Meet The Line

 

 Saudi Arabia’s 106-Mile City of the Future

Imagine a city that isn’t spread out with neighborhoods, streets, and parks as you know them, but instead, a single, massive building stretching for miles and miles. This might sound like something out of a science fiction movie, but it's not. It’s real, and it’s being built in Saudi Arabia. This incredible project is called "The Line," and it’s part of a bigger plan called Neom, which aims to transform a vast desert into a futuristic oasis.

What Is The Line?

The Line is unlike any city you’ve ever seen or heard of. Instead of spreading out horizontally, like the cities you know, The Line goes straight up and down. Imagine two parallel skyscrapers, each one stretching 106 miles (170 kilometers) long and 1,640 feet (500 meters) high. To give you some perspective, that’s taller than most of the tallest buildings in the world! These two skyscrapers will be only 656 feet (200 meters) wide and will have a shiny, mirrored exterior that reflects the surrounding desert and sky.

Inside these buildings, everything you need for life will be stacked vertically. That means homes, schools, parks, offices, and shops will all be layered on top of each other. You could walk from your house to a park or a classroom in just a few minutes without ever leaving the building!

A City Like No Other

One of the coolest things about The Line is how it’s designed to work. Because it’s so tall and narrow, getting around won’t involve cars or buses. Instead, there will be a high-speed train that zooms from one end of the city to the other in just 20 minutes. So, if your friend lives 106 miles away, you could visit them in the time it takes to watch an episode of your favorite show.Everything in The Line is planned to be super convenient. No matter where you live, you’ll be just a five-minute walk from anything you need, whether it’s a store, a school, or even a park. And speaking of parks, The Line will have lots of green spaces and nature woven right into the city. There’s even talk of including things like waterfalls and an artificial moon that you can look at every night.

A Green and Clean City

One of the big goals for The Line is to be environmentally friendly. Unlike most cities, there will be no roads, no cars, and no pollution. Instead, The Line will run entirely on clean energy. This is part of Saudi Arabia’s bigger plan, called Vision 2030, to create a more sustainable future.

Vision 2030 and The Line

So, when will people actually start living in this futuristic city? The first residents are expected to move in by the year 2030. That might seem like a long way off, but in the world of city-building, it’s just around the corner. The Line is part of a huge project called Neom, which is designed to attract millions of visitors every year and make Saudi Arabia a top travel destination, competing with popular places like Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

Neom isn’t just about The Line, though. It will also include airports, green energy plants, and other high-tech developments. The idea is to create a “country within a country,” where people from all over the world will want to live and work.

Why Not Everyone’s Excited

Even though The Line sounds amazing, not everyone thinks it’s a good idea. Some people are worried that building a city like this might not be the best way to solve problems like pollution and overcrowding. For example, one scientist pointed out that a straight-line city might not be the most efficient shape for getting around. If you live in The Line and want to visit someone far away, it could still take a long time to get there, even with a fast train.

Others are concerned that Saudi Arabia might be focusing too much on tourism and not enough on other important areas, like education and research.

What Do You Think?

The Line is one of the most ambitious projects the world has ever seen. It’s a city that could change the way we think about urban life and the environment. But like all big ideas, it has its challenges. As students and future leaders, it’s important to think critically about projects like this. What do you think about The Line? Would you want to live in a city like this? Or do you think there are better ways to create the cities of the future?

Slang: Yiddish in movies

 

So...a common practice for most foreign students is watching english movies or tv series. Binging on them, to be more accurate. 

When we zero in on american cinema, we may observe that there are many phrases and words repeatedly used that do not sound English. Such as "Klutz" or "Tuches".

And they are not. So where do they come from? Well they are actually Yiddish. A language spoken by Ashkenazi Jews — Jews from Central and Eastern Europe. But, again, most of us do not have  experience with the enigma known as Yiddish and the only other instances we have heard of it has been in pop culture references such as SNL skits or other television shows. 

First of all, though, "how come"? Little do people know, but every major Hollywood studio was actually founded by a group of European Jews. The Oscar award? Founded by Louis B. Mayer — a Jew. The chairmans of Paramount Pictures, the Walt Disney  Co., Sony Pictures, Warner Bros., CBS Corp., MBM and NBC Universal? All Jewish. With all those Jews running those major corporations, it’s no wonder most people’s only experience with Yiddish comes from movies and T.V. shows.

So, let's break down some of those phrases and words:

Oy vey—An expression of woe, as in “Oy vey, we left the gefilte fish (Το ψάρι Gefilte είναι ένα πιάτο που παρασκευάζεται από ένα μείγμα αλεσμένων ψαριών χωρίς κόκαλα, όπως κυπρίνος, λευκόψαρο ή λούτσος. Σερβίρεται παραδοσιακά ως ορεκτικό από εβραϊκά νοικοκυριά Ασκενάζι) at the grocery store!”

Putz —A jerk, or a self-made fool, but this word literally means penis.

Schmuck (shmuck)—A jerk, or a self-made fool, but this word literally means penis.

Tuches (tuchis) — Butt, behind, sometimes shortened to tush or tushy.

Klutz — A clumsy person

Tallow , Suet - Word of the Day

 

Tallow (στέαρ, ζωικό λίπος) is a rendered (μεταποιημένη ) form of beef or mutton fat (λίπους προβάτου) primarily made up of triglycerides. It is used to make soap, candles, etc.

Suet (ξίγκι) is the raw, hard fat of beef, lamb or mutton (πρόβειο κρέας, προβατίνα) found around the loins (οσφύς, λαγόνια, φιλέτο) and kidneys.

Proverb Origin Stories part 1

 

A proverb is a short sentence that people often quote, which gives advice or tells you something about life. (Απόφθεγμα ονομάζεται μία σύντομη πρόταση ή φράση, η οποία περιέχει συμβουλές ή κρίσεις από πρόσωπα αδιαμφισβήτητου κύρους και θεωρείται μία αιώνια αλήθεια.)

The study of Proverbs is called Paremiology and we can trace the origin of proverbs as far as the times of the great Philosopher Aristotle. But the authors of most of the proverbs are still unknown.

Today's proverb is  " A bad workman always blames his tools."

But how has this proverb come about?

Kumar and Ravi were two farmers who were neighbors. Both owned a pair of oxen (singular:ox/plural:oxen - βόδι/βόδια) each with which they plowed (άροτρο / οργώνω) their land. Kumar worked hard all day long in order to get a good yield (σοδειά / αποδίδω/ λυγίζω) and looked after his oxen very well since he knew that they were very important for his farming activity.

Ravi on the other hand was very lazy and a miser (τσιγκούνης / παραδόπιστος) who never fed his oxen properly but extracted maximum work from them and kept complaining that they were not doing a good job.

As a true friend Kumar advised and pointed out to Ravi that it was cruel to ill-treat (κακομεταχειρίζομαι) the animals which were helping him make a living. Ravi paid little heed to Kumar’s words. He soon bought a tractor to plow his land and chased the oxen away, since he no longer needed them. Taking pity on the poor animals Kumar took them under his wing (παίρνω κάτω απο την εποπτεία μου) although he could ill-afford to maintain them.

The monsoon (μουσώνας) soon arrived and it was time for cultivation. Kumar’s land was well plowed and ready for cultivation – thanks to his oxen. Ravi in his miserly fashion had not maintained his tractor well and it kept giving him trouble. As a result, he could not get his land ready for cultivation on time. He lamented and blamed it all on bad luck not realizing that it was he who was responsible for his miserable state. Ravi not only lost out on a good yield by his laziness but also spent more money than required to repair his tractor due to poor maintenance.

Despite having better equipment, Ravi was unable to get the best results, whereas Kumar was a good workman and hence (επομένως) was able to succeed with the limited resources that he had.

Video source:

pet vocabulary

 dog house

cat tree

cat litter box

collar

leash

pet duffel bag carrier

pet carrier crate

dish / bowl

flea powder (σκόνη για ψύλλους) / shampoo

veterinarian (vet) :  a doctor for animals.

pet food

harness

treats

kennel (σκυλόσπιτο)

breed (ράτσα)

shelter (καταφύγιο)

Κibble - dry pet food

 The verb “kibble,” meaning to grind grain (αλέθω σιτηρά) or cereal (δημητριακά) into rough bits, has been around since the late 18th century, according to the Oxford English Dictionary.

To be more precise, the English word kibble comes from Proto-Germanic *kip-, and later Old English cipp (A small piece of wood; a shaving; chip.)

The noun “kibble” is even older, dating from the early 15th century, but it had nothing to do with pet food (or bits of grain) in the early days. It meant a cudgel (ρόπαλο), a cobblestone (λιθόστρωτο), a piece of coal, and a kibble-hound–a cross between a beagle and the old English hound.

grind grain 

cudgel 

cobblestone 

ECPE - Speaking - Stage 2 - Alternations B (Paraphrasing)

In continuation of my previous post regarding the ECPE Speaking part, I have created a table of the most common phrases used in  prompts  (specifically regarding people and venues): 

Stage 2 – Paraphrasing

Paraphrasing People
Original	Derivatives	Sophisticated paraphrasing
Was an intern at our firm	She did her internship in our firm	She worked as an apprentice in our company
10 years as executive consultant for competitor	She worked as a consultant for 10 years in a competitive company	She worked as an adviser in a rival firm
Expert in marketing	Her expertise is in marketing	She specializes in marketing
Increased sales dramatically	She managed to have a dramatic increase in sales	She has boosted the sales incredibly
Dynamic personality	As a person she is dynamic	She's competent and energetic
Well-liked by colleagues	His colleagues like him a lot	His co-workers are very fond of him
Dedicated and passionate	Exhibits dedication and passion	Commits to her responsibilities with a “drive”
Has participated in major decision making	He has participation in….	He was part of the body of directors who drafted the action plan of the company
Good relationships with suppliers and clients	He maintains excellent relationships both with suppliers and clients	He boasts excellent rapport with suppliers and customers
Won national science contest	She's a winner of the national science contest	She was awarded the first prize in the national science competition
Paraphrasing Location
More space	Quite spacious	Offers more room for
Will take about 8 months to complete	Completion will last up to 8 months	Project will conclude in 8 months which means…
Cost 20.000	Quite affordable	Risk of going in debt is low
Located near a ….	Easy access to…	Potential gain due to …. proximity

 

Article on Activism

Read the following transcript regarding environmental news. Listen to the excerpt and later discuss the issues around activism: 

Greenpeace activists arrested: Russian coast guard threaten with knives and guns

A group of Greenpeace activists who were trying to board an oil rig in the RUSSIAN Arctic have been arrested.

25 protesters, including six Britons, were met with heavily armed Russian coastguards, who they say threatened them with knives and guns. The environmentalist group said the coastguards, who were also wearing balaclavas, stormed their ship, the Arctic Sunrise. The activists were trying to gain access to Gazprom Oil Rig which they believe is about to start drilling for oil but their protest ended shortly after the guards fired shots at them.

"We're here in the Russian Arctic taking action against the first Arctic oil platform to go into production which pose a huge threat to the fragile environment. Gazprom is known for its poor safety standards and we've seen Shell screw up in the Alaskan Arctic last year, and now these two reckless oil companies are teaming up. It's a disaster waiting to happen."

Moscow has accused the protesters of aggressive and provocative behavior and summoned the Dutch ambassador to discuss the issue as Greenpeace is based in the Netherlands.

Difficult words: rig (oil platform), balaclava (piece of cloth that covers your head and neck), reckless (not caring about possible dangerous situations), accuse (say that you think that somebody did something wrong), summon (order somebody to come somewhere).

Questions:

1.       Do extremist tactics push environmentalism forwards or backwards?    
2.       Is environmental activism power without accountability?
3.   Some people refer to extreme activists as eco-extremists or eco-terrorists. 
4.       Do you agree with them?
5.   "It's not the activists' job to find alternatives. Their job is just to draw            attention to the problems."  Do you agree with the above statement?

Vocabulary:

1.      Collective behavior: συνολική συμπεριφορά – των πολλών
2.       Contagion theory: (μετάδοση) μαζική ύπνωση συμπεριφορά
3.       Cultural diffusion: η διάχυση ιδεών από μια κουλτούρα στην άλλη
4.       Riot: εξέγερση

Further study article:

1.       http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/6423061.stm
2.       http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8303381.stm
3.      http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8340537.stm