30% of Americans do not drink alcohol, 10% drink 50% + of all alcohol consumed

{{{image taken from Discover magazine}}}

Last week some interesting statistics were released about the drinking of alcoholic beverages in the USA.

About 30% of Americans do not drink alcoholic drinks at all.  However, 10% of Americans drink more than 50% of all the alcoholic drinks that are purchased.  This means there are some Americans who drink over 10 cans of beer a day or at least 2 bottles of wine each day.

So, basically, this means that the 10% of Americans who have a severe problem with alcohol are funding the alcohol industry.  If the alcohol industry lost these 10%, many companies would go bankrupt. 

Here is an interesting article about this:

http://www.the-american-interest.com/blog/2014/10/05/the-alcohol-industry-needs-alcoholism-to-thrive/

Vocabulary to help you understand the article:

a demon - a devil, an evil spirit, something like Satan. By calling alcohol a demon drink, this article is saying alcoholic beverages can be evil.

to thrive - to be successful, to prosper

off the backs of addicts - the alcoholism industry makes most of its money from people who are addicted to alcoholic drinks

the take-away - the results, the conclusions

a segment - a part of a TV show

consumption - buying and using something

paying the tab - paying the bill (the title implies that there are consequences to alcohol consumption in the USA)

belatedly - after a long time

to make the rounds - to become known to more and more people

to be dependent on - to really need someone or something

disproportionate - not in an appropriate proportion; bigger numbers than one might expect

to be induced - to be caused

to curb their consumption - to limit their consumption

grave - serious

outstripping - outpacing, being more aggressive than something else, doing better than somoen or something else

a mainstay - a regular feature or aspect

Prohibition - a period of time in America when it was illegal to buy alcoholic beverages

fiscally - economically

to put a dent into - to make an impact on, to cause a real change to...so the author is saying that if there were higher taxes on alcoholic drinks, more people would stop drinking as much (a dent - if someone hits your car with his car, you will have a dent in your car)

pivoting off - coming from

advocated - called for, encouraged

ameliorate - to make something better. If we want to eliminate poverty, we try to ameliorate the problem.

to partake of - to use something

enhancer - to make something better or bigger

Anti-Muslim (?) blogger from Malaysia seeks political asylum in the USA

Lots of people want to come to the USA.  This is where they think they will have maximum freedom and where they think they can make lots of money.

Many people are able to get into the USA by appealing for political asylum.  What does this mean?  It means that if a person is going to be harmed by his/her government for political or religious reasons, the person will be given safety in the USA.  So if a person has been fighting for human rights in a country where the government kills such people, the USA will let this type of person in.

I was a bit shocked to see that a person from Malaysia who has apparently posted anti-Muslim postings, and who was going to be prosecuted (put on trial) for this in Malaysia, is seeking asylum in the USA.

The person seems to be arguing that he has the right to post anything he wants on the internet and that the government of Malaysia is violating his human rights.  Yet, hate-speech should not be tolerated anywhere.  Frankly, I am a bit shocked that the US government is considering the possibility of allowing this person asylum.     

You can read the following article, however, and judge for yourself:

http://www.thestar.com.my/News/Nation/2014/09/24/Alvivi-back-on-Facebook/

Vocabulary to help you understand the article:

asylum - safety, Ed Snowden was given asylum in Russia because the US government wanted to arrest him and throw him in jail for revealing various governmental abuses in the USA

apply for - please remember that when you use 'apply' you also have to use 'to' or 'for'
I applied to this school.  I applied for my visa.

jumped bail - that means he was arrested by Malaysian police and a judge indicated he would have to go to trial for his actions.  He was allowed to pay a certain amount of money to stay out of jail until his trial.  He, however, has illegally left Malaysia.  Bail - the money a person pays to stay out of jail until a trial. To jump bail - to illegally leave the country after you pay the money.

resurfaced - reappeared, presented himself again

a hearing - it's like a trial; at a hearing a person is asked various questions

tyranny - a tyrant is a dictator, one leader who controls the entire country

three charges - three accusations of doing something wrong

Ramadan - a very important Islamic holiday.  Apparently they deliberately intended to offend and upset Islamic people by posting something about Islam with naked photos.

pornographic - something is pornographic if it shows something sexual that is not meant to be artistic

confident - pretty sure

repression - a holding down or a stopping of something

seditious - meant to harm a government or people

to taunt - to provoke, to try to cause someone to do something you want them to do

to bolster - to strengthen

Test your intermediate level English

15 (more) useful words - answers are beneath the exercise

I am in the process of updating my book for English learners: http://www.amazon.com/York-Sucks-Youll-Wanna-Anyway-ebook/dp/B004TSPAQS

The following exercise will be in the new version of the book (coming out in a couple months).  In the mean time, the first version of the book is available on amazon for only $3.50 - a real bargain. :)

Word bank:

corruption, vindictive, kinky, saga, to flirt, prodigious, to confront, the race, sarcasm, veracity, a scandal, unregulated, to screw someone, a rugged individual, a trend

1. The story of how the United States got involved in the second Iraq War is quite a _______________. It is a long, complicated story of greed and stupidity.

2. Every time you get into a cab, please remember that the driver wants to ________________ you.  He will try to overcharge you somehow.

3. Until the reforms made by Roosevelt in the 1930s, Americans were forced to live as ______________________. There were very few programs the government might offer to help people who were in trouble.  Everyone was supposed to try to take care of himself as well as he/she could.

4. Roberta sent email to Jane, telling her that Bob, Jane’s boyfriend, was cheating on her.  Yet, Jane did not know that Roberta had once been Bob’s girlfriend too.  So was Roberta concerned about Jane or was she just being ________________.

5. The 2008 financial crisis showed that the banking industry cannot remain __________________. Laws and monitors must be in place to make sure this industry is run properly.

6. As someone who is part German and part Polish, I have a quite ______________ nose.  It is much bigger than the normal nose in New York City.

7. Bob had begun to lose weight and he had started to look a bit sexier to women.  He was, in fact, surprised that, now, when he went to a bar, some women would try to ________________ with him.

8. Although Congressman Weiner initially denied everything, he had to resign due to a ______________ involving his selfies of his penis. (a selfie is a photo a person takes of him/herself, often with his/her smart phone)

9. The politicians who run the State of New York are very dishonest, but political ______________ seems to be especially bad in the State if Illinois, where many politicians have been thrown in jail recently. (Illinois is the state that has Chicago in it.)

10. Lyndon Johnson was such a corrupt politician, that some historians even believe he participated in the assassination of John Kennedy (so that he, Johnson, could become president).  The _______________ of this allegation/claim has never been established.

11. Nobody really knows, at this point, which Republican candidate will run in the next presidential ______________.  Republicans have become less popular in the USA than ever before because they only seem to care about the rich.

12. I went to a barber who only spoke Russian and he did not understand my instructions for my haircut.  He totally butchered my hair (slang for: he cut my hair very badly).  When I went to school a lot of the guys said, “Hey Bob – nice hair!  Really great haircut!”  I wasn’t sure whether they thought my hair was trendy or they were engaged in _______________.

13. Not everybody likes ‘normal’ sex.  Some people are ____________ and enjoy trying sexual activities that are legal but considered strange.

14. If you think that your spouse is cheating on you (your wife or husband is going out with another person), it might be a good idea to just _________________ your spouse with your suspicions.

15. Women have stopped buying blue jeans and are starting to buy and wear yoga pants.  The companies that make jeans hope this _______________ will not continue for long.

answers are below:

answers:

1. saga, 

2. screw, 

3. rugged individuals, 

4. vindictive, 

5. unregulated, 

6. prodigious, 

7. flirt, 

8. scandal, 

9. corruption, 

10. veracity, 

11. race, 

12, sarcasm, 

13. kinky, 

14. confront, 

15. trend

Test your intermediate level vocabulary

Fill-in-the-blanks. Answers are below the exercise.

15 useful words

wealthy, have an advantage over, an election, a lottery, to dominate, the role of, disgraceful, desperate, a campaign, an opponent, to get sick of something, a socialist, under the tutelage of, in the minority, a term

1. I used to live in Flushing but I had to take a bus to reach the subway station to go back and forth, to and from, work.  I just _________________ having to spend so much time traveling each day, so I moved to Woodside, closer to a subway station.

2. New York City has changed a lot in the last 15 years. The biggest change is that rent prices have sky-rocketed (have soared, have risen sharply).  Unless you are willing to live with roommates, you really need to be kind of ______________ to live here.

3. One of the reasons Obama was re-elected president was that he did not have a strong _____________.  Mitt Romney was not a good choice by the Republican Party.

4. As a foreign student I was at a disadvantage in an American school, since native-English speakers tend to ______________ the class discussions.  It always took me awhile to think in English before I could answer a question in class.

5. A US Congressperson will usually serve a _____________ of 2 years, but most Congressmen and women get re-elected at least a couple more times.  Some Congressmen have been re-elected over and over again and have served for over 40 years.  They are usually among the most corrupt Congressmen.

6. Although it is easy to raise a great amount of money through a public _____________ system, where citizens can pay small amounts of money to try to win large amounts, it has been pointed out that most of the people who try to make money this way are poor and they cannot afford to lose even small sums of money.

7. Although many conservatives have attacked Obama and called him a ___________________; he seems to support capitalism, and is not even a very liberal president any more.

8. Although many Asian immigrants have been coming to new York City, and Asians are much more noticeable than they were 15 years ago, they are still __________________ in New York City.

9. If you look at SAT scores (the SAT is a test high school students take which helps determine which colleges they will be accepted at) you can see that the wealthy have _________________ over poorer students.  The more money a student’s family makes, the higher his/her SAT score will be.

10. ________________ nurse requires not only medical knowledge but a sense of compassion for others and really good people skills.

11. Jean Valjean stole a loaf of bread because he was _________________; he had to feed his family.

12. PeiWen became an amazing violinist even before she began studying ______________________ some of the best violin teachers that the Julliard School of music has.

13. In a political ___________ a candidate will often attack his/her opponent instead of focusing on the positive changes he/she will bring about him/herself.

14. In the last ________________ for mayor, only about 25% of the people of New York voted.

15. In the last Congressional election in Flushing, Grace Meng, Taiwanese-American, ran against Rory Lancman, Jewish-American.  There were an equal number of Jewish and Asians in the district. In order to try to win the election in an unethical and _________________ manner, Meng found a Jewish volunteer from her campaign staff and apparently encouraged him to run for Congressman too.  She was hoping that some Jews would vote for Lancman while others would vote for the other guy with the other Jewish name. In this way the Jewish voters would be divided and she would win with all the Asian votes she received. She is now a Congressperson.

Answers are below:

Answers:

1. got sick of, 
2. wealthy, 
3. opponent, 
4. dominate, 
5. term, 
6. lottery, 
7. socialist, 
8. in the minority, 
9. an advantage, 
10. the role of, 
11. desperate, 
12. under the tutelage of, 
13. campaign, 
14. election, 
15. disgraceful,

Test your higher-level English vocabulary ----> 5 tough words

to adumbrate something - to outline something vaguely, to express in a shadowy or not perfectly clear way

to decry something - to verbally attack something, to openly and strongly criticize something

fecund - capable of producing a lot, fertile

indefatigable - unbeatable, refusing to quit or give up

manifold - many, various, a bunch of 

Answers are below the exercise:

The female Ocean Sunfish is especially _______________. She carries more eggs than any other vertebrate - and can release hundreds of millions at a time.

Many conservatives are using the recent immigration crisis at our Mexican border as an opportunity to ____________ the immigration policies of the Obama administration.  They claim that this administration has welcomed people to engage in illegal immigration.

The reasons Bob gave for the policy failure were ________________ but not one of them was satisfying.

When Richard Nixon ran for the presidency in 1968, he did not even _______________ a plan to end the Vietnam War; he simply lied and said he had a fully articulated plan prepared and ready to go should he be elected. 

The West German national soccer team (from 1954 to 1990) had a reputation for being _________________. Over and over again they would come back from behind and tie or win games.  They never seemed to stop striving.

Answers are below:

Answers:

1. fecund

2. decry

3. manifold

4. adumbrate

5. indefatigable

Daniel Gauss ----> http://djg51qu.wix.com/gauss

http://www.amazon.com/York-Sucks-Youll-Wanna-Anyway-ebook/dp/B004TSPAQS

Test your higher-level English (free English vocabulary exercise)

precipitous (precipitously - adverb) - this adjective comes from the noun 'precipice.' A precipice is a high point or cliff on a mountain - if you accidentally step off a precipice, you drop to your death.  So 'precipitous' means a quick decision that you make without thinking about it and often you can't change it after you make it.

prodigious - basically this means huge or much bigger than normal

ambit - a range or a boundary within which something or someone works

ad hoc - put together for just one reason or purpose; often you will read about ad hoc committees or ad hoc action - this means a committee is put together or action is taken to address this one situation

enmity - very strong hatred toward someone; often enmity means that two groups or two people really hate each other

ruthless -  showing no mercy or pity or compassion for others when taking an action

to curdle - when milk is treated with chemicals to become harder, so that it can be made into cheese; this term usually has another common meaning though: if a person is really shocked or scared, he might say that his/her blood curdled.


Answers are beneath the exercise: 

 
It was very dark in the room, and the light switch would not work.  Suddenly I heard a scream that made my blood ______________________.

The pirates of the Caribbean were renowned for being totally __________________ toward any ship that provided resistance.  If a ship's captain surrendered, the crew was spared but the cargo was stolen. If the captain chose to fight, no mercy would be shown and the entire crew would be slaughtered. 

Bob was a little too ___________________ in his choice to marry Becky.  They had only gone out with each other for 2 months before he proposed marriage to her, and their marriage only lasted 6 months.

Cyrano, with his __________________ nose, is a story of unrequited love (un-returned) love. His huge nose made him ugly to women but he was able to coach his handsome friend to be beautifully eloquent and to win the heart of the woman that Cyrano, himself, loved. 

Bill was an amazing US History professor, but he had spent so much time doing research within his academic________________ that he knew very little else about other fields of study.

There seems to be so much long-standing ______________ between countries in the Mideast that some US presidents do not even try to initiate peaceful negotiations.

Bob was not the most organized person in the world, nor was he good at predicting problems.  Instead, he chose to deal with things in an _______________ manner.

Answers are below:



Answers:

curdle
ruthless
precipitious
prodigious
ambit
enmity
ad hoc

Test your higher-level English (2 vocabulary exercises)

mercurial - if a person changes his mood or temper very quickly, he/she is mercurial (The god Mercury traveled quickly between the other gods and people.)

louche - decadent, lacking in morals, corrupt, not an ethical person (pronounced loosh)

glutinous - glue-like or sticky

to ingratiate yourself with someone - to try hard to make someone like you

to be hobbled - to be slowed down (in the old west cowboys would deliberately tie the front legs of their horses together at night to make sure they would not run away - this was 'hobbling' their horses)

Answers are below the exercise:


I had heard that my current boss was a no-nonsense type of person who could be difficult to work with.  So I went out of my way to _____________________ myself with him.  I often asked his advice, complimented him and even bought him lunch sometimes.

I asked Bob how his research was going, and he told me it wasn't going well.  His team has been __________________ by the fact that the government has cut their funding in half.

I'm a rotten cook (a bad cook).  I can't even cook rice.  When I cook rice it looks, feels and tastes like some _________________ mess.

Chicago is known as one of the most politically corrupt (dishonest) cities in America. Political corruption has existed for so long that most of the politicians become ___________________ after just a short time. If you don't go along with the system there, you don't get anywhere in your political career.

Jack is an amazing guy with a good heart, but he has a significant shortcoming in his personality.  He is quite _________________ and it's hard to predict what his mood will be from one moment to the next.


Answers are below:





Answers:

ingratiate
hobbled
glutinous
louche
mercurial
------------------------------------------------------------------

to indemnify, to be indemnified - two meanings: 1) to insure someone for some type of possible loss (if you buy insurance on your car, you are indemnified against damages - if your car gets damaged, you'll receive a payment from the insurance company); 2) to pay someone for some type of damage or harm which has occurred

indolent - being lazy, not feeling like working

sedentary - being seated; a sedentary lifestyle is an inactive lifestyle - a sedentary job is a job in which you sit a lot

endemic to - common to

conspicuously - obviously, noticeably

graft - illegally obtaining money

keening - this is an obscure word which means vocally expressing grief or mourning after a person's death, especially at a funeral (I found the word in the book: Empire of the Summer Moon)

resilient - able to bounce back (usually after something negative happens)

Answers are underneath the exercise:


Designer bags have become a huge industry, as women pay high prices for these luxury items and ___________________ carry them around to show others that they have money and can live the high life.

It was the summer of Bob's junior year and his parents had not pressured him into finding a job.  He felt he had the right, this one summer, to be _______________ and relax and casually do some reading and lounging around.

According to the contract, we are __________________ against any losses we may suffer due to the negligence of our partner.

Lately a report noted that those who work at ________________ jobs seem to live shorter lives than those who work at jobs that do not require them to sit for long hours at a time.  If a person has to sit for long periods, he/she should find ways to get up and move around often.

One form of political corruption involves _______________. This is when the politician is able to illegally make money through actions he/she preforms as a public servant.

The disease of malaria is _______________ to about 100 countries around the world which have not been able to control the spread of a certain type of mosquito.

The loss of her husband at an early age was devastating for Mary.  At the funeral she was literally ________________ over the coffin of her husband with tears running down her face.

Bob proved himself to be extraordinarily ___________________. Even though he was unfairly fired from a job, he soon had another job at a better company in a better position.

Answers are below:




Answers:

conspicuously
indolent
indemnified
sedentary
graft
endemic
keening
resilient