Reading report

Name: Cristina Soledad Guzmán
Date: August 22
Title: Distressed denim trend costs Mexican farmers the earth
Source: www.guardian.co.uk Date of publication: Friday August 17 2007

Vocabulary

Thrive: 1. To make steady progress; prosper. 2. To flourish.
Crust: 4. A hard covering or surface.
Peel off: 2. To strip or cut away the skin, rind, or bark from; pare. 3. To strip away; pull off. 4. To lose or shed skin, bark, or other covering. 5. To come off in thin strips or pieces, as paint.
seedling: 1. A young plant grown from a seed.
wry: 1. Dryly humorous. 2. Temporarily twisted in an expression of distaste or displeasure: made a wry face. 3. Bent to one side; crooked.
hover: 1. To remain floating or suspended in the air. 2. To linger in a place. See synonyms at flutter. 3. To remain in an uncertain state; waver.
peasant: 1. A member of a class made up of agricultural workers, including small or tenant farmers and laborers on the land.
attest: 1. To affirm to be correct, true, or genuine, especially by affixing one's signature as witness.
lace: 3. To draw together and tie the laces of. 4. To intertwine
hub: 2. A center of activity or interest. See synonyms at center.
sweatshop: 1. A shop or factory in which employees work long hours at low wages under poor conditions.
distress: 1. To cause anxiety or suffering to. See synonyms at trouble.
2. To mar or treat ( for example, an object or fabric) to give the appearance of an antique.
sandpaper: 1. Heavy paper coated on one side with an abrasive material, used for smoothing surfaces.
fade: 1. To lose or cause to lose brightness or loudness; dim. 2. To lose strength or freshness; wither. 3. To disappear gradually; vanish.
bleach: To make or become white or colorless.
Trigger: 1. a. The lever pressed by the finger to discharge a firearm. b. A similar device used to release or activate a mechanism. 2. An event that precipitates other events.
crescendo: 2. A steady increase in intensity or force.
garment: An article of clothing.
sack: 6. Slang. To dismiss; fire.
pumice: 1. A light porous lava, used in solid form as an abrasive and in powdered form as a polish.


Main ideas

Mexican fields are affected by chemicals from thriving blue jeans industries.
The area affected was once famous for its mineral springs and spas.
Tehuacan still has more than 700 clothes manufactures.
The factories range from large well-established facilities to clandestine sweatshops.
Of most concern environmentally are the laundries where the clothes are sent for distressing.
There have been many consciousness-raising campaigns aided by US based international solitary groups over the years.
Grupo navarra, the biggest manufacturer, is one of the few with a water treatment plant on site.
The government is not prepared to take on the economic interests of the factory owners.
The contamination is mainly the fault of the companies that act outside the law.
A substancial array of institutions at local, state and federal level have some degree of responsability.
The problem is the toxic styles imposed by the gib brands.

Personal reaction

The problem of contamination of water and earth is present indifferent places around the world especially affecting third world countries where multinational factories such us those that affects Mexico with brands like Denim blue jeans.
This multinational industries choose the poorest countries to place their factories because of the cheaper economical expenditures and also because many of them are aware of the problem of contamination that they produce and instead of affecting their own countries they bring their wastes and toxic chemicals to our countries.
But to reduce contamination and to settle the proper controls is up to each government which are dangerous poisoned by the corruption of their members that make a blind eye on the problem.