A passenger traveling from Bali, Indonesia to Australia, paid a hefty price for a McDonald's breakfast. The unnamed traveler was handed a fine of 2,664 Australian dollars ($1,874) after two undeclared egg and beef sausage McMuffins and a ham croissant were found in their luggage on arriving at Darwin Airport in the country's Northern Territory. The incident happened days after Australian authorities brought in tough new biosecurity rules following a Foot and Mouth disease (FMD) outbreak in Indonesia that spread to Bali, a popular destination for Australian tourists.
hefty/colossal, considérable (somme) - unnamed/anonyme - to hand/remettre - fine/amende - luggage/bagages - to bring, brought, brought in/introduire - tough/sévère, strict - rule/réglementation, loi - foot and mouth disease/fièvre aphteuse - outbreak/début (d'épidémie), apparition - to spread, spread, spread/se propager
To celebrate the 20-year anniversary of the "Scooby-Doo" live-action film, Warner Bros. and Airbnb offered an overnight stay in the Mystery Machine. Actor Matthew Lillard, who played Shaggy in the movie, hosted guests in the iconic van, which was parked on the Malibu coast in southern California for three one-night stays on June 24, 25 and 26. The stay, offered at just $20 per night, sold out fast. All three nights were book within minutes. Inside the van, the lucky guests found a lava lamp, mystery games, Scooby Snacks and even a retro TV to re-watch the movie.
live-action/en prise de vue réelle - overnight/d'une nuit - stay/séjour - Shaggy/Sammy - to host/accueillir, recevoir - guest/invité - iconic/célèbre - to sell, sold, sold out/se vendre en totalité, être complet - to book/réserver - lava lamp/lampe magma - mystery game/jeu d'énigmes - snack/friandise, en-cas
Part of a skull was found by two kayakers on a Minnesota river depleted by drought last September. Thinking it might be related to a missing person case or murder, Renville County Sheriff, Scott Hable, shared the skull with a medical examiner and eventually with the FBI. A forensic anthropologist used carbon dating to determine it was likely the skull of a young man who lived in that area between 5500 and 6000 BC. After the sheriff posted about the discovery on May 18, his office was criticised by Native Americans, who said publishing photos of ancestral remains was offensive to their culture. Hable said the remains will be turned over to Upper Sioux Community tribal officials.
skull/crâne - to deplete/épuiser - drought/sécheresse - case/affaire - medical examiner/ médecin légiste - eventually/finalement, par la suite - forensic/médico-légal - carbon dating/datation au carbone 14 - likely/vraisemblablement - remains/restes, ossements - offensive/offensant, blessant, choquant - to turn over to/restituer à - official/responsable, représentant
Paintings and other works of art, which were discovered in an abandoned barn in Connecticut, have turned out to be worth millions of dollars. Notified by a contractor, Jared Whipple, a mechanic from Waterbury, retrieved the dirt-covered pieces from a dumpster which contained materials from a barn in Watertown. Whipple later found out the works were by Francis Hines, an abstract expressionist, who died in 2016 at the age of 96, and who had stored his work in the barn. He was renowned for his “wrapping” pieces, in which fabric is wrapped around an object.
barn/grange - to turn out to be/s'avérer, se révéler (être) - to be worth/valoir - contractor/entrepreneur - mechanic/mécanicien - to retrieve/récupérer - dirt/saleté - dumpster/benne à ordures - to find, found, found out/découvrir, apprendre - to store/conserver - renowned/célèbre - wrapping/emballage - fabric/tissu
A newly discovered fossilised vampire squid has been named after US President, Joe Biden. The Syllipsimopodi bideni, which has been described as an “incredibly rare” fossil, was first dug up in Montana and donated to the Royal Ontario Museum in Canada in 1988. But it sat untouched in a drawer for decades until a scientist pulled it out for a closer look. The fossil’s first name translates roughly to “prehensile foot”, since it has 10 arms and is the oldest known cephalopod to have suckers on each of its arms. Their decision to name the squid after Biden came as they were “encouraged by his plans to address climate change and fund scientific research”.
newly/récemment - squid/calamar (céphalopode) - to be named after/porter le nom de, être baptisé en l'honneur de - to dig, dug, dug up/ici, ressortir - drawer/tiroir - to pull out/ressortir - roughly/approximativement - prehensile/préhensile (qui est capable de saisir) - sucker/ventouse - to address/s'attaquer à, tenter de trouver une solution à - to fund/financer
Award-winning tourist attraction and iconic monument in Northern Ireland, Titanic Belfast celebrates its 10th anniversary since opening in 2012. The museum is comprised of six floors of interactive galleries in the place where the actual Titanic was built and launched. Visitors follow the story of the legendary ship from its design, construction, to its ill-fated end.
award-winning/primé - iconic/emblématique, célèbre - floor/étage - to launch/lancer; ici, envoyer en mer - ship/navire - design/conception - ill-fated/funeste, malheureux
After many famous productions, such as Fish Tank and American Honey, Andrea Arnold's first documentary, Cow, earned rave reviews from the critics. Its subject matter is rather unusual as the film follows a family of cows. Luma, the mother, has her two daughters taken away from her while they are still calves. By encouraging this emotional connection with the characters, Arnold is criticising the current practices of the meat and dairy industry. An original way to make her point which been a big hit with viewers.
Melania Trump has announced that she is launching her own NFT platform after premiering her first offering: a painting of herself. “I am proud to announce my new NFT endeavor, which embodies my passion for the arts and will support my ongoing commitment to children through my Be Best initiative”. An undisclosed portion of the proceeds from the sale will go to educating children ageing out of foster care in computer science skills. Her first NFT offering, titled Melania’s Vision (2021), is a watercolor of the former First Lady’s eyes by French artist Marc-Antoine Coulon, who stated he was happy to collaborate with the charitable operation.
to launch/lancer - NFT = non-fungible token/jeton non fongible - to premiere/projeter en avant-première - offering/ici, œuvre - endeavor/entreprise - to embody/incarner - ongoing/continu - commitment/engagement - undisclosed/non divulgué, tenu secret - proceeds/recettes - to age out of/devenir trop âgé pour - foster care/famille d'accueil - computer science/informatique - watercolor/aquarelle
Astronauts at the International Space Station recently had, what they called “the best space tacos yet”. Astronauts usually eat packaged food. But recent experiments onboard the station allowed them to start growing their own vegetables: last year, it led to the first space-grown lettuce. Chillies, which are a more difficult crop have started sprouting in the station’s garden, thus providing a delicious addition to the tacos. This is proof that more complex vegetables can be grown outside of the earth’s atmosphere, which may help secure food supplies for future longer trips – to Mars, for example, as reaching the planet could last up to 3 years!
yet/à ce jour - packaged food/produits alimentaires emballés - to allow/permettre - to grow, grew, grown/faire pousser, cultiver - vegetable/légume - to lead, led, led to/conduire, aboutir à - chilli/piment - crop/culture - to sprout/germer - to provide/fournir - to secure/obtenir, (s') assurer - food supplies/vivres - trip/voyage
How can Californian wildfires be prevented from being so devastating in the future? As fire season ends, the state has had an incongruous idea to improve the situation: using goats. Letting the animals graze in the wild could indeed help with preventing fires from spreading in certain areas. A particular grazing method, developed by goat herders, curtails the area where goats are grazing, and makes it more fire-proof than normal. Goats can graze higher than other animals, preventing fires from spreading, and their manure also helps, as it enriches the soil thereby providing better water retention.
wildfire/incendie (dévastateur), feu de forêt - to prevent/empêcher - to improve/améliorer - goat/chèvre - to graze/paître, brouter - wild/nature (sauvage) - to spread, spread, spread/se répandre, se propager - herder/gardien de troupeau - to curtail/réduire, limiter - fire-proof/à l'épreuve du feu - manure/fumier - thereby/ainsi, ce faisant - to provide/offrir
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