Da aldeia à 'selva de concreto': índio vai à Nova York aprender inglês

21 março 2013

Transcript

From the rainforest to the concrete jungle…

New York is where the son of the traditional chief of an indigenous community in Brazil has come to study. His dream is to speak English well and become a documentary film-maker.

It is a far cry from the village in the Amazon where Nilson Tuwe Huni Kui’s people live.

Tuwe carries the responsibility of making his people's culture and problems known to the world.

Transcrição em português

Da floresta tropical para a selva de concreto...

Nova York é onde o filho de um tradicional líder de uma comunidade indígena no Brasil veio estudar. Seu sonho é falar bem inglês e se tornar cineasta especializado em documentários.

A cidade é bem diferente da aldeia no Amazonas em que vive Nilson Tuwe Huni Kui e sua gente.

Tuwe tem a responsabilidade de divulgar a cultura e os problemas de seu povo mundo afora.

Vocabulary

rainforest - a tropical area where it rains a lot and there are lots of trees

concrete jungle - city with many buildings

indigenous community - group of people who come from a particular area, and lived there before any other people

a far cry from - extremely different from

responsibility - obligation, duty

Exercise

Use one of the words or phrases below to complete each of these sentences from news reports.

Note that you may have to change the form of a word to complete the sentence correctly.

rainforest / concrete jungle / indigenous community / a far cry from / responsibility

1. Primary schoolteacher Antonio Clima was with his class of 11-year-olds when the building starting shaking, bricks came loose, and a piece of the roof ledge collapsed. "I was very calm as I felt it was my __________ to be strong for the children, but they were screaming and crying. It's all been too much for them."

2. Peruvian President Ollanta Humala has approved a law giving __________ the right to be consulted about development on their lands.

3. Once a mainly desert outpost, Mecca's Grand Mosque is now encircled by a __________ made up of high-rise apartment blocks and five-star hotels.

4. The further you drive up winding roads, the worse your mobile phone signal gets. It's hard to spot a telephone tower anywhere, but for miles on end you can see emerald green paddy fields peppering the hills. It is peacefully quiet - __________ the hustle and bustle of Jakarta.

5. More than 60% of Liberia's virgin __________ has been granted to logging companies since Nobel Prize winning President, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, came to power in 2006, according to a Global Witness report. It says the majority of these have been unregulated private contracts.

Answers

1. Primary schoolteacher Antonio Clima was with his class of 11-year-olds when the building starting shaking, bricks came loose, and a piece of the roof ledge collapsed. "I was very calm as I felt it was my responsibility to be strong for the children, but they were screaming and crying. It's all been too much for them."

Source: Quiet terror of earthquake victims http://bbc.in/K9HMqc

2. Peruvian President Ollanta Humala has approved a law giving indigenous communities the right to be consulted about development on their lands.

Source: Peru's president approves indigenous consultation law http://bbc.in/p5MTKw

3. Once a mainly desert outpost, Mecca's Grand Mosque is now encircled by a concrete jungle made up of high-rise apartment blocks and five-star hotels.

Source: Hajj pilgrims splash the cash at Mecca markets http://bbc.in/cj1bRc

Source: Indonesian farmers reaping social media rewards http://bbc.in/M8daRf

5. More than 60% of Liberia's virgin rainforest has been granted to logging companies since Nobel Prize winning President, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, came to power in 2006, according to a Global Witness report. It says the majority of these have been unregulated private contracts.

Source: Liberia's failed logging promises http://bbc.in/R1IZTr