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Story Title: Lessons From the Butterfly

vídeo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fc8rVDVWu_g

Once upon a time, a man found a cocoon of a butterfly. (era uma vez / casulo)

One day a small opening appeared. He sat and watched the butterfly for several hours as it struggled to force its body through that little hole. (sentou / brigava / através)

Until it suddenly stopped making any progress and looked like it was stuck.. . (até / parecia que /preso)

So the man decided to help the butterfly. He took a pair of scissors and cut the remaining part of the cocoon. (pegou / tesoura / cortou / restante)

The butterfly then emerged easily, although it had a swollen body and small wrinkled wings..(embora / inchado / enrrugada)

The man continued to watch the butterfly, expecting that any minute the wings would enlarge and expand enough to support the body. (a qualquer momento / aumentar / suficiente / sustentar)

But that didn’t happen. The butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around.

It was never able to fly. (gastou / rastejando)

Despite his kindness, the man did not understand one thing... (apesar de / bondade)

To prepare itself for flying, once it was out of the cocoon. (vôo / uma vez que)

Moral of the story: Our struggles in life develop our strengths. Without struggles, we never grow and never get stronger. (força / ficar mais forte)

Just Talking Power Course, aprenda e treine Inglês como nunca imaginou!

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Hello, this is the World News Podcast from Just Talking English, listen to the most important news, while learning and training English.

I'm Edward Jr and for today, these are our main stories.

“Welcome to Just Talking English News. Let's start today talking about Conspiracy theories.”

CONSPIRACY THEORIES – Billionaire Bill Gates is the bad guy in the pandemic. When we talk about conspiracy theories, it is inevitable these days, not to mention the name Bill Gates. He has been getting a lot of credit, receiving many credits, on conspiracy theories when the topic is the pandemic. But, of course, all of this is misinformation, or fake news, if you search the internet, you can easily find the truth. But the thing is, people don't want to waste time looking for the truth, it's easier to just read and share if it's interesting, at least. I did some research and I found out that this started when, during a conference in 2015, he declared this, quote, or his his own words “If anything kills over 10 million people over the next few decades, it is likely to be a highly infectious virus rather than war," he told the audience. This statement or declaration was enough to feed all the conspiracy theories involving his name these days. Some accuse him of wanting to depopulate the world or of making vaccines mandatory, when you are forced to do something, attempting to implant microchips into people, amog other false theories. But if you think about it a little bit, you will realize that conspiracy theories used to accuse powerful people of doing terrible things, the theories are basically the same, only the names change. Before Bill Gates, it was George Soros or the Rockefellers. In an interview with the BBC, Bill Gates expressed surprise at having become the main person in such theories. He said, open quote “ I'm kind of surprised some of it (conspiracy theories) is focused on me. We are just giving money away, we write the cheque.. and yes we do think about let's protect children against disease but it is nothing to do with chips and that type of stuff. You almost have to laugh sometimes" end quote.

https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-52833706

POLITICS IN BRAZIL – Now changing to a interesting topic about politics in Brazil. As you may know, brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro tested positive for Coronavirus. I know this is an old news but my interest here is what the international press has been saying or talking about his new condition. In general the international press is drawing attention or is calling attention to the fact that the president always denies the danger of the virus, minimizing the importance of lockdown, the use of masks and stating or declaring in public that the virus was just a "little cold” or “a gripezinha” in Portuguese. Well, nothing different about what we already know, but the funny moment is when they are explaining or showing some public reactions about Bolsonaro's new condition. Many Brazilians are unhappy with the way Brazil is dealing with the pandemic here, what the country is doing to prevent the virus from spreading, and blame the president for the terrible situation we are facing, much worse than the rest of the world , only behind the United States, of course.

On the internet, people are saying things like: “Who wants Bolsonaro's complete and quick recovery?” other are saying: “I wish Coronavius much success in the fight against the president.” or my favorite: “Be strong Covid, I believe you”.

Very funny, indeed!

That's it folks, of course this is just for fun, we are being not serious here.

Lots and lots of love for you, until next time and keep that in mind: “Hope for the better, but prepare for the worse”. It simply means, be optimistic, but realistic.

See you later and take care everybody

Youtube:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuuM71mSjjteVy8Q5MtwNOg?view_as=subscriber

The Two Frogs

Once upon a time, a group of frogs was traveling through the woods.

Suddenly, two of them fell into a deep hole.

When the other frogs saw how deep the hole was, they told the two frogs that there was no hope.

However, the two frogs decided to ignore what the others were saying and tried to jump out of the hole.

Despite their efforts, the group of frogs at the top of the hole was still saying that they should just give up. It was impossible to jump out of the hole.

One of the frogs listened to what the others were saying and he gave up. The other frog continued to jump as hard as he could. Again, and again, and again.

But the other frogs at the top of the hole still told him to stop the pain and just give up.

But instead, he jumped even harder and finally succeed.

When he got out, the other frogs said: “Did you not hear us?”

Then the frog explained:

"I am deaf. I thought you were encouraging me the entire time".

Moral of the story:

Words have power! What are you saying to people? What are you listening from them?People’s words can have a big effect on other’s lives.

Hello, this is the World News Podcast from Just Talking English, listen to the most important news, while learning and training English.

I'm Edward Jr and for today, these are our main stories.

“Welcome to Just Talking English News. Let's start today talking about Hong Kong again.”

HONG KONG – Things are getting more complicated in Hong Kong. The protest against the new law imposed by China caused thousands, I said, thousands of people to take the streets on Wednesday. So far or until the moment, more than 370 people have been arrested. It is sad, but that is what is happening there. The international community does not agree with China's new law, especially UK (United Kingdom). Hong Kong was a British colony and they have a strong and special relationship because of that. And get ready for this! UK now offers citizenship to all Hongkongers who wish to move to the United Kingdom. Needless to say or I dont need to say that it made China extremely furious or angry and strongly condemn the offer, and even declaring or saying that the decision to offer Hongkongers citizenship will have negative consequences for the British country. Well, UK is right to do something to help. If you can help and are willing to help, then take a deep breath and start taking actions in this direction. This is what they are doing.

You can find this news on The Guardian website.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jul/02/britains-citizenship-offer-to-hong-kong-how-china-could-respond

INDEPENDENCE DAY – Now changing the topic to United States. For millions of Americans, celebrating the 4th of July is some kind of ritual and tradition. Some of the most popular ways in which Americans remember Britain's Independence Day, which happened in 1776, is by having parades; parades is a public celebration, you know, when a large number of people walking on the street, all going in the same direction. They also have public fireworks and large family reunions. But this year things will look a little different. Why? Well, first of all, parades or public celebrations were canceled and needless to say why, there is no need to say the reason. Coronavirus continues to increase or grow in the US. Fireworks are almost the same as Independence Day, but the case is: have you ever heard about secret fireworks? Yeah, the problem is that, a large number of people or crowds, gathering to watch or coming together to watch or joining to watch the fireworks. They solved the problem with the idea of not telling people where it is going to happen, until it happens for just five minutes, and they are encouraging people to watch the fireworks from home on TV. Bars, restaurants and even beaches will be closed over the weekend or during the weekend, and I read on BBC News that there are plans for Black Lives Matter protest on 4th of July in Washington DC. The year 2020 is being very strange, weird or unusual. Maybe this is a time to rethink. You can find this news on BBC website.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-53254889

And that was all for us for now, you can read the transcript of this podcast on the Just Talking English website. I'm Edward Jr, until next time, goodbye.

Hello, this is the World News Podcast from Just Talking English, listen to the most important news, while learning and training English.

I'm Edward Jr and for today, these are our main stories.

“Good morning and welcome to Just Talking English News.”

HONG KONG – We are going to open the news today with China, more specifically, Hong Kong. What's happening again in Hong Kong? What's going on there?

If you read the newspaper today, you will see that dozens of protesters have been arrested or jailed or imprisoned for violating the new law, the security law imposed by Beijing, China. The new law came into effect on Wednesday, or started on Wednesday and in the afternoon of the same day, thousands of people took to the streets to protest. So you migth be thinking: what's the problem with this new law? Why are they, Hongkongers, so angry about it?

Well, as I said, dozens of protesters were arrested not because of some kind of violence, which is even normal during a protest, we used to see this sometimes, people destroying things, burning cars, etc. As a matter of fact, they were arrested only because of a banner that said "Freedom for Hong Kong, Independence for Hong Kong". They were holding this banner with their arms up and shouting those words out loud. Under this new security law, Hong Kong citizens are no longer free to express discontent or disagreement with the government, being more direct, democracy does not exist under this new law. I read this news in The Guardian, you can find the link in the description.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jul/01/hong-kong-protesters-arrested-as-security-law-comes-into-effect

SPACE – Beyond Pluto! Do you believe in planet X? Or at least have you ever heard about planet X? Scientists are saying that, possibly, our solar system has a large planet beyond Pluto, a planet even larger than Earth, at least five times bigger, waiting to be found, and the hunt started, the hunt started. Astronomers around the world are working on it right now, and if they confirm the existence of this new planet far beyond Pluto, it will not only change our solar system forever, but we will also have to develop another theory that can explain how it happened. Planets beyond Pluto should be impossible, according to our current theory of how the solar system was formed. Perhaps this planet could be Nibiru, who knows? Zecharia Sitchin, the writer of the books “The Earth Chronicles”, he told us that the gods of the past were actually mortal beings, who come from a planet beyond Pluto not yet discovered, but would be a member of our solar system. He said this in the 1980s, was him right?

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2020/jun/28/beyond-pluto-the-hunt-for-our-solar-system-new-ninth-planet

And that was all for us for now, you can read the transcript of this podcast on the Just Talking English website. I'm Edward Jr, until next time, goodbye.

Good morning! Everyone! How are you doing today!

I was thinking about this program, Just Talking English News, and honestly, I'm going to change it a little bit, because it's boring, I tried to listen to one of my podcasts and I thought, “Oh my Gosh, It's sounds horrible, terrible and boring”. Sorry for that guys, I will do better from now on.

Learning a second language needs to be exciting, needs to be motivating and inspiring, not something you do for obligation but for pleasure, right.

Before we start today, let me talk in Portuguese with my brazilian students: “Se você que ser realmente fluente em Inglês, aprenda a estudar sozinho. Seja o MESTRE do seu próprio aprendizado. Just Talking Power Course, o mais poderoso curso para aprender e principalmente TREINAR inglês. CURSO COMPLETO R$ 187,00 (e nada mais)”.

Now let's get started

Our fisrt news today:

WHO – People, I don't want to scare you, but according to WHO, World Health Organization, things will get worse before they get better. They are saying that the worst moment of the pandemic is yet to come, in other words, we will see things get worse, before they get better. I'm reading this news on a website called Earth, or "Terra" in Portuguese, and I think it's reliable, I mean, I can trust in this website. Why not? I don't want to be negative about this situation that the world is facing right now, but there is a saying or a phrase that says:

“Hope for the better, prepare for the worst”

Basically, it means that, you should have a positive attitude, but make sure you are ready for disaster. Hope for the better, prepare for the worst.

Next:

POLITICS – Bolsonaro, let's talk about him. You know, I voted for Bolsonaro as president. Yeah it's a shame. But now I regret of this decision, of my dicision. In certain way, I feel responsible for Brazil having an idiot as president. He had the chance to do something extraordinary, something significant, meaningful for Brazil, but he missed the opportunity. He's just another corrupt politician. I dont trust in him anymore. Why am I saying that? I am not reading any new now, I'm just speaking my opnion, I'm sharing my opnion about our president, because I'm from Brazil, I'm a brazilian, and our situation here is a little more complicated because bolsonaro denies the pandemic, he used to say that it’s just a little cold and you don’t have to worry, ok but now Brazil has almost 60 thousand deaths and… so what? that's what he says on television ... so what? his behavior is disgusting and without empathy. This is not a news, as I said, this is just my opnion.

GAMES – Back to the news, “Games”, Now get ready for this, I'm not saying bullshit, although it seems a lie. In Brazil, women like and play more video games than men, points out a research or reveal a research. The research says that 53% of Brazilian players are represented by women. Actualy there is a false notion that men are the main consumers of electronic games, at least in Brazil. Okay, we are living in a new moment, I confess that I had the same notion about video games, but things are changing and changing fast, quickly. I'm not a hardcord player, I mean, you know, someone who usually plays a lot, but sometimes I play some games like The Witcher, Metro, among others.

OPNION - Ok guys, now I need your help. If you have reached this point in the podcast, you can tell me what you think about the change in Just Talking English News, tell me what you think about it. In previous podcasts, I was so serious and I didn't speak freely, I was limited to just reading the news, but now in this one, I'm behaving differently, as you can notice. The important thing is to learn and train English, if you are happy, I am happy. Send an e-mail to me, I wanna read your opnion. Bye for now.

Hello, this is the World News Podcast from Just Talking English, listen to the most important news, while learning and training English.

I'm Edward Jr and for today, these are our main stories.

“Good morning! Let's start today by politics”

POLITICS – Donald Trump could be sued (processed) by the Rolling Stones. It is not the first time that American President Donald Trump has been involved in copyright controversies. In yet another episode of copyright, Trump has been using the song 'You Can’t Always Get What You Want' by the Rolling Stones group for his re-election campaign. The band did not like the attitude of the president and appealed to the North American music copyright agency. Donald is prevented from using the music again, and if he does, he will violate a license agreement with the organization and could be sued by the rockers.

WORLD – Russia denies being the origin of a cloud of radioactive material over Scandinavia. Nuclear security agencies in Finland, Norway and Sweden said last week that they had identified radioactive isotopes in the atmosphere more than normal. Russia said the radioactive material detected in the Scandinavia region did not occur at one of its facilities. Chernobyl is considered one of the biggest man-made disasters in the history of mankind, the April 1986 explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant created a radioactive cloud that passed through much of Europe.

SPACE – Now space, I like this topic. Scientists find two 'super-earths ' close to the solar system - Two planets were found by an international team of scientists near the habitable zone of a star, that is, the region where the planets can present conditions that allow life to exist. Both planets orbit a red dwarf star about half the mass of the Sun and located 11 light years away. Scientists also detected signs of what could be a third planet, even larger than the previous two, orbiting the same star. This third planet would be located well inside of the habitable zone.

GAMES – Do you like to ply games? I like! Heavy Metal Machines open tournament has a prize of R $ 25 thousand, this is impressive! The Heavy Metal Machines edition starts on July 4th and will have prizes of R $ 25 thousand. Each edition will have two tournaments, the Metal League Pro, for experienced teams, and the Metal League Beginner, for players who are taking their first steps in the game. Registration is free. If you like to play games, go now.

ECONOMY – Our last news for today, economy. Why we need to debunk (reveal) the 'deficit myth'. Currently, government spending is growing at an unprecedented rate to deal with the effects of the global pandemic. Many people fear that this could have implications for future generations with a large debt to be paid. However, economist Stephanie Kelton, author of The Deficit Myth, argues that we need to rethink our attitudes towards government spending. Listen to a small section of her speech, you can find the link in the description.

https://www.bbc.com/reel/video/p08jbbry/why-we-need-to-debunk-the-deficit-myth-

And that was all for us for now, you can read the transcript of this podcast on the Just Talking English website. I'm Edward Jr, until next time, goodbye.

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9pe-xDevwk

Learn English through mini stories! Develop your English effectively by reading, listening, watching and talking about the story.

This method is suitable for: Beginners, Intermediate and advanced students. When you listen to something many times, you can remember it more easily, if you get a funny or interesting story, you will have no problem repeating it more than one time, “Repetition is the mother of all learning. Learning is simple when you repeat”.

Let's go to work

Story title: A Love Story

A very poor man lived with his wife.

One day, his wife, who had very long hair asked him to buy her a comb for her hair to grow well and to be well-groomed.

The man felt very sorry and said no. He explained that he didn't even have enough money to fix the strap of his watch he had just broken.

She did not insist on her request.

The man went to work and passed by a watch shop, sold his damaged watch at a low price and went to buy a comb for his wife.

He came home in the evening with the comb in his hand ready to give to his wife.

He was surprised when he saw his wife with a very short hair cut.

She had sold her hair and was holding a new watch band.

Tears flowed simultaneously

from their eyes.

Not for the futility of their actions

But for the reciprocity of their love.

Moral : "Love has to be shown by deeds, not words”

Vocabulary:

Well-groomed – bem arrumado

Strap of his watch - pulseira de relógio

Watch band – pulseira de relógio

Deeds – atos, ações, feitos

Hello, this is the World News Podcast from Just Talking English, listen to the most important news, while learning and training English.

I'm Edward Jr and for today, these are our main stories.

LOCKDOWN - Concern over crowded UK beaches, parks and parties. It's been awhile since British people had a chance to go to the beach, the weather is not favorable most of the year, but yesterday, a big surprise, the hotest day in this year, has made people think that maybe, staying at home was no longer reasoble or significant. BBC News asked a man about what happened on the south coast of England, and he said: "We just have to recognise yesterday was the hottest day of the year, incredibly hot, a lot of people had the same idea, they all went to the beach, and yes of course those scenes are a matter for concern. He means about social distancing.

SPACE: Virgin Galactic, the first space tourism company, completed a successful test flight yesterday, another important step towards becoming commercial. According to the company's plans, still in 2020 we will see the first flight with space tourists. Although the ticket is about 250 thousand dollars, it is expected to drop significantly in the coming years.

GEORGE FLOYD: It's been one month since George Floyd, the black man in the US city in Minneapolis was killed by a white police officer, and the protests against racism and police violence continue across the country, some asking for diversity in America government. In Minnesota the state where Mr. George Floyd lived and died, recent events have inspired a number of black woman in a record number to be candidate for the first time, let's listen to two of these candidates interviewed by BBC News.

“The moment I decided to run was when George floyd call up for his mum, I've seen my 24 year old black son under that man's knee, and that moment I knew I had to do something. My name is Zina Fizer, I am running for a office Minnesota senate”. “..and the black woman in America I realised that my voice needed to be heard and I've asked to consider running for a state then, and I initially thought well that's pretty far-fetched, but when I realised that as George was calling for his mother that I had the responsibility to answer that call”.

What US police officers think of protests? Well according to today's Wall Street Journal, some think change needs to come from the top, others say they are doing a tough job (a hard job) and under attack.

And that was all for us for now, you can read the transcript of this podcast on the Just Talking English website. I'm Edward Jr, until next time, goodbye.

Hello, this is the World News Podcast from Just Talking English, listen to the most important news, while learning and training English.

I'm Edward Jr and for today, these are our main stories.

THE EIFFEL TOWER: The most famous monument in Paris and visited by seven million people each year, reopened on Thursday (25), after being closed for more than three months. Nearly 50 visitors and many journalists awaited the reopening of the tower. And at the moment, it will be possible to climb only to the second floor (in a total of three), wearing a mask. France is beggining to ease the lockdown.

INTERNATIONAL POLITICS: Russia has begun voting on constitutional reforms that could allow President Vladimir Putin to serve another two terms in office. Opposition activist has said the changes will allow Mr Putin to be "president for life". Mr Putin, however, has said they will ensure Russia's stability.

RELIGION: Atheists and humanists are facing discrimination across the world, report finds. Atheists and humanists are facing discrimination and persecution in some countries because of their beliefs and values, according to a new report. Non-religious people in Colombia, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines and Sri Lanka are often excluded, and some women are forced into marriages. The Report was published on Thursday by Humanists International.

NEW LAWS: For months Brazil's president Jair Bolsonaro has made little about the severity of the pandemic, when the outbreak began, he said that it was "a little cold". Since then, Brazil has the second-highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths. Despite these high numbers, President Bolsonaro has repeatedly appeared in public without a mask. But now a judge has ruled (decided) that he must to change his ways. A BBC News reporter in São Paulo told more about this. Listen to her and the transcription:

“He basically ruled that the president has to comply with the local legislation, the use of protect masks has being make imposture in the country capital Brasilia in April, and the president is quite often seeing wandering around in Brazil without a mask, including when he goes to rallies against social distance measures organized by his suportes, so in his decision, this federal judge, highlighted the president must take all necessary measures to avoid the transmission of covid-19, and that, to go out at this point, without any PPE on (personal protective equipment )is a past disrespectful”.

And that was all for us for now, you can read the transcript of this podcast on the Just Talking English website. I'm Edward Jr, until next time, goodbye.