China quake death toll tops 1,100

Jiegu, China (CNN) -- The death toll in the China earthquake now stands at 1,114, relief officials said on Friday as rescuers continued to race against the clock to pull survivors from the rubble.
Earlier, Premier Wen Jiabao traveled to the earthquake-devastated zone to inspect the damage and assure victims that the search would continue.
"Your suffering is our suffering," Wen said. "We are going through the same pain as you are. The family members you lost are also our family members, and we grieve for them as you do."
Wen surveyed the rubble of buildings and spoke with residents in the predominantly ethnic Tibetan region -- where anti-government sentiment is simmering -- to drive home Beijing's concern.
death toll = número de víctimas mortales........................................damage = dañoearthquake = terremoto.................................................................search = búsquedastands at = llega hasta....................................................................pain = dolorrelief officials = equipos de socorro ..................................................grieve for = llorar porrace against the clock = ir contra reloj............................................ survey = supervisar survivors = supervivientes............................................................simmer = hervir a fuego lentorubble = escombros.......................................................................drive home = llevarse a casa
...................................................................................................concern = preocupación




DO YOU REMEMBER HAITI? "Not Alone" is a charity track recorded by American rock band Linkin Park released as part of a compilation from Music For Relief in support of the Haiti Earthquake.
LISTENING COMPREHENSION: Listen to "Not Alone" and fill in the gaps

Volcanic ash cloud causes air travel chaos

London, England (CNN) -- A cloud of ash from a volcano in Iceland swept toward mainland Europe on Thursday, forcing up to 6,000 flight cancellations across the continent, according to the intergovernmental body that manages European air travel

Thousands of flights were affected as some of Europe's busiest airports closed, including London's Heathrow; Amsterdam, Netherlands' Schiphol; and Paris, France's Charles de Gaulle.

Volcanic ash can cause jet engines to shut down.

...Airspace over the United Kingdom was closed to all flights except emergencies at least until 7 a.m. local time (2 a.m. ET) Friday, Britain's Civil Aviation Authority said. The agency was due to review the situation Thursday evening.

France, Germany, Ireland, Sweden, Norway, Belgium, Denmark and the Netherlands also announced the complete or partial closure of their airspace, authorities in each country said.

Norway also closed its ocean territory and canceled helicopter flights to offshore oil installations, according to Avinor, the Norwegian agency responsible for the country's airport network.

Germany closed the Berlin airport as well as airspace over the city, an airport spokesman said. ash = ceniza.......................................................................... closure = cierre swept = sweep/swept, barrer ..................................................airspace = espacio aereomainland = la masa principal de un país o de un continente..........offshore = lejos de la costaflight cancellations = cancelaciones de vuelos.......................... network = estación, red, cadena
jet engines = motor a reacción................................................ spokesman = portavozwas due = se esperaba, se suponía

Bank Robbery in A Guarda

Three robbers took about 120.000 euros from the branch of Caixanova in A Guarda, after bounding the employees hand and foot. The robbery occurred yesterday in Concepción Arenal Street, at about 8:00 am. The robbers had entered the office at dawn , by opening a hole in the wall (butrón) in the rear of the building, before the managing director and other two employees could arrive to begin his workday. The incidents occurred when the office had not yet been open to the public and they had just arrived to work.

The robbers tied the three employees and escaped with the money, through the same hole in the wall. The police were called by two other coworkers who realized what was happening inside the office. The local police officers had to break a glass in order to get into the office. The Guardia Civil are in charge of the investigation.

branch = sucursal .......................................................dawn = amanecer..............................................employee = empleado

robbery= robo ( banco)...............................................hole = agujero...................................................coworkers = compañeros de trabajo

bound hand and footv= atar de pies y manos..........rear = la parte trasera....................................realize = darse cuenta de

The sun is coming, April is here!

Where does the word April orginate from?

No one knows for certain how April got its name, but it may have come from the Latin word 'aperire' which means 'to open'. April is, after all, the month when in the northern hemisphere buds begin to open and things start to grow again after the winter.

Eostre monath or Eastremonath was the Anglo-Saxon name for the month. The name of the Christian Festival of Easter comes from this Anglo-Saxon word.

after all = después de todo
buds = capullo

April Fools Day

April begins with a day of fun and jokes - April Fool's Day. No one really knows when this custom began but it has been kept for hundreds of years.

The First of April, some do say
Is set apart for All Fools Day;
But why the people call it so,
Not I, nor they themselves do know.

jokes = chistes
custom = costumbre


The Cuckoo

The arrival of the cuckoo is the signal that spring has come. It arrives some time in mid April.

arrival = llegada

The Swallow

The swallow makes its reappearance during April. Traditionally April 15th is 'Swallow Day' in England , the date on which returning swallows were seen again.

swallow = golondrina

Weather-lore, beliefs and sayings

April showers bring May flowers.

If early April is foggy
Rain in June
Will make lanes boggy.

.............................When April blows its horn 'Tis good for hay and corn.

............April wet - good wheat.

Till April's dead, change not a thread.

foggy = nebuloso, de niebla
lanes = senderos, caminos
boggy = pastoso
horn = corneta
hay = heno
wheat = trigo
thread = hilo

Trivia Winner, Thursday 18th March

	Carmen Martínez
Write down all the natural disasters mentioned in the blog and translate them.	earthquakes, avalanches , volcanic eruptions,tsunamis, floods and mud flows. terremotos, avalanchas, erupciones volcánicas, tsunamis, inundaciones y flujos de lodo.

Especially for Science Students: The Hadron Collider

Hadron Collider breakthrough as beams collide
(CNN) -- Scientists at the Large Hadron Collider managed to make two proton beams collide at high energy Tuesday, marking a "new territory" in physics, according to CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research.
The $10 billion research tool has been accelerating the beams since November in the LHC's 17-mile tunnel on the border of Switzerland and France.
The beams have routinely been circulating at 3.5 TeV, or teraelectron volts, the highest energy achieved at the LHC so far, according to CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research.
Experiments at the LHC may help answer fundamental questions...The collider may help scientists discover new properties of nature...
Sutton compared the experiments to Christopher Columbus sailing for the New World in 1492, when he knew what he was looking for but didn't know what he might find.
proton beams = rayos de protonescollide = colisionar
high energy =alta energíaresearch tool = herramienta de investigaciónachieve = lograr, alcanzar

Moscow subway attacks

Female suicide bombers detonated explosions that rocked two subway stations in central Moscow during rush hour Monday morning, killing at least 38 people, officials said.
Moscow, Russia (CNN) -- Russian investigators combing two subway stations attacked by female suicide bombers think Chechen rebels may have been behind the rush-hour strike that killed dozens of people.
"Our preliminary assessment is that this act of terror was committed by a terrorist group from the North Caucasus region," Alexander Bortnikov of the Federal Security Service said of the investigation at one of the blast sites...
...Millions of commuters use the Moscow metro system every day. An estimated 500,000 people were riding trains throughout the capital at the time of the attacks. It was unclear when the system would return to normal service, and the incident generated fear among commuters.
London, England (CNN) -- Monday's bomb attacks on the Moscow subway bear the hallmarks of an operation carried out by female Chechen suicide bombers called "Black Widows," according to security analysts.
At least 38 people were killed by twin explosions at the height of the rush hour in what appears to be Chechen separatists' latest salvo in their long-running battle for independence in Russia's northern Caucasus.
Chechens, the majority of whom are Sunni Muslims, regard the region as their ancient homeland, while Moscow fears the creation of an independent Muslim-majority state in its midst and has refused to grant any real autonomy.
The struggle can be traced back to the Stalin era when hundreds of thousands of Chechens were forcibly displaced to Siberia, according to Bob Ayers, a retired international security analyst.
rush hour = hora puntapreliminary assessment = evaluación preliminar
commuter =[kə'mjʊ:təʳ] persona que viaja diariamente al lugar de trabajoblast sites = el lugar de la explosión
hallmarks = sello distintivo
to grant = conceder, otorgar struggle = luchaforcibly displaced = desplazados por la fuerza

Welcome Aboard!

Can you sing along?
Learn some TRAVEL VOCABULARY with the Rapping Flight Attendant
A flight attendant raps about the things passengers need to know when aboard a plane.

This is the Flight 372 on SWA.

The flight attendants onboard serving you today,

Theresa in the middle, David in the back,

My name is David and I’m here to tell you that…

Shortly after takeoff, first things first,

There are soft drinks and coffee to quench your thirst,

But if you want another kind of drink, then just holler,

Alcoholic beverages, that’ll be four dollars.

If a Monster Energy drink is your plan,

That’ll be three dollars and you get the whole can.

We won’t take your cash; you gotta pay with plastic,

If you have a coupon, then that’s fantastic.

We know you’re ready to get to new places.

Open up the bins, put away your suitcases.

Carry-on items go under the seat,

In front of you, so none of you have things by your feet.

If you have a seat on a row with the exit,

We’re gonna talk to you, so you might as well expect it,

You gotta help evacuate in case we need you,

If you don’t wanna, then we’re gonna reseat you.

Before we leave, our advice is put away your electronic devices.

Fasten your seatbelt, then put your trays up,

Press the button to make the seatback raise up.

Sit back, relax, have a good time,

It’s almost time to go so I’m done with the rhyme.

Thank you for the fact that I wasn’t ignored.

This is Southwest Airlines, welcome aboard!

flight attendants = auxiliar de vuelo ....... holler = gritar............................................................. reseat = recolocar (volver a sentar)
onboard = a bordo.....................................alcoholic beverages = bebidas alcohólicas ......... electronic devices = aparato o dispositivo electrónico
takeoff = despegue ...................................bin = contenedor, compartimento ..........................fasten your seatbelt = abrochar el cinturón de seguridad
first things first = lo más importante
..............................primero ............... ... .. suitcase = maleta....................................................... tray = bandeja
soft drinks = bebida sin alcohol............. carry-on items = equipaje (artículo) de mano ..... seatback = respaldo
quench = saciar ....................................... row = fila ( de asientos) ............................................ welcome aboard! = bienvenidos a bordo!
thirst = sed.................................... exit = salida

........And... if you want a BETTER PRACTICE on this video, go to English Central

.................And...MORE on TRAVEL VOCABULARY: Try this CROSSWORD (difficult)

Best Humour, have fun!!

Freddie Frinton: "Dinner for one"
"The same procedure as every year, James..."

The Way of St. James

The Way of St James has existed for over a thousand years. It was one of the most important Christian pilgrimages during medieval times, and a pilgrimage route on which a plenary indulgence could be earned.
(Galician: O Camiño de Santiago, Spanish: El Camino de Santiago, French: Chemin de St-Jacques, German: Jakobsweg)
The most popular route is the French Way or Camino Francés, cities in Spain situated along this route are Pamplona and Burgos. Another popular route is the 227 km long Portuguese Way, , which starts at Se Catedral in the city of Porto in the north of Portugal. Many pilgrims prefer to start closer to the Spanish border at Valença, Portugal, and Tui, Galicia, for a five-day, 108 km walk.

Whenever St James's day (25 July) falls on a Sunday, the cathedral declares a Holy or Jubilee. The most recent were 1982, 1993, 1999 and 2004. The next Holy Years will be 2021, 2027 and 2032
A Guarda receives the Jacobean 2010 with special interest. For the first time our village appears in the Jacobean routes formally recognized by the Galician regional government as part of the Portuguese Coast Way .
Last Saturday 13th March, 160 people walked the stage 0 (Viana – Caminha) of this Way, a pilgrimage organized by the council.

pilgrimage route = ruta de peregrinación
pilgrim = peregrino
closer to = más cerca de
indulgence = indulgencia
stage = etapa