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TEXT 6 1 Before you read the text study or revise the following vocabulary matching the terms in column A

with the correct definitions in column B and then with the correct translations given in column C. The first has been done for you.

A B C

1 foreclosure

2 soar

3 IOU

4 air

5 lure

6 drought

7 venture capital

8 bogus

9 spin

a I owe you (written promise to pay a debt)

b false

c a way of presenting information to give a positive image of oneself

d the act of stopping a mortgage from being redeemable, as a result of default in payment

e broadcast

f risk capital

g rise

h attract

i period of time with little or no rain

A blocco dei mutui

B trasmettere

C siccità

D aumentare vertiginosamente

E falso

F pagherò

G ricerca dell’effetto

H attirare

I fondo di rischio

(1)

California, you may have heard, is an apocalyptic mess of raging wildfires, soaring unemployment,

mass foreclosures and political paralysis. It’s dysfunctional. It is so broke that it had to hand out IOUs while its leaders debated how many prisoners to release and parks to close. Nevada aired ads mocking Cali-fornia’s business climate to lure its entre-preneurs. The media portray California as a noir fantasyland of overcrowded schools, perpetual droughts, celebrity breakdowns, illegal immigration, hellish congestion and general sickness.

(2)In fact, the pioneering megastate that gave us microchips, freeways, blue jeans, tax revolts, extreme sports, energy efficiency, health clubs, Google searches, iPhones and the Hollywood vision of success is still the vanguard of the American future

– economically, environmentally, demo-graphically, culturally and maybe political-ly. It’s the greenest and most diverse state, the most globalized in general and most Asia-oriented in particular at a time when the world is heading in all those direc-tions. It’s also an unparalleled engine of innovation, the mecca of high tech, bio-tech and now clean tech. In 2008, Califor-nia’s disastrous economy attracted more venture capital than the rest of the nation combined. Somehow its supposedly hos-tile business climate has nurtured Google, Apple, Facebook, Twitter, Disney, eBay, YouTube, MySpace, the Gap and count-less other companies that drive the way we live.

(3) “Whenever we have a problem, everyone makes a big drama – ‘Oh, my God, it’s the end. California is over’,” Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger told me. “It’s all bogus.”

Why California is Still America’s Future

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Schwarzenegger likes spin and drama too – he’s issued warnings about a financial ca-tastrophe. But his belief in the anything-is-possible dream of California is more than spin; he is, after all, its ultimate em-bodiment.

(4)California will be back. It’s been stuck in an awful recession – not quite as aw-ful as Nevada’s – but it’s getting unstuck. It’s made nasty cuts to close ugly deficits, but it hasn’t had to release prisoners or close parks, and its IOUs are being paid. Its businesses aren’t fleeing to Nevada or anywhere else. It can be perilous to generalize about a place this gigantic, an overwhelmingly metropolitan state that leads the nation in agricultural production, a majority-minority state with a white-majority elec-torate. There are real differences between technological Northern and intellectual anticonformist Southern California, and especially richer, denser, bluer coastal and

poorer, sparser, redder inland California. But one generalization has held true from the Gold Rush to the human-potential movement to the dotcom boom: Califor-nia stands for change, for disruption of the status quo.

(5)California is a state of early adopters – not only in fashion, technology and design but in politics too. Its voters approved huge bonds for stem-cell research, high-speed rail and repairs to aging infrastructure while Washington was dragging its feet; its politicians adopted first-in-the-nation greenhouse-gas regulations, green build-ing codes and efficiency standards for au-tomobiles and appliances that have rear-ranged the national energy debate. California still has an enviably young and productive workforce. And it’s still a mag-net for dreamers who want to start anew, make money and change the world.

Source: Time

2 Read the text and choose among the following the right titles to the paragraphs.

•TheCaliforniandream•Astatethatlookstothefuture•TherecoveryofCalifornia•AnapocalypticviewofCalifornia•Adynamicandeconomicallyattractivestate

3 Answer the following questions.

1 WhatdidCalifornia’sleadersplantodoinordertocutpublicspending?2 WhatdidNevadatrytodo?3 Whatnegativeaspectsdidthemediapointout?4 UnderlinethetwosentencesthatsummarisethemainfeaturesofCalifornia.Whatmainfeatureis

stressed?5 WhatistheCaliforniandream?6 HowdidCaliforniameettheproblemsoftherecession?7 Whatarethemaincontrastingaspectsofthisstate?8 WhatkindofpeopleareattractedtoCalifornia?

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TEXT 6 4 What aspects of California are attractive to you? Write a paragraph summarising the main point of the

article and add a personal comment.