Democracy, dictatorships and the modern world.  
Angela reads the basic text from this lesson, (transcript available when you take this lesson).

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English with Angela -  conversation 

TASK 34 - IS DEMOCRACY DEAD? 

Disneyland Paris has launched a new light show called Disney Tales of Magic, an immersive 20-minute show that uses drones, synchronized fountains, and high-definition projections.

The show's main feature — ultra-bright lasers — has been used only once before, at the Paris 2024 Olympics at the Eiffel Tower during the opening ceremony featuring a performance by Celine Dion. The lasers, which travel 37 kilometers, deliver extraordinary power while remaining safe near crowds.

"The Paris Olympics used it first. But we saw it first," said Dana Harrel, executive entertainment director at Disneyland Paris.

The show brings Disney and Pixar tales to life with the use of drone-made 3D figures projected onto the night sky, synchronized fountains and a 100-piece orchestra.

The show also reflects Disney's storytelling evolution. Tim Lutkin, artistic director of the production, noted the shift from classic fairy tales to modern narratives like Encanto and Inside Out 2, which explore deeper themes such as anxiety and depression.

The show is just one part of Disneyland Paris' $2 billion expansion plan, part of a $60 billion global investment announced in September 2023, aiming to redefine Disney parks, cruises and attractions over the next decade.

At the heart of the expansion is the transformation of Walt Disney Studios Park, doubling in size and reimagined as Disney Adventure World. Opening in spring 2025, a new park entrance, World Premiere, will greet visitors with the glamor of a Hollywood film premiere, leading them into immersive themed areas.

The expansion includes two eagerly awaited themed lands: The World of Frozen, opening in 2026, and The Lion King land. The Disneyland Hotel has also been revamped, with rooms themed around classic Disney royalty.

"These projects reflect our commitment to innovation and storytelling," said Natacha Rafalski, head of Disneyland Paris, adding that they will further strengthen it as Europe's top tourist destination.



Practice Listening, Reading & Comprehension

Drones and Lasers Light Up Disneyland Paris in New Show

Crowds of people queued up at Australia's Royal Sydney Botanic Garden on January 23, with some people waiting as long as three hours.

And for what?

A very smelly flower.

The titan arum, known as the "corpse flower," is a tall, pointed plant that releases an unpleasant smell when it blooms. The smell has been likened to things like decaying flesh, gym socks or rotting garbage.

The endangered plant is only found in the Sumatran rainforests in Indonesia, where there are thought to be fewer than 300 of them. It only blooms every 7 to 10 years in its natural habitat.

"The fact that they open very rarely, so they flower rarely, is obviously something that puts them at a little bit of a disadvantage in the wild," said Sophie Daniel from the Royal Sydney Botanic Garden. "When they open, they have to hope that another flower is open nearby, because they can't self-pollinate."

The flower at the botanic garden is the first to bloom there in 15 years, and she's been named Putricia — a combination of "putrid" and "Patricia" — by her fans.

Putricia's online fandom grew quickly and globally. A 24/7 live stream established by the botanic garden drew close to a million views in under a week, and people on social media planned to hurry to the garden as the plant opened. In just 24 hours, Putricia's bloom — and her stench — would be gone.

As she opened, the plant heated to 37 degrees Celsius to better spread her scent. In the wild, the smell tricks pollinators into landing on what they think is rotten meat and spreading pollen between flowers.

Up to 20,000 people filed past for a moment in her pungent presence, leaning in for a sniff or taking selfies.

It was difficult to say why the flower attracted such a following — but perhaps the answer lay in the "reverence" viewers felt in the presence of "such an amazing living being," Daniel said.




Crowds Gather in Sydney for Smelly Flower

Have you ever heard the phrase, "When in Rome, do as the Romans do"?

It means you should follow the customs of the place you're visiting or the people you're with. So in Japan, for example, you should take off your shoes before entering someone's home, because it's the custom.

However, people often shorten this phrase to just, "When in Rome."

Phrases like this, where part of the sentence is not spoken but the meaning is still clear, are called "anapodotons" ("an-uh-PAW-duh-tuns"). People don't say the second part of the phrase, but everyone knows what they mean.

But why do people leave phrases unfinished?

According to Instagram linguist Adam Aleksic, it's because we like to save time and effort when talking. By saying less, we can still share the full idea, as long as others know the rest of the phrase.

Anapodotons are very common in English. Let's look at some more now!

"Speak of the devil" is something people say when someone appears just as you were talking about them. The full phrase is, "Speak of the devil, and he shall appear." But it doesn't mean you think the person who appeared is a bad person!

"It takes a village" is another example. The full phrase, "It takes a village to raise a child," means raising children is easier with help from others. It can also be used to talk about teamwork or group tasks.

"If you can't stand the heat" comes from, "If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen." This means if something is difficult or stressful, you should either deal with it or stop complaining and leave!

Anapodotons may be short, but they have a lot of meaning!

Saying Less, Meaning More: The Power of Anapodotons

f you're going to exercise, you have to stretch, right?

Well, maybe not.

The answer might depend on your goals, and what you mean by "stretch."

There are different types of stretches.

In what are known as "static" stretches, you hold a single position for perhaps as long as 60 to 90 seconds. These stretches are great for increasing flexibility.

But there are also "dynamic" stretches, where you repeatedly — but carefully — move your joints through their full range of motion.

Expert opinion on how to use these stretches has changed over the years. But it's now generally believed that dynamic stretching is best before you exercise, while static stretching is better after.

As Alisa Bowman writes for the Mayo Clinic, dynamic stretching helps improve blood flow and joint mobility, which gets your body ready to exercise. Studies have even found that dynamic stretching before exercise can improve your performance.

Meanwhile, some research has found that static stretching can temporarily weaken your muscles, which is why it's generally no longer recommended before certain sports — and especially not for high-performance athletes.

Instead, static stretches are typically recommended for helping to relax your muscles after exercise. Since you've been moving and increasing blood flow to your joints and muscles, you'll actually be more flexible, so you'll get more benefit from those stretches.

But while you may have been told that stretching will reduce soreness after you exercise, research has found that it really doesn't make much difference.

You've also probably been told to stretch to avoid injuries. But research doesn't seem to support that either — especially for static stretching.

Writing for WebMD, Sonya Collins says that, as long as you stretch sometime, it's fine if you don't do it around the time you exercise.

In fact, some experts say if you're short on time, it's better to exercise without doing any stretching than to cut your workout short!

Do You Really Need to Stretch When You Exercise?

If you have a bad experience at a restaurant or hotel, what do you do? Do you tell the staff? Do you ask them to apologize — maybe even ask them to give you something for free?

Or do you maybe just say nothing, go online, and write a bad review about the place? Then others might see your review, and decide to go somewhere else.

If you're in Italy, however, soon you may not be able to leave a bad review without being able to prove that you had a bad experience.

In a new law being proposed by the country's government, review websites like TripAdvisor will need to make sure that the people leaving reviews have actually visited the places they're reviewing.

The law, which would be the first of its kind in Europe, would require reviewers to be verified with an ID, and show proof that they had been to the place not more than two weeks before their review.

It's already against the law to leave fake reviews in Italy, but it's not always easy to know which reviews are fake. This law would make sure that the reviewer has, at least, visited the place.

The law would also let businesses ask for bad reviews to be removed after two years if they can show that the problem mentioned in the review has been fixed.

The idea is to protect businesses and make sure reviews are honest — which also means people like influencers won't be able to be paid to leave positive reviews.

In fact, many people who agree with the law believe it should extend to all social media, not just review websites, because with so many influencers being paid by companies online, it's not always easy to know which reviews are honest.