TASK9

 Task 9

 FINDING THE MAIN IDEA: placing the main idea

 

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Read this page attentively and when you finish,

2. Get a book or news of your choice. It may be one you’ve already read or would like to read. Choose a paragraph and then find the main idea of that paragraph. Next, copy the paragraph on your blog. Then, identify the main idea by underlining it or highlighting it. Finally, make an illustration of the main idea to share. Be creative and have fun!
 3. Send your task to one of your classmates
4.  Write your own paragraph about a topic that interests you and illustrate it. Write at least four supporting deatails. Use a power point presentation. Be creative and have fun!  

1)

Brazil announces $60bn stimulus package

Brazil's government has unveiled the first phase of a major economic stimulus package designed to boost growth in the flagging economy.

More than $60bn (£38bn) will be invested in the country's roads and railways over the next 25 years, with more than half in the next five years.

This includes 8,000 kilometres of new roads and 8,000kms of railways.

Further announcements involving investment in ports and airports are expected in the coming weeks.

Growth in Brazil is predicted to be less than 2% this year, the weakest annual performance since 2009 and a sharp slowdown from an impressive 7.5% rise in 2010.

The government's recent measures, such as the recent devaluation of the currency, the real, and the progressive reduction in interest rates, have so far failed to stimulate growth.

"The measures unveiled by the Brazilian government this afternoon are good news insofar as they will help tackle some of the supply-side problems that are holding the economy back," said Neil Shearing at Capital Economics.

But he said the benefits would not be felt fully for a number of years.

Changing tack

Brazil's growth over the past few years has been based on the expansion of credit and on consumer spending.

But while this strategy seemed to work, it also exposed serious weaknesses in the country's infrastructure.

The government has now made a conscious decision to encourage more private sector investment.

The business community in Brazil has praised the government's decision to boost investment in infrastructure, but says the action is long overdue.

In addition to the announcements made on Wednesday, President Dilma Rousseff is preparing to lower the price of energy for industry with the abolition of some federal taxes, which could cut the price by 10%.

Brazil is also hoping for an economic boost from hosting the Olympic Games in 2016.

HYPERSONIC JET WAVERRIDER FAILS MACH 6 TEST

The US Air Force has said an attempt to fly its hypersonic jet Waverider at Mach 6 (3,600mph; 5795km/h) failed.

The unmanned aircraft had been designed to fly at six times the speed of sound after being dropped from a B-52 bomber. But officials said that a faulty control fin prevented it from starting its supersonic-combustion ramjet engine, and the craft was lost.It marks the second time in a row that the Air Force has been unable to test the technology as planned.The latest attempt had sought to fly at its maximum speed for five minutes.

But a spokesman said that a problem was recognised 16 seconds after a rocket booster was triggered to increase its velocity, ahead of the scramjet engine being started.

Hypersonic disappointment

When the rocket unit detached 15 seconds later the X-51A craft lost control and broke apart, falling into the Pacific Ocean north-west of Los Angeles.

"It is unfortunate that a problem with this subsystem caused a termination before we could light the scramjet engine," Charlie Brink, of the Air Force Research Laboratory at the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio, said in a statement.

"All our data showed we had created the right conditions for engine ignition and we were very hopeful to meet our test objectives."

The previous test aircraft was also lost to the Pacific after it was unable to restart its engine.

But the original test flight, in 2010, flew at five times the speed of sound for three minutes.

The Pentagon - which helped fund the project - has been testing hypersonic technologies in an effort to develop faster missiles.

It has also been suggested the research could eventually help build a commercial plane with the promise of London to New York trips taking as little as an hour, or Tokyo to Paris journeys slightly more than double that time.

For now only one X-51A vehicle remains and the Air Force has not yet decided whether to organise a fourth test.