In Venezuela, An Abduction Highlights A Scourge
http://www.npr.org/2011/11/13/142287752/in-venezuela-an-abduction-highlights-a-scourge
Wilson Ramos was unleashed from kidnapping. The success of his return paid much sacrifice. A heavy gun fight occurred between officials and the abduction group, and this scene was like one of the movie shows, Ramos said.
In Venezuela, kidnapping occurs seriously. There are 895 kidnapping cases, which are as 20 times as 13 years ago, in last year, and most of hostages can barely be unleashed from this problem. His case is really rare. One of the biggest reasons of the kidnapping attributes the neighbor country, Colombia where is like anarchy. The targets are supposed to be storekeeper, engineers, housewives and students. The purpose of the kidnapping is of course ransom, however, the increasing of kidnapping cases is suffered from Venezuelan government. The return of Ramos is going to be a hope for the nation's future.
My opinion
I know there are a lot of kidnapping cases occur around Central and South America because of expanding business from the developed countries. The movie "Man on Fire", which is one of the most favorite movies for me, also mentions the kidnapping problem in Mexico City seriously. But I did not understand most of hostages are killed by the group. In Japan, such abductions rarely occur, so I was also astonished the numerous cases. I do not have any ideas to solve these issues, but if I can do something for preventing the issues, I would like do even though it becomes only a little help for such nations.
Vocabularies
1)scourge
Parts of speech
noun
Definition
a person or thing that applies or administers punishment or sever criticism
Synonym
plague, curse
My sentence
On March 11th, 2011, one of the biggest earthquakes in the world hit Japan and caused the severe scourge around Tohoku area, especially shore sides.
2)unleash
Parts of speech
verb
Definition
to untie
Synonym
release
My sentence
The abduction group unleashed the hostages because they got tremendous ransom.
3)ransom
Parts of speech
noun
Definition
money paid for return or possession or person
Synonym
compensation
My sentence
His parents had to prepare a large amount of money for his safe.
I wonder how many people are this lucky. Do you think it was because he is lucky, or because he is famous in the sports field? In my country, some people have privilege due to their wealthiness or authority, and they usually (not always, but more likely) will get some kind of special care.
ReplyDeleteIt is good to know that this is uncommon in Japan. There must be something that Japan is doing right. Now that I think about it, I have not seen any Japanese movies about abduction, at least not that common.
I guess movies reflect about lives in various places a lot, and it is a good way to help us know more about other countries to some extend while not having money to actually go wherever we want to go.
Koji, I have a question for you. I wonder how many different websites you visit every day? Do you have any recommendations to the class so they can have some ideas where to find interesting articles? Thanks in advance. :)
I think it was because he is lucky, not he is a famous person. If I were a kidnapping member, I absolutely would unleash him after getting huge money because we could acknowledge he is a source of revenue. We would try to abduct him and get money again, if I were a member.
ReplyDeleteI think three reasons are possible to prove the few number of kidnappings in Japan. The first reason is Japanese economy is stable. Only a few people are poor. Japan faces the recent recession seriously, but the difference between rich and poor is not so serious as the different nations, especially developing countries. The second reason is the Japanese personal feature. I think most of Japanese tend to avoid a somewhat bold action. For example, I have watched many riots scenes in the world on TV, and I always think if one of them is in Japan, it never occur in Japan. We blame own governments for its useless frequently, but we scarcely demonstrate in front of the congress building. I guess we do not have passionate soul to cause big movements. We often think like that, it is too much work for us, so...leave it. It is only my case, but I believe most Japanese feel the same as me. And the final reason is Japan is small country. Everything is so tight. So, if a kidnapping occurs, this kidnapping group will be caught so easily.
Well, I visit three websites mainly, and I visit them each by each. To tell the truth, I hesitated to visit any English websites, especially news sites. However, when I took your class, I had to visit these sites because that is one of our assignments. So, if I can recommend something for our class, we have to visit any websites in English and write anything which we felt or thought from the article. I can take time to read one article, but every students are not the same as me. I frequently visit, NPR, National Geographic, and New York Times, but these three websites are really tough not only any other students, but also me. I think the most important thing is whether we can manage our time out of school. So, if some students do not have much time, they should visit not so serious(like news sites)one, for example,
http://www.timeforkids.com/
I do not intend to bother any classmates, but this site is more match with beginner and intermediate students. I found the website for a couple minutes ago, but when I checked this website roughly, it is easier than the three websites which I mentioned. In my opinion, if some students concerns the reading journal assignments are so tough, you can recommend the site to them. How do you think about that?
I mean,
ReplyDelete"because he is famous person, not just the case."
in the first sentence.
I’ve read news, saying that kidnapping is a fast-growing and lucrative business in Mexico, Venezuela, and some other countries in Central America. Rescuing victims of kidnapping and preventing kidnapping are important, but, more importantly, there should be understandings why kidnapping occurs.
ReplyDelete