a sunk cost is an expense that cannot be recovered. for example, mexico’s cancelled texcoco airport project represents an estimated sunk cost of roughly (around) $5 billion (US).
the cancelled texcoco airport (cuartoscuro)
fun efl practice 
richyrocks english on youtube
ironically, an article from the l.a. times by kate linthicum and cecilia sanchez explains that a big problem with the texcoco airport is that it is sinking. sinking and sunk are the present and past participles respectively of sink.
like the rest of [mexico] city, it is a former lake bed that was filled in by mexico’s spanish conquerors, and is rapidly sinking. environmental reports show that the ground in texcoco is sinking at an even higher rate than the rest of the metropolis.
former means previously. fill in means make it not empty. sink is descend.
the spanish conquerors filled in the lake bed under mexico city
additionally, linthicum and sanchez’s article mentions that
the stakes are high for mexico’s economy and for [andres manuel] lopez obrador, whose populist platform helped him win in a landslide
stakes are high means it’s important, risky, potentially dangerous. landslide indicates the election wasn’t close. lopez obrador won by more than 20 points.
the video game fortnite had a high stakes event in september 2018
mexico’s new president, andrés manuel lopez obrador, has been a fierce (strong, aggressive) opponent of the airport. an article on bloomberg.com written by andrea navarro says
during his campaign, lopez obrador called for stopping construction as part of pledge to cut back wasteful government costs; he wanted a more modest replacement instead….after the election, he backed away from the harsh language, and said that the people should decide the fate of such a big project. the consultation was widely criticized, as only little over 1 million people voted. experts saw the referendum as a way for lopez obrador to cancel a project he never really liked with “the people’s” support.
for stopping is an example of using -ing verbs after prepositions. a pledge is a strong promise. cut back means reduce, eliminate. back away from means he stopped using harsh (extreme, hard ) words to talk about the airport project. fate means the future.
the famous meme of homer backing away
in addition to the low participation, the referendum was criticized for being held before lopez obrador took office, while he was still president-elect.
as andrea navarro and nacha cattan report in another story on bloomberg, lopez obrador insists that
scrapping the airport project will actually save mexicans about $5 billion in the long term. the project in the mexico city suburb of texcoco was bloated by graft and sinking on an old lake bed, and the airport would have required billions in yearly maintenance
scrap means cancel. actually means in fact. it is NOT the equivalent of actualmente in spanish. it has nothing to do with time. bloated means bigger than necessary. graft is corruption, bribery. would have required is a past modal 👉🏼 a hypothetical consideration in the past.
graft (wisegeekcom)
despite the doubts, investors in the airport are happy with the plan amlo presented. according to another bloomberg article by navarro, cattan and justin villamil there is
“overwhelming” acceptance by bondholders, which will allow the government to avoid a mandatory repayment of all $6 billion in bonds that would have been triggered by the cancellation of the airport.
overwhelming means very strong. bondholders are investors in the airport project. would have been triggered is third conditional passive voice (the auxiliary been + the past participle triggered). trigger means provoke.
😱 mexico city is sinking! (julia’s mexico city)
navarro and cattan include other alternatives for mexico’s air traffic that are being considered
lopez obrador is pushing a plan to build two runways at a military base while upgrading the existing airport and a smaller hub in toluca, west of mexico city. but that plan has been deemed non-viable….because of air-safety concerns.
toluca!! t town is one of the alternatives!
push means support. a runway is where planes take off and land at the airport. deem means consider, judge. concerns are problems, worries.
a runway
and finally, in the same article, an opponent of the cancellation gives his perspective
there’s no estimate yet on what the total cost will be. but bbva bancomer’s edgar cruz [a credit analyst], reckons that scrapping the old project and building the new one will carry a price tag of about $13 billion — the same amount as the airport lopez obrador just axed.
the last syllable of estimate is a schwa sound. it is NOT pronounced like the number 8. yet indicates that an estimate for the total cost of scrapping the airport is anticipated. it will be avaialble sometime in the future. reckon means believe or calculate. axe means cancel.
liv tyler holding an axe over her head (from the hbo series the leftovers)
what do u think about the cancellation of the mexico city airport in texcoco? are the alternative solutions acceptable? share your opinion under leave a reply
