Thursday Tidbits - Do you know your verb tenses?

Do you know your verb tenses?

Do you know how many verb tenses there are in English? The answer is 12 (not including 2 emphatic tenses). However, there are 4 that are the most commonly used in conversation: simple past, present progressive, past progressive, and the present perfect (arguably, the future tense can be included, but for the moment let’s focus on these 4). Understanding these 4 verb tenses well will go a long way in improving your English conversation skills. Let’s take a brief look at these 4 important tenses, their context, and their form, both in statement and question form.

Present Progressive

The present progressive is simply a form of the auxiliary verb “to be” (is, are, am) plus the “-ing” form of the principle verb. It is used when describing an on-going action in present (and also for the future). Here are some examples:

Statement form

They are working very hard on the project.

Your mother is preparing dinner for them.

Question form

Are they working very hard on the project?

Is your mother preparing dinner for them?

*Notice that for questions, you simply change the subject and the auxiliary verb to form the question.

Simple past

The simple past is basically used when describing a single moment that happened in the past. In the positive form, the verb is simply conjugated. Also, unlike the present form, there is no change in the verb for third person (he, she, it).  In the negative form, didn’t is added and the verb itself remains in the simple form. Here are some examples:

Statement form

You traveled with your family to the beach.

The doctor told him some good news.

Question form

Did you travel with your family to the beach?

Did the doctor tell him some good news?

Past Progressive

The past progressive is simply a form of the auxiliary verb “to be” (was, were) plus the “-ing” form of the principle verb. The same as the present progressive, it is used when describing an on-going action, but in the past. Here are some examples:

Statement form

They were working very hard on the project.

Your mother was preparing dinner for them.

Question form

Were they working very hard on the project?

Was your mother preparing dinner for them?

*Notice, again, that for questions, you simply change the subject and the auxiliary verb to form the question.

Present Perfect

The present perfect verb tense is formed with an auxiliary verb (has or have) plus the participle form of the principle verb. It is used for describing events in the past, but it is used in different contexts than the simple past. Here are the contexts:

1) Non-specific moment – She has traveled to Japan.

2) Multiple times – They have seen that movie many times.

3) Past to present – I have worked there for many years.

4) Never – He has never tried sushi before.

Here are some other examples of this verb form. Both statement and question form:

Statement form

They have gone bungie jumping.

His boss has explained the problem several times.

He has studied English for a long time.

Question form

Have they gone bungie jumping?

Has his boss explained the problem?

Has he studied English for a long time?

 * Once again, notice that for questions, you simply change the subject and the auxiliary verb to form the question.

Check Yourself

Change the example simple present verb tense sentence to the verb form indicated. Also notice if it is the statement or question form.

Example:  She gives him a present.

Simple past statement: __She gave him a present.__

Past progressive question: __Was she giving him a present?__

1. They buy the tickets.

Simple past question: __________________________________________________________?

Present progressive statement: __________________________________________________.

2. She listens to the song.

Present perfect statement: _____________________________________________________.

Past progressive question: ______________________________________________________?

3. They think of a solution to the problem.

Simple past question: __________________________________________________________?

Past progressive statement:______________________________________________________.

4. He flies to Chicago.

Simple past question: ___________________________________________________________?

Present perfect question:_________________________________________________________?

5. My friend runs in the park.

Present progressive statement:____________________________________________________.

Past progressive question: ________________________________________________________?

Answers to Last Week's Check Yourself

When walking home from work, Diana saw a man sitting on the side of the street. He looked tired, beaten, and like he was (1)  down on his luck  . Diana had recently had a (2)lucky streak  , because she had had a lot of good fortune. She decided that today, the man was (3)in luck   because she wanted to give him some of her money, to help him. But the man decided to (4) push his luck  and ask for food and a place to live as well. Diana told the man, "(5)Tough luck  ! You (6) lucked out  once, but don't get greedy!"

The Weird and the Wonderful

Tanja Hols, Janitor In German Library, Finds Historic Coins Possibly Worth Millions

From: http://www.huffingtonpost.com

 

Library janitor or Indiana Jones?

Tanja Höls, a custodian at the Passau state library in Germany, stumbled upon a box full of coins while on the job last week. Turns out, those coins are thousands of years old and could be worth millions.

“The box itself was fairly unspectacular, it looked like a big jewelry box, with lots of little drawers inside,” she told The Local.

When she told her bosses at the library, they were stunned. The library believes that the collection likely belonged to local prince-bishops, who hid the treasure in the library in the early 19th century to avoid paying taxes.

The gold and silver coins can be traced to ancient Rome, Greece and the Byzantine empires, according to the German Herald.

Höls, who had walked by the unassuming box many times before daring to open up, will be rewarded for her curiosity. A spokesman for the library told Der Spiegel that "she was very honest, a brilliant historian and a great detective. We are certainly going to promote her to the curating side of the museum and we're discussing a suitable reward for her."

Word of the Day

Stumble
stum·ble:\stəm-bəl\
Origin: Middle English, probably of Scandinavian origin; akin to Norwegian dialect stumle to stumble
First Known Use: 14th century
Verb
intransitive verb
1 a : to fall into sin or waywardness; b : to make an error : blunder; c : to come to an obstacle to belief
2: to trip in walking or running
3 a : to walk unsteadily or clumsily; b : to speak or act in a hesitant or faltering manner
4 a : to come unexpectedly or by chance <stumble onto the truth>; b : to fall or move carelessly
transitive verb
1: to cause to stumble : trip
2: bewilder, confound
Noun
an act or instance of stumbling

More Vocabulary

Avoid: v. to prevent the occurrence or effectiveness of
Curator: n. a person who is in charge of the things in a museum, zoo, etc.
Daring: adj. venturesomely bold in action or thought
Empire: n. a major political unit having a territory of great extent or a number of territories or peoples under a single sovereign authority
Fairly: adv. rather
Stun: v. to overcome especially with paralyzing astonishment or disbelief

Figueres Announces His Return To Costa Rica

From: http://www.insidecostarica.com

The news of the return of former president José Maria Figueres Olsen to Costa Rica has generated wet dreams, euphoria, passions, prolonged sleeplessness, extreme concern and many other reactions since the airing of the television interview with Ignacio Santos on Telenoticias Monday night.

Is Figueres going to clean up the government in Costa Rica? Will he be the missing element to lead the PLN to a third consecutive term?

The former president is the son of Don "Pepe"(diminutive for José), José María Hipólito Figueres Ferrer, who served as President of Costa Rica on three occasions: 1948–1949, 1953–1958, and 1970–1974 which, during his first term in office, abolished the country's army, nationalized its banking sector, and granted women and blacks the right to vote.

José María Figueres Olsen was president of Costa Rica from 1994 to 1998, Minister of Foreign Trade 1986-1988, and then Minister of Agriculture 1988-1990.

In 1986 Nobel Peace Prize Laurate and President Óscar Arias, during his first 1986–1990, appointed Figueres to overhaul the ailing National Railway System, INCOFER. Shortly afterwards he was appointed Minister in the Arias government, first of Foreign Trade and later of Agriculture, upon the completion of the governmental period Figueres continued his academic studies at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, graduating in 1991 with a Master’s Degree in Public Administration.

Back in Costa Rica, Figueres declared his intention to seek the nomination of the political party he belonged to, Partido Liberación Nacional (PLN). After a heated and much-disputed primary election process involving five candidates, Figueres won the party's nomination in 1993 and went on to the national election which he won in February 1994. José María Figueres Olsen was elected President of Costa Rica for four years at the age of 39, the nation's youngest president in the 20th century.

During his presidency Figueres promoted Sustainable Development as the integrating architecture of governmental action. This program was anchored on three pillars: Firstly, to transform the Costa Rican economy towards one of higher productivity, with special emphasis on technology.

Secondly, for the Costa Rican society to express greater solidarity by opening opportunities of wellbeing for all; thirdly, for society to develop itself in harmony with nature (from the book “Gobernando en Tiempos de Cambio: Administración Figueres Olsen, by Leonardo Garnier). The administration is credited with having worked to advance and promote further integration of Costa Rica into the globalized economy.

The achievements of his government, which was also controversial to some, included reforming and reorganizing many public institutions, including closing down some of them, such as Banco Anglo Costarricense and the National Railway System (INCOFER), to increase the efficiency of the State; established a coherent strategy to boost development and create qualified higher paying jobs by attracting foreign investment to Costa Rica; reforms to modernize the state-banking sector, including opening the monopoly on current accounts held by state owned banks; created EBAIS (Primary Teams of Basic Health Care) as an effective provider of preventive medicine in the communities; opened a second international airport in Liberia, Guanacaste, that helped the tourism industry flourish in the northern region of Costa Rica; and, his government was the first in modern Costa Rican history that refrained from spending during the election cycle towards the end of his mandate.

The Chemise Case

In 1991, when Figueres was seen as a possible contender for the presidency, brothers David and José Romero published a book accusing Figueres of having participated in the extrajudicial execution of a drug dealer named Jose Joaquin Orozco, known as "Chemise".

The basis for this allegation dated back to March 7, 1973, when the drug dealer was detained for selling marijuana, and later released by police. Shortly afterwards, he was killed and tossed into a ravine. The murder was never solved.

However a Congressional Committee questioned several persons on their possible knowledge of the circumstances surrounding this death, including young Figueres, who served as a voluntary police lieutenant. The Romero brothers also filed a complaint for murder against Figueres, but under the statute of limitations the case could no longer be opened. Figueres accused the Romero brothers of libel and in 1993 a court acquitted them while condemning their main source, former drug-enforcement officer Walter Campos. Figueres won the presidential election in 1994 and appointed his lawyer in the libel case as the new Minister of Public Safety. In 1998 another court sentenced the Romero brothers to seven years' imprisonment for making a false accusation, but that sentence was appealed and revoked due to procedural issues.

In 2000, two years after Figueres left office, the legal proceeding ended with a settlement between the Romero brothers and Figueres's lawyers.

On 22 January 2002, television anchor Ignacio Santos of Channel 7 in Costa Rica, interviewed John Biehl, an international figure in Latin America and a close collaborator to President Oscar Arias during his first presidency (1986–1990). In the interview Mr. Biehl speaking on the issue of dirty politics, states that for answers on the ‘Chemise Case’ with which President Figueres was attacked during his campaign, questions should be addressed to Fernando Zumbado.

Mr. Zumbado had been Minister of Housing during President Arias’ first administration, and is again a Minister in President Arias’ second term (2006 - 2010). During the political campaign to elect Jose Maria Figueres, Mr. Zumbado was first a contender of Mr. Figueres, and later retired to support candidate Margarita Penon, who was then married to President Arias.

Alcatel Case

In 2004, Costa Rica’s Attorney General opened official investigations against two other former presidents, for alleged financial misconduct. Both were placed under arrest. Shortly afterwards local media reports claimed Figueres had also received bribes from Alcatel.

It was revealed that Figueres received nearly US$900.000 dollars from Alcatel, for a consultation on telecommunications. Figueres was hired by the firm H.F. Desarrollos Interdisciplinarios S.A. (DISA), owned by Roberto Hidalgo, who was an advisor during his presidential term. Carmen Valverde Acosta, former Secretary General of the PLN also received nearly US$900.000 from DISA.

Valverde elaborated texts for DISA and provided editing services through her company, Grupo de Asesores Lingüisticos Asociados. Carmen Valverde Acosta is the sister of Edgar Valverde Acosta, Alcatel’s general manager in Costa Rica at the time of the bribery scandal.

Roberto Hidalgo signed three contracts between 2000 and 2001, with France's Alcatel intended to provide political advice to Alcatel on Costa Rican politics and interpretation of the Costa Rican reality. In total, Alcatel paid Hidalgo's DISA a total amount of US$2.7 million, shared proportionally by the three people involved, Figueres Olsen, Hidalgo and Valverde Acosta.

Alcatel payments were conditional on the success of Alcatel in its dealings with the Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE). In August, 2001 Alcatel won a contract to install 400 thousand land lines, at a cost of US$149 million. It also won a contract from ICE in 2002 to expand the land-line system, a project of US $109 million. 

The revelations of these payments triggered strong reactions from former allies of Figueres Olsen.

Oscar Arias stated that he felt wretched by the news of the revelations. He also stated that Figueres' actions imply "a treason to the party and the heritage of Don Pepe". Arias announced at the time he intended to demand to the party authorities the expulsion of Figueres Olsen from the PLN.

Following the media allegations, Mr. Figueres was forced to resign from the World Economic Forum (WEF). The WEF issued a statement that it, "through the press, has discovered that Jose Maria Figueres had, during two and a half years, a significant contractual agreement with another enterprise while holding a directorial post in the Forum."

A Costa Rican Congressional Commission took it upon themselves to investigate the allegations. The Comisión de Control del Ingreso y el Gasto Público sent a subpoena to Figueres. He ignored the Commission’s requests, preferring to present them a sworn affidavit with a detailed account of his professional services in the field of technology and communications (accessible on request in the Costa Rican Congressional Records).

At the time, the Commission requested of the Ministry of Public Security to demand the assistance of Interpol in order to bring Mr Figueres to the country. Members of  Figueres' party, the PLN, in the commission also supported the resolution. However, on September 6, 2005, Judge Maria Morales of the First Circuit Court of Costa Rica pronounced a ruling in Figueres' favour, and against the Congressional Commission's procedures. The Commission also failed to register a report on the findings before the Congress, as stipulated in Congressional Procedural Regulations.

Figueres was never summoned nor charged by the Attorney General.

On September 19, 2007, the Attorney General formally announced that there were no grounds on which to summon, or press any charges against Figueres. 

Figueres has since resided in Europe and has not returned to Costa Rica since 2004.

Word of the Day

Euphoria
eu·pho·ria: \yü-fȯr-ē-ə\
Origin: New Latin, from Greek, from euphoros healthy, from eu- + pherein to bear — more at bear
First Known Use: circa 1751
: a feeling of well-being or elation
— eu·phor·ic adjective
— eu·phor·i·cal·ly adverb

More Vocabulary

Allegation: n. a positive assertion; specifically: a statement by a party to a legal action of what the party undertakes to prove
Anchor: n. a reliable or principal support : mainstay
Architecture: n. a unifying or coherent form or structure
Contender: n. a competitor for a championship or high honor
Flourish: v. to achieve success : prosper
Nomination: n. the act of formally choosing someone as a candidate for a job, position, office, etc.
Overhaul: v. to change (something) completely in order to improve it 
Settlement: n. a formal agreement or decision that ends an argument or dispute
Summon: v. to order (someone) to appear in a court of law
Treason: n. the betrayal of a trust
Wretched: adj. deeply afflicted, dejected, or distressed in body or mind

Love those Phrasal Verbs

Clean up: to rid of undesirable persons or features

• The presidential candidates promise is to clean up the government by getting rid of the corruption.

Thursday Tidbits - Idioms with Luck...

Thursday Tidbits – Idioms with Luck

Idioms are one of the hardest things to understand and learn in a non-native language, but they are also what help speakers sound more natural. Check out just a few of the English idioms that use the word luck.

Definition of luck: noun; having good fortune

Luck out: to have had good fortune come upon someone unexpectedly

Example: Lena was late for her flight and almost missed it, but she lucked out when she found out it was delayed.

Similar idiom: in luck (Lena was in luck when she found out her flight was delayed.)

Down on one's luck: to have a lot of bad luck in a short period of time

Example: James lost his job, crashed his car, and broke up with his girlfriend in the same week. He was definitely down on his luck!

Similar idiom: tough luck (used as an exclamation, as in: Tough luck, James!)

Lucky streak: the opposite of down on one's luck, to have a lot of good luck in a short period of time

Example: Allan was having a lucky streak: he won the lottery and met the love of his life last month.

Push one's luck: after already being lucky, trying the same thing again to see if one will be lucky again

Example: After winning the lottery, I decided to push my luck and buy another lottery ticket.

Note: Push one's luck is often used in the negative. Don't push your luck! would mean to not be greedy with what you are asking.

Check yourself

Fill in the story below using the correct forms of the idioms (luck out, in luck, down on one's luck, tough luck, lucky streak, push one's luck).

When walking home from work, Diana saw a man sitting on the side of the street. He looked tired, beaten, and like he was (1)____________. Diana had recently had a (2)______________, because she had had a lot of good fortune. She decided that today, the man was (3)____________ because she wanted to give him some of her money, to help him. But the man decided to (4) ____________ and ask for food and a place to live as well. Diana told the man, "(5)____________! You (6)_______________ once, but don't get greedy!"

 Answers to last week’s Check Yourself

1. Last night I (heard/listened to) the sirens on Paseo Colon.
2. If I can't go to a soccer game, I like to (hear/listen to) it on the radio.
3. Jane and John broke up because neither (heard/listened) when the other spoke.
4. Alvin didn't (hear/listen to) his phone ring because he had his headphones in.
5. When I go to the mountains, I shut my eyes and concentrate, just to see what noises I can (hear/listen to).

The Weird and the Wonderful

Car Dealer Sued For Smelly SUV That May Have Once Held Dead Body

From: http://www.huffingtonpost.com

 

A couple from New Baltimore, Mich., is raising a stink with a car dealership for selling an SUV with what they say is a terrible odor -- and they believe it may have been caused by a dead body.

In March, Ruben and Margarita Salais purchased a 2006 Ford Explorer from Suburban Ford of Sterling Heights for $14,000. At first they thought they were getting a great deal, even if the SUV had a slight odor.

According to their lawyer, Dani Liblang, the couple noticed that off-putting odor grew worse as the weather warmed. Much worse.

"I got to smell it today," Liblang told HuffPost Weird News. "It smells like something rotted. It stinks to high heaven. Even the dealer thought it was a dead animal. They even offered a gas mask to my client after they refused to take the car back."

Jim Elder, manager of the car dealership, suggested instead that the stinky situation was a matter for the couple's insurance company.

"We had the car for 90 days on our lot, and we fixed it up and never noticed the smell," he told HuffPost Weird News. "They had the car 90 days before they came back. Basically, that was six months with no report of the smell."

But when the couple's insurance company, State Farm, was pulled in, things really started smelling funny, Liblang said.

"The insurance company did an investigation of the history of the vehicle, which showed that the car had been used as a rental vehicle and been stolen three times," she said. "But this was never reported to my clients."

Even more shocking was a hazmat team's finding about the source of the smell: According to the investigation, the smell was of "human origin."

The Salaises sued the car dealership on Nov. 1 for an unspecified amount "above $25,000" for failing to disclose that the vehicle had been a daily rental, had been stolen and recovered, and had previously contained a decomposed human body.

Elder said that his business is on the side of the customers, that the SUV was purchased from a reputable dealer, and that the Carfax report that came with it did not mention any thefts. He also noted that the dead body allegation is unproven.

"The hazmat team told me they couldn't prove a dead body had been there and said it might be a rotting steak," Elder said. "We want to make things right, but the [dead body] claim is something that hasn't been investigated."

Liblang was unaware of any criminal investigation related to the Explorer, but subpoenas have been sent to local police departments to try to determine what happened in that SUV, which she speculated was involved in a murder, according to Detroit.CBSLocal.com.

"I would think that's the only explanation," she said. "The hazmat company has said they found traces of blood."

Liblang hopes that the attention being paid to the case locally inspires the dealership to either buy back the car or exchange it for another vehicle.

Word of the Day

Odor: \ō-dər\
Origin: Middle English odour, from Anglo-French odur, from Latin odor; akin to Latin olēre to smell, Greek ozein to smell, osmē smell, odor
First Known Use: 13th century
Noun
1a : a quality of something that stimulates the olfactory organ : scent; b : a sensation resulting from adequate stimulation of the olfactory organ : smell2 a : a characteristic or predominant quality : flavor <the odor of sanctity>; b : repute, estimation <in bad odor>
3archaic : something that emits a sweet or pleasing scent : perfume
— odored adjective
— odor·less adjective

More Vocabulary

Allegation: n. an assertion unsupported and by implication regarded as unsupportable
Decompose: v. rot
Hazmat: n. a material (as flammable or poisonous material) that would be a danger to life or to the environment if released without precautions
Off-putting: adj. that puts one off : repellent, disconcerting
Origin: n. the point at which something begins or rises or from which it derives
Subpoena: n. the point at which something begins or rises or from which it derives

Idioms & Phrasal Verbs

Raise a stink: to complain angrily about something

• Parents really should raise a stink about violence on children's TV shows.

Stinks to high heaven: to smell very bad.

• What happened? This place stinks to high heaven.

Tuesday´s News

Costa Rica: Tax Bill Gathers Opposition

From: http://www.insidecostarica.com

The tax measure hammered out in a meeting between President Laura Chinchilla (Partido Liberación Nacional - PLN) and Otton Solis, chief of the Partido Acción Cuidadana Party (PAC) has inevitably run into a few objections Thursday in its first appearance on the floor of the Legislative Assembly.

The objections number 1,250, to be exact, the vast majority of them (1,100) from the Movimiento Liberatio (ML), but other smaller parties weighing in as well.

The Broad Front Party (Frente Amplio) registered 100, the PASE party 35 and Social Christian Unity (PUSC) 20. That was the count Friday morning, but parties may present others through Monday.

Thereafter, deputies offering the proposed changes to the plan and those opposing amendments have four days in which to discuss the bill and insert alterations in it. Then it will be voted on.

The reform, in case you got in on the action too late, proposes to turn the 13% sales tax into an ad valorem tax. It would also make the sales tax 14% and include many services now exempt.

Libertarian deputy Manuel Hernandez whose party opposes the tax package does not rule out presenting more amendments on Monday. If PAC and Liberation can keep their votes together, they have a chance to push the measure through.

But several groups have a push back planned outside the unicameral congressional halls on Central Avenue in downtown San Jose. For example, the high school teacher's union, APSE, strongly opposes the bill as now written.

The teachers plan to mobilize a broad front of university students, unions, social organizations, banana workers--even Caja anesthesiologists and physicians [who are already on strike.]

Chief target of APSE is a 2% tax on private education contained in the bill. "As an organization defending the right of education," said Beatriz Terreto, APSE president, "We are worried about the tax on private education, lest the cost of registration and courses becomes unpayable."

But other onerous contents of the bill are a tax similar to education on private medical care, a 15% tax on dividends for companies in the free zone industrial parks. This latter tax, although it would not go into effect until 2015, has already caused some foreign companies to rethink their plans for expansion here.

Both PASE and Broad Front representatives have presented modifications to the latter measure. An estimated 60,000 persons are workers in the free zones that were made tax free by past administrations to attract just such businesses. It is unusual for these tiny parties to side with businesses.

Manrique Oviedo, PAC floor leader, dismisses the majority of the amendments as "irrational," meant simply to slow down the passing of the bill.

Word of the Day

Inevitable
in·ev·i·ta·ble: \i-ne-və-tə-bəl\
Origin: Middle English, from Latin inevitabilis, from in- + evitabilis evitable
First Known Use: 14th century
Adjective
incapable of being avoided or evaded <an inevitable outcome>
Adverb
1: in an inevitable way
2: as is to be expected <inevitably, it rained>

More Vocabulary

Ad valorem: adj. imposed at a rate percent of value
Alter: v. to make different without changing into something else
Amendment: n. a change in the words or meaning of a law or document
Exempt: n. one exempted or freed from duty
Lest: conj. for fear that —often used after an expression denoting fear or apprehension <worried lest she should be late> <hesitant to speak out lest he be fired>
Onerous: adj. involving, imposing, or constituting a burden : troublesome
Unicameral: adj. having or consisting of a single legislative chamber

Monday´s News

Parent of American Airlines files for bankruptcy

From: http://www.ticotimes.net

 

The Texas-based carrier has multiple flights per week to Costa Rica from U.S. airports in Dallas/Ft. Worth, New York City and Miami.

DALLAS – American Airlines parent company AMR filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Tuesday, as the troubled firm tried to put its finances in order while keeping planes in the sky and passengers in seats.

“Chapter 11 reorganization is in the best interest of the company and its stakeholders,” the firm said in an early-morning statement, which also announced the departure of chairman and chief executive Gerard Arpey.

The filing will allow the Texas-based carrier, which has extensive routes within the United States and the Americas, to restructure with more legal room-for-maneuver to renegotiate or cancel service and wage contracts. American Airlines flies several times per week to Costa Rica from U.S. hubs in Dallas/Ft.Worth, New York City and Miami.

The airline said it hoped the move would help it secure “long-term viability” by improving costs, reducing its debt burden and trying to be more profitable amid rising jet fuel prices.

The airline, which serves 260 cities through a network that reaches 50 countries and territories, insisted it would continue “normal business operations.”

But that claim was slapped down by some industry analysts.

“Cuts will come: They've said everything is normal for now, but the cutting will surely start soon. They'll reduce aircraft, employees and routes,” said Seth Kaplan of Airline Weekly.

“Look for American hubs like Dallas and Miami, where AA has a good competitive position, to escape relatively unscathed. Los Angeles and even Chicago, on the other hand, could be more vulnerable.”

AA said passengers will see tickets and air mileage plans honored.

The filing could have broad repercussions for the airline sector.

Rumors had swirled for months that AMR would file for bankruptcy protection, after an unusual spike in pilot retirements, with the pilots trying to sell off their own stocks in the company.

Shares in AMR have now plunged 95 percent in the last year, selling at 32 cents a share, giving the company a market value of around $105 million.

The move will fuel speculation that American Airlines is looking for a merger in an industry that has seen a swathe of consolidation in recent years and regularly suffers from oil or other shocks.

Most of the best-known US airlines have filed for bankruptcy at some point since 1978, according to data from the Air Transport Association. Most have emerged from bankruptcy with the notable exception of PanAm, which collapsed in 1991.

Since the attacks of September 11, 2001, Hawaiian Airlines, United Airlines, U.S. Airways (twice), Northwest Airlines and Delta Air Lines have all filed for Chapter 11 protection, which permits reorganization while under protection from creditors.

Word of the Day

Repercussion
re·per·cus·sion: \rē-pər-kə-shən, re-\
Origin: Latin repercussion-, repercussio, from repercutere to drive back, from re- + percutere to beat — more at percussion
First Known Use: 1536
Noun
1: reflection, reverberation
2 a: an action or effect given or exerted in return : a reciprocal action or effect; b: a widespread, indirect, or unforeseen effect of an act, action, or event —usually used in plural— re·per·cus·sive adjective

More Vocabulary

Bankrupt: adj. reduced to a state of financial ruin : impoverished; specifically : legally declared a bankrupt
Chapter 11: n. a section of the Bankruptcy Code that provides for the reorganization of an insolvent corporation under court supervision and can establish a schedule for the payment of debts and, in some cases, a new corporation that can continue to do business
Fuel: v. support, stimulate
Hub: n. an airport or city through which an airline routes most of its traffic
Parent: n. a group from which another arises and to which it usually remains subsidiary <a parent company>
Share: n. any of the equal portions into which property or invested capital is divided; specifically : any of the equal interests or rights into which the entire stock of a corporation is divided and ownership of which is regularly evidenced by one or more certificates
Stakeholder: n. a person or business that has invested money in something (such as a company)
Unscathed: adj. wholly unharmed : not injured

Love those Phrasal Verbs!

Slap down: to reject, oppose, or criticize sharply

• Public protests against the government were always promptly slapped down.