World News for Students of English

05-11-2021 07:00

The coronavirus is fading from Brazil’s biggest cities; however, homelessness and hunger are on the rise.

Estimates say that the number of people who lack money to afford housing now totals over 66,000, nearly triple the amount of the most recent census from 2019. In Rio de Janeiro, there are about 14,000, which is about double the last official count from last year. Tents and shelters line sidewalks, entire families beg at busy streets, and there are lines of people at the doors of churches and organizations that give help.

Vaccines are now widespread; however, high inflation is removing the little that Brazil made after recovering from last year’s economic crisis. Ahead of next year’s elections, President Jair Bolsonaro is now promising to significantly grow cash transfers to the poor; however, economists fear that prices are going to continue rising.

Difficult words: fade (to disappear), census (an official survey), inflation (an increase in prices over time, causing the value of money to go down).

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