--|> LEARNING ENGLISH FROM CARTOONS. <|--

Essas duas charges são ótimas para praticar inglês. Infelizmente, elas não são recomendadas para os níveis iniciais. A primeira faz menção as greves na Europa fazendo uso da estrutura IF + Past Simple. e a segunda foca no uso de uma expressão idiomática muito comum: “stuck between a rock and a hard place”.

Cartoon: If only I had a job ...

This cartoon by Mac from The Daily Mail relates to the public sector strikes over pension reforms which are due to take place in the UK today.

Three unemployed youths are walking past news hoarding announcing more 'gloom and doom' (Britain's economic outlook over the next few years is for declining growth and rising unemployment). One of the youths comments, 'It's not fair. If only I had a job, I'd be on strike today'. In the background, we can see a long queue outside the Job centre (center, AME).

GRAMMAR

You can use if only + past simple to express a wish for something to be different than it actually is:

 
• If only I had more free time, I'm sure I'd be less stressed and more cheerful (i.e., I don't have enough free time).

• If only I knew more people, I wouldn't feel so lonely (i.e., I don't know many people).

Cartoon: Between a Rock and a Hard Place

This cartoon by Andy Davey from The Sun is a visual representation of the difficult position UK prime minister David Cameron finds himself in following his refusal to agree to a new EU treaty. He's wading in the English Channel whilst being attacked by Britain on one side (his coalition partner Nick Clegg has lashed out at Cameron over the latter's use of the veto) and France and Germany on the other (it was the Franco-German refusal to accept Cameron's insistence on safeguards to protect the City from EU financial regulations that led him to use the veto).

COMMENTS

1. The words 'rock' and 'hard place' on the map refer to a common idiom. If you are stuck between a rock and a hard place, you are being faced with two difficult choices. A dilemma; either option you choose will lead to unsatisfactory results. In Cameron's case, he could either have agreed to sign up to the treaty, which would have infuriated the Eurosceptic Tory MPs (not to mention the right-wing press), or use his veto and risk alienation from the other 26 EU members. In the end, he chose the latter course.

2. The arrows are inspired by the opening titles of the popular seventies BBC TV sitcom ' Dad's Army.

SOURCE: theEnglishBlog

Cartoons: Occupy Wall Street

The Cagle Post has a good collection of cartoons about the  Occupy Wall Street movement. This one is by Mike Luckovich from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

COMMENTARY
The 'joke' is that the protestors have no homes to go home to as they have all been foreclosed, i.e., repossessed by the lender because the owner can't repay the mortgage loan. Not all the cartoons are sympathetic to the protestors—see here, here, here, and here, for example.

LANGUAGE
Sheesh is an exclamation used in American English to express disbelief or exasperation.

LEARNING ENGLISH FROM CARTOONS

This cartoon by Gary Barker from The Guardian is a comment on Western leaders' support for the Libyan rebels in their fight to oust the dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

David Cameron, Barack Obama and Nicolas Sarkozy are shown at a press conference saying in unison: "We are united behind the Libyan people's victory over oppression." However, each podium features the name of the national oil company (BP, Exxon, and Total), suggesting that the motive for these countries' involvement in the Libyan conflict has more to do with securing oil contracts than combating oppression.

Politics in Brazil: Dilma tries to drain the swamp

As another minister goes, Brazil’s president may find that the price of trying to clean up politics involves forgoing reforms the country needs

SHE arrived in the presidential palace with a reputation as a no-nonsense manager, but one who had never previously held elected office. Almost eight months into her term as Brazil’s president, Dilma Rousseff has found herself sucked into the political swamp that is Brasília. She has reacted firmly to corruption scandals, and is striving to trim budget pork and to fill senior government jobs on merit rather than through political connections. Her reward has been signs of mutiny in her coalition. With the world economy deteriorating, whether Ms Rousseff can impose her authority on her allies matters a lot for Brazil’s prospects.

In June the president dawdled before dispensing with Antonio Palocci, her chief of staff, after allegations of past influence-peddling had made his position untenable. Since then she has been quick to nip any scandal in the bud. When Veja, a weekly magazine, published evidence of systematic overbilling on contracts at the transport ministry, the president fired dozens of officials, including the minister. Next Veja reported on similar overpayments and kickbacks at the agriculture ministry. The number two at the ministry was sacked; on August 17th the minister, Wagner Rossi, a sidekick of the vice-president, Michel Temer, resigned. This month police arrested more than 30 officials in the tourism ministry, including the deputy minister, on suspicion of stealing public money intended for training hotel staff ahead of the 2014 football World Cup. In the midst of all this the president sacked the defence minister after he insulted some of her closest aides in an interview.