SUGGESTED READING # 5

Yellow = vocabulary
Green = tenses

Koala factcheck: have the Australian bushfires put survival of the species at stake?

26 Nov 2019 The Guardian

Hundreds of koalas have been killed and millions of hectares of their habitat destroyed in the bushfires that have swept across parts of Australia this month.

A recent headline in Forbes alleged the fires had rendered koalas “functionally extinct”, a claim that was repeated widely in Australia and overseas.

The claim, which originated from a release in May by the Australian Koala Foundation, has been criticised by koala experts and science commentators for overstating the plight of the popular marsupial.

Koala populations are in trouble, but this is due to a gradual process of deforestation over many years. This has been made worse by the recent fires, but the full scale of the damage is not yet known.

Stuart Blanch from WWF Australia says if a population is no longer genetically viable, koalas could be said to be “functionally extinct” in some areas.

“But there are large areas of large numbers of koalas that are still viable,” he says. “And they are our hope. We absolutely believe there is hope to stop koalas going extinct.”
But Blanch and the WWF fear koalas are heading towards extinction by 2050 if the destruction of their habitat continues.
“Largely what is driving the koala to extinction is deforestation,” he says. “The climate-heating impacts of drought and bushfires and declining water availability is making that trend worse in some areas.”
Blanch says the full scale of this month’s bushfires is not yet known, although news reports have referred to fears that hundreds of koalas may have died.

Koala populations across Queensland and NSW fell 42% between 1990 and 2010, according to the federal threatened species scientific committee.

James Tremain, a spokesman for the NSW Nature Conservation Council, says koala decline has been happening “slowly and silently”.

“Koala numbers have plunged over the past 20 years and if we don’t turn the trend around they won’t be ‘functionally extinct’, they will be actually extinct,” he says.

Méthodologie de la synthèse - Les grandes lignes

WRITING a "synthèse": the do's and don'ts

METHODOLOGIE DE LA SYNTHESE 1

Les différentes étapes de la synthèse.

Le titre est obligatoire et doit poser clairement et simplement la thématique du dossier. Il faut éviter les questions, qui sont plus du ressort de la problématique, et les titres accrocheurs, que l’on trouverait à la tête d’un article de presse.

L’introduction n’est pas facultative — elle est essentielle.  Après une phrase ou deux qui permettent de poser la pertinence du sujet, le candidat doit présenter la nature et les sources des documents brièvement — il n’est pas souhaitable d’énoncer les titres des articles, qui alourdissent l’introduction.

useful vocab :

1 article = an article /a piece

1 dessin de presse = a cartoon

1 dessinateur = a cartoonist

1 article de fond = a leading article -

1 éditorial = a column / an opinion piece

Enfin, il faut poser la problématique. Cette problématique pose la question précise que la mise en relation des documents soulève.

 Une question de problématique doit être générale et permettre une hauteur de vue suffisante pour couvrir les différents aspects traités dans la synthèse. Revoir les formes interrogatives (grammaire)

Useful vocb:

Dans quelle mesure peut on dire que = to what extent can it be said that…

1 bénédiction/ malédiction = a blessing    / a curse             

                                            =   a boon    / a bane

1 avantage / 1 inconvénient =    an advantage    / a drawback              

                                             =  the upside is     / the downside is

Etre à double tranchant : it is a double-edged sword

Bénéfique / nuisible :  beneficial // harmful - detrimental                               

Une menace (représenter une…)/ menacer = a threat/ to pose a threat – to threaten                                                       

Une polémique (provoquer) = to trigger a controversy – to spark (off) a controversy

Un sujet polémique = a controversial issue(topic)  

La confrontation des documents

Restituer les éléments clefs contenus dans les documents proposés et montrer comment ceux-ci se complètent, se renforcent, s'opposent, etc. La confrontation des points de vue proposés dans les différents documents est un élément essentiel de la synthèse.

la confrontation des documents permet de voir quelles sont les relations qui s’établissent entre les idées contenues dans les différents documents.

- les idées peuvent se compléter : une idée développée dans le document 3 peut se poursuivre dans le document 4 ; une idée énoncée dans le document 2 peut être nuancée dans le document 1.

- les idées peuvent se renforcer : on peut retrouver la même idée dans deux documents différents (ce qui lui donne de la force) ; on peut ainsi trouver dans le document 3 un exemple qui corrobore l’idée contenue dans le document 2.

- les idées peuvent s’opposer : l’opposition peut être totale (ce qui permet de montrer dans la synthèse que deux courants existent) ; l’opposition peut être partielle (on pourra chercher à voir quels sont les points d’accord et les points de désaccord).

 Le plan de la synthèse

Un plan réussi doit correspondre à la problématique en rendant compte de tous les aspects du problème. Les idées doivent s’enchaînent logiquement, mettant en évidence sa structure.

Il permet de traiter les documents ensemble, et non successivement : les documents ne seront pas forcément présentés toujours dans le même ordre.

Les types de plans : le choix du plan dépend de la problématique spécifique au dossier. Il n’y a pas de plan ‘universel’. On peut trouver par exemple:

- Le plan par opposition : aspects positifs / aspects négatifs

avantages / inconvénients

- Le plan par enchainement : problème / causes / conséquences

SUGGESTED READING # 4

From armchairs to iPhones, India's millennials rent it all

Sharing economy is a global phenomenon & is expected to generate annual revenues of $335 bn by 2025.  Dec 01, 2019

MUMBAI: At 29, Spandan Sharma doesn't own a flat, a car, or even a chair -- one of a growing number of Indian millennials bucking traditional norms and instead opting to rent everything from furniture to iPhones.

"Millennials in my age bracket want freedom and earlier what was seen as stability is now seen as a sign of being tied down," Sharma told AFP.

"My parents don't understand the concept of renting furniture at all. They have never been completely on-board with the idea," he said.

"They said it would be much better to buy rather than rent furniture in the long term."

For 4,247 rupees ($60) a month, the Mumbai-based executive furnished his entire home, sourcing furniture for his bedroom, living room and dining area as well as a refrigerator and microwave.

Sharma isn't alone. Tens of thousands of young Indians are switching from buying to renting so they can live life with few strings attached. (note: expression = no strings attached : sans contrepartie)

Even businesses are renting their office furnishings, said budding entrepreneur Vandita Morarka.

When Morarka set up her feminist non-profit One Future Collective in 207, she rented nearly everything she needed and funnelled the savings into paying salaries to her staff of 25.

"From study tables and chairs to even a laptop, I have rented them all as the prices are reasonable," the 25-year-old told AFP.

"This system allows me to take more risks... And in case things go south, we can wrap up without losing a large tranche of investments and begin elsewhere."

From ride-hailing apps to communal office spaces, the sharing economy is a global phenomenon that is expected to generate annual revenues of $335 billion by 2025, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers.

In the US, websites such as Rent the Runway and Nuuly offer fashion-conscious customers the option to try rather than buy clothing, while in China, consumers can rent BMWs via a tap on their smartphone.
//economictimes.indiatimes.com/

SUGGESTED READING # 3

Drug and suicide deaths rise as US life expectancy drops

• 29 November 2018 BBC NEWS

Life expectancy in the US has dropped once again, thanks in part to rising suicide and drug overdose rates, according to new government reports.

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) found nearly 70,000 more Americans died in 2017 than 2016, with rising rates of death among 25- to 44-year-olds.

Thursday's reports revealed synthetic opioid-related overdose death rates rose by 45% on average, nationwide.

Americans can expect to live just over 78 years and six months on average - a 0.1 year drop from 2016, according to the report released on Thursday.

"Tragically, this troubling trend is largely driven by deaths from drug overdose and suicide," said CDC director Robert Redfield in a statement.

"Life expectancy gives us a snapshot of the nation's overall health and these sobering statistics are a wake-up call that we are losing too many Americans, too early and too often, to conditions that are preventable."

Life expectancy in the US began dropping in 2015.

Monaco and Japan currently have the longest life expectancies in the world at 89 and 85 years.

As the US grapples with an opioid crisis, overdoses claim more and more lives, the CDC report found. Drug overdose deaths accounted for 70,237 deaths last year - nearly 10% higher than in 2016 - with a significantly higher rate of death among men, compared to women.

"Economic conditions or livelihood opportunities in decline could lead people to positions where they're at risk. We need to intervene in both mental and public health cases," Dr Reed says.