[154] People Who Threw Gandhi in Jail Give Him a Statue

TRAVEL NEWS WIRE…

People Who Threw Gandhi in Jail Give Him a Statue Eighty-five years after throwing India’s Mahatma Gandhi and 100,000 others in jail, the British Government has erected a statue of Gandhi in London’s Parliament Square. The year 2015 marks the 100th anniversary of Gandhi’s return to India to lead the independence struggle from British colonial rule. British leader Winston Churchill opposed Gandhi’s objectives. Gandhi was thrown in jail by for protesting, walking, collecting salt from the seashore without paying taxes to the British, and other offenses. Gandhi was killed on January 30, 1948.
His funeral was attended by an estimated 2,000,000 people.

THIS WEEK’S NATURAL PHRASE

speculation

Tristan: Did you hear that Hillary Clinton and Shinzo Abe are planning to get married? I was shocked to hear the news.

ChIoe: I heard that rumor, but there is no specific information about it from Clinton or Abe. I think that the story is just wild speculation.

Explanation: When we say that a statement or a news item is just “speculation” we mean that someone is just guessing about what is going to happen, without having any real facts.

THIS WEEK’S MEDICAL PHRASE

pre-existing conditions

Patient: Will my new health insurance policy cover the costs of cancer treatment?

Doctor: It depends on when the policy started, and the specific terms. Many policies will not cover treatment for pre-existing conditions, so we have to check when your policy started and compare the date to when the cancer appeared.

Explanation: The phrase “pre-existing conditions” is a specialized term for insurance companies. A pre-existing condition is an illness that started before the insurance policy started. Many insurance policies refuse to cover medical costs in such cases. This is one reason why many people in the U.S. who have insurance coverage from their employers do not want to switch their jobs.

THIS WEEK’S BUSINESS/EMAIL PHRASE

Across the board

Dear Julie:

We need to cut our costs dramatically. We can’t just trim the salaries of the new employees. We have to reduce the salaries of the managers as well. We need to make salary cuts across the board in order to survive.

Explanation: To do something “across the board” means to do something throughout the entire company, not just in one part of the company.