ABA Journal The digital English academy
Good morning!
How are you all this Monday? Last Friday, Mexicans all over the world celebrated the Day of the Dead. The holiday focuses on gatherings of family and friends to pray for and remember friends and family members who have died.
Today we will learn some English with this news item about the Day of the Dead.
1. Read the text
2. Understand the vocabulary
3. Watch the video
Text
Grisly creations to celebrate the “Day of the Dead”. The festival combines Aztec and Mayan rituals with Catholic rites. But some Mexicans think the event is under threat from American Halloween traditions.
– Many young adults say ‘Yeah, Day of the Dead’ and they see it as Halloween but it’s not Halloween. It’s Day of the Dead, an ancestral celebration, so it needs to be seen as the Day of the Dead festival.
Another U.S. export which has activists worried is the sugary carbonated drink – of which Mexicans reportedly consume enormous amounts, says protester Kafia Garcia.
– In the last six years there were 500,000 deaths from diabetes. This is the product of a great consumption of soft drinks in Mexico.
According to the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development, Mexico is second only to the United States for the world’s highest rate of obesity in adults. And Garcia thinks this festival is the perfect time for fellow Mexicans to consider their own mortality.
Vocabulary
Grisly – causing horror or fear : very shocking.
Under threat – the possibility that something bad or harmful could happen.
Export – something that is exported : a product that is sent to another country to be sold there.
Sugary – tasting like sugar or containing a lot of sugar
Carbonated – having many tiny bubbles that rise to the top : containing carbon dioxide.
Amount – a quantity of something.
Consider – to think about (something or someone) carefully especially in order to make a choice or decision.
