An 82-year British tradition of voting on a Thursday could be broken under plans to create a common European Union voting day, as a step to cement a political union in Europe.

Recommendations from the European Commission propose that Europe has a common voting day for the 2014 elections to choose the next President of the Commission.

Currently in almost all European countries voting day is on a Sunday.

_________ 1931 the British people have always voted on a Thursday. A change to the voting date could cause a decrease in the number of voters in Britain.

(Adapted from www.telegraph.co.uk)

In “...as a step to cement a political union...”, the underlined word is closest in meaning to

Charles Lindbergh’s achievement

On 20th May 1927 a small fixed-wing singleengined aeroplane loaded with its maximum capacity of fuel (450 gallons) struggled to get airborne as it bounced down the runway at Roosevelt Field, New York. To avoid extra weight, the parachute, the radio and even the brakes had been removed by themechanic. At last it lifted off, just avoiding some telephone wires, and disappeared into the distance.

Thirty hours later a hundred thousand Parisians lined up at the Le Bourget Airport to wait for the arrival of the plane. It was 10 o’clock at night. Burning lanterns marked out the runway. Then came the low-pitched sound of an engine and a wave of excitement swept through the crowd. The Spirit of St. Louis touched down and rolled to the end of the runway. Out of the plane stepped a tall handsome American – Charles Lindbergh. He’d just become the first person to fly solo across the Atlantic, and he was destined to become one of the most famous men in the world.

GLOSSARY
get airborne – decolar
bounced – “deu um solavanco”
lined up – enfileiraram-se

In, “He’d just become the first person ...”,the underlined letter is a contracted form of:

Thick smog in China forced airlines to cancel flights, as heavy-polluting factories in Beijing were temporarily shut down to ease the pollution.

Street lamps and outlines of buildings were barely visible in the Chinese capital, as pedestrians donned face masks to guard against the smoke. The government advised residents to stay indoors as much as possible because the pollution was “severe”.

The flight cancellations prevented the passengers from flying during the first week of the country’s busiest period of travel, due to the Chinese New Year on February 10. Many passengers were left waiting at the airport, as information was scarce.

GLOSSARY

smog – neblina misturada com poluição, nevoeiro com fumaça

The last paragraph reveals that