A Bunch of Butterflies

Priests don’t like confetti, it makes a mess. The bride and groom rarely like rice, because it hurts. So the latest thing at weddings, at least in America, is butterflies.

What could be nicer than having a bunch of butterflies released into the air around the marriage couple? Companies are now springing up in the US to meet the new demand, but animal rights groups are concerned. How are the butterflies caught, how are they transported to the wedding and what happens to them afterwards? The wedding party thinks the butterflies fly away, but often the insect cannot survive in their new environment and die.

GLOSSARY:

spring up – surgir

In “ What could be nicer than having a bunch of butterflies ...”, the underlined words give the idea of

He had felt terrible for three days, so Bob finally called his doctor’s office.

“The doctor can see you in three weeks”, he was told. An outraged Bob bellowed, “Three weeks? The doctor can’t see me for three weeks? I could be dead by then!”

Calmly the voice at the other end of the line replied, “If so, be sure to have someone call to cancel the appointment.”

GLOSSARY:

outraged – ofendido, injuriado

bellow – gritar, berrar

Airport Delays on the Rise

a news story by CNN

Have you ever had travel problems because your airplane was late? It is a common problem and it is getting worse. Airport delays make people angry and cost the country billions in lost work time.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA ) is the government agency that oversees air travel. They studied the problem of airline delays.

They found eleven major problems and proposed eleven ways to fix them. Some of the problems are caused because different regions of the country do things differently. The regions don’t talk to each other enough. Some of them need new computers.

Also, too many planes are flying. A strong economy has more people using airplanes to get around. Airplanes are a form of mass of transportation now, like trains and buses were in the past. More planes in the airport cause delays.

Weather is another main reason for delays. Weather causes about 70% of delays. Fog or freezing rain can cause delays.

The first thing FAA wants to do is take control away from the regions during heavy traffic times and bad weather. A national center would make decisions on thing that affect the whole country. The FAA also wants to put more distance between planes in the sky when the weather is bad. This rule could cause even more delays.

The FAA works continuously to make sure that as many flights as possible leave on time each day. They know that their solutions will not cure the problems with airport delays. But they hope to make things better.