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Artificial Intelligence is transforming the world

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a branch of computer science that focuses on creating machines capable of performing tasks that require human-like intelligence. This includes learning from experience, understanding natural language, recognizing patterns, and making decisions. AI technology has made significant advancements in recent years and is now an integral part of our daily lives. ______, virtual assistants like Siri and Google Assistant use AI to respond to voice commands and provide information. In the business world, AI can analyze large datasets quickly, helping companies make informed decisions and improve efficiency. In healthcare, AI plays a vital role in diagnosing diseases and developing personalized treatment plans based on patient data. ______, AI is at the forefront of innovations such as self-driving cars, which can navigate and make decisions in real-time. ______, the rise of AI also presents ethical concerns, including privacy issues and the potential for job displacement. ______ AI continues to evolve, it is essential for society to address these challenges while harnessing its benefits for a brighter future. Understanding AI will be crucial for adapting to the changes it brings to various aspects of our lives.

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Famous Quotations about Change

“Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future”. (John Kennedy, American president)

“There is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged to find how you yourself have altered”. (Nelson Mandela, South African president)

“Certain things should stay the way they are. You ought to be able to stick them in one of those big glass cases and just leave them alone”. (Holden Caulfield in Catcher in the Rye, by J. D. Salinger, American novelist)

“Only the wisest and stupidest of men never change”. (Confucius, Chinese teacher)

“Everything is in a process of change, nothing endures; we do not seek permanence”. (Masatoshi Naito, Japanese photographer)

“You can clutch the past so tightly to your chest that it leaves your arms too full to embrace the present”. (Jan Glidewell. American journalist)

“To change and to change for the better are two different things”. (German proverb)

“Any change, even a change for the better, is always accompanied by drawbacks and discomforts”. (Arnold Bennett, English novelist)

“That's the risk you take if you change: that people you've been involved with won't like the new you. But other people who do will come along”. (Lisa Alther, American novelist)

EARLE-CARLIN, S. Skills for Success. 2^nd edition, 2015.

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        How ghost cities in the Amazon are rewriting the story of civilisation

    Try to imagine an environment largely untouched by humans and the Amazon rainforest might spring to mind. After all, large swathes of this South American landscape are blanketed in thick vegetation, suggesting it is one corner of the world that humans never managed to tame. Here, there must have been no deforestation, no agricultural revolution and no cities. It seems like a pristine environment.

    Or so we thought. But a very different picture is emerging. Archaeologists working with Indigenous communities have been shown crumbling urban remains and remote sensing technologies such as LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) are revealing the footprints of vast ghost cities. With so much evidence of ancient human activity, it is now thought the pre-Columbian Amazon was inhabited by millions of people – some living in large built-up areas complete with road networks, temples and pyramids.

    But that’s not all this research reveals. Paradoxically, it also provides evidence that the traditional view of the Amazon isn’t completely wide of the mark. For instance, while the ancient Amazonians managed their landscape intensively, they didn’t deforest it. And although they developed complex societies, they never went through a wholesale agricultural revolution. This might suggest that the pre-Columbian Amazonians broke the mould of human cultural development, which is traditionally seen as a relentless march from hunting and gathering to farming to urban complexity. The truth is more surprising. In fact, we are now coming to understand that there was no such mould – civilisation arose in myriad ways. What looks like an anomaly in the Amazon is actually a shining example of a process that was as vibrant and diverse as the rainforest itself.

Adapted from: https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg26334980-500-how-ghost cities-in-the-amazon-are-rewriting-the-story-of-civilisation/

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    McDonald’s unveils details of its $5 meal deal, but are you lovin’ it?

    On Thursday, McDonald’s revealed its highly anticipated $5 meal deal.

    Earlier this year the fast food giant came under fire after the receipt from a location in Connecticut went viral for its “outrageous pricing”. Ever since, the company has been working to find ways to win back its customers. Beginning June 25 and lasting for a limited time, McDonald’s will sell a “$5 Meal Deal” that will include: a McDouble cheeseburger, a McChicken sandwich, small French fries, 4-piece chicken nuggets, and small soft drink.

    “We heard our fans loud and clear — they’re looking for even more great value from us, and this summer that’s exactly what they’ll get,” McDonald’s USA President Joe Erlinger said in a statement.

    The fast food chain also announced that customers would be able to receive a free medium French fries on “Free Fries Friday” when they make a minimum $1 purchase.

    McDonald’s deal comes on the heels of several viral posts claiming the price of a Big Mac has significantly increased in the past several years.

    “The average price of a Big Mac in the US was $4.39 in 2019,” Erlinger stated. “Despite a global pandemic and historic rises in supply chain costs, wages and other inflationary pressures in the years that followed, the average cost is now $5.29. That’s an increase of 21% (not 100%).”

https://en.newsner.com/taste/mcdonalds-unveils-details-of-its-5-meal-deal-but-are-you-lovin-it

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    If you’re a chocoholic you may have noticed that your habit has lately become more expensive. The price of cocoa began creeping up in the second half of 2022. Since then it has doubled, reaching an all-time high in January 2024. That steep rise spells trouble for the chocolate business and sweet-toothed consumers alike.

    Climate patterns are partly to blame for rising costs. Cocoa is mostly produced by small farmers in West Africa. Ghana and Ivory Coast grow about 60% of the world’s crop. Last season, in 2023, the El Niño weather pattern led to unseasonably high temperatures and rainfall that ravaged crops. Total rainfall in Ivory Coast’s cocoa-growing areas in 2023 was the highest in 20 years, according to Gro Intelligence, a data firm.

    This year El Niño has brought severe drought to the cocoa farms, reducing production further. ING, a bank, estimates that this year the gap between global production and consumption will be at its widest since at least 2014. Extreme weather patterns have hit other commodities, too. Droughts in Thailand and India are affecting rice plantations. Torrential rain in Brazil, the world’s biggest sugar exporter, has affected its exports. Besides, other price pressures are specific to the cocoa industry. Swollen-shoot virus and black-pod disease — killers of cocoa trees — spread across Ghana and Ivory Coast during heavy rainfall last year. Tropical Research Services, a research company, estimates that by the end of 2023 the swollen-shoot virus had infected around 20% of Ivory Coast’s cocoa trees.

(www.economist.com, 28.02.2024. Adaptado.)