Questões de Inglês - Reading/Writing

Broadway, NYC

    In an era of 3-D movies and IMAX films, it’s a wonder that Broadway theater entertainment remains one of the most popular attractions in NYC. Few NYC attractions match the excitement and spectacle of a Broadway musical. Featuring 40 Broadway theaters, high-profile stage actors, and world-class sets and costumes, New York Broadway shows are must-see entertainment for travelers in NYC.
   Broadway refers to the famous street in Manhattan that has become the worldwide leader in stage entertainment. The history of Broadway dates all the way back to the 1700s, when the first NYC stage was built on Nassau Street. This NYC theater held less than 300 people, and mostly presented Shakespeare plays. It wasn't until after the American Revolution — in 1798 — that the first great NYC theater was built.

New York Broadway in the 1800s
    Built on Chatham St in Downtown Manhattan, the Park Theater NYC started a new era of theater in New York. Several more NYC theaters opened up between 1800-1850. After the Civil War, the center of New York theater moved from Downtown to Midtown Manhattan, because of their cheaper rates on NY real estate.
In the late-1800s and early 1900s, the dramatic rise in train transportation — as well as the NYC subway — led to a drop in poverty and a higher demand for evening New York entertainment. Soon, the NYC theater district was bustling, leading to more expensive and ambitious Broadway productions.
“The Great White Way”
    Originally coined by the New York Evening Telegram, “The Great White Way” refers to the Theater District area of Broadway, in Midtown. Beginning in the early-1900s, Broadway theaters used bright electric signs made up of white lights to advertise shows. Soon, the bright lights of Broadway NYC would become known as “The Great White Way”, giving birth to a new NYC landmark. It was also around this time that Broadway theaters finally made their way to Times Square NY.
    In the 1920s a great number of classic Broadway shows premiered, but the business was faced with the uncertainty of the Great Depression. The number of Broadway shows fell in the 1930s, as famous Broadway producers found themselves out of money and out on the street like so many other Americans. However, much like New York City has again and again, Broadway would soon recover.
Internet: <http://www.nyctourist.com> (adapted).

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Durham, Canada

   Just minutes east of Toronto lies Durham Region, a place with rolling hills, farms and small towns. Durham Region has something for everyone.
  Renowned for its pleasant mix of rural charm and urban sophistication, Durham Region offers a variety of equally unique culinary tourism experiences. Durham has a busy agriculture sector that includes the province’s top apple producer, the largest commercial blueberry grower east of Toronto and award-winning wineries.
   Durham Region is home to incredible farms, chefs, and retailers producing and using fresh, local produce. Durham region farmers harvest an abundance of different fruits and vegetables mere kilometers from the big city.
    Start your day with a stop at one of the many roadside farm markets for some fresh fruits and vegetables to snack on throughout the day. Why not drop into one of the local ‘Pick-your-own’ apple or berry farms and select some sweet and juicy fruit to savour while on your journey?
    Want even more? Don’t forget to make reservations for Savour the Season – Durham’s annual culinary festival showcasing Durham’s local harvest. Local chefs are paired with local farmers and producers to transform fresh local fare into mouth-watering dishes offered at a fixed price.
    To learn more about Savour Durham and other culinary tourism experiences in the region, please contact tourism@durham.ca.
Internet: <http://ontarioculinary.com/ontario-regions/durham> (adapted).

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Caribbean festivals
 

Part I – Fiesta de Santiago de Apóstol in Loiza Aldea, Puerto Rico (Late July)
Nowhere is Puerto Rico’s rich West African heritage more pronounced — and celebrated — than in the coastal town of Loiza Aldea. Every July 25, the town hosts a celebration of its patron saint, Santiago, one of several Catholic saints believed to be incarnations of ancient African deities. The festival includes street parties, open-air plena and bomba concerts, and Carnival-like parades.

Part II – Festival de Merengue in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic (Late July)
Few things are more quintessentially Dominican than “merengue”. You can hear its urgent upbeat rhythm just about anywhere you go, from supermarkets to public buses, from the capital to the countryside, and it seems Dominican children learn to dance to “merengue” almost as soon as they can walk. The annual Merengue Festival lasts less than a week and isn’t even the Dominican Republic’s largest music festival, but only Carnival makes for a bigger and more ebullient street party.

Part III – St. Patrick’s Day in Montserrat (Mid-March)
The Irish aren't the only ones who know how to throw a St. Patrick's Day party. The tiny island of Montserrat, battered by hurricanes and half-buried in volcanic ash, celebrates March 17 as a national holiday with a terrific week-long festival. St. Patrick's Day has dual importance in Montserrat: it has long been celebrated by the island's large Irish Catholic population, who first settled there in the 1630s to escape religious persecution, and it also marks the day, in 1798, that enslaved Africans launched a major uprising.

Part IV – Crop Over Festival in Barbados (July)
Why celebrate for a day or a weekend, when you can party for a whole month? That’s the attitude of Barbadians when it comes to Crop Over, the island’s largest and most anticipated festival, held from early July to early August. The celebration, which dates back to the late 1700s, originally marked the end of the all-important sugarcane harvest, when Barbados was one of the world's largest producers of sugar. Today the heart of Crop Over is calypso music, which infuses the entire event with its rhythm and lyrics.
Internet: <www.way.com> (adapted).

According to the text, it is true to infer that

Text

Caribbean festivals
 

Part I – Fiesta de Santiago de Apóstol in Loiza Aldea, Puerto Rico (Late July)
Nowhere is Puerto Rico’s rich West African heritage more pronounced — and celebrated — than in the coastal town of Loiza Aldea. Every July 25, the town hosts a celebration of its patron saint, Santiago, one of several Catholic saints believed to be incarnations of ancient African deities. The festival includes street parties, open-air plena and bomba concerts, and Carnival-like parades.

Part II – Festival de Merengue in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic (Late July)
Few things are more quintessentially Dominican than “merengue”. You can hear its urgent upbeat rhythm just about anywhere you go, from supermarkets to public buses, from the capital to the countryside, and it seems Dominican children learn to dance to “merengue” almost as soon as they can walk. The annual Merengue Festival lasts less than a week and isn’t even the Dominican Republic’s largest music festival, but only Carnival makes for a bigger and more ebullient street party.

Part III – St. Patrick’s Day in Montserrat (Mid-March)
The Irish aren't the only ones who know how to throw a St. Patrick's Day party. The tiny island of Montserrat, battered by hurricanes and half-buried in volcanic ash, celebrates March 17 as a national holiday with a terrific week-long festival. St. Patrick's Day has dual importance in Montserrat: it has long been celebrated by the island's large Irish Catholic population, who first settled there in the 1630s to escape religious persecution, and it also marks the day, in 1798, that enslaved Africans launched a major uprising.

Part IV – Crop Over Festival in Barbados (July)
Why celebrate for a day or a weekend, when you can party for a whole month? That’s the attitude of Barbadians when it comes to Crop Over, the island’s largest and most anticipated festival, held from early July to early August. The celebration, which dates back to the late 1700s, originally marked the end of the all-important sugarcane harvest, when Barbados was one of the world's largest producers of sugar. Today the heart of Crop Over is calypso music, which infuses the entire event with its rhythm and lyrics.
Internet: <www.way.com> (adapted).

According to the text, it is true to infer that

TRAVEL MORE, STRESS LESS
Pack these essential trip tips from Travel Channel host Don Wildman, touring violinist Joshua Bell, and tennis star Andy Roddick
Illustrations by Rami Niemi, Posted Date: April 10, 2012

[1]    Sleep Like a Local
    Andy Roddick needs quality rest when he lands
in a new city for a tournament. So he starts right in
with forcing his body to adapt to the time zone,
[5] even if he arrived exhausted. "If you fall asleep at
3 p.m., you're dead. You'll be up all night," he
says. "In a new place I normally try to make it to at
least 9 or 10 o'clock the first couple of nights."
    Stay Alert
[10]    You don't need a gym to have your fitness fix. "I
carry a jump rope because it gets my heart beating
in the morning," Wildman says. "And sometimes I'll
take it on shoots with me, and I just do a little rope
jumping for 5 minutes. It wakes me up better than
[15] a cup of coffee."
    Feel at Home in a Hotel
    Roddick's move: “Unpack immediately. That
helps a lot," he says. "If you're tapped out from
being on the road, the last thing you want is to
[20] come back to a couple of bags that look like they
exploded all over the hotel room." Wildman will
even put books on bookshelves. "The least I can
do for myself," he says, "is fool myself into
thinking I'm home."
[25] Find a Decent Meal
    If you return to a city regularly, you could do as
Roddick does and revisit a favorite restaurant each
time. That's a good way to create a feeling of
familiarity, which can be welcome when you're
[30] away from home. Globe-trotting violin virtuoso
Joshua Bell, on the other hand, likes to explore: "I
rarely ask the concierge for advice," Bell says,
"because he is apt to send me to his cousin's
pizzeria around the corner. But I do refer to some
[35] guides and research thoroughly online—Yelp,
Zagat, Open-Table—and I sometimes ask for
recommendations on social networking sites like
ASmallWorld, which is full of travelers like me.”

    Use Downtime Wisely
[40]    "I try to remind myself that 'killing time' is a sin,"
Bell says. "Life is too short as it is, and it's a
shame to wish for it to go by quicker. There's
always something worthwhile to do, even on an
airplane—read a good book, learn a new language
[45] with Rosetta Stone, write to my friends around the
world who haven't heard from me in too long."
When Bell does watch television, it's often on his
iPad: He'll catch episodes of Dexter, Breaking
Bad, Modern Family, and Desperate Housewives.
[50] Joshua Bell is touring to support his new album
French Impressions. Andy Roddick plays this month
at the French Open. Don Wildman's Off Limits airs on
the Travel Channel.
http://www.menshealth.com/travel-center/travel-stress