Inhabitants from the Dhaing village in Nepal have no choice but to face danger on a daily basis. They are forced to endure a hazardous river crossing by rope bridge to attend school, go shopping or meet friends and family who live the other side of the Trishuli River.
Self-study activity:
Watch the video and answer the questions below.
1 Why is Nepal’s Trishuli River well-known?
2 How many of these bridges are there in Nepal?
3 Why don't people use permanent bridges?
4 What happened in 2010?
5 Which plan has the Prime Minister announced?
Could this be the most extreme school run in the world? The rapidly flowing waters of Nepal’s Trishuli River might be well known to (1) adventure sports enthusiasts, but these residents of the Benighat district take their lives in their hands often several times a day using hand-operated cable crossings to reach the other side.
(2) There are almost a dozen of these crossing in the area and many more throughout Nepal, which villagers use to reach shops, visit relatives and friends, or simply to go to school.
(3) There are few permanent bridges on the river and they are many miles apart, forcing the locals to use these more direct if less safe routes.
In recent years, accidents have increased demand for foot bridges to be built in the area. (4) In 2010, 5 people died falling into the water when a cable snapped, and many others have suffered injuries, including losing fingers.
Recently, Nepal’s Prime Minister K.P. Oli announced a plan to (5) replace the cable crossings with 366 suspension bridges over the next 2 years, and in January 2016 the first of these bridges connecting the villages of Manthali and Gimdi over the Baghmati River was opened.
As the rest of the bridges are built, it could mean the end for the cable crossings. But for now, they remain the only direct route for thousands of people living in remote areas.
Mostrando entradas con la etiqueta Risk. Mostrar todas las entradas
Mostrando entradas con la etiqueta Risk. Mostrar todas las entradas
jueves, 17 de marzo de 2016
miércoles, 9 de diciembre de 2015
Talking point: Risk
This week's talking point is risk. Before getting together with the members of your conversation group, go over the questions below so that ideas flow more easily when you meet up with your friends and you can work out vocabulary problems beforehand.
What different types of risks do you think people in each of these professions take?
Which do you think are the most/least risky?
What risks, if any, do you take regularly?
What makes you stressed?
How good are you at coping with stress?
What strategies do you use to deal with stress?
When was the last time you dared to take a chance and do something new?
Were you afraid of failure?
How important is security to you?
Do children today have less freedom than in the past?
Are they exposed to less danger?
Have a look at the situations below and try to agree on the two which are the most risky/stressful and the two which are the least risky/stressful.
To illustrate the point you can watch the New York Times video on Brent Weingard, who has battled dirt and grime high above New York City for as far as he can remember.
You know, I get up in the morning sometimes, and I get out there on the ledge. I just have to say, God! I love the smell of ammonia in the morning.
We are window cleaners. You know, some people will refer to us as window washers and I know they are either not that knowledgeable of this business or they are trying to put us down.
I’ve been working for thirty-five years, primarily here in New York City. I think heights… we never want to take our equipment for granted or our ability to work safely at great heights, so a certain amount of respect for the height and fear can… is healthy.
We take advantage of this door frame, and it’s a very, very good anchor. So if I were to lose my balance, free fall, one foot, this would certainly stop me, out of luck.
In pre-war buildings and buildings that have been properly renovated they have anchors outside of the windows that we can clip on with our window cleaning belt. First time I used the window cleaning belt I remember going out and just hugging the window as much as I would not lean back on that and trust those anchors enough.
For washing, the universal solvent is water. Added to the water we prefer mostly ammonia and just a squirt of Joy for lubrication. I was visiting my grandmother and I was about ready to clean her windows and she said ‘before you put anything in the water I’ve got the best thing for you’ and she pulled out a bottle of Joy dishwashing liquid and I said, ‘grandmother, that’s what the professionals in New York use’ and she says, ‘that’s right, it’s the best stuff’.
I can think of five occasions, were things we dropped, either a pole or squeegee and it is one of my biggest fears, our care not to drop equipment. We sometimes hold that equipment very tightly, tighter than necessary, kind of a dead grip.
I remember when one of my earliest realizations was my hands cramping at night, feeling very sore but I would say the more wear-and-tear for a window cleaner is in the knees. I’ll be ready for knee replacement.
When I was younger, guys, used to say to me or the super ‘you missed a spot’. I guess that’s the oldest joke in the window cleaning industry, but I always took them very seriously and I would always try to find that spot and fix it.
Voila! Looks good, eh?
Yeah!
Good.
What different types of risks do you think people in each of these professions take?
Which do you think are the most/least risky?
firefighter - actor - politician - stock trader - small business owener
How much of a risk taker are you?What risks, if any, do you take regularly?
What makes you stressed?
How good are you at coping with stress?
What strategies do you use to deal with stress?
When was the last time you dared to take a chance and do something new?
Were you afraid of failure?
How important is security to you?
Do children today have less freedom than in the past?
Are they exposed to less danger?
Have a look at the situations below and try to agree on the two which are the most risky/stressful and the two which are the least risky/stressful.
speak in front of a large audience
speak to a stranger
do a test at college
make a long journey on your own
manage with little money for a while
find a new place to live
take care of little children for a day
complain about bad service in a restaurant
To illustrate the point you can watch the New York Times video on Brent Weingard, who has battled dirt and grime high above New York City for as far as he can remember.
You know, I get up in the morning sometimes, and I get out there on the ledge. I just have to say, God! I love the smell of ammonia in the morning.
We are window cleaners. You know, some people will refer to us as window washers and I know they are either not that knowledgeable of this business or they are trying to put us down.
I’ve been working for thirty-five years, primarily here in New York City. I think heights… we never want to take our equipment for granted or our ability to work safely at great heights, so a certain amount of respect for the height and fear can… is healthy.
We take advantage of this door frame, and it’s a very, very good anchor. So if I were to lose my balance, free fall, one foot, this would certainly stop me, out of luck.
In pre-war buildings and buildings that have been properly renovated they have anchors outside of the windows that we can clip on with our window cleaning belt. First time I used the window cleaning belt I remember going out and just hugging the window as much as I would not lean back on that and trust those anchors enough.
For washing, the universal solvent is water. Added to the water we prefer mostly ammonia and just a squirt of Joy for lubrication. I was visiting my grandmother and I was about ready to clean her windows and she said ‘before you put anything in the water I’ve got the best thing for you’ and she pulled out a bottle of Joy dishwashing liquid and I said, ‘grandmother, that’s what the professionals in New York use’ and she says, ‘that’s right, it’s the best stuff’.
I can think of five occasions, were things we dropped, either a pole or squeegee and it is one of my biggest fears, our care not to drop equipment. We sometimes hold that equipment very tightly, tighter than necessary, kind of a dead grip.
I remember when one of my earliest realizations was my hands cramping at night, feeling very sore but I would say the more wear-and-tear for a window cleaner is in the knees. I’ll be ready for knee replacement.
When I was younger, guys, used to say to me or the super ‘you missed a spot’. I guess that’s the oldest joke in the window cleaning industry, but I always took them very seriously and I would always try to find that spot and fix it.
Voila! Looks good, eh?
Yeah!
Good.
viernes, 9 de octubre de 2015
Flying Low, Dodging Towers
Crop-duster pilots working around wind farms are encountering a new and proliferating danger camouflaged among the fields.
Self-study activity:
Watch this New York Times video and say whether the statements below are true or false. The activity is suitable for advanced students.
1 Ben Lucas used to be in the Air Force.
2 A quarter of US energy is produced in Iowa.
3 Crop duster pilots die every year when doing their job.
4 Met towers are used to predict the weather.
5 Met towers can be seen clearly from the sky.
6 Brian Shirts has already made up his mind to work as a crop duster all his life.
7 Companies are willing to share the location of the Met towers with the pilots.
How do you compare? Guess it´d be like going over that first hill on the rollercoaster, so your wheels are only sitting two or three feet off the corn. There’s been plenty of times going over a wire that is a little bit too low that you get corn in your brakes. It´s intimidating.
Ben Lucas became a crop duster pilot in 2007 after years of flying F-16 fighter jets overseas for the Iowa National Guard.
Crop dusters, yes, they are pilots, they are applicators first. We are paid to be good applicators, so the flying has to be second nature.
But in states like Iowa where giant wind farms produce over a quarter of the state´s energy, the highest in the nation, even the most seasoned pilots can lose track of hazards crowding the skies. Each year, across the country, a handful of crop duster pilots die by flying smack into power lines, trees, and towers, increasingly small towers used by wind energy companies.
So there’s big blades you got 80 foot blades spinning 100 miles an hour. Those that have a hazard obviously within themselves, the biggest hazard to us, is the Met towers.
A Met tower is a metereological tower used by an energy company to track wind in a particular zone and determine if it is a good site for a wind turbine. Five people, three (ag) pilots have died in collision with met towers since 2003.
They’re small, they can be put up in less than two hours, and there’s usually no warning that they are going to be put up, and when they put them up, they are 198 feet tall, two feet under an FA graduation for markings and lighting. They´re usually galvanised metal which if you´ve ever been up above the horizon and look down at one of these things, you´d never see it.
We’re coming up on it this one, it appears there is paint on the top. This is a completely marked one.
Brian Shirts is a flight instructor in central Illinois, both his dad and his grandfather have been crop dusters and he´s debating whether or not take on the family business.
It´s certainly concerning, you know, I grew up around this. There are a lot of issues in the last ten years that they have gotten so much more… all the wind towers, all the Met towers.
In May, the National Transportation Safety Board identified unmarked towers as a critical hazard to (ag) pilots and urged the Federal Aviation Administration for the second year to require registration and clear marking of all Met towers for safety.
To just give coordinates, we’re going to put a Met tower here, tink!, and that would be something that we could use, and we would probably check it every day, just like we check bees in organic farms.
Some wind energy companies now mark their Met towers and nearly a dozen states have passed laws to require better visibility. But a spokesman for the American Wind Energy Association told the New York Times that companies are reluctant to share the towers locations for fear of giving away competitive information about future wind farm sites.
The first time I saw one I was actually the field I was supposed to spray and just something caught the corner of my eye the sun was just right and I saw the wire coming down the side of it and, you know, you just can´t… you know, the son of a… At least I can see a giant wind turbine, you know, but hiding one of those things in the middle of a field is ridiculous, especially when they can be put up so quick with two guys in a four wheeler.
KEY:
1T 2F 3T 4F 5F 6F 7F
Self-study activity:
Watch this New York Times video and say whether the statements below are true or false. The activity is suitable for advanced students.
1 Ben Lucas used to be in the Air Force.
2 A quarter of US energy is produced in Iowa.
3 Crop duster pilots die every year when doing their job.
4 Met towers are used to predict the weather.
5 Met towers can be seen clearly from the sky.
6 Brian Shirts has already made up his mind to work as a crop duster all his life.
7 Companies are willing to share the location of the Met towers with the pilots.
How do you compare? Guess it´d be like going over that first hill on the rollercoaster, so your wheels are only sitting two or three feet off the corn. There’s been plenty of times going over a wire that is a little bit too low that you get corn in your brakes. It´s intimidating.
Ben Lucas became a crop duster pilot in 2007 after years of flying F-16 fighter jets overseas for the Iowa National Guard.
Crop dusters, yes, they are pilots, they are applicators first. We are paid to be good applicators, so the flying has to be second nature.
But in states like Iowa where giant wind farms produce over a quarter of the state´s energy, the highest in the nation, even the most seasoned pilots can lose track of hazards crowding the skies. Each year, across the country, a handful of crop duster pilots die by flying smack into power lines, trees, and towers, increasingly small towers used by wind energy companies.
So there’s big blades you got 80 foot blades spinning 100 miles an hour. Those that have a hazard obviously within themselves, the biggest hazard to us, is the Met towers.
A Met tower is a metereological tower used by an energy company to track wind in a particular zone and determine if it is a good site for a wind turbine. Five people, three (ag) pilots have died in collision with met towers since 2003.
They’re small, they can be put up in less than two hours, and there’s usually no warning that they are going to be put up, and when they put them up, they are 198 feet tall, two feet under an FA graduation for markings and lighting. They´re usually galvanised metal which if you´ve ever been up above the horizon and look down at one of these things, you´d never see it.
We’re coming up on it this one, it appears there is paint on the top. This is a completely marked one.
Brian Shirts is a flight instructor in central Illinois, both his dad and his grandfather have been crop dusters and he´s debating whether or not take on the family business.
It´s certainly concerning, you know, I grew up around this. There are a lot of issues in the last ten years that they have gotten so much more… all the wind towers, all the Met towers.
In May, the National Transportation Safety Board identified unmarked towers as a critical hazard to (ag) pilots and urged the Federal Aviation Administration for the second year to require registration and clear marking of all Met towers for safety.
To just give coordinates, we’re going to put a Met tower here, tink!, and that would be something that we could use, and we would probably check it every day, just like we check bees in organic farms.
Some wind energy companies now mark their Met towers and nearly a dozen states have passed laws to require better visibility. But a spokesman for the American Wind Energy Association told the New York Times that companies are reluctant to share the towers locations for fear of giving away competitive information about future wind farm sites.
The first time I saw one I was actually the field I was supposed to spray and just something caught the corner of my eye the sun was just right and I saw the wire coming down the side of it and, you know, you just can´t… you know, the son of a… At least I can see a giant wind turbine, you know, but hiding one of those things in the middle of a field is ridiculous, especially when they can be put up so quick with two guys in a four wheeler.
KEY:
1T 2F 3T 4F 5F 6F 7F
miércoles, 29 de julio de 2015
Talking point: Extreme sports and activities
This week's talking point is risk. Before getting together with the members of your conversation group, go over the questions below so that ideas flow more easily when you meet up with your friends and you can work out vocabulary problems beforehand.
Talk about a time when you had to pluck up courage to deal with a difficult situation.
What's the most dangerous thing you have ever done?
Have you ever done any of these extreme sports? What was it like? What were the dangers involved?
If not, would you like to? Say why.
Which risk would you never take?
Which of these jobs is the most dangerous, in your opinion? Give your reasons.
Nikon - WHY from Corey Rich on Vimeo.
Nikon Why
Dane Jackson, kayaker:
I think I learned how to kayak long before I’ve learned how to talk and walk, that’s for sure…
Rebecca Rush, mountain biker:
I’m not sure I agree with the quote that it’s all about the journey, because for me it’s all about the competitive aspect, I’m a racer and I love to win.
Alex Honnold, solo climber:
“I wouldn’t say that I try to prove something to people. Or that I’m trying to prove something to myself really… But I’m sure there’s a little bit of both.
Dane Jackson, kayaker:
When I was growing up and we lived in an R.V. and we were always parked by a river ‘cause we would just go, wherever my Dad wanted to kayak. I was born directly in the sport of kayaking.
Rebecca Rush, mountain biker:
I specialize in long distance mountain biking. What it means is that I ride my bike for a really long time and a 10 hour race would be a short race for me. A race or event where I get to sleep in my own bed that night is a sprint…”
Alex Honnold, solo climber:
Basically, soloing is just rock climbing without a rope, without protection. It’s basically the most distilled type of climbing. I think the beauty of soloing is so simple, you just go by yourself, put your shoes in your track bag and you climb it.
Dane Jackson, kayaker:
In my world the only constant thing is that there is no constant. When I’m at a rapid or water fall I may pick my line but it’s never the same, it’s always changing.
Rebecca Rush, mountain biker:
I grew up with suffering skill, my nickname is ‘The queen of pain’. I cannot put my head down, turn the voices inside my head off. It takes hours and days, it kind of strip away all the exterior that kind of find out who you are.
Alex Honnold, solo climber:
Yeah, there’s no real ritual, seriously for someone, I just put on my shoes, I chalk up and I rock climb.
Rebecca Rush, mountain biker:
For me, the definition of ‘the zone’ is when you don’t feel the burning of your legs, you don’t hear your heart race, you’re basically just on autopilot, and everything seems easy.
Alex Honnold, solo climber:
When all of the movement just feels so crisp and precise and perfect. You don’t feel pain in your fingers as much you could really like torque super hard. I mean, you just feel stronger a lot of time.
Dane Jackson, kayaker:
Whenever I’m coming up the lip of a big waterfall, everything else just goes blank and I just focus on what I need to do.
Alex Honnold, solo climber:
It’s a big question ask why I solo. Then part of it is the challenge like the fact that it’s hard, the fact that it demands a lot from you. And part of it it’s just the simplicity of soloing is really appealing too, it’s just you, and the route, and climbing. I don’t think there are that many things in life that require the 100% focus that you get out of soloing. You know, it’s kind of like the most pure form of climbing.
Dane Jackson, kayaker:
One of the main reasons that I kayak is just the awe of finding new beautiful places. It’s a feeling of being somewhere new nobody else has ever been or you’ve never been, and just the beauty of what’s happening around you. I kayak because it allows me to do what I want to do. I’m always afraid at some point, without the fear it wouldn’t be the same. Overcoming the fear is what really makes kayaking amazing.
Rebecca Rush, mountain biker:
If people ask me why I do this over and over again, the best thing I come up is because I have to, I don’t know how to live my life any other way. I do this because I love it and I’m inspired by the places that I go, I feel it’s the need to explore and to be somewhere new, see what’s around the next corner.
Alex Honnold, solo climber:
Yeah, I guess every once in a while you have those moments when you say it’s really magical, this is awesome, you know.
Dane Jackson, kayaker:
Without kayaking, I don’t know where my life would be, definitely it wouldn’t be the same, it just drives my life.
Rebecca Rush, mountain biker:
Tapping in on who I am as a person is something I need to do on a regular basis because you never really get to that place on a normal life, and that’s the point when it’s perfect, it’s nirvana.
Talk about a time when you had to pluck up courage to deal with a difficult situation.
What's the most dangerous thing you have ever done?
Have you ever done any of these extreme sports? What was it like? What were the dangers involved?
If not, would you like to? Say why.
bungee jumping
scuba diving
skydiving
highwire walking
mountaineering with ropes
base jumping
whitewater rafting
Some people are addicted to taking risks: why do you think this happens?Which risk would you never take?
Which of these jobs is the most dangerous, in your opinion? Give your reasons.
firefighter - bomb disposal expert - high-level window cleaner - war journalist - aid volunteer - police officer
You work for a company that has decided to organise a weekend away to develop team-building skills among the staff. Discuss with your partner(s) the risks involved in the activities below, say which ones most/least appeal to you and choose one to do all together:
volcano walking
gorilla watching
show jumping
caving
parkour
kite surfing
To illustrate the point you can watch The Nikon short film Why. It is most a very difficult clip to understand, but the sheer beauty of the film is something worth watching, and whatever Dane Jackson, Rebecca Rush and Alex Honnold say about kayaking, mountain-biking and solo climbing is secondary, although I have included the transcript.
Nikon - WHY from Corey Rich on Vimeo.
Nikon Why
Dane Jackson, kayaker:
I think I learned how to kayak long before I’ve learned how to talk and walk, that’s for sure…
Rebecca Rush, mountain biker:
I’m not sure I agree with the quote that it’s all about the journey, because for me it’s all about the competitive aspect, I’m a racer and I love to win.
Alex Honnold, solo climber:
“I wouldn’t say that I try to prove something to people. Or that I’m trying to prove something to myself really… But I’m sure there’s a little bit of both.
Dane Jackson, kayaker:
When I was growing up and we lived in an R.V. and we were always parked by a river ‘cause we would just go, wherever my Dad wanted to kayak. I was born directly in the sport of kayaking.
Rebecca Rush, mountain biker:
I specialize in long distance mountain biking. What it means is that I ride my bike for a really long time and a 10 hour race would be a short race for me. A race or event where I get to sleep in my own bed that night is a sprint…”
Alex Honnold, solo climber:
Basically, soloing is just rock climbing without a rope, without protection. It’s basically the most distilled type of climbing. I think the beauty of soloing is so simple, you just go by yourself, put your shoes in your track bag and you climb it.
Dane Jackson, kayaker:
In my world the only constant thing is that there is no constant. When I’m at a rapid or water fall I may pick my line but it’s never the same, it’s always changing.
Rebecca Rush, mountain biker:
I grew up with suffering skill, my nickname is ‘The queen of pain’. I cannot put my head down, turn the voices inside my head off. It takes hours and days, it kind of strip away all the exterior that kind of find out who you are.
Alex Honnold, solo climber:
Yeah, there’s no real ritual, seriously for someone, I just put on my shoes, I chalk up and I rock climb.
Rebecca Rush, mountain biker:
For me, the definition of ‘the zone’ is when you don’t feel the burning of your legs, you don’t hear your heart race, you’re basically just on autopilot, and everything seems easy.
Alex Honnold, solo climber:
When all of the movement just feels so crisp and precise and perfect. You don’t feel pain in your fingers as much you could really like torque super hard. I mean, you just feel stronger a lot of time.
Dane Jackson, kayaker:
Whenever I’m coming up the lip of a big waterfall, everything else just goes blank and I just focus on what I need to do.
Alex Honnold, solo climber:
It’s a big question ask why I solo. Then part of it is the challenge like the fact that it’s hard, the fact that it demands a lot from you. And part of it it’s just the simplicity of soloing is really appealing too, it’s just you, and the route, and climbing. I don’t think there are that many things in life that require the 100% focus that you get out of soloing. You know, it’s kind of like the most pure form of climbing.
Dane Jackson, kayaker:
One of the main reasons that I kayak is just the awe of finding new beautiful places. It’s a feeling of being somewhere new nobody else has ever been or you’ve never been, and just the beauty of what’s happening around you. I kayak because it allows me to do what I want to do. I’m always afraid at some point, without the fear it wouldn’t be the same. Overcoming the fear is what really makes kayaking amazing.
Rebecca Rush, mountain biker:
If people ask me why I do this over and over again, the best thing I come up is because I have to, I don’t know how to live my life any other way. I do this because I love it and I’m inspired by the places that I go, I feel it’s the need to explore and to be somewhere new, see what’s around the next corner.
Alex Honnold, solo climber:
Yeah, I guess every once in a while you have those moments when you say it’s really magical, this is awesome, you know.
Dane Jackson, kayaker:
Without kayaking, I don’t know where my life would be, definitely it wouldn’t be the same, it just drives my life.
Rebecca Rush, mountain biker:
Tapping in on who I am as a person is something I need to do on a regular basis because you never really get to that place on a normal life, and that’s the point when it’s perfect, it’s nirvana.
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