If you find yourself making a budget or an estimate, and you discover there is no parallel expression to “na ponta do lapis” you might want to use some of these expressions. In Brazilian Portuguese, “na ponta do lapis” translates into “at the tip of a pencil” and it means to calculate exactly. Admittedly, na ponta do lapis is more effective than any of the English idiomatic expressions, but you can make do with these. Fill in the blanks with the following words to form the expressions.
Eighty-seven percent of the world’s oceans are dying, according to Global Citizen. At least 10% of the 100 million tons of plastic we use every year ends up in oceans. If you do the , that’s equivalent to the weight of 700 billion plastic bottles.
We need to take better care of our oceans, because the freshwater on planet Earth makes up only 3% of its water supply. The United Nations has made its and concluded that everybody, no matter where they live, will begin to feel a water shortage by the year 2050.
Numerically speaking, plastic debris in oceans is about to break the ; there are 5.25 trillion pieces of plastic debris in the oceans. Of that mass, 269,000 tons float on the surface while an estimate of four billion plastic microfibers per square kilometer litter the deep sea.
Speaking of the sea, humans kill over 100 million sharks every year, but that is a just a ballpark . Some say the number is as high as 273 million. Many of these sharks are killed for finning, which means fishermen cut off the shark’s fins and then throw the fish back into the ocean while still alive and bleeding. This is done to avoid exceeding fishing quotas and/or to avoid declaring the animal at ports. The fins are sold either as trophies or to restaurants to make shark fin soup. The dying sharks contaminate other fish with their urea, which turns to ammonia as they slowly die.
Climate change is affecting the Arctic faster than anywhere else in the world, and sea ice is shrinking 14% per decade. Satellites show there is 770,000 square miles less sea ice than there was 10 years ago. It’s the polar bears that are feeling the ; they are forced to spend huge amounts of energy walking or swimming long distances to get to any remaining ice.
Honeybees are also dying, partly because of industrial agriculture’s use of pesticides, and partly due to climate changes. The guessestimate is that we have already lost 40% of our honeybees; those hardworking insects that pollinate plants that provide us with food and animals with shelter.
Half of the world’s rainforests have been destroyed in the last century, and if you crunch the , you will realize that you could see them disappear altogether in your lifetime!
Cattle breeding is damaging Planet Earth more than anything else. After extensive studies, the American government has announced that livestock, in particular cows, are responsible for 18% of the total release of greenhouse gases world-wide, and that statistic is after the whole transportation sector, including airplanes, has been factored .
The United Nations studies have come up with the shocking conclusion that our planet is in the midst of a mass extinction of life. Their balance shows that between 150-200 species of plant, insect and mammal become extinct every 24 hours.
1. Which expression means an estimated number arrived at without complete information, and
using some guesswork?
2. Which expression means to perform numerous calculations and process a large amount of
numerical data, usually implying the use of computers?
3. Which expression means to include a particular cost or element in the calculation you are
4. Which expression means to simply come to a conclusion based on simple math, and is typically
used sarcastically, implying that the result should be obvious?
5. Which expression originally comes from baseball and means an approximate estimate within a
certain range or area?
6. Which expression can be used with either do or make, and means to process information,
multiplying or dividing numbers to judge the amount of something?
7. Which expression means to do an exact and final statement of finances, including liabilities?
8. Which expression means to experience financial hardship?
9. Which expression comes from gambling, and means to spend more than one can afford?
FYI is an acronym, and an acronym is a word formed by combining the first letters of each word of a name, such as NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) that is frequently seen in the news. Another one you probably know is AIDS, which is an acronym for Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome. Sometimes acronyms are pronounced as a word as in NATO and AIDS, and sometimes the letters are pronounced individually, such as FYI (for your information). And most of the time they are not even pronounced, as they are used mostly in social media, business communication and Internet. But we do hear CNN (Cable News Network) reporters saying ASAP frequently, which means As Soon As Possible and is hard to pronounce.
Sometimes acronyms become words, such as the word scuba. Everybody knows that word, but few know it started out as an acronym for Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus.
Another acronym that became a word is laser, which began as the acronym Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation. Most of us are very pleased that these two words became acronyms.
For now, try to incorporate FYI and ASAP into your daily communications, and don’t spend too much time remembering what AIDS and LASER and SCUBA really mean. But you should be able to recognize NATO as it has become a big issue in North America and Europe.
Here are six business acronyms that you should know if you are a businessperson, and maybe aspire to if you are in middle management. Which one would be the lowest stress and the highest salary?
You can plate appetizers on or in many things. Fill in the blanks with on or in: Deviled eggs a platter Figs with bacon a plate Spinach & Yogurt dip a bowl Bacon, lettuce & tomatoes toothpicks Chicken croquettes napkins Oysters with turkey bacon a tiered cake plate Cold cuts a breadboard Raw veggies & dips a Lazy Susan Cheese…
Blackberries – Blueberries – Raspberries – Strawberries Nutritious food is nourishing and efficient as food in the sense that it gives you the sufficient amount of nutrients such as vitamins, carbohydrates and proteins that you need to survive. Healthy food is food that promotes good health, in other words, prevents illness and keeps you younger longer. I. All of the berries above are healthy and nutritious. However, according to nutritional content, total carbohydrates,…