if it is shed.
Yellow is connected to wealth and prosperity.
In Christian symbology it represents traitors but also the Jews, who had been thought of being Christ’s
enemies for a long time.
In the Middle Ages yellow meant madness and eccentricity.
In fact, the king’s jester used to wear yellow clothes.
Nowadays this colour excites melancholy when it reminds the autumnal leaves or the old photos.
Green is the colour of nature.
In the Middle Age it was associated to chance and fate but also to spring and youth.
Nowadays green is the colour of hope and welfare.
Black represents sin whereas white is the colour of purity, innocence and peace.
T SHIRT
JESSICA ERRE
T-shirts are the most simple and common clothes but they are also useful to express our personality.
Some people wear T-shirts where there are printed phrases dealing with peace, crime, sex and drug.
Others wear them to express a political or a religious identity.
Anyway a T-shirt is the most immediate form of communication able to exceed every linguistic and
cultural barrier and its myth is expanding all over the world.
It was invented in 1900, but it was asserted later in 1942, when the U.S. Navy obliged its soldiers to put
it on as a uniform.
It was called T-shirt for its shape, similar to the letter “ T “.
Once, every T-shirt was white, made of cotton, with short sleeves and a round neckline.
In 1955 James Dean, a famous actor of that time, turned the T-shirt from a symbol into a life style.
Young people tried to imitate both his behaviour and his way of dressing: a white T-shirt, cigarettes
and a rebellious temper.
Nowadays many people speak through a T-shirt to stimulate a reflection, and there are also the ones
who put it on their own dog!
T-shirts fit everybody. Young and old, thin and fat, tall and short, ordinary people and VIPs.
T-shirts are also sold in bookshops, with poems by famous writers written on. A shirt has to be never
thrown. The older it is, the more it turns into an object for collection.
WHY DO ENGLISH PEOPLE DRIVE
ON THE LEFT?
JESSICA ERRE
Once, people carried a sword on their right. They walked on the left to be ready to fight
people approaching from the opposite direction.
The tradition of walking on the left became a law when in 1300 a. D. Pope Benefice issued
the Papal Edict, telling the pilgrims to walk on the left.
France was a Catholic country, so the French aristocrats obeyed Pope Benefice and
drove their carriages very quickly on the left.
But the peasants continued walking on the right because it was safer.
During the French revolution, the aristocrats walked on the right so that they could seem
peasants.
In 1794 the French government introduced the rule for everybody to walk on the right.
All the countries of the French empire kept to the right on the roads, whereas the ones
under the British rule kept to the left.
Americans chose to walk on the right as a gesture of independence from Great Britain.
In 1850 Japan started driving on the left.
Now Britain is in the European Union, they should drive on the right but they probably
will never do.
There are so many cars on the road that it would be too complicated and expensive to
change.
GLOBAL
WARMING
MARTA MURGIA
The earth is naturally warmed by the sunrays, which pass through the earth’ s atmosphere and are reflected
back out to space again.
The atmosphere is made up of layers of gases, some of which are called “greenhouse gases”; they are
mostly natural and make up a kind of thermal blanket over the earth.
This lets some of the rays back out of the atmosphere, keeping the right temperature for animals, plants and
humans to survive (60°F/16°C).
So some global warming is good; but if extra greenhouse gases are made, the thermal blanket gets thicker
and too much heat is kept in the atmosphere. That’s when global warming is bad.
If earth gets hotter, some important changes can take place:


Water expands when heated and the oceans absorb heat more than land, so sea levels rise;


Sea levels rise due to the melting of the glaciers and sea ice


Cities on coasts flood


Places that usually get lots of rain and snowfall get hotter and drier


Lakes and rivers dry up


There is more droughts making crops hard to grow


Less water is available for drinking, showers and swimming pools


Some plants and animals may become extinct because of the heat


Hurricanes, tornados and other storms which are caused by changes in heat
and water evaporation may get more common
For these reasons we must protect our earth, to have a safe future.
HOW TO FEED OURSELVES
MARTA MURGIA
In vast areas of the world, still today, people suffer from hunger and
Diseases caused by food shortages. In richer countries people eat too
much, and, as a consequence, suffer from diseases caused by food in
excess. In Italy people eat a lot (3.500 calories per person, instead of
the advised 2.500 calories). They eat too many fats and too many
animal proteins compared with vegetables proteins.
Also bad habits, such as eating too quickly, together with inadequate
chewing, cause diseases in the digestive tract.
Preference for pre-packed and pre-cooked food, full of additives,
preservatives, and artificial colouring has changed people’s attitudes
towards food and eating. The busy pace of modern life, the lack of
time to cook and the constant “bombardment” of advertisements,
play a fundamental role in today’s attitudes towards food.
THR ASIAN TSUNAMI
MARTA MURGIA
Earthquakes happen when the plates that make up the Earth’s surface suddenly
move against each other.
On the 26 December 2004 the biggest earthquake for 40 years has occurred between
the Australian and Eurasian plates in the Indian Ocean.
The quake triggered a Tsunami, a series of large waves, that spread thousands of
kilometers over several hours.
The earthquake caused the sea floor to brake along the fault line north of the epicenter, causing a giant
wave, which carved a path of destruction across the 4,500 km, wide Indian Ocean over 7 hours.
The Tsunami formed when energy from the earthquake vertically jolted the seabed by several meters,
displacing hundreds of cubic kilometers of water. Large waves began moving through the ocean, away
from the earthquake’s epicentre. The Tsunami’s journey had begun.
In deep water it moved at up to 800 km/h. When it reached the shallow water near costal areas, the
Tsunami slowed but increased in height.
Coastal areas like the Sri Lankan tourist resorts of Kaluatra, had almost no warning of the approaching
Tsunami. The only sing came just before the tsunami struck when the waterline suddenly retreated,
exposing hundreds of meters of beach and seabed.
The several waves of the tsunami came at intervals of between 5 and 40 minutes. In Kaluatra the water
reached at least 1 km inland, causing widespread destruction.
BOLLYWOOD
MARTA MURGIA
Bollywood is the nickname given to the Indian film industry; it is a pun on the word
Hollywood. The B comes from Bombay, a big city in India.
Bollywood is massive, it makes up to 800 films a year, twice as many as Hollywood, and
about 14 million Indian people go to the cinema everyday.
Films are made so fast that sometimes actors on set shoot scenes for four different films
at a time; and sometimes scripts are even hand-written.
In 1899 the first Indian short film was screened, and Bollywood was born. Just like in
Hollywood, films were silent at the beginning, and then in 1930 they became “talkies”.
Bollywood ’s biggest audience outside India is in Britain; in 2002 a season of Indian films was shown
on television when India and England played in a big cricket tournament.
A department store devoted a summer to Indian fashion, and shops everywhere were full of colourful
clothes.
“Bombay Dreams”, a new West End musical, was a sell out; special cinemas also showed Bollywood
classic films and had exhibitions featuring Bollywood film posters.
Lagaan, a huge Bollywood hit, was nominated for an Oscar; Bollywood films have managed to cross
over and now it is not just Indian families watching them, they are being shown in big cinemas across
the UK. They are really colourful, crammed with singing, dancing, loads of costume changes.
The future looks even brighter for Bollywood, big US film companies such as Warner Bros, and the
Twentieth Century Fox, are setting up offices in India.
Where Indian filmmakers have found it difficult to compete with Hollywood ’s special effects, this is
seen as the next big area for Bollywood to develop.
ANOREXIA
MARTA MURGIA
Anorexia is a common modern disease among young people. It means
starving the body. A person does not feed his body adequately and often
vomits after eating.
Most experts agree with the fact that causes are above all cultural and
psychological; but why is anorexia a disease of young people, especially
girls? Because adolescents are more susceptible to mass media messages
concerning the beauty and the shape of their bodies. Models of physically
perfect women are continuously catching their attention. That is why some
Of them, particularly the ones who think their parents do not understand them
or feel the burden of solitude, begin to refuse food or vomit after eating.
Can a remedy be found? First of all prevention, by accepting one’s body, and
if people really need to diet they must ask a doctor’s advice. Young girls
should talk to their parents, and they should try to listen to their children.
Moreover young people should remember it is more important to be beautiful
inside than physically
WHAT IS AIDS?
MARTA MURGIA
AIDS stands for the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome. It is a serious condition which attacks the
immune system (That stops your body from getting ill).
People with AIDS can die after developing different kinds of diseases, which the body would normally
fight off by itself.
It can be passed on through blood and other body fluids (through not saliva); it is spread through
having unprotected sex with an infected partner or by injecting drugs if infected drug addicts share
needles.
Before 1983 there were some cases of people catching AIDS from blood transfusions, but this is
virtually impossible now, because blood is screened.
Pregnant women with AIDS can pass the virus on to their babies at birth or through their breast milk.
This is the main way that children, especially in Africa, get AIDS.
Millions of people around the world die of AIDS-related illnesses every year: In Africa more people die
from AIDS than any other disease, 25 millions people there, have the HIV virus. Eastern Europe,
especially Russia, has the fastest growing HIV epidemic in the world.
New cases of HIV are at all-time high in the UK, with 3.435 new cases found in 2000. It is thought that
by the end of 2006 around the world, 2.700 millions of children, under the age of 15 will have AIDS.
There is no cure for Aids, but there are medicines that can slow down the HIV virus, and the damage to
the immune system. But there is no way to get all the HIV virus out of your body. Scientists are hopeful
that a vaccine against HIV will be found in the near future.
KILLED IN COLD BLOOD
FEDERICA ODONE
On last Thursday a fourteen-year-old boy, Raffaele Marrone, murdered
Stefano, in cold blood.
Stefano was trying to steal one of Raffaele’s friend’s motorbikes. Biagio, the
owner of the bike, noticed that Stefano was stealing his motorbike and called
his friends: ten boys on three cars and two motorbikes. All of them followed
him at high speed. When the chase stopped and Stefano fell down, nine out
of the ten guys badly hit two friends of Stefano’s. Raffaele, the eldest of the
ten guys, approached Stefano and, making fun of him, told him that he was a
nobody because of his toy-gun while he had got a real one. At that very
moment he suddenly took it out of his pocket and shot Stefano.
None of the boys confessed the crime when they were arrested but, anyway,they
have all been incriminated even the sixteen and the seventeen ones.
Out of the police station a group of people clapped to the police and the minister
Pisanu said they were the honest people of Naples.
WHEN SHALL I HAVE A BABY
FEDERICA ODONE
In England searchers found out that the best age to have a child is thirty-four. At that age
a woman has got fewer possibilities to get ill, because it is the top of her physical wealth
which begins when a woman is twenty-two years old and reaches its top at thirty-four.
These are good news for career women, because they can work till they reach that age,
they get their economical and social autonomy and then they can have enough time and
energy to think of having children and a family. At that age they are mature and
responsible enough and they can take care of their children and educate them better.
The negative side, of having a child too late, is that a woman is less fertile when she
becomes older. This is a problem because a lot of women can have only one child
because it is too late and it is more difficult to succeed in having a baby. They can also
have only one child, because of economical problems and this is a very sad problem.
A pregnancy can, at any age, make a woman feel better and younger and it is an
experience that every woman should prove.
THE NEW HEIR TO THE THRONE
FEDERICA ODONE
Letizia, the wife of Felipe, prince of Spain, was thought to be anorexic
but a few days ago the news of her pregnancy denied it.
In November she will give birth to her child who will be the heir to the throne
of Felipe VI even if the baby will be a female one.
The government Zapatero is ready to pass a constitutional reformation. This
rule will however let Felipe rule even if there is an older female heir to Juan
Carlo’s throne, Elena.
Letizia will probably give birth to her child in the exclusive Madrilenian clinic
Ruber International. If the baby is a boy he will probably be called Pelayo, like
the first Asturian king and if the baby is a girl Letizia would like to call her
Covadonga, like the Virgin patron of the Asturians. However Letizia and
Felipe will have to consult the king and the queen of Spain for the choice of
the name they will give to their child.
A
RECORD
CORINNA OLIVERI
HOTEL
In Lapland, at Jukkasjärvi, a little village on the banks of the River Torne, 200 km north of the Artic
Circle, 12 km from Kiruna airport, it is possible to have an interesting, incredible experience, the most
“thrilling” and “chilling” of one’s life: staying at the Icehotel.
The Icehotel is a wonderful, extraordinary hotel made up only of the ice drawn from the River Torne,
the water of which is clear and fast flowing, which lets the Icehotel be crystal-clear.
Fourteen years ago, in 1990, a Japanese artist had the idea of the Icehotel, bet with his Swedish friends
on its setting up and won the bet.
The construction of the Icehotel begins in October and in Mid-December it is over, and so it is possible
to stay there. Its building calls for 35 workers, apart from the sculptors who make the rooms more
refined and beautiful.
The Icehotel normally melts down in Mid-April or May, it depends on the weather. Since it melts down
every year, the hotel is different every winter.
The fist Icehotel was just like an igloo, little and uncomfortable. Then, the Icehotel has become bigger
and bigger, wider and wider, more and more comfortable and refined.
Last year the Icehotel was 5.000m2 and included 60 double rooms, 25 suites, an ice bar, an ice church, a
pillared hall and warm toilets. The temperature in the rooms of the Icehotel is around –6° or –5°, and so
its guests have to wear special warm clothes, provided by the hotel staff.
Staying at the Icehotel is a wonderful, unique experience. From December 2004 the people who can
not afford to go or do not feel like spending there their holidays because it is too cold, can watch the
building of the hotel on Discovery Channel and they will be swallowed up by the magic of that fantastic
place.
ANTS’ SECRETS
CORINNA OLIVERI
The journalists of an important and well-known Italian magazine have recently made a report; it was about the
“top-ten” creatures that have been living on the Earth for the greatest amount of years.
On top, there are some “special” creatures that are always exposed to our view and we sometimes hardly notice or
by which we are “obsessed”: ANTS.
We frequently spray the insecticide against them and then we feel relief, without knowing anything about them,
their lives, their homes and so on.
Ants have been living on the Earth for more than 100 million years, are considered one of the most long-lived
species (even if an ant can live only about 45 - 60 days), and are divided in more than 20,000 different kinds.
They are known all over the world as well-organised creatures (because of the tale “The Cicada and the Ant”, for
example), and also thanks to their extraordinary strength (in fact they weigh only few milligrams but can lift 20
times more than their own weight).
Their body is divided in three main parts: the head, the trunk and the rear; the head consists of jaws, eyes (made
up of many little lenses, like lots of other eyes) and antennas, that are used as special organs of smell, taste and
“contact” for them (in fact they communicate through their antennas); their six legs are attached to the trunk.
They are very sociable insects and live in large colonies or groups that consist of millions of ants. There are three
kinds of ants in each group, a kind of hierarchy: the queen (or queens), the task of which is to lay eggs; the male
ants, which have only to mate with the queen; the workers, sterile female ants, which have to look for food and to
protect their anthills from unwanted visitors.
Ants live in anthills, haunts of sand or dirt or something like that, divided in a lot of tunnels and chambers.
Experts do not know why ants have been living for such a long time on the Earth and in every place.
There are some suppositions about it, but the most reliable (and also the most beautiful) is that their strength is
their unity: after all, “Unity is strength”!
A ROYAL LOVESTORY
CORINNA OLIVERI
At last they will get married. After more than 30 years of love, always at the centre of gossip, scandals and
criticism, on the 8th of April, Prince Charles, the heir to the throne of England, and Camilla Parker Bowles
will marry, even if, they say, she will never become the Queen of Britain. Their love story seems to be a
fairy story. They met, for the first time, during a polo match in 1970. Camilla Shand was not are fined, elegant
woman, she was not particularly beautiful, she did not come from high social standing, on the contrary, she
was bold and simple. These features made a deep impression on the seventeen year-old firstborn child of the
Queen of Britain. Nine months later, Charles was sent to West Indies and when he came back, he discovered
that Camilla had married a friend of hers, Andrew Parker-Bowles.
Afterwards, also Charles got married to Diana Spencer , a young woman who seemed perfect for the throne
and who succeeded in winning the affection of the English. The rest is known by everybody: their
troubled marriage, the infidelities of both Charles and Diana, their divorce and, eventually, Diana’s
death. In spite of everything, Charles and Camilla’s relationship has kept on, they continued to
meet. Their first public appearance took place in 1999. Immediately, controversies aroused. Queen
Elizabeth II reaffirmed her opposition to their love and their wedding. After 6 years, since they have
not changed their mind, the Queen has given her approval to their wedding, in order to avoid a
regrettable situation when Charles will become king. In spite of this, a lot of the English do not
like Camilla; according to a recent survey, 58% of them agree with their marriage, 5% do not want
her to come to the throne, 49% think that their marriage will weaken the English monarchy and
41% think that, when Charles has the possibility to ascend the throne, he shall have to abdicate in
favour of his son, William. This matter will surely be discussed again and a lot of controversies
will be aroused but, at least, there is a consolation for the romantics: love triumphs over anything
AIDS THE NEW PLAGUE
CORINNA OLIVERI
According to a recent survey, the HIV positive persons in Italy are 120,000 and a lot of them live in Liguria, which is classed third with 2,809 persons who
have contracted HIV. This survey shows a great problem, in fact, even if during the last years many efforts have been made to awaken people, especially
teenagers, to the problem of HIV and AIDS, there are more and more persons who contract HIV. The origins of that terrible disease are still uncertain; it is
thought that it arises from a particular species of chimpanzee, just like the Plague, that is a mice’s disease in origin The virus has existed in the USA, Haiti
and Africa since 1977-1978, when diseases like pneumonia and cancer were found in persons with weak immune systems. In 1982 the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC) recognised the new disease, called AIDS; two years later it was discovered that the virus responsible for AIDS is HIV.
HIV means “Human Immune-deficiency Virus”, that is to say a virus that infects only human beings and causes the inability of the body immune system to
work properly. Instead AIDS means “Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome», a disease that is contracted from someone who is already ill and that
affects the body immune system and makes it deficient, unable to work properly, so that it is easier to fall ill with pneumonia, cancer, and so on, that are
difficult to defeat. The spread of HIV, and then AIDS, is due to the ignorance of a lot of persons about the way to catch HIV. The most known way to
transmit HIV is the one from an infected person to another by blood (including menstrual blood), semen, and vaginal secretion. These are the only ways to
be infected by HIV through the contact with other persons and so reactions like avoiding to shaking hands with infected persons and to kissing them are
unwarranted. In fact also French kisses are generally harmless: the mouth is an inhospitable environment for HIV and so the risk to get it through the
throat, gums and oral membranes is really low; this is the reason why also oral sex is considered to be not really dangerous.
Anyway, the best way not to risk to be infected is to follow the “ABC’s” of AIDS prevention:
A = Abstain
B = Be Faithful
C = Use Condoms
In plain words, this ABC says that the best way to avoid infecting is to abstain from sex, otherwise, if you choose to have sex, it could be better for you to
be monogamous, to limit the possibility to get in touch with HIV. Finally, using condoms is a good advice, especially for the ones who are involved in not
monogamous relationships. In these cases, however, it would be better to take preventative measures against infection and have the test regularly, also to
prevent from infecting somebody else. Recently the most terrible fact about AIDS is the spread of the virus among children: in fact, in addiction to
unprotected sexual contact, direct blood contact, including injection drug needles, blood transfusion, accidents in health care setting or certain blood
products, it is also possible to be infected through breast milk if the mother is HIV positive. Nowadays there are about 13 million children worldwide,
especially in Africa and Asia, who have been orphaned by the AIDS-related deaths of their parents, and a lot of them are infected as well.
If persons were more informed about AIDS, they would not run the risk to get HIV so easily.
HYDROGEN
REALITY
OR
DREAM?
CORINNA OLIVERI
As a consequence of the rise in the prices of oil, people think about new sources of energy in order to
replace, sooner or later, the so-called “Black Gold”.
For example, to carburet a car, avoiding also pollution, we could use electro motors, compressed air motors
or hydrogen motors.
The agencies that work with energy have bet on hydrogen, since they believe that, in our future, it will have
an important role.
Hydrogen is really favourable and it could reduce air and noise pollution and if it was really used as a fuel,
car would emit only steam into the atmosphere: in short, the cities would be more liveable and the quality of
life would increase.
Unluckily, it is not so easy to have hydrogen ready for use, even if it is very diffused.
Nowadays there are two ways to get hydrogen: we have to resort to hydrocarbons, with a process called
reforming, but it has some defects, since oil and its derivates are needed to do it. Besides, through
reforming, a lot of carbon dioxide is produced and it is bad since it causes the greenhouse effect. The latter
way to get hydrogen is called electrolysis, a process that does not produce pollution but needs a lot of
energy and so it is uneconomical.Other methods to get hydrogen are being tested but they do not
Solve great problems.
How can we store it? It is really difficult: either we keep it at –253 degrees in a liquid state or we can
compress it in a gas state, at 300/400 atm.
And then, where can we store it? We should build expensive infrastructures.
Hydrogen is still difficult to obtain but our necessity to have another type of fuel, different from oil, will
motivate us to invest money in further research in this field…also because Black Gold is not unlimited.
TERRI SCHIAVO, AN AMERICAN TRAGEDY
CORINNA OLIVERI
The fate of Terri Schiavo, an American woman, kept both the Americans and many people all over the world in suspense.
Theresa Marie Schindler Schiavo, or simply Terri Schiavo, as she was known all over the world, was a 41-year-old woman from Pinellas
Park, Florida. Since 1990, when she was 26 years old, she had been in a Persistent Vegetative State, due to a heart attack that caused a
permanent brain damage. In plain words, she was unable to speak, think, respond to stimuli, eat, swallow and take care of herself.
Her story interested a lot of people because she was at the centre of a legal conflict between her husband and her parents.
Her husband, Michael Schiavo, wanted euthanasia to be practised on her, in fact he was convinced that she would have never liked to
live in a vegetative state; unluckily he had no Terri’s living will which confirmed his statement.
Bob and Mary Schindler, her parents, thought that their daughter, who had been deeply catholic as they were, would have never agreed
with the idea of killing someone who was still alive even if he could not be self-conscious and independent and would have never
accepted to have euthanasia made on her. Besides they are still sure that their daughter’s situation was not as bad as the doctors said
and Michael thought: according to them she was able to respond to some stimuli and their opinion was backed by an illegal video tape
in which they showed that Terri could interact.
That story had aroused passion and controversies in America and all over the world because both the two parties seemed to be right:
Michael, who wanted her to stop suffering, and Bob and Mary, who did not want to give up all hopes.
Since they had not come to an agreement, they both had consulted a lawyer and had come before the court to have their opinion
confirmed and legally accepted.
The last acts of Terri’s tragedy took place few days ago: on the 18th of March, after a sentence passed by a judge, Terri’s feeding tube
was removed. It was like a sentence to death, starvation. On the 20th of March George W. Bush, the President of USA, interrupted his
holiday in Texas in order to sign a document to keep Terri alive, the so-called “Save-Terri” document.
It aroused hopes in Terri’s parents, who applied to a federal judge to have Terri’s feeding tube replaced as soon as possible, and also
controversies from Michael and a lot of other people, who thought that politicians should not interfere with common people’s lives.
On the 22nd of March the judge called by her parents, James Whittemore, decided to deny the replacement of Terri’s feeding tube.
Also the judge of Atlanta, with whom the Schindlers had lodged a petition, agreed with Whittemore.
Eventually, on the 31st of March, Terri died after 13 days without eating anything and it left sadness in everybody, from both the two
different lines-up.
MOUNTAINS OF PLASTERS
CORINNA OLIVERI
For some months, in Italy, there have been liquid plasters, the new, waterproof, transparent, American
invention for little scratches, cuts, and so on.
They appeared for the first time in 1920s in the United States of America, invented by Earle Dickinson,
an employee of Johson&Johnson, whose wife was very awkward and always got scratches and cuts.
Just to hide his wife’s little wounds, Dickinson invented the first plaster. Dickinson’s chief liked the
idea and so he started up their production.
Plasters were launched in 1920 as “Band Air”. Since that moment, about 100 milliard plasters have
been sold.
Only in Italy, about 20 million boxes of plasters a year are sold. Especially children, for whom plasters
have been enriched with colours and drawings, use them.
Normally, plasters consist of a little adhesive made up of textile fibres or plastics, in the middle of
which there is a little piece of gauze.
Lately, a lot of different, strange plasters have been invented: the sterile strips, plasters used by
surgeons instead of stitches to avoid scars; plasters used to give medicines, “hormone” plasters, for
women who are in menopause, contraceptive plasters, plasters against rheumatic pains, nicotine
plasters to stop smoking, plasters to remove comedoes, to straighten noses, to protect skin, to stop
snoring, and so on.
How will new plasters be? Nobody knows, but, at present, two kinds of new plasters are being
examined: at the University of Rochester a “clever” plaster, that informs the person wearing it if his
wound is infecting by changing its colour; and, finally, a Sheffield firm is testing a special plaster
consisting also of the cells of the patient that wears it.
SHOULD DRUGS BE LEGALIZED?
FRANCESCA PAMPALONI
From a survey among Americans about the big problem of legalising drugs, the population is divided in
two halves. In fact there are pros and cons of legalising drugs.
If drugs were legalised, drug barons and drug dealers would go out of business.
Illegality drives prices upwards: in the 20’s, when alcohol was illegal, it’s production and sale
became a huge and violent criminal business.
In 11 States in U.S.A that decriminalised the possession of marijuana, in the 70’s, the rates of
consumption are no different than in States that did not decriminalise. There is the idea that legalisation
would increase the use of drugs.
In the Netherlands, where cannabis was decriminalised in 1976, consumption among young people has
actually decreased.
If drugs are legalised the government would be able to regulate their sale.
It could put a tax on drugs as on alcohol and cigarettes. The money saved on law could be used for drug
treatment and prevention.
There are also cons.
Drugs have destroyed the lives of millions of people. If drugs were legal, millions of law-abiding citizens
would be lured into drug addiction. People could easily obtain and try a dangerous drug out of naïve
curiosity. Shops would give young people the impression that drugs were harmless, because they are
approved by the government.
Legalising drugs would not make the drug dealer disappear. The dealers would simply benefit from
The increased market, and they would provide more potent drugs than the government shops.
A STRANGE WEDDING
FRANCESCA PAMPALONI
With the marriage between Carlo and Camilla, the inhabitants of Windsor thought that
they had hosted the wedding of the year. But they were wrong. In the next December
Elton John, 58 years old, and David Furnish, 42, will be married.
In fact the English pop star and his life-companion have not decided to marry now spiting
the Pope and his condemnation of homosexuality. But for another reason: from the
7th of December 2005 in Great Britain will become effective “the civil union” among
the citizen of the same sex”.
“Marriage" is not the right word: Great Britain does not consent the homosexual wedding,
but has approved a law, passed by Parliament, that has legalized and homosexual
relationships. The law will be in force from the 7th of December 2005.
The media have done some calculation and they plan the date for the celebration around
the 21st of December.
KOIZUMI AND JINTAO TRY TO COOL THE DIPLOMATIC CRISIS BETWEEN THE TWO ASIAN DRAGONS
GIULIO PARODI
The Japanese premier, the Liberal democratic Junichiro Koizumi and the Chinese leader, the Communist Hu Jintao
met on the 23rd of April 2005 in Jakarta, where an Asiatic summit was held, to try to de-fuse the diplomatic bomb
between China and Japan. The causes of this crisis are numerous. Not only are Chinese people demonstrating
against the Japanese school books which would hide the crimes made by Japanese soldiers during the first part of
the last century. China does not like the Japanese candidature for a permanent seat at the UN. Furthermore Japan
has begun researches of natural gas in the Eastern Chinese Sea, in a zone claimed by Peking. Moreover the
problem of Taiwan continues to divide the two powers. The old Japanese colony is threatened by a severe Chinese
law considered dangerous by Japan. In fact this law would allow China to declare war to Taiwan in case of declared
independence from the “rebel province”. All these problems made thousand of people to demonstrate against
Japan through the streets of Peking, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Tianjin, Guangzhou and Chongqing. Although Chinese
Government has, till now, tolerated these anti-Japan demonstrations, China has nothing to earn from this crisis.
Firm relationships between Japan and China are indispensable for the peace and prosperity of the Asian-Pacific
region. China and Japan have, indeed, a commercial relation of 137 billions € pro year and both countries are
interested in maintaining this business. China has begun to forbid these demonstrations also because among the
badges that showed burnt Japanese flags or inscriptions such as “No Japan” or “Boycott Japanese Goods”, some
people asked for an increase in salary! Nationalistic spirits increase both in Peking and in Tokyo but the behaviours
of the two political leaders seem contradictory. Koizumi expressed public excuses to all the Asian countries that
suffered the Japanese imperialism in the past (Nanchino Massacre in 1937, when Japanese occupation
Soldiers killed 300,000 people), but Koizumi himself has always visited the memorial of Yasukumi where also 1,000
Japanese generals charged with war crimes are honoured. Recently 80 Japanese deputies of all parties renovated
their visit to Yasukumi, causing severe protests from China and South Korea. On the other hand, China has
expressed a severe admonition for everybody who would promote other demonstrations and this also stresses the
complete power of the Communist regime onto Chinese people. Let’s hope that the next Olympic games can help
China to reach a higher level in democracy and human rights and to find firm and peaceful relations. The world
cannot have an area of permanent crisis between these two Asian dragons.
THE MOST IMPORTANT DAY IN SIENA
GIULIA PARTESANA
At eight o’clock in the morning, the big bell of Mangia’s tower called Sunto announces to the town of Siena and the tourists that a very
important day is beginning; in fact this bell tolls only few times a year. In Piazza del Campo the jockeys, the captains and their companions,
take part in the jockeys mass, celebrated by the archbishop of Siena, who asks the Virgin for protection for men, horses and the race.
After the mass, the sixth trial called “provaccia”, takes place, because none of the jockeys will ever be so fool to really try his horse only ten
hours before the final race. After the sixth trial, each jockey is officially assigned to a “contrada” and from now on, neither the jockey nor the
horse can be replaced. The assignment takes place in the medieval town hall where the Mayor, the Captains and the jockeys, gather to read
the most important rules of the “Palio”. Then the management of the “contrade” and the jockeys negotiate with the people who could disturb
the horses and jockeys of the opposite “contrade” during the race. Especially the jockey who is at a run, the one who starts at the ropes called
canapi” and the one who decides when the race starts, are proposed to be given big sums of money to favour or to hamper a “contrada”.
Meanwhile a crowd of old, young and very young people, parade through the streets singing the hymn of their “contrada” and predicting every
kind of troubles for the rivals. In this day, the Sienese usually do not eat lunch at home but they eat something in Piazza del Campo.
Early in the afternoon, the Santo bell informs the “contradaioli" that they must go to wear the rich costumes to take part in the historical
parade. It is a very big honour for a boy to wear the “mantra” and it is a sign of confidence that the management places on him.
Then there is a moment full of emotion, the blessing of the horses in the oratory of each “contrada”: The invocation of the friar, who says to the
horse: “Go and return winner!” stirs deep in the heart of the “contradaioli” and the management. The “comparse”, that is to say the group of
young boys and girls who take part in the historical parade, the waving of the coloured handkerchiefs of each “contradict” and the sound of the
Sunto bell that accompanies all the manifestation, give emotions hardly felt in other parts of the world. In this moment everyone can perceive
that the feast is not built for the tourists but deeply and strongly felt by the Sienese. Finally the “Carroccio”, a kind of carriage with the “Palio”
on, enters Piazza del Campo. A last glance at the small flag of Mangia’s Tower that, for somebody, does not move in the direction of the wind
but in the direction of the part of the city which will win the “Palio” , and then there is the flag display. A silence full of waiting falls on the
square. The Sunto bell does not ring any more. The Sienese hold their breath and the last formality seems to be eternal. Then both horses
and jockeys come out of the “Entrone”. In the square everyone looks at the same direction while the horses go slowly to the “canapi” The
order of entrance in the “canapi” is drawn with a device that guarantees secrecy and correctness. At last the race begins. In a bit more then a
minute, everything is over: the winners, embrace all together, run to “Provenzano” or the “Duomo” to sing a “Te Deum”, maybe ramshackled
but alive and grateful. For all the others the feast is really over. They must wait for another “Palio”. Anyway in Siena it is always the season of
the “Palio” as it takes hopes, faith, sacrifice, fight and friendship.
TOURIST ANIMATION
GIULIA PARTESANA
The entertainers of holiday villages are a crowd of young Italians between 20 and 30.
They live in the most beautiful resorts of the world, but their work is not really a holiday…In-fact they do not
get much sleep (they have to rehearse the performances late in the night, when the tourists go to sleep),
they live far from home for many months a year and they are not well paid.
Even if they know about a thousand people a season, the entertainers have problems in creating a
permanent relation and can use some psychological tricks to convince the tourists to take part in the
activities. There are some curious rules to follow. For example, never speak to a guest wearing a pair of sun
glasses because if a person can not see in the eyes of the one he has in front of him, he would not perceive
the speakers as a sociable person: and so, before speaking with a client, the sun-glasses have to be put on
The head.
The first meeting between an entertainer and a client often takes place on the beach. When the entertainers
speak with a lying person they must crouch down near him for two reasons: first not to cast their shadow
on him and then because being overhang can be very irritating, especially for old people.
The entertainers must be polite to everybody and they eat lunch and dinner with the guests. After dinner,
when children and old people go to bed, they must go to the disco until about two o’clock. Every village has
its disco. They should not have relations with the tourists and when a client falls in love with an entertainer
the only solution is to dedicate him or her the less time possible, telling that it is not a good thing for the
Other guests.
Some people think that entertainers live on holiday but when they return home, they need a holiday far from
a tourist village!
ABSENT-MINDEDNESS
ELENA PASTORINO
Who has never lost anything? Everybody has lost keys, a mobile phone or a wallet; it is not unusual for absent-minded
people, but it can also happen to the attentive ones. In 1901 Sigmund Freud, the father of psychoanalysis, wrote that behind
forgetfulness there is an unconscious refusal of what the lost thing represents: work, family, responsibility...
There are many examples of carelessness; some of them are very funny and strange:
Australia, 1979. The police opened a closed door in the town hall of Hõchst. They found Andreas Mihauecz, a young boy
who had been left there for eighteen days without food and water. He had been taken there after a car incident.
France, 1993. An Italian beach hunter found a Jewish candelabrum made of gold, rubies and topazes under the seasand.
Switzerland, 2000. A group of students found some wads; they thought they were facsimile ones but they were real
money (about 13000$).
London, 2000. A security agent lost his PC in a taxi. When he lost it he was probably drunk. MI6 (the English secret
service) offered a great sum of money to the person who would find the PC.
USA, 2003. The keys of a chemical laboratory were lost. The rule forced to change all the locks of the laboratory. (1,5
millions $).
California, 2004. A taxi driver found an old violoncello. He carried it away and used it as record-rack. Some days later he
heard from the TV that a very precious violoncello made by Stradivari had been lost. It was priced 3,5 millions $. The
musician Peter Strumf (Los Angeles Orchestra) had left it in front of his house a week before.
Studies about lost things have always charmed many people. Renaissance poets thought that lost things would go to the
Moon. Jorge Luis Borges, a very famous writer (1899-1986), in his book called “Lo Zahir”, wrote the story of a man who paid
a little coin called Zahir for a coffee. After that moment he was hunted by the idea of finding the coin again. The story
reminds us of an Islamic legend; it tells about “an object that is impossible to lose”.
Finding your lost things on the Moon is impossible, but you can find them at an auction where you can understand how
absent-minded people are. They lose everything: suitcases, dynamite, prosthesis and dentures.
GRAVITATIONAL SPORTS
ELENA PASTORINO
According to tradition, Isaac Newton, discovered the force of gravity thanks to an apple. A little apple
fell from a tree... but the people who were in Australia three years ago saw something bigger that fell
from the sky. It was a parachutist who jumped from 40,000 meters. Do you think it is impossible? It is
true; Rodd Millner flew on an airship and jumped: he wanted to land in the middle of Australia.
The force of gravity is the force that holds us on the ground, but there are many people who use it to
do foolish actions. For example gravitational sports or “speed down”. The most famous sports are the
ones practised with little cars without any engine, they move only thanks to the force of gravity.
Originally these cars were packing boxes for soap. They were used by many boys in the 30s to build
little cars and they took part in the “Soap-box Derby” in America. After the First World War this
competition spread also in Europe. The boxes became handcarts. Today in Italy, a similar competition,
“Newton Trophy” takes place every year.
The most important part of gravitational sports are told to be extreme sports. Inline skates,
skateboards, bikes, sleds and so on these are only some examples of gravitational sports. In South
America people run on cars made of wood to give lorry-drivers food and spare parts. They do these
foolish actions out of necessity but there are many people who do them because of their own fun.
If the means of transport is a skateboard, the speciality is called “downhill skate”, but it exists also the
“inline skate downhill”.
The strangest means of transport is a special tack-suit endowed with many wheels. Thanks to this
tracksuit it is possible to skate in more than twenty positions!
It is true that gravitational sports are very dangerous, but there are many people who make them their
reason of life!
HOT PEPPER
ELENA PASTORINO
Hot pepper is one of the most diffused spices in the world. Somebody cultivates it; somebody
studies it at University; somebody uses it in aerosol bombs for self-defence or for beauty care. Hot
pepper comes from America; Diego Alvarez Chanca of Siviglia brought it to Europe for the first time
after the discovery of America. Hot pepper is called “Indian pepper” because it was so called by
European conquerors. There are many recipes made with hot pepper, for example Gulasch,
Guacamole, Chili, and the most famous Italian recipe: spaghetti with garlic, oil and hot pepper. It is
very known and some music bands have used the word “pepper “in their names; Red Hot Chili
Pepper is a very famous Californian band; there is also Jalapeno, a band from Spain, its name
comes from the name of a kind of hot pepper.
Especially in Italy, hot pepper is loved and every year a strange competition takes place.
Competitors must eat the biggest quantity of hot pepper they can. The holder of the record is a
Friulian farmer who ate 729 g of hot pepper and won the Italia Championship of hot pepper eaters.
Even if hot pepper is not DOC, some very important names of international cooking have used it
and it is coupled with others ingredients like chocolates or vodka. For example Armani Dolci has
created a new collection of chocolate sweets, hot pepper and tequila. The Swedish Absolut has
created a piquant vodka called “Absolut Pepper”. Even a beauty big firm, “Aquolina”, has used hot
pepper in its products. So hot pepper is becoming very popular and experts say
that it could be the elixir of life.
A LESSON IN NATURE
ELENA PASTORINO
On The 8th of October some classes of “G.Deledda” High School went to Antola Park for a fieldtrip.
Antola is a resort near Genoa bathed in nature where the air is not polluted and there is no traffic in the
streets; it is a perfect place to stay in close contact with nature and have a different kind of school
lesson. We arrived there by bus soon in the morning. A young woman took us to a new little building
in the wood where she began to show us and comment a very interesting power point presentation
about rivers. While she was speaking we took notes about rivers, living and non-living organisms, the
classification of rivers, fish and so on. After the power point presentation we could see some typical
fish of Ligurian rivers in their tanks in the aquarium.
After a short break, we went to the Brevenna River and there, divided into groups, we began to do
some experiments. Helped by two biologists and some technical instruments we took samples of water
and examined it. With a magnifying glass we could observe macro-organisms in the river under stones
and in bits of wood. Those small animals disgusted some students but the experience was very
interesting also because some of us had never seen a macro-organism. We also found a blood
sucker!!!
After all our experiments we returned to Genoa. Some of us were bored or disgusted by the experience
but most of us think it was a unique experience especially for students who live in a big city and have
no possibility to be in touch with nature. It has been a different but amusing way of learning!
ANIMALS’ RIGHTS
ELENA PASTORINO
In 1992, the Farm Animal Welfare Council of Britain pronounced five important
animals’ liberties:
Freedom from hunger, thirst and malnutrition.
Freedom from being obliged to live in uncomfortable places
Freedom from suffering and sickness
Freedom of behaving in a normal way
Freedom from fear and stress
From then on, many European countries have issued laws for animals’ tutorship. Also in Italy, on the 1st of
August, a new law was issued (law n°189); it punishes the people who abandon, maltreat, and kill animals.
the Civil Code punished once these conducts because they were considered injurious for the animals.
Many people think that we should not think about animals when there are many other problems in the world;
but they cannot be neglected.
7 millions dogs, 7,5 millions cats, 12 millions birds and 500000 rodents live in Italian houses. Many scientists,
like Irene Peppemberg, Cinzia Moss, Roger Fouts, Jane Goodall, who have shown that animals can feel
anguish, depression and stress, help all these pets also. Many animals are able to share joy or suffering with
their owners. Some of them are able to “think” in a very primitive way. A lot of scientists think that the
differences between animals and persons are more quantitative than qualitative.
Together with many examples of maltreatments of animals, we have many examples of unlimited love. In
Canada, for example, Jim and Linda Sauer live with a very big bison; in New York an “upper class” dog
travels by a limousine; in a cemetery there is the tombstone of a dog and in New York there is even a whole
cemetery for animals! The “painter” Asuka is a monkey, her works are exposed in an art gallery of Tokyo.
GOLD, SYMBOL OF RICHNESS
ELENA PASTORINO
Gold is the most precious metal. Gold has provoked dreams of richness and power. Why is it so
precious? Because it is unalterable and rare, it is also very malleable and for this reason every kind of
jewel can be made of gold.
For the Egyptians the flesh of Pharaohs was made of gold; in the Bible the Ark of Alliance is covered
with gold; king’s crowns are made of gold; Henry VIII of England used to wear gold dresses and very
heavy gold necklaces. These are only some examples of the role that gold has had for centuries. Gold
is the symbol of omnipotence because it can buy everything. But there is another face of gold: the
longing of possession. King Mida’s legend is the symbol of the richness obsession. He could turn
everything into gold, for this reason he could not eat because everything he wanted to eat was turned
into gold by his touch.
In the middle Ages it was thought that gold was linked to the devil who used it to seduce men and to
obtain their souls.
Gold has always stirred up “fevers”. “Conquistadores” began to look for gold in America. Somebody
tried to find a place where a king called “El Dorado” reigned, and where there was a big quantity of
gold. Gold has always been very important but probably the populations of Africa
during the colonization did not think so; they preferred salt which was necessary
and they were happy to exchange gold with It.
MIXED SPORTS
ELENA PASTORINO
The underwater Marathon race of Lloyd Scott will not become an Olympic discipline, but it is very original:
Scott run 42,195 km of the real Marathon in twelve days, on the ground of Loch Ness lake, in Scotland, in
a driving-dress and without meeting any monster!
Too extreme? If you are looking for something different from usual sports, there are many alternatives.
The method is simple: you must only combine a sport with another one, and create a new discipline.
These are the most famous examples:
•
Football-tennis: it is composed by football and tennis. It is played in rectangular playing fields divided
by a tennis net. Instead of tennis rackets, they use feet and everything that is allowed in a football
match. The players “serve” from the base line with feet and the ball rebounds in the other field.
Football-tennis can be played “doubles”, “single” or in teams of three players.
•
Wave ski: it is composed by surf and kayak. The athlete is sat on a surf table with a paddle and
challenges waves as if he was on a real surf. Originally this method was used by bathing-attendants in
Australia and South Africa to help bathers who were in difficulty. Now it allows to “fly” on the water.
•
Underwater hockey: it is composed by hockey and swimming. It is played in teams of six players.
They alternate to breathe every 15/20 seconds. With short bats, the players push the disc. It is a quick
play: two matches of 15 minutes.
•
Ultimate: it is composed by Frisbee and American football. It is played in a beach divided in two fields.
The Frisbee is thrown to the opposing try. The World Cup of Ultimate took place in April 2004, in
Rimini.
But why are mixed sports so loved? Stefano Tamorri, the president of the Italian association of sport
psychology, says that the reason is that mixed sports are very similar to games, for their creativity.
Elements from different sports are taken and mixed together: as children do. Moreover in a new sport
there are few competitors and there are more possibilities to win.
A HUNDRED BILLION PLASTERS
ELENA PASTORINO
Using a plaster is the most common way to cure a little hurt. Plasters were invented by
an American worker of “Johnson and Johnson”. In about 1920 Earle Dickinson wanted
to help his careless wife, Josephine, who used to get little hurts during her housework.
So Dickinson put little pieces of gauze behind self-sticking stripes; when Josephine
needed one of them, she could take off one and put it on her hurt. The chairman of
“Johnson and Johnson” liked this invention and decided to begin the production.
From then on, a hundred billion plasters have been made.
Nowadays children are the people who use plasters more than anyone else. Since
1956, plasters for children have been made; they are coloured and some of them
are drawn (there is even the plaster with Harry Potter on!). There are many
kinds of plasters: round, coloured, liquid ones, and they are used for different
problems. There is the plaster that is used as a contraceptive, the one that straightens
babies’ nose, the one for snoring people. There are even plasters for dogs. It does not
allow them to lick it; when they try to lick it, the plaster gives a little electric discharge.
We often think that plasters are the simplest treatments for little hurts. It is true, but we
must also think that they represent an important step of technology. This simple but
important invention is improving. Scientists are studying an “alive” plaster made by
human cells. It is put on the hurt and when the hurt has recovered, it comes off like
a pellicle. These are only some of the steps that technology is making in this field
but we hope that they are only the first of a long line.
STRANGE THINGS OF OLIMPIC GAMES
ELENA PASTORINO
When we speak about Olympic games, we often say that the important thing is to
participate. We speak about them because they are the most important international
sport event. The Olympic games of Athens 2004 are just over. But from the first edition
(Athens 1896) to the last one (Athens 2004) the whole world has seen all kinds of
Olympic champions, of Olympic competitors and of strange things.
•
Athens 1896: there were no Italian competitors but Carlo Airoldi tried to take part
in the Marathon going on foot from Milan to Athens.
•
Paris 1900: Ernst Hoppenberg, a German, won 200 metres back stroke but at the
end of the competition he was saved by some people because his dental plate was
choking him.
•
St. Louis 1904: the water polo competition took place in a small and muddy lake.
After those Olympic games, three competitors died of typhus.
•
London 1908: Forrest Smithson had to run on Sunday and so he ran with a Bible
in his hands.
•
- Amsterdam 1928: Bobby Pearce won the boat race but he stopped during the
competition to let a family of ducks cross.
•
Rome 1960: the gymnast Larissa Latynina won six medals; she was pregnant.
These are only some strange things of Olympic games that make them more and more
charming. We are waiting for Pecking 2008 to see the new ones.
THE LEGEND OF HARLEY-DAVIDSON
ELENA PASTORINO
The legend of the Harley-Davidson was born 1903 in Milwaukee when William Harley and
Arthur Davidson built a motorised bicycle. They were helped by Davidson’s brothers to go
into business. The production grew rapidly and in 1920 the company succeeded in selling
28,000 models and it became the most important motorbike manufacturer. Even if there
have been crisis periods, the myth of the Harley Davidson is still alive.
One of the worst periods is the Great Depression in the 1930s, when there was the advent
of the mass produced car. Just for the fact that the Harley-Davidson is not a trend but
a passion, no other business has a costumer base like theirs. The Harley-Davidson motorcycle has become a
global icon for a certain way of living based on freedom and righteousness. If in recent years the bike has
been associated with films like Easy Rider, in the Second World War it was used as a vehicle. When the War
came to end, its production fell off again. In 1953 the main rival of Harley-Davidson, Indian, went out of
business; it is the same year as the first cult motorbike movie: “The Wild One”. Marlon Brando drove a
British motorbike and it worsened the bad state of the American industry. “The Wild One” was the precursor
of the Hell’s Angels motorbike gangs.
However it is said that the Hell’s Angels were already around. The Angels rode Harley-Davidsons. Luckily
this fact did not damage the company’s image.
Harley-Davidson fans tend to see themselves as belonging to an almost religious
Organisation and it can explain their great love of getting together in order to share their
enthusiasm. “The Harley-Davidson Owners Group” gathers every year. In 2003 it was
called “home run”, just for the fact that they met in Milwaukee.
Another important event is the Sturgis Rally in the Black Hills of South Dakota.
VIDEOGAMES STIMULATE THE BRAIN
ROSA PINASCO
Scientists working in a project about the possibilities of growing up
of an adult brain say that videogames can be the right spur for the mind.
The last search, taken up by some experts, consists in a test
proposed to a group of players from 18 to 23. This search shows how
videogames can be useful for an increment of quick reflexes and
visual concentration.
Teachers and parents often think that videogames are dangerous and
that, if children play this kind of games, they will not be interested in
reading books.
This is wrong because videogames, particularly the ones in which
you have to pay attention to more than one element, can be precious
for the growing up of the brain.
At the same time the excessive use of videogames can be very
dangerous. They can cause Alzheimer or epilepsy and then there are
some particular games that can disturb the balance of the mind. The
most famous is Video Poker. This kind of game can bring to
dependence.
Videogames can be useful only if used responsibly.
A HEAP OF MEMORIES
VIRNA TACCONE
Otto Bettman was a German bookseller who liked to collect photos. In 1935 he escaped
from Nazi Germans to protect himself living in New York. He prepared two trunks to
transport all of his photos. In America this collection became bigger and bigger. It
included any kinds of subjects. This is an important cultural document because it covers
a large period of time. Unfortunately some of the photos have been lost in recent time
due to newspapers, life “Time”, “Life” and “Newsweek”, eager to have some of the
famous photos.
Eventually, in 1995, Bill Gates bought the whole collection to save its photos from
destroying by time and people. He decided to put all of the photos under ground (-70 m)
in a mine, in Pennsylvania. Here there is a good temperature (20° C) and a proper
humidity (35%) to keep them in their original state. The collection includes more than 11
millions of black and white photos, coloured snaps, and slides…
They are about different matters. People can see famous myths or everyday- pictures.
This is the reason why Bill Gates’ s mine is called the “Mine of Memories”. In fact, it
contains an important cultural an historical testimony. There are a lot of files to collect
photos about the World War, Queen Elizabeth II Windsor, Fidel Castro, cowboys,
baseball players, Maoris, families of the 50s…
DRAGONS
VIRNA TACCONE
Dragons. Which are the origins of dragons? These strange animals were born in ancient times and grew up in
the human fantastic world. Dragons were enormous reptiles with a mixture of features of different animals:
crocodiles, bats, dogs, birds, snakes…
Nowadays, it is not certain how dragons were born. There are many tales about their real origins. These
fantastic creatures are presented in many myths and legends and had a particular behaviour; linked to the
time and place they lived in.
In Europe, the fire- breathing dragons were very horrible and frightful; killed preys in a very cruel way, with a
kind of relish.
On the contrary, Asiatic dragons were peaceful and powerful: just the opposite of European dragons.
In old Christian and knightly legends dragons were, very often, in the role of an evil incarnation, which
gave them a negative aspect.
In the North of Europe people were afraid of dragons. In fact Nidhogg, from the northern countries, was
a wild dragon whose work was destroying the whole world.
During the Middle Ages monks and scholars wrote down different kinds of poems. Some tales were crowded
with cruel and ferocious dragons. They often fought against knights and Christian characters and their fights
were the symbol of the conflict between “Good and Evil”.
Nowadays these animals are very often a source of inspiration for many films, TV- directors and writers.
Dragons have a new look: they are not so frightful, often have feelings like humans and are
also nice characters loved by children who see them in cartoons.
In the East dragons are very important, in fact Eastern culture considers them messengers of
beneficial rains. The dragon is also the emblem of the emperor and his power and is the most
diffused animal - figure of Chinese art.
NOT ONLY BREAD AND BEER
VIRNA TACCONE
In ancient Egypt there were various diets. People from all of the classes could choose among
many tasty dishes. Edda Bresciani, the teacher of Egyptology at the University of Pisa, says
that ancient Egyptians left several lists of ingredients but no kinds of recipes.
It is quite difficult to prepare these particular dishes. However, it is thought that people usually
ate a lot of fish, geese, pigeons, pelicans and quails. Diets were integrated by
eating fruits, especially dates, pulses and vegetables such as onions, lettuce, leeks and
radishes. Poor people generally followed a simple diet: bread and beer.
In ancient Egypt there were almost 40 different kinds of bread. Probably beer was prepared by
Women in a simple way. A pulp of barley was at first pressed and later it fermented turning
Into “beer”. Beer and bread were two important elements of ancient Egyptian diet and they
Were present during the whole life of people. In fact, when they were only babies they used to
Drink the “zythum” which was very similar to our “lager”. This was a mixture of barley, honey,
Water and flour. Young people were instructed in drinking a particular quantity of beer that
was not dangerous for their health. This quantity was kept in a small amphora, which was
given during a ceremony. Beer was also a medicine for some intestinal illnesses, wounds and
bites of scorpions. After death, dead bodies were purified by some beer and this drink was
also offered to improve the voyage to the other world
WHAT TIME IS IT?
VIRNA TACCONE
IS IT?
The first mechanical clock was invented many centuries ago. Notwithstanding this, nowadays people
are very often late. Being on time is very important in some countries. In China guests have to arrive in
advance to show their good education. If they are late they will not be given food. In Sweden people
give appointments to the guests every two minutes not to have all of them at the door at the same time.
In Eastern countries being on time is more important than in Western ones. In Napoli (Italy) people are
always late but it is thought to be an irrelevant matter. Instead, in Ecuador being late is a state problem.
The president, Lucio Gutierrez, has decided to punish the people who are not on time since 1st
October, 2003. He is so strict, since being late has caused many problems to the state economy. There
have been also several demonstrations in favour of being on late.
In Western countries, however, new economy depends also on time. In fact, frequent delays in an
agency, a firm or an industry can cause important damages to the financial return of the whole
organisations.
“Time is precious”. Nowadays, thanks to new technologies, such as electronic mails, the Internet or
particular means of transport, a lot of time can be spared.
During the Roman Age merchants used to give appointments from a year to the next, due to their slow
means of transport.
During the Middle Ages, instead, people met at dawn and at sunset. In fact, it was difficult to establish a
precise time during the day. It was usual for a knight not to take part in a tournament, because he could
have thought it was an another day. Medieval people were not certain on time. It was a difficult matter
to give appointments. Nowadays it is simple, but “why are people late?”
WORLD WATER DAY 2005
VIRNA TACCONE
22nd March 2005: World Water Day. In 1993 the United Nations of General Assembly declared the 22nd March of each year “World Water
Day”. This is a global celebration of the most important recommendations of “Fresh Water Resources” of United Nations Conference on
Environment and Development (UNCED). The theme in 2005 is “Water for Life”. An International Decade for Action has been organized.
Its purpose is making the idea of “clean water for everybody” more fully accepted and diffused.
The most essential roles of water in human life have been shown to communities in order to obtain many important results. States
involved in the celebration of the World Water Day have to organize a heap of activities. People are invited to take part in meetings,
seminars, researches, conferences and round tables. Medias contribute to make people more aware of the water issue by writing
articles and giving documentaries. The first global aim is to diffuse awareness about the vital function of water. In fact, it is important
for each sphere of human activities: industries, food production, health, hygiene, life… however most people do not know the
importance of not wasting this precious resource that must be protected. The World Water Day 2005 is also an opportunity for helping
nations lacking water or where this important element is not rightly shared among the people. The Decade will try to turn water into a
common resource by 2015.
Nowadays about two million people die of diseases because of the lack of water and 90 percent of them are children. Another problem
is the fact that many populations are not able to get clean water. The immediate consequence is the diffusion of diseases. The United
Nations General Assembly have made many efforts to help people without water or means to get it clean. World Water Days have
give positive results. Thanks to many activities and the handwork of World Water Days, the public opinion about water- matter has
become positive. However, there are always many problems. During the World Water Day 2005 the secretary of the World Water
Assessment Programme has given a quote of the month, “We have entered a crucial moment in time with respect to water; no longer a
resource that we can take for granted, water has become a key global challenge, the resource that best exemplifies many of the Earth’s
global imbalances and defines the terms of sustainable development… because of our increasingly limited water supply,
Management decisions have to be made about how we are going to share the Earth’ s water, which means that we are going to have to
decide how to deal with allocating the resource. How will we make such decisions?” The Decade aimed at getting a global balance in
the sharing and consumption of watery resources.International agencies, non governmental organizations, private clubs, churches and
little groups of people have answered the call given by the World Water Day 2005 and the Decade. These projects must be guided by
people in order to get the fixed goals as soon as possible. On one hand efforts are having many positive results, on the other there is
still a heap of problems.
The World Water Day 2005 is only one of the means of communication and operation on the matter of water.
VIRNA TACCONE
People who twist their body into strange positions in order to entertain other people are
called “contortionists”. They are artists, able to give wonderful performances by the use of
no special instruments, neither singing nor dancing. Contortionists make a spectacle of
themselves. Their ability is as wonderful as mysterious.
For the first time science has studied contortionists’ backs. The aim is: understanding why
their backs are so particular. Scientists wonder, if contortion is a hereditary ability or an art
to learn by the time.
Richard Wiseman, a psychologist of Hertford University, has tried to answer the question.
Also St. Mary’ s Hospital, (London), has taken part in the research. Delia Du Sol is an
English contortionist. Her back has become important for science. Delia’s back and Mr
Wiseman’ s one have been compared during their folding and their natural position. This
comparison has taken place in a proper resonance machine. Delia’s back is made of regular
bones. There are no deformations such as in Mr. Wiseman’s; vertebral columns are
apparently the same. But longer and more flexible ligaments than Mr Wiseman’s connect
Delia’s vertebras, in order to obtain a great folding. Mr Wiseman lacks these particular
ligaments, which do not allow him the same movements as Delia’s back.
Delia’ s father is an acrobat and her mother is a contortionist. Maybe her ability is really a
Genetic family feature. Delia has developed her gift by making particular physical exercises.
In Chinese experts’ opinion contortion is reachable by an intensive, hard, training. Delia, in
fact, has been twisting her back since she was four.
Nowadays, however, contortion is always a mysterious performance…
INTELLIGENT HOUSES
ISABELLA TORRE
The sunlight enters the house. In the kitchen the electrical coffee maker is making a
coffee with milk. This is not only a dream and most part of these very useful inventions
are going to be available in a few years. These households will change our lives.
Most part of women would appreciate a house, which takes care of them. This is the
reason why kitchens will become the reign of comfort with a new generation of
intelligent households. Most of them use small tags, based on radio frequency
identification.
The alarm clock is ringing. It is already time to get up, but this is not very dramatic. The
stereo is already on, the shutters are opening, letting every item work and give pieces of
information about it, by using the small tags. For example, the fridge will tell you if a
product is rotting. Washing machines, instead, will be able to understand if some clothes
cannot be washed together and to choose the best washing programme. Also the
microwave oven, reading the pieces of information in the smart tags will decide the
cooking time for foods. If you are in the bathroom and want to watch television, the
mirror will be able to transform itself into a television set.
These inventions seem to be very useful for us and we are waiting for them.
COLLECTING PASSION OR OBSESSION?
ISABELLA TORRE
In Italy there are almost 7,000,000 collectors. Few people can state that they have never collected
anything. This passion makes them visit small markets, shops and web sites all over the world. They
want to exchange their goods and to buy new and rare pieces for their collections. Each age has its
own collections. In the '80s people collected car stickers or Swatch watches. In the '90s collectors
focused themselves on phone cards and stamps. Nowadays we collect mobile phone cards and
motorway cards. The most collected items are: coins, models and dolls.
Internet plays an important role in this hobby. In fact, surfing the net, collectors can find everything:
from the classical cards to the unusual collections of foreign sand. Moreover they can chat and
exchange information about their common passion.
Collectors are normal people who want to own many items, with small differences among them, and
to keep them in order. They are usually very precise and classify their pieces. Collecting is a positive
hobby because it can help to relax and recover from diseases. Collectors can also find many friends
and build a net of friendships sharing the same passion.
However, collection might also become an obsession. Some collectors think that their hobby is the
only aim of their lives. Some of them were put in prison because of their obsession. Neurologists are
trying to explain this matter. Probably a part of the brain does not work well and this kind of
collectors cannot part themselves from un useful items. Their desire of order, conservation,
classification and possession dates back to their childhood.
Collecting is an interesting hobby but...do not exaggerate!
La Gioconda Changes Home
ISABELLA TORRE
“La Gioconda”, painted by Leonardo Da Vinci, is the most famous and important painting
of the Louvre but also one of the most celebrated works all over the world. It has also
been the subject of many scandals and books. The latest is the bestseller “Da Vinci
Code” by Dan Brown. However the visitors of the Louvre cannot renounce to admire this
masterpiece.
Until some days ago, it was in a small and decentralized room of the museum, which is
not the right location for such a painting. Now “Monna Lisa” is placed in the most
important and best-illuminated hall of the Louvre: La Salle des Etats. This special room
has been renovated for the event and contains the works of many famous painters, such
as Paolo Veronese, Tiziano and Jacopo da Bassano. Leonardo’s painting is located on
the larger wall and it attracts the visitors’ attention. They can observe the lady in all her
splendour and solemnity. The precious painting is kept in a new casket, which is perfect
for its transparency but, at the same time, quite impossible to break. In fact many thieves
have tried to steal it. The new location of “La Gioconda” cost 5 million euro and its
moving was celebrated by the president of the Louvre, Henry Loyette.
THE SECRETS OF THE GREAT WALL
ISABELLA TORRE
The Great Wall of China is the biggest building in the world, even if it was built before the invention of
the modern working machines. It took eight years and many workers to build this incredible bulwark,
which was designed during the reign of Chin-Shih-Huang-Ti in about 230 B.C.
Its function was to defend China’s northern borders from the nomadic tribes’ invasions. Moreover the
Great Wall connected many fortresses and it was more than 3,000 km long. On the top of the wall there
was a street, which allowed the messengers to run from a fortress to another to put on alarm the
solders, in case of an enemy assault. In fact, the wall should have been an insuperable border for
Mongolian people, who always tried to invade China. Unfortunately the Great Wall did not succeed in
stopping the enemy advance and the country was conquered by Mongolian people. Due to the foreign
invasion, the wall lost its military importance.
Today the Great Wall, which is ten meter high, attracts many tourists and is the symbol of Chinese
ancient greatness.
OUR CIVILIZATION IS IN DANGER
FRANCESCA VALENTE
In thousand millions of years, the oceans of the earth will evaporate and the sun will be so hot that
nobody will have any possibility to live on the earth. But our civilization could end far earlier.
By 2029, an asteroid: 2004MN, as big as four football grounds, will graze the earth. If the asteroid
Hits the earth, the impact will give off as much energy as 1.600 atomic bombs and it will dig a hole 4
kilometres large. If it falls in the sea, it will cause an enormous submarine earthquake. The asteroid
that caused a natural catastrophe and consequently the extinction of dinosaurs was twenty-five
times bigger than the asteroid: 2004MN.
The arrival of aliens could be dangerous for our civilization too: taking in consideration the number
Of the latest discovered planets, millions of different alien races are likely to try to contact us.
What will happen if they succeed in getting in touch with us? A bad and suspicious relationship could
provoke an alien aggressive reaction. A good relationship could be useful for us because we will get
In touch with a higher level of technology. On the other hand this fact will menace our religious basis,
turning upside down philosophy, science and art.
Even robots could be a danger for human beings. Researchers are trying to create robots able to
survive by themselves and to learn from mistakes, such as real human beings. They could become far
more intelligent than us and get the upper hand.
Also a strong virus could menace our lives. In fact a big epidemy could break out every moment and
could find us not prepared to sterminate it.
In these years, the fantasy of producers and actors has worked to make films about the risks for
our lives, such as “Matrix” (USA, 1999), “The Day After” (USA, 1983), and “Armageddon” (USA, 1998)
STOP THE “M” A DECISION OF MC DONALD’S
FRANCESCA VALENTE
London. The big multinational has changed its symbol and hopes to
make people think of a change in the way to cook. Since 1955 the
golden curve, shaped like an “m”, has been the universal symbol
to indicate McDonald’s. For the last ten years the number of
people patronizing “fast foods” has reduced because “fast
foods” are, nowadays, considered “junk foods”.
The new symbol is a question mark “?”, which could get people to
astonish: in fact the change of the old symbol is linked with the
change of menus. Now, at McDonald’s, people have the
possibility to order also salad and tomatoes, carrot cakes and
fresh fruit-salad. Eating such a kind of food at “fast foods” is
very strange, above all at McDonald’s.
A statistic shows that the symbol “m” is the third most known symbol
all over the world after the first, Coca-Cola, and the second, the
crucifix. Changing such a known symbol might be a danger for
the big multinational: it could attract new costumers but, above
all, could move away the regular ones.
However, no matter: people prefer restaurants and are more and more
careful to what they eat.
THE FIRST MAN WITH A NEW FACE
FRANCESCA VALENTE
Washington: A new face which could substitute a scalded one is the solution found to
give a new healthy face to a man who burnt his face due to an accident.
This man has been operated at the Metropolitan Hiiro Hospital in Tokyo.
The great novelty of this operation is that the tissue used to create the new face comes
from a piece of skin. In fact the surgeons have worked only on a piece of skin taken from
the back of the man. It has been made grow thanks to a silicone balloon put under his
skin.
After six months, the strip of skin was 27 centimetres large and 28 centimetres long: it
was sufficient to cover all the man’ s face and also to build up his nose again.
The new face has been joined to the face and neck arteries to obtain a normal blood
circulation.
It is the first case of total reconstruction of a face, which has been concluded with good
results. The technique used by the Japanese surgeons has got two advantages: first, only
two operations. Second,thanks to the growth of the tissue, it is easier to sew up the back,
which the skin has been taken from.
“ The face is a particular part of a person. Thanks to it people can express themselves and
can recognize other people. For these reasons we must be very careful: we must not go
beyond some limits” the surgeons have commented.
THE NORTH IS MORE POLLUTED
FRANCESCA VALENTE
Milan. The Po Valley is a polluted area: it is proved by the photo taken by the
artificial satellite Envisat. This space probe, sent to our orbit in February two
years ago by the European Space Agency (ESA), can control the air pollution
grade in Italy. Thanks to a special sensor, from the sky Envisat can measure the
nitrogen dioxide concentrations produced by thermo-electric stations, cars,
factory chimneys and heating installations. Then its measurement is sent to the
Earth. Its information is transformed by the agency computers into a big coloured
map, which gives us the possibility to distinguish the most polluted areas from
the least polluted ones. Red and violet indicate a very polluted area; yellow
indicates polluted areas; instead green and, above all, light blue are used to
indicate clean air.
From the photograph we can guess that the north is in a very bad condition: the
area from Piedmont to Veneto and the Po Valley is red and violet. Unfortunately, not
only is the north in a bad situation: it is sufficient to observe the south. In fact also
the areas which correspond to Rome and Naples are red and yellow.
But why is the north so polluted? We can guess two answers. First. In the Po Valley
there is the biggest concentration of factories, cities and traffic of whole Italy.
Secondly, we can say that pollution is favourite by the Alps which prevent the wind
from blowing away pollution which tends to ristagnate.
Which risks does people’s health run? In the researchers’ opinion gases could be
irritant and cause bronchitis and asthma fits, dangerous for old people and for
children, more sensitive than the others to pollution.