The space station travels at a height of 350 km above the earth’s surface. Space shuttles take the astronauts to and from the space station.

The space station is very big and comfortable, about the size of one and a half jumbo jets. It has been built piece by piece by Russians, Europeans and Americans.

Life on the ISS is much different than on earth. In orbit astronauts are weightless because they are falling at the same speed as the spacecraft.

In weightlessness things that appear simple on earth are, in fact, not so easy.  Washing takes time and you must be careful of any droplets that float around. Going to the toilet must also be learned. They are like the ones used in passenger airplanes where the waste is sucked down.

Six people always inhabit the space station. New visitors have to get used to moving around the modules without crashing into anything. Each member of the crew has a cabin where they can spend the night in sleeping bags that are upright. In the morning they are woken up by their favourite music or by NASA’s PA system.

Weightlessness also has an effect on the body and the appearance of astronauts. Whereas body fluids tend to move downward on earth because of gravity, they move upwards in the space station, making faces look wider. They take out the wrinkles and make residents look younger.

Bones and muscles become weaker too. Astronauts lose about 2% of their bone mass every month. They have to stay fit by exercising every day.

The space station makes 16 orbits around the earth very day. Space station inhabitants see sights that they would never be able to observe on earth. The sun is so bright that they must wear sunglasses. When the sun is gone they plunge into complete darkness.

The space station will be in orbit at least for five more years, but probably until the year 2020. After the space shuttle retires the Russians will have the task of bringing astronauts to and from the ISS.

Astronauts having a meal on the International Space Station

Words

• appearance = how something or someone looks
• bone mass = the amount of bone material
• component = part
• crew = the people who work on board the ISS
• decade = a period of ten years
• droplet = small drops
• effect = result
• exercise = do training, work outs
• float = move around without going down
• fluid = liquid, watery material
• gravity = the force or power that pulls us down to earth
• height =altitude, how high above an object something is
• in fact = in reality
• inhabit = live in
• jumbo jet = a large Boeing 747 with hundreds of passengers
• orbit = to go around in a circle
• PA system = public announcement system ;  when a voice can be heard by many people
• piece by piece = one piece at a time
• plunge = suddenly move or fall
• resident = a person who lives in a place
• retire = to stop working
• scientist = a person who is trained in science and works in a laboratory
• speed = how fast something is
• suck = pull
• surface = the top layer
• task = job
• upright = standing or sitting up
• waste = unwanted materials, that leave our body
• weightless = something has no weight and floats in air or water
• wrinkle = lines in your face and skin when  you get older

For many years Ireland’s economy has been growing. One of the reasons for such amazing growth was the real estate market. However, in the last 2 years prices for land, houses and flats have been sinking constantly. Banks are in trouble because they have lent people too much money. Because most of the country’s banks belong to the state, the Irish government must give them money to save them.

The country faces another big problem: not enough tax income.  The economy has slowed down; many people are out of work and consumers do not buy as much as they did years ago.

The Irish government says that it has no money problems and that it does not need extra money at the moment. Financial experts say that Ireland may need another 80 billion Euros to stabilize its finances.

The European Union has offered Ireland financial help but the Irish do not want to accept it. They are proud of their country. Taking money from others would mean that they would become dependent on the European Union. The EU, however, fears that if Ireland does not get help it would weaken the Euro and European economy.

Ireland fears that it must cut government spending radically. Currently, the yearly budget deficit is 12%. Irish officials have promised to cut it down to 3% in the next 4 years. Because of this economy growth will slow down.

Other countries have similar problems. Spain and Portugal may be the next in line to beg for EU money. In the summer the European Union gave Greece billions of Euros to save its banks and finances.

Protesters in Dublin

Words

• accept = take
• amazing = surprising
• billion = a thousand million
• budget deficit = the government spends more than it has
• constantly = always, the whole time
• consumer = a person who buys things in a shop
• currently = right now, at the moment
• cut = reduce
• dependent = here: they would need the EU
• economy = the system of buying and selling goods in a country; and the banks and money system that a country has.
• flat = apartment
• however = but
• in line = waiting for
• lend – lent = to give someone money that they should pay back later on
• official = a person who is in a high position in an organization
• radically = very much
• real estate = property in the form of land or houses
• similar = almost the same
• stabilize = calm down , to make unchanging
• state = government
• tax income = the money everyone in a country has to pay to the government for their income, services and the goods they buy

The first so-called capsule hotel opened a short distance from Times Square, in the middle of Manhattan.  A 12 square meter room offers all the comfort of a suite and is priced at about a hundred dollars a night. This is considered a bargain if you take a look at other hotels in downtown New York.

The idea of capsule hotels comes from Japan, where the first such hotel opened in 1979. Although rooms are much smaller than in New York they offer people a night’s sleep or a place to stay at the last minute.

The first Yotel was opened at London’s Gatwick airport in 2007. It became an immediate success. The company’s bosses thought that opening such a low-price hotel in the middle of Manhattan would be a win-win situation. Normal prices for a hotel room that offers the same luxury as Yotel’s begin at about $400.

The Yotel tower in New York has 669 rooms. Even though they are quite small visitors never get that feeling, partly because the rooms offer large windows. The bed is automatically pulled back to stand against the wall during the daytime. The hotel offers other luxuries too: a movie theatre, Wi-Fi connections, futuristic lounges and the largest roof bar of New York.

Whether or not Yotel will change the hotel industry is hard to say. But the largest hotel to be built in Manhattan since 2002 will definitely be a gain for New York’s tourist industry.

Words

• although = while
• bargain = something that is cheaper than the normal price
• capsule = something very small
• comfort = things that make your life easier
• considered = thought to be
• definitely = absolutely, surely
• distance = space from one location to another
• futuristic = modern and with a new design
• gain = positive aspect, advantage
• hotel chain = group of hotels in different places that look the same
• immediate = at once
• lounge = a public room or waiting room at an airport or in a hotel
• luxurious = very expensive and beautiful
• luxury = comfort
• offer = give
• pack = put, place
• radically = completely, totally
• success = when you get or you achieve what you have wanted to
• Wi-Fi connection = Internet connections via wireless LAN
• win-win situation = a situation in which everyone profits

Those interested can choose either a nine or twenty-one day program, which shows tourists how to pray five times a day, sing Islamic songs, fast and other rituals and traditions. They also get lessons on the history of Islam. The Turks themselves and the media are in favor of the project and have given it widespread support.

The main aim of the organizers is to help people understand the way Muslims live.  They also want to show that Muslims are not automatically terrorists, as many Westerners may think. Bringing together Islam, the second largest religion in the world, and other religions is the foundation for living side by side in peace.  Spokesmen of the organization say that Turkey is the best country to organize such a course. A program like this one may not work everywhere. The Blood Foundation already staged a similar program called Monk for a Month, in which they let people experience the life of a Thai monk.

The price tag for participants is not exactly low. The shorter nine day course offers accommodation, religious instruction and sightseeing in Istanbul for about $1,000.

The first program that took place in February attracted mostly Catholics, but there were some Jews and even a Hindu present. It was a great success among the participants although nobody converted.

Words

• accommodation = a place to sleep and eat
• aim = what someone really wants
• allow = let
• attract = get the attention of
• belief = idea, principle
• convert = to change to another religion
• experience = practice, understand, take part in
• fast = to eat little or no food for a certain time
• foundation = basis
• in favor of = to be for something
• media = television, radio, newspapers, Internet and other organizations that give people information
• non-governmental = something that is not run by the government
• offer = give
• operate =work
• participant =a person who takes part in something
• price tag = what something costs
• ritual = ceremony, tradition
• spokesman = a person who has been chosen to speak for a company or organization
• stage = organize
• success = triumph; it worked very well
• support = approval, help
• widespread = a lot of

Up to now it was thought that Mediterranean sharks were related to sharks in the Atlantic Ocean. Now we know that they have the same features that can also be found in sharks around Australia and the South Sea. During the Ice Ages the climate all over the world changed dramatically. Ocean currents changed with it and probably led the fish into different areas. The sharks followed the warm currents that may have changed northward during this period.

Experts think the sharks might have come up the western coast of Africa and when the water started to get colder they turned east through the Strait of Gibraltar and into the warmer waters of the Mediterranean Sea.

Female sharks always return to the place where they leave their eggs. Even if only a fewfemale sharks got lost in the area it may have been enough to create a whole speciesthere.

Scientists think that many other migrations may have taken place during the Ice Ages, when changes in climate and ocean currents brought species to area where they now live.

Great White Shark

Words

• create = make; start something new
• current = a permanent movement of warm water in an ocean, river or lake
• feature = a part that is interesting special or typical of an animal
• female = about a woman
• it was thought = people thought that
• Mediterranean Sea = the sea between Europe and Africa
• migration = birds and animals travel regularly from one part of the world to another
• related = connected in some way
• researcher = a person who studies new facts in a special field
• species = group of animals or plants that are like each other
• Strait of Gibraltar =  place between Spain and Morocco where Africa and Europe are separated by only a few kilometers of water

Although it is not very populated many of the neighboring countries claim sea territory. Especially China lays claim to large parts of the sea. Chinese experts say that over 200 billion barrels of oil lie under the seafloor, the biggest oil reserves outside the Middle East.

In the past few years conflicts have been going on between China and Vietnam. Both countries want the area in which the biggest oil fields are thought to be.  The Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei also demand parts of the South China Sea.

China and Vietnam have been arguing for decades over who owns sea territory. In the 1970s China took control some of the islands in the region.  The conflict has heightened since the news of potential oil and gas findings came out. Some days ago Beijing claimed that Vietnamese fishing boats were illegally in their waters.

As China’s economy is booming the country needs more and more energy. Great reserves in their backyard would be more than welcome and make Asia’s largest economy less dependent on Middle East oil. On the other side, Vietnam and the Philippines may not be so interested in the oil and natural gas but in the South China Sea’s fishing grounds.

China insists that there is enough oil in the sea for everyone and points out that Malaysia, Brunei and the Philippines are already exporting oil.

The South China Sea is also one of the busiest shipping routes in the world.  It is becoming more and more crowded, so an armed conflict between the countries involved would be a disaster for economy.

The United States might be dragged into this dispute as well. The world’s number one superpower has close ties with the Philippines and is expected to strengthen their naval bases on the islands if asked to do so.

South China Sea

Words

• although = while
• argue = quarrel
• armed conflict = disagreement that leads to a war
• atoll = coral island that is shaped like a ring
• backyard = very near to your country
• barrel = a large curved container with a flat top and bottom; it is used to store beer, wine, oil etc..
• boom = when business and the economy increases very strongly
• border = the line that separates two countries or areas
• claim = to say that you have the right to have or possess land or other objects
• crowded = here: more and more ships travel in the region
• decade = a period of ten years
• demand = want
• dependent = to need something very much
• disaster = catastrophe
• dispute = argument, disagreement, quarrel
• drag into = to get involved
• especially = above all
• heighten = increase, worsen
• illegally = not allowed, against the law
• insist = to say that something is true
• lay claim = you think you have the right to own something
• naval base = place where navy men live and where ships are stationed
• point out = show
• potential = possible
• strengthen = to make stronger
• territory = area
• tie = connection, relationship
• uninhabited = without people living there

Although most of Mark Twain’s autobiography has been made public over the years a full book with the complete memoirs has not been published. This year, the first 750 pages have been released with two more volumes planned to be published in the coming years.

At first publishers thought there would not be much interest in the book. They only expected literature students and scholars to buy copies of the book, but, as it seems everyone is interested in the famous author. At first only 7,500 copies were planned. But the Autobiography of Mark Twain hit the bestseller lists and 275,000 copies have gone off the shelves.

The author of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn tells stories from his childhood, sometimes in a funny, sometimes in an angry way.  He also writes about politics and religion. Some of his views are very controversial. In one episode he attacks America’s leaders as imperialists because they took the Philippines as a colony.

Although it is a literary book, it is not too hard to read. It contains letters, diary entries and pictures. The book does not have a continuous plot. You can start reading it anywhere without having to be afraid of getting lost.

The new tribe lives in the Amazon rainforest near the border to neighboring Peru. Huts made of straw and fields of corn, nuts and bananas can be seen on the photograph. People are seen with their bodies painted red paint.

Brazil’s government thinks the tribe may have fled when rubber trees were planted in the Amazon basin many decades ago. Today they are endangered by illegal mining and by farmers in Peru who are illegally cutting down more and more trees on their side of the Amazon basin.  Officials are watching the tribe from the air, because, under Brazilian law, it is forbidden to make contact with them.

Environmentalist groups think that there are over one hundred uncontacted tribes that live in isolated areas around the world. Most of them are in the Amazon region.  They want the governments of Peru and Brazil to protect such tribes so that they can decide their own future.

The project, first revealed at the Paris Air Show,  will take some time to complete and experts at Airbus industries say that it could be 20 to 30 years before all the technical problems are solved. A number of European and Japanese airline experts are already working on the new plane.

The new airplane will be cleaner and environment-friendly. A combination of biofuel and rocket engines could boost the airliner to a height of over 30 km above the earth’s surface. Because of the thin atmosphere it could fly at four times the speed of sound.

Airbus hopes that the plane will appeal to business travelers who want to get from continent to continent in a hurry. Tickets for a two and a half hour Paris to Tokyo journey could range from 6,000 to 10,000 Euros.

Airbus Industries expects to get competition from Boeing. The American airline builder also has plans to build a new supersonic airplane in the not too distant future.

Airbus's model supersonic airplane

An average Russian consumes almost 20 liters of pure alcohol every year. As a consequence Russians need more health care, work less and live a shorter life. While life expectancy is 72 years for women, the average Russian man hardly reaches the age of 60.  There are about 2 million alcoholics in the country. One in eight Russians die of alcoholism or diseases that are alcohol-related. More and more children are starting to drink alcohol at an early age. Alcohol consumption in Russia is currently three times higher than it was when the Soviet Union collapsed.

Russian President Dmitri Medvedev has now announced a new campaign against alcoholism. The current Russian president wants to place a higher tax on alcohol and close illegal distilleries, which produce half of Russian vodka, the main alcoholic drink. The Russian leader must also deal with corrupt government officials who take money to let these distilleries keep working. A media campaign has also begun. It shows the long-term health effects of alcohol and how it can kill you. About 500 new health care centers will be set up by the end of the year.

This is not the first time the government has called a fight against alcoholism. In the 1980s Mikhail Gorbachev ordered vineyards to be destroyed. Stores were not allowed to sell alcohol before two in the afternoon. When people started drinking perfume instead Gorbachev also banned its sales. As a result about a million lives were saved in the two-year long campaign. But on the other side the state lost a lot of money.

Alcohol has been popular in Russia for many centuries.  It became part of the Russian culture and gave the Tsar a lot of money. By the 19th century a third of the government’s income came from selling alcohol.

What is the difference between alcoholism in Russia and in other western countries? Experts say that Russians consume more hard liquor than other countries. While many western countries people drink wine and beer, vodka is the most popular beverage in Russia. Studies show that this kind of alcohol does more damage to your health than beer and wine.

Whether Medvedev is successful or not remains to be seen. Experts say that a real solution to the drinking problem lies in a change of culture and that would take many generations.