Vocabulary

canoe	stand up	stand/stood/stood (2)
awful	dream (3)	living the dream
nope	level (3)	glamorous
kidding	cakewalk	synonymous
well (3)	match (2)	according to
status	demand	population
seat	Congress	lose/lost/lost
fathom	start over	make it big
roll (2)	executive	chief executive officer (CEO)
list	position	bad/worse/worst
rank	existence	hold/held/held (2)
tax (2)	combine	effective (2)
burden	force (3)	kick in (2)
rate	struggle	congressional seat
insane	in return	impossible
strict	affordable	cost/cost/cost
fall (3)	inflate (2)	make/made/made (2)
supply	blackout	rolling blackouts
decline	chief (2)	power shortage
utility	shortage	governance
average	mandate	climate (2)
income	resident	pick up (3)
face (3)	election	behind (3)
regard	hypocrisy	regulation
rule (2)	head (4)	sink/sank/sunk (2)
deny	record (3)	choose/chose/chosen
globe	strategy	remarkable
gain	thing (2)	at his expense
lack	standard	grow/grew/grown (2)
grapple	glamour	opportunity
predict	fraction	destination
recall	stringent	lose/lost/lost
poverty	mean (3)	demography
	celebrity	momentum (2)

 
 
 
 
 

Video

 

 
 
 
 

Transcript

Californian Stand up Canoeist: “They say Californians are living the dream.”
Californian doing Yoga: “But things aren’t all that glamorous.
Californian Body Builder: “Nope.”
Californian Rock Climber: “We have our struggles.”
Californian Tight Rope Walker: “It’s no cakewalk.”

.     .     .     .     .     .     .     .

 
No kidding.

For well over a century, California was synonymous with the American dream, of starting over and making it big.

By the early 1960s, it had become the most populous state in the country.

Now, California’s population is declining for the first time in recorded history. Like New York, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, and West Virginia, California is losing a congressional seat, another first for the Golden State.

.     .     .     .     .     .     .     .

 
The reasons behind California’s decline aren’t hard to fathom: According to Chief Executive magazine, California is the worst state to do business in, a position at is held for most of the list’s existence.

California ranks eighth in combined state and local tax burden, forcing residents to kick in an effective rate of eleven point five percent (11.5%) of their income just for being alive.

What do they get in return?

● Public schools that rank 37th in the country

● Insanely expensive housing whose costs are inflated by strict environmental and land use regulations that make it nearly impossible to match supply with demand.

● Rolling blackouts and power shortages caused by environmental mandates and poor utility governance.

● An above average violent crime rate, and

● The nation’s highest poverty rate with more than 36% of California’s residents at or near the poverty level.

.     .     .     .     .     .     .     .

 
Governor Gavin Newsom faces a recall election in the fall, partly due to his hypocrisy regarding his own stringent lockdown rules.

Rather than grapple with his state’s sinking status, he’s chosen instead to deny reality.

Gavin Newsom, Governor, California: “This is a remarkable, remarkable home to more dreamers and doers than any other part of the globe.”

.     .     .     .     .     .     .     .

 
A smarter strategy might be to look at the two biggest states that are gaining in population at California’s expense.

Between 2010 and 2020, Florida’s population grew by 14.6 percent, and Texas’ increased by 15.9 percent.

Their weather is awful by California standards and they lack its natural beauty.

But they ranked second and first in business climate, which means more opportunity, even as their cost of living is a fraction of California’s.

Until and unless the Golden State makes itself affordable to dreamers and doers,
they’ll keep heading to other destinations.

As California loses a congressional seat, Texas is picking up two. And demographers predict that it may become the most populous state by 2045, much sooner than was predicted just a few years ago.

Texas may not have the beaches, the forests, the celebrities, or the glamour. It’ll just have the jobs, the companies, the forward momentum, and the people.

*     *     *     *     *     *     *

 

Questions

1/2. In the beginning, the outdoor enthusiasts extolled life in California. They describe California as being great, super, fantastic, wonderful. True or false?

1/3. In the past, was California a “Golden State” or an ordinary place?

1/4. Have people, both Americans and immigrants, been attracted to California? Has California attracted people from throughout the US and abroad?

2/3. California’s population continues to boom. The population of California continues to increase. Is this right or wrong?

3/4. Does its shrinking population have political implications?

3/20. According to the presenter, are California’s problems due to wildfires, earthquakes, droughts and floods?

4/5. Can families and individuals easily afford to live in suburban homes and apartments?

5/8. Is California a safe place to live?

7/10. Are the vast majority of Californians middle-class and wealthy?

8/100. The governor of California is very popular. Californians trust and respect him. They have confidence in him. Is this correct or incorrect?

9/10. Are all American states in the same predicament (situation) as California? Are some US states in the opposite situation as California.

10/20.Do California move to Texas, Florida and other states because they have wonderful culture, nature and prestige?

11/100. Is the presenter optimistic, pessimistic, both, in the middle or neither about California’s future?
 
 
 
Monday. I am from California. I live in California. Yes or no? Do you know anyone who comes from California or lives in California?

Tuesday. Have you ever been to California? Have your friends been to California? If yes, what is it like there? Desribe California.

Wednesday. What do you associate with California? What is your image or stereotype view of California?

Thursday. Why does California have so many problems? What are the solutions?

Friday. Are there cities, regions or provinces that are magnets that attract and draws people to it?

Saturday. There are cities and regions that have become very successful and then declined. True or false?

Sunday. What might happen in the future?