Reading in English IV.

Name________________________________

What works against the virus?

https://www.cgtn.com/opinions
Script: Zou Yue

1. Sober up, Covid-19 respects no national borders, no social bounds, no political systems and no cultural
values. It hits us just as hard. It levels the world.

2. Facing the pandemic, it is not what happened matters, it is how we respond.

3. For almost a month, it infected thousands in Wuhan in a day, and every hospital bed was occupied. Now
empty beds and closed wards in the city. How did China make it?

4. It is nothing new, but it is worthy to know.

5. According to an initial WHO report, an infected person appears to spread it to an average of 2.6 people.
After 10 generations of transmission, with each taking five or six days, that one initial case has spawned
3,500 in matter of days. And that is what the world is seeing.

6. What China did is to break the cycle by human intervention, the scale unprecedented in history.
"Extreme", "draconian" and "aggressive", these are the words used to describe China's response. Now
people have come to terms with the new norm: lockdown.

7. Some people say, isn't that a violation of individual rights? Actually, the balance between individual rights
and public safety is always an ever-changing equation. After 9/11, all the airports in the world began to
impose draconian safety checks on passengers and people accepted it because we traded a little of our
freedom for the greater good of the public.

8. China imposed the largest and most draconian quarantine in history. Factories shut, public transport
stopped, and people stayed indoors. By doing that, it flattened the curve, on one hand China avoided many
millions of cases and tens of thousands of deaths. On the other, it stretched out the time and make the
hospitals restaffed and less strained. This is exactly what Europe and America should know.

9. But public policy needs both ends to agree, the decision makers and the decision takers. Quarantine is
indeed extreme and extremely restrictive. It needs the people in lockdown to be honest and cooperative. I
think what the people of Wuhan did was exceptional. They had the courage, tenacity and resilience to stay
housebound for days, weeks and months. Most viewed the quarantine as a civic duty. And that is why it
worked.
10. Public health methods are universal. They either work or they don't. We are all human beings. Our
epidemiology is the same, but we have different economies, demographics and sociologies. Facing a global
pandemic, every nation needs a new contract signed between its politicians, businesses and the public.

11. Desperate times ask desperate measures. This is a desperate time. And we should not put politics ahead
of public health, now more than ever.  The new coronavirus has been claimed by ideologues. Donald Trump
said it justified tighter border control, Bernie Sanders linked it to free healthcare. In Britain, the health
officials prefer a soft-handed approach while in Singapore every infection case is followed and dealt with. Bit
by bit, every country is testing its methods through trial and error. Some paid a high price, and some set a
high bar.

12. We should all move ahead with humility, there is no decision without trade-offs, and most of all: there is
nothing without skin in the game. And now the whole world has learnt or is learning to play.

WORKSHOP

I. A Write in Spanish the central idea of the text.

La idea central del texto es el coronavirus y los desafíos que plantea esta situación que requiere mucho
compromiso de nuestra parte.

I.B. Choose and write the 10 most important key words of the text.

Covid 19 Quarantine
Wuhan Restrictions
Management Control
Resilience Politics
Health Humanity

I. C. To what or to whom do the following words or phrases refer to?

Reference It refers to
Example: it infected (3) Covid 19

make it ? (3) China and how they were able to manage the virus so well
spread it (line 5) Covid 19
isn't that a violation… ( 7) The draconian and extreme China’s response against the virus
accepted It (7) To the draconian safety checks after the 9/11
They (9) People of Wuhan
II. Vocabulary

Choose the adequate meaning of the following words from the text. Take the context into account.
matters (2) a. materials. b. signifies. c. unimportant. d. troubles.

worthy (4) a. immoral. b. decent. c. honest. d. excellent.

stretched out (8) a. prolonged. b. eliminate. c. retain. d. reduce.

claimed (11) a. abandoned. b. answered. c. requested. d. rejected.

III. True/False . Choose T or F (false) to the following statements from the text.
One person represents just a minimum risk to expand the virus. T ___ F __x_
China began to stop the infection by cutting off social closeness. T __x_ F ___
Individual comforts and community welfare have the same worth. T ___ F _x__
People from Wuhan showed a remarkable behavior. T _x__ F ___
Trump and Sanders share the same point of view about the infection. T ___ F _x__

IV. Written Production

Write five sentences with the following expressions that appear on the text. Contextualize the
sentences with your current events of situations of your life or studies .
Come to terms

I had a problem with my monograph partner but we talk a we were able to came to terms.

A soft-handed approach

I’m not a person that use the soft-handed approach so often.

set a high bar.

I don't like when people use the expression "set a high bar"

Trade-offs.

There are not good relationships without trade-offs

Skin in the game.

I like people that put the skin in the game

V. Pronunciation
REGULAR VERB RULES
There are three different ways to pronounce the 'ed' ending of regular verbs in the simple past tense:
/t/, /d/, /id/ . It depends on the sound at the end of the verb and if it is voiced or voiceless. A voiced
sound makes vibrate your throat; a voiceless sound does not.
Rule:
/t/ when the final sound is voiceless: f, gh, k, p, s, x, ch, sh.
/d/ when the final sound is voiced: b, g, j, L, m, n, r, v, z and vowel sounds.
/id/ when the final sound is t or d.
Instructions: Listen the following regular verbs in the past that appear on the video and choose the
adequate ending pronunciation.

Word /T/ Pronunciation /d/ Pronunciation / Id/ Pronunciation

happened
x
infected X
occupied X
closed X
spawned X
unprecedented x
accepted x
imposed x
stopped x
stayed x
flattened x
avoided x
stretched x
re-staffed x
strained x
viewed x
worked x
claimed x
justified x
soft-handed x
followed x