Textos pequenos e fáceis em inglês para interpretação

Exercise to practice pre-intermediate READING COMPREHENSION

Ayrton Senna: 1960-1994 - Race car driver 

Brazilian race car driver Ayrton Senna was a famous professional race car driver and sportsman at the time of his death in a racing crash in 1994. After an outstanding career on the kart racing circuit. Senna was a three-time champion of the elite Formula One (F1) series. In his brief but spectacular career, Senna proved he was arguably "the most remarkable racing driver of all time," according to Alan Henry in Grand Prix Champions. 

Born Ayrton Senna da Silva on March 21,1960, in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Senna was an awkward child who was later diagnosed with a motor-coordination problem. Senna's father, Milton da Silva, was a successful businessman and landowner, but also was a motor racing fan, and encouraged his son's fascination with cars. 

When Senna was four, his father gave him a one- horsepower go-kart. When Senna got behind the wheel, his awkwardness disappeared - he was a natural. The entire family supported Senna's interest in motoring and spent weekends together at local parks where the young man could drive his kart. His parents used driving privileges as leverage to get Senna, a lackluster student, to pay better attention to his studies. Fortunately for Senna, his family was wealthy and could afford to finance his racing. 

At eight years old, Senna was driving the family car. European racing stars Jim Clark and Jackie Stewart were his heroes, as well as Emerson Fittipaldi, a Brazilian driver who was fast emerging as an extraordinary talent. Senna received a 100cc kart for his tenth birthday but had to practice on his own at the local kart track until he turned 13, the minimum age for racing karts in Brazil. Interest in European motor racing grew in Brazil when Fittipaldi won the Formula One World Championship in 1972, and the nation hosted its first Grand Prix at Interlagos the following year. 

SANCHEZ, Brenna. Contemporary Hispanic Biography, 2003. 

Available at: www.encyclopedia.com

1. Answer the questions.

a) Who was Ayrton Senna?

b) Where was he from?

c) Where was Ayrton Senna born?

d) Why was he famous?

e) What was his occupation?

f) Who were Senna's heroes?

g) Was he a brilliant student?

h) Did he have the support of his family in motoring?

2. Mark the quote by Ayrton Senna that is connected to the main idea of the text.

a) "Money is a strange business. People who haven't got it aim for it strongly. People who have are full of troubles." 

b) "Racing, competing, it's in my blood. It's part of me, it's part of my life; I have been doing it all my life and it stands out above everything else." 

Aprender inglês com o Diário de Um Banana 1 (intermediário) leitura, vocabulário e audição

Erros comuns em inglês com a palavra ABANDON

Since capital punishment was abandoned, the crime rate has increased. X

Since capital punishment was abolished, the crime rate has increased. ⇃

abandon = give up a plan, activity or attempt to do something, without being successful
Examples:
Bad weather forced them to abandon the search.
Without government support, the project will have to be abandoned.

abolish = remove a law, tradition or system, often by introducing a new law; do away with
Examples:
In which year was slavery abolished in the United States?
I'd hate to see the monarchy abolished.

It is difficult to reach abandoned places such as small country villages. X

It is difficult to reach remote places such as small country villages. ⇃

abandoned = left forever by the owners or occupiers
Examples:
The field was littered with abandoned cars.
Some of these old abandoned coal mines could be dangerous.

remote = far away and difficult to reach
Examples:
The tribe lives in a small remote mountain village.
We have now managed to bring famine relief to people in even the most remote areas.