brazil world cup 2014 students)

8/6/2019 Brazil World Cup 2014 Students)

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Warm-up:

Do you believe Brazil will be ready for the World Cup in 2014?

What do you think the government should do to prevent further delays of theconstructions for the World Cup 2014?

Can the government reduce the time for the construction works to be finished? Ifso, how?

Pre-reading:

VocabularyMatch the columns:

a. pitch

b. money guzzling

c. think-tank

d. kick-off

e. hectic

f. cobbled

g. sluggish

h. concessions

i. rampant

1. to put together clumsily2. excessive3. to use up a large some of money in a

short period of time4. existing or spreading everywhere ina way that cannot be controlled

5. the start of a game of soccer6. something that you allow somebody

to do to make a situation less difficult7. a field8. a group of experts who provide

advice and ideas on political, socialor economic issues

9. very busy, full activity


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Brazil's World Cup preparations

Late kick-off

Airports and stadiums are behind schedule

THE 2014 football World Cup, to beheld in Brazil, should provide anopportunity for the hosts to show whatthey can do, both on and off the pitch. Itsfootballers define o Jogo bonito (thebeautiful game), and these days thecountrys economy is pretty good to watchas well. But it seems ever more possiblethat the country will drop the off -field ball.The 12 host cities have among them nineairport redevelopments which are wellbehind schedule. So Paulo has not even started to build the new stadium that is supposed tostage the opening match. In Rio de Janeiro the Maracan stadium (picture), penciled in for thefinal, is a money-guzzling building site. The contract for Natals propo sed arena was signed only

on April 15thmore than three years after Brazil was named host.Air travel is essential to shuttle fans between games, but most of Brazils airports are

already operating above their nominal capacity. Baggage handling and check -in are slow; delaysand cancellations common. On April 14th IPEA, a government -linked think-tank, said that even ifall the planned airport upgrades were completed by kick -off (which it said would not happen),hectic growth in local demand would still leav e most airports overcrowdedeven without 1mfootball fans stopping by. The number of internal flights taken annually rose by 83m in 2003 -10and will rise by almost as much again by 2014, the study said.

IPEAs warnings did not go down well with the govern ment. Gilberto Carvalho, thesecretary-general of the presidency, said they were cobbled together from press clippings andBrazilians, who suffered from an inferiority complex, were betting on disgrace. But it has longbeen obvious that the airports ne ed radical change. Infraero, the sluggish state -owned monopoly

that operates them, is so inefficient that for years it has failed to spend even half its budget forairport upgrades.On April 26th came the long-awaited news that the government would turn t o the private

sector for help. Antnio Palocci, the chief of staff to the president, said concessions were beingconsidered for five airports: first Braslias airport and two of So Paulos, and later one each ofthose in Belo Horizonte and Rio de Janeiro . But he gave no details of the terms on which theprivate consortia will operate, or how closely they will have to work with Infraero. Only three ofthe five airports he mentioned are on IPEAs critical list.

Private-sector investment is very welcome, says Paulo Resende, an infrastructurespecialist at the Fundao Dom Cabral, a business school. But just as important for the WorldCup is realism about what is possible by 2014. New terminals, runways, technology and evenentire new airports are needed to sa tisfy domestic demand, he says. But if we persist in sayingthat everything will be ready for the World Cup, no matter what, we risk making fools ofourselves, he says.

Mr. Resende thinks that the tournament will need quick fixes, such as temporary chec k-indesks and waiting areas in airport car parks, and pressing smaller airfields into service.

According to Respicio Espirito Santo, an aviation consultant, airlines will probably find seats forforeign football fans by suppressing domestic demand with bi g fare rises. Both worry that thegovernments plan to speed things up by relaxing normally strict rules on building and managingpublicly funded projects will lead to rampant cost escalation, as happened with the facilities forthe Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro in 2007. Brazil may still be ready for kick -off, thoughperhaps with fewer stadiums than it had originally planned. But it looks likely to pay a high pricefor a successful tournament.


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After reading:

Has your opinion about the warm-up questionschanged after the information you read in the text?

How many host cities will the 2014 World Cup have?

How many airports are not on time with the construction?

Where is the opening match supposed to occur?

What is the situation with the constructions in So Paulo?

What stadium is in the picture? Where is it located? What adjective wasattributed to its cost?

How are tourists going to travel from one city to the others to watch the soccer

matches?

Are the airports renovations going to be enough to meet the increase in thedemand for the World Cup?

How are the airlines expected to restrain the domestic demand on flights for thetime of the World Cup?

Give examples of the quick fixes the specialist considers necessary for theWorld Cup?

Who do you think is going to win the2014 World Cup?Why?

brazil world cup 2014 students)

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