Election hacking

Posted by

0

The 2020 presidential elections in the US, in which President Donald Trump faces the Democrat candidate Joe Biden, are causing a lot of controversy. In the US many votes are cast digitally and there were plans to enlist the help of hackers to reduce the risk of cyber-attacks on election day.

Here is a lesson that teaches us the vocabulary to discuss this initiative. 

In 2000 the presidential race between Al Gore and George W. Bush ended in recounts and disputes over missing votes. George Bush became the first modern president to win the election despite gaining fewer popular votes than his opponent. How many fewer votes than Gore did Bush win by in the 2000 American presidential election? 

a) half a million votes

b) a million votes 

c) two million votes

Listen to the programme to find out the answer. 

Vocabulary 

volunteer
someone who works willingly without being paid, because they want to 

hacker
someone who breaks into computer systems without permission in order to find information or do something illegal 

eligible
qualified to do something by having the necessary requirements 

high-profile
attracting a lot of attention and interest from the public, newspapers and the media 

(have) the keys to the castle
(idiom) information or knowledge which gives the possessor access to power 

cybersecurity
measures that are taken to protect organisations and their computer information against crimes and attacks carried out through the internet

Transcript 

Rob
Hello. This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English. I’m Rob. 

Sam
And I’m Sam.

Rob
When it comes to US presidential elections, some are more dramatic than others. 

Sam
But few elections have been as controversial as this November’s contest between current President Trump and his Democratic rival, Joe Biden. 

Rob
In America, where many votes are cast digitally, there is a risk of cyber-attacks on election day and with so much depending on the result, US election officials are worried. 

Sam
In this programme we’ll be hearing about plans to prevent election cyber-attacks which involve election officials working with a very unusual group of people: volunteer hackers. Volunteers are people who work willingly, without being paid… 

Rob
… and hackers are people who break into computer systems without permission in order to find information or do something illegal. 

Sam
But cyber-attacks from hackers are not the only threat to fair and democratic elections. 

Rob
In 2000 the presidential race between Al Gore and George W. Bush ended in recounts and disputes over missing votes. George Bush became the first modern president to win the election despite gaining fewer popular votes than his opponent – but how many fewer? That’s our quiz question – how many fewer votes did Bush win than Gore in the 2000 American presidential election? Was it:
a) half a million votes?,
b) a million votes?,  or
c) two million votes?

Sam
I’ll say b) a million votes. 

Rob
OK, we’ll find out later. Now, the project Sam mentioned, where official administrators team up with expert volunteers to keep the election secure, is called The Election Cyber Surge. 

Sam
BBC World Service programme Digital Planet met up with project organiser Maya Worman to discuss the importance of keeping the election free from interference.

Maya Worman
Any attempt to manipulate or interfere with election infrastructures – the machines or the information sets that determine who is eligible to vote and where – undermines the right to vote. And it puts burdens on voters and it impacts public confidence; and high-profile elections, especially like the one coming up, heighten the types of risks that we’re talking about. 

Rob
You can only vote in an election if you are eligible – qualified by having the necessary requirements, for example being a US citizen who’s aged 18 or over. 

Sam
It’s up to each of the eight thousand local jurisdictions around the United States to keep their area free from cyber-attacks and misinformation – risks which have increased because the coming election is so high-profile – attracting a lot of attention and interest from newspapers and the public.

Rob
The Cyber Surge project to put expert volunteers in touch with local officials aims to prevent these risks. It covers everything from making sure administrators are using the latest anti-virus software to more serious threats from troublemakers. 

Sam
Now that’s got me thinking actually, Rob. Suppose I’m a troublemaker who wants to influence the election result – so I sign up as a volunteer and gain access to all kinds of information. How do we know that the volunteers who sign up are trustworthy? 

Rob
That’s a good question, Sam, and one that BBC World Service programme, Digital Planet, put to Maya Worman. 

Maya Worman
The expectation is not that the volunteer will have the keys to the castle by any means, more that they will have an open dialogue with an election administrator who wants to know more to explore cybersecurity enhancements in general or specifically. 

Sam
Volunteers are carefully selected according to their experience and skills in cybersecurity – measures that help organisations and countries keep their computer information safe against crimes and attacks carried out through the internet. 

Rob
Volunteers share their expert advice by talking with election officials. They won’t be given access to sensitive information so they won’t have the keys to the castle – an idiom meaning to possess information or knowledge which gives the possessor access to power. 

Sam
All of which means that the 2020 election result will, hopefully, be accepted by everyone. 

Rob
Unlike the situation twenty years ago. 

Sam
Ah, you mean our quiz question, Rob, about the 2000 US presidential election which George W. Bush won despite securing fewer votes than his opponent. 

Rob
I asked you how many fewer votes Bush won than Al Gore that year. 

Sam
And I said b) a million votes. 

Rob
But in fact, it was even closer – just a) half a million votes in Florida. 

Sam
In this programme we’ve been looking ahead to the US presidential elections and its cybersecurity – measures taken to protect countries and their computer information against online crimes and attacks. 

Rob
The Cyber Surge project aims to put officials in touch with volunteers – people who work for free, who also happen to be expert hackers – people who break into computer systems without permission. 

Sam
But the idea isn’t to commit election crime – rather to prevent it by making sure only those who are eligible – or qualified – to vote, do so. 

Rob
The project was set up because the November 2020 election has become so high-profile – attracting a lot of attention and interest from the public and the media. 

Sam
And of course the volunteers themselves are carefully chosen to be impartial experts who give advice without holding the keys to the castle – an idiom about possessing information which gives access to power. 

Rob
What’s certain is that the world will be watching this election, so if you’re eligible, remember to vote. 

Sam
And remember to join us again soon. Bye for now! 

Rob
Bye bye! 

What do you think? Do you feel safe casting your vote digitally?  Is the public accepting election hacking as a new normal? And would election hacking be the end of democracy as we know it?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/english/features/6-minute-english/ep-201015

Your questions answered: cachaça

Posted by

0

When we work with people from all different areas and interests, we end up talking about a wide variety of things and using the vocabulary specific to each subject.

So, after a student’s visit to Luiz Alves, known as “Terra Nacional da Cachaça,” or “National Cachaça Land,” in the Santa Catarina State, in the south of Brazil, a search in the vocabulary used by people who enjoy drinking (and that’s not me – hehe) was necessary.

As far as I know, the Portuguese word “cachaça” is used in English too. To my surprise, I did some search and found it in the Cambridge Dictionary:

cachaça noun UK  /kəʃæs.ə/ US  /kəʃɑː.sə/ a strong alcoholic drink similar to rum, made in Brazil from the juice of the sugar cane plant

Additionally, I found this information on the English Experts website:

Donay Mendonça says: “Aqui na minha região (Goiás), a palavra cachaça é também usada – informalmente – para se falar de bebida alcoólica em geral, e não somente aguardente. Em inglês, há também um equivalente informal comum para este caso: booze.

Booze: alcoholic drinks. [Merriam-webster]

Exemplos de uso:

  • They turn to booze to beat work pressure. [Eles acabam recorrendo à cachaça para superar a pressão do trabalho.]
  • Have you got enough booze for the party? [Vocês tem cachaça suficiente para a festa?]
  • He’s been on the booze (=drinking too much alcohol) for five days. [Ele está afundado na cachaça faz cinco dias.]
  • My husband is now off the booze (=no longer drinking too much alcohol) and he is a different person. [Meu marido agora largou a cachaça e está uma pessoa diferente.]

Only one more finding for cachaça at bab.la, because I believe three results for a search are good enough:

Okay! And cachaça is made in a distillery, not in a brewery! Hehe!

Brewing is the process of producing alcohol by steeping malted grains in hot water to extract the starch and produce a sweet liquid, which then undergoes a fermenting process using yeast. Distillation is the process of purifying a liquid, by heating and cooling.  

So, which one do you prefer? How would you compare beer with spirits?

I’m sure you know what beer means. But what about spirits?

Spirit (noun) is a strong alcoholic drink such as whisky or brandy:

Vodka is a type of spirit.

Spirits are more expensive than beer, but they get you drunk faster.

Idiom: “when all is said and done”

Posted by

0

Have you seen the 2020 US Presidential Election lesson?

After about 9.40 minutes, he says:

“Do you have any idea how much the 2016 presidential campaign cost? I’m going to tell you. When everything was all said and done the two campaigns combined spent over one billion dollars”!

when all is said and done

idiom:  said when you are about to tell someone the most important fact they should remember in a situation:

When all was said and done it was only a game, not real life.

It won’t be easy, but when all is said and done, we’ll be glad we did it.

The candidates claim to have different views but, when all is said and done, they’re very much alike.

when all is set and done

Alternative for “when all is said and done:”

When all is set and done, 2 to 5 inches of snow will cause slippery travel into and out of New York City.

The comma

Posted by

0

The comma is perhaps the most puzzling mark of punctuation. The rules for using commas are numerous and can seem so arbitrary. Look at the sentences below:

Historically the comma is derived from the diagonal slash which was used to indicate a pause. [incorrect]

Historically, the comma is derived from the diagonal slash, which was used to indicate a pause. [correct]

It seems, that the comma can be removed in the first example. However, its presence becomes justified if we read the sentence aloud — we make a short pause after the word historically and slash, precisely the place where the comma should be. A useful rule of thumb is to place commas where one makes a pause in speech.

Rule of thumb: a comma indicates a pause in speech.

When in doubt, read the sentence aloud. If you pause at some place, insert a comma to mark the pause.

Still, commas are more than simple pause-markers; they help the reader understand the structure of the sentence and resolve ambiguity. Compare the two sentences:

The students who passed the exam went on a fieldwork trip.

The students, who passed the exam, went on a fieldwork trip.

The sentence without comma means that only those students who passed the exam went on a trip. The sentence with commas means that all students went on a fieldwork trip, and they all, by the way, passed the exam.

Below are a few rules about how to use commas correctly.

1. Use commas to separate items in a series of two or more things.

That last comma, known as the serial comma, Oxford comma, or Harvard comma, is not obligatory, and causes serious controversy. For example, while U.S. and Canadian English often use of a serial comma, U.K. and Australian English do not. Although many consider it unnecessary, others insist on its use to reduce ambiguity.

There’s an Internet meme that demonstrates its necessity perfectly. The sentence, “We invited the strippers, JFK, and Stalin,” means the speaker sent three separate invitations: one to some strippers, one to JFK, and one to Stalin. The version without the Oxford comma, however, takes on an entirely different meaning, potentially suggesting that only one invitation was sent — to two strippers named JFK and Stalin.

2. Use a comma between two adjectives that modify the same noun.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is Comma10.jpg

Only coordinate adjectives require a comma between them. Two adjectives are coordinate if you can answer yes to both of these questions: 1. Does the sentence still make sense if you reverse the order of the words? 2. Does the sentence still make sense if you insert “and” between the words?

Since “I saw the mean, big duck “ and “I saw the big and mean duck” both sound fine, you need the comma.

Sentences with non-coordinate adjectives, however, don’t require a comma. For example, “I lay under the powerful summer sun.” “Powerful” describes “summer sun” as a whole phrase. This often occurs with adjunct nouns, a phrase where a noun acts as an adjective describing another noun — like “chicken soup” or “dance club.”

3. Use a comma to separate independent clauses (complete thoughts) when they are joined by the following conjunctions: and, but, for, or, nor, so, yet.

An independent clause is a complete thought, i.e, a unit of grammatical organization that includes both a subject and verb and can stand on its own as a sentence. In the previous example, “I went running” and “I saw a duck” are both independent clauses, and “and” is the coordinating conjunction that connects them. Consequently, we insert a comma.

If we eliminate the second “I” from that example, the second clause lacks a subject, making it not a clause at all. In that case, it no longer needs a comma: “I went running and saw a duck.”

4. Use a comma to separate a dependent clause (incomplete thought) from an independent clause (complete thought) after a dependent clause that starts a sentence.

A dependent clause is an incomplete thought, i.e, a grammatical unit that contains both subject and verb but cannot stand on its own, like “When I went running …”

The dependent clause can provide the time, the condition, the reason, etc., for the event in the main clause. Commonly, dependent clauses begin with if, whether, because, although, since, when, while, unless, even though, whenever, etc.

If Smith accepts our conditions, we will agree to the proposal.

Although Smith did not accept our conditions, we agreed to the proposal.

Note that a dependent clause should be separated from an independent clause by a comma only when the dependent clause precedes the independent one. If a dependent clause ends the sentence, however, it no longer requires a comma.

Because Smith accepted our conditions, we agreed to the proposal.  [correct]

We agreed to the proposal because Smith accepted our conditions. [correct]

5. Use commas before and after parts of the sentence that are not essential to its meaning.

Appositives act as synonyms for a juxtaposed word or phrase, but are not essential to its meaning. In the above example — “While running, I saw a mallard, a kind of duck” — “A kind of duck” is the appositive, which gives more information about “a mallard.” but are not essential to its meaning.

If the appositive occurs in the middle of the sentence, both sides of the phrase need a comma. As in: 

“A mallard, a kind of duck, attacked me.”

Such non-essential parts can be words, phrases and entire clauses. An easy way to test whether a word, a phrase, or a clause is non-essential is to simply leave it out and see whether the message changes dramatically.

The audience, indifferent at the beginning, became more and more interested.

In 1888, when my great grandmother was born, there was only one hospital in the entire country.

There’s one exception to this rule. Do not use commas to separate essential parts of the sentence. For example, “The duck that attacked me scared my friend” doesn’t require any commas. Even though the phrase “that attacked me” describes “the duck,” it provides essential information to the sentence. Otherwise, no one would know why the duck scared your friend.

Clauses that begin with “that” are usually essential to the sentence and do not require commas.

People who live in glass houses should not throw stones. [correct]

People, who live in glass houses, should not throw stones. [incorrect]

The part who live in glass houses is essential to the meaning since the only the people to whom this applies should not throw stones. The first sentence above, implies that people generally live in glass houses.

6. Use a comma after introductory adverbs or an introductory element.

Another example: “Finally, I went running.”

Many adverbs end in “ly” and answer the question “how?” How did someone do something? How did something happen? Adverbs that don’t end in “ly,” such as “when” or “while”, usually introduce a dependent clause, which rule number two in this post already covered.

Also insert a comma when “however” starts a sentence. Phrases like “on the other hand” and “furthermore” also fall into this category.

7. Use a comma when the first word of the sentence is a freestanding “yes” or “no.”

Another example: “Yes, I saw a duck when I went running.”

8. Use a comma with direct quotations.

Another example: “I wouldn’t want to mess with that editor,” said one reader to another.

In American and Canadian English, the comma tends to come before the closing quotation mark, while in British English it is usually placed after the closing quotation mark.

9. Use a comma when directly addressing someone or something in a sentence.

10. Beware of putting a comma before “but” every single time. It should only be used when connecting two independent clauses (despite what middle school teachers tell the students).

As you may recall from above, an independent clause has a subject and a verb and can stand on its own as a sentence. Often, a coordinating conjunction will connect two independent clauses — like the word “but.”

But — and it’s a big but — middle school teachers tell students to always throw a comma before “but.” Don’t do that!

You should only put a comma before “but” when connecting two independent clauses.

For example, this usage of “but” does not take a comma:

“To quack but to have no one hear is a sad thing for a duck.”

11. Use a comma to separate each element in an address. Also use a comma to separate the name of a city from a country or state.

Another example: “Cleveland, Ohio, is a great city.”

12. Use a comma to separate the day of the week, the day of the month, and the year.

More examples:

Friday, March 15, 2013, was the day I saw the duck.

Friday, March 15, was the day I say the duck.

I saw the duck on Friday, 15 March 2013.

You don’t need to add a comma when the sentence mentions only the month and year:

March 2013 was a strange month.

13. Use commas before every sequence of three numbers when writing a number larger than 999. (Two exceptions are writing years and house numbers.)

Here is a video that complements the information given above and provides an opportunity for practice.

Are you ready for a quiz? Done? Here’s one more!

https://www.businessinsider.com/a-guide-to-proper-comma-use-2013-9#12-use-a-comma-to-offset-negation-in-a-sentence-12

2020 US Presidential Election

Posted by

0

The 2020 United States presidential election was held on November 3, 2020. Voters selected presidential electors who, in turn, will vote on December 14, 2020, to either elect a new president and vice president or reelect Donald Trump and Mike Pence, respectively.

Let’s start by learning some useful vocabulary and phrases that you need to know to be able to talk about elections. Get your notebook, listen carefully, and write down the new words. Firstly, an introductory lesson.

Next, another lesson that teaches a few more words and a useful expression.

Here are the words and phrases from the lesson.

1) apolitical – not connected to a political party

2) two-party-system – when two parties dominate politics

3) independent – a voter who is not registered with a political party

4) moderate – someone who does not have extreme views

5) primary – when voters chose who will be the candidate for that party

6) cast (one’s) ballot – to vote

7) popular vote – the total number of votes a candidate receives

8) Electoral College – a group of people, electors, who cast votes for the election of president

9) winner-take-all – all the votes from one state will go to the candidate who wins

10) partisan – strongly supporting a person or party without considering the matter carefully

11) amend – to change or alter something

12) red state – state that strongly supports Republicans

13) blue state – state that strongly supports Democrats

14) purple state – state with a mix of Democrat and Republican support

15) swing state – state whose votes could go to either the Democrats or Republicans

16) battleground state – means the same as swing state

17) lean left – state that is more likely to vote for the Democrats

18) lean right – state that is more likely to vote for the Republicans

19) fundraise – to collect money for a particular purpose

20) campaign – an organized political group trying to achieve a particular aim

21) PAC / Super PAC – an organization that raises money privately to influence elections

22) civic duty – the responsibilities of citizens of a country

23) civil discourse – conversations concerning ordinary citizens

24) head to the polls – to go vote at a polling location

25) absentee ballot – when someone requests a ballot from election officials and votes by mail

26) mail-in-voting – when election ballots are sent to all registered voters in the state

27) rigged – to dishonestly arrange something to achieve a desired outcome

28) voter suppression – when people are not allowed to vote or discouraged from voting

29) concede – to admit, often unwillingly, that something is true

30) contest an election – when the validity of the results is challenged by the losing candidate

Okay! Now we have the essential vocabulary to join in a discussion about the US election, which is an international event and always draws intense worldwide interest.

Trump won the 2016 election even though Hillary Clinton got 3 million more votes. Watch this video to understand how the US election process works and try to answer the questions below.

QUESTIONS

1. How is the next US president elected in the presidential election?
a: by popular vote
b. by the electoral college
c. by each state

2. How many electoral votes do you need to become president?
a. 270 or more
b. none
c. all 538

3. How many times in the last five US elections has the president won despite getting fewer overall popular votes?
a. once
b. twice
c. five times

4. What does it mean ‘to rubber stamp’ the presidential candidate in the US presidential election?
a. to put a stamp on your postal vote envelope
b. to change your mind about who to vote for
c. to officially endorse the presidential candidate by voting for them without questioning your decision

ANSWERS

1.b; 2.a; 3.b; 4.c

What do you think about this system? How would you compare it to our Brazilian system?