{"id":8532,"date":"2018-12-28T12:45:19","date_gmt":"2018-12-28T18:45:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/richyrocks.com\/coolenglish\/?p=8532"},"modified":"2023-10-09T22:47:35","modified_gmt":"2023-10-10T04:47:35","slug":"sunk-cost-airport-mexico-city","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/richyrocks.com\/coolenglish\/sunk-cost-airport-mexico-city\/","title":{"rendered":"the sunk cost of an expensive sinking airport in mexico city"},"content":{"rendered":"

a sunk cost<\/i><\/strong> is an expense that cannot be recovered.<\/i> for example, mexico’s cancelled texcoco airport project represents an estimated sunk cost<\/i> of <\/i><\/strong> (around) $5 billion (US).<\/p>\n

\"the<\/a><\/p>\n

the cancelled texcoco airport (cuartoscuro)<\/i><\/h5>\n

<\/strong> <\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\n

ironically, from the l.a. times<\/strong> by kate linthicum<\/strong> and cecilia sanchez<\/strong> explains that a big problem with the texcoco airport is that it is sinking<\/i>. sinkin<\/i>g and sunk<\/i> are the present and past participles respectively of sink<\/i>.<\/p>\n

like the rest of [mexico] city, it is a former<\/i> lake bed that was filled in<\/i> by mexico\u2019s spanish conquerors, and is rapidly sinking<\/i>. environmental reports show that the ground<\/a> in texcoco is sinking<\/i> at an even higher rate than the rest of the metropolis.<\/h4>\n

<\/i><\/strong> means previously<\/i>. fill in<\/i><\/strong> means make it not empty<\/i>. sink<\/i><\/strong> is descend<\/i>.<\/p>\n

\"hern\u00e1n<\/a><\/p>\n

the spanish conquerors <\/i>filled in<\/i><\/u> the lake bed under mexico city<\/i><\/h5>\n

additionally, linthicum and sanchez’s article mentions that<\/p>\n

the stakes are high<\/i> for mexico\u2019s economy and for [andres manuel] lopez obrador, whose populist platform helped him win in a landslide<\/i><\/h4>\n

<\/i><\/strong> means it’s important,<\/i> risky<\/i>, potentially dangerous<\/i>. landslide<\/i><\/strong> indicates the election wasn’t close<\/i>. lopez obrador won by more than 20 points.<\/p>\n

\"fortnite<\/a><\/p>\n

the video game <\/i>fortnite<\/strong><\/i> had a <\/i>high stakes<\/i><\/u> event in september 2018<\/i><\/h5>\n

mexico’s new president, andr\u00e9s manuel lopez obrador<\/strong>, has been a <\/i><\/strong> (strong, aggressive) opponent of the airport. an article on bloomberg.com<\/strong> written by andrea navarro<\/strong> <\/p>\n

during his campaign, lopez obrador called for stopping<\/i> construction as part of pledge<\/i> to cut back<\/i> wasteful government costs; he wanted a more modest replacement instead….after the election, he backed away from<\/i> the harsh<\/i> language, and said that the people should decide the fate<\/i> 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 \u201cthe people\u2019s\u201d support.<\/h4>\n

for stopping<\/i> is an example of using -ing verbs after prepositions<\/a><\/strong><\/i>. a pledge<\/a><\/i><\/strong> is a strong promise<\/i>. cut back<\/i><\/strong> means reduce<\/i>, eliminate<\/i>. back away from<\/i><\/strong> means he stopped using<\/i> harsh<\/a><\/i><\/strong> (extreme, hard ) words to talk about the airport project. fate<\/a><\/i><\/strong> means the future<\/i>.<\/p>\n

\"homer<\/a><\/p>\n

the famous meme of homer <\/i>backing away<\/u><\/i><\/h5>\n

in addition to the low participation, the referendum was criticized for being held before lopez obrador took office, while he was still president-elect.<\/p>\n

as andrea navarro <\/strong>and nacha cattan<\/strong> report in another story on bloomberg<\/a>,<\/a> lopez obrador insists that<\/p>\n

scrapping<\/i> the airport project will actually<\/i> save mexicans about $5 billion in the long term. the project in the mexico city suburb of texcoco was bloated<\/i> by graft<\/i> and sinking<\/i> on an old lake bed, and the airport would have required<\/i> billions in yearly maintenance<\/h4>\n

scrap<\/a><\/strong><\/i> means cancel<\/i>. actually<\/a><\/i><\/strong> means in fact<\/i>. it is NOT the equivalent of actualmente<\/i> in spanish. it has nothing to do with time. bloated<\/i><\/strong> means bigger than necessary<\/i>. graft<\/a><\/i><\/strong> is corruption, bribery. <\/i>would have required<\/strong><\/i> is a past modal 👉🏼 a hypothetical consideration in the past.<\/p>\n

\"a<\/a><\/i><\/h5>\n
graft (wisegeekcom)<\/i><\/h5>\n

despite the doubts, investors in the airport are happy with the plan amlo presented. according to another bloomberg by navarro, cattan and justin villamil <\/strong>there is<\/p>\n

“overwhelming<\/i>” acceptance by bondholders<\/i>, which will allow the government to avoid a mandatory repayment of all $6 billion in bonds that would have been<\/i> triggered<\/i> by the cancellation of the airport.<\/h4>\n

overwhelming<\/a><\/i><\/strong> means very strong<\/i>. bondholders<\/i><\/strong> are investors<\/i> in the airport project. would have been triggered<\/i><\/strong> is third conditional passive voice<\/a><\/strong> (the auxiliary been<\/i> + the past participle triggered<\/i>). trigger<\/a><\/i><\/strong> means provoke<\/i>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0😱\u00a0mexico city is <\/i>sinking<\/i><\/u>! (julia’s mexico city)<\/i><\/h5>\n

navarro and cattan include other alternatives for mexico’s air traffic that are being considered<\/p>\n

lopez obrador is pushing<\/i> a plan to build two runways<\/i> 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<\/i> non-viable….because of air-safety concerns<\/i>.<\/h4>\n

toluca<\/a>!! t town is one of the alternatives!<\/p>\n

push<\/a><\/strong><\/i> means support<\/i>. a runway<\/i><\/strong> is where planes take off and land at the airport.<\/i> deem<\/i><\/strong> means consider<\/i>, judge<\/i>. concerns<\/a><\/i><\/strong> are problems<\/i>, worries<\/i>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

a runway<\/i><\/h5>\n

and finally, in the same article, an opponent of the cancellation gives his perspective<\/p>\n

there\u2019s no estimate<\/i> yet<\/i> on what the total cost will be. but bbva bancomer\u2019s edgar cruz [a credit analyst], reckons<\/i> that scrapping<\/i> 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<\/i>.<\/h4>\n

the last syllable of estimate<\/i><\/strong> is a schwa sound<\/a>. it is NOT pronounced like the number 8. yet<\/a><\/i><\/strong> indicates that an estimate for the total cost of scrapping the airport is anticipated<\/i>. it will be avaialble sometime in the future. reckon<\/i><\/strong> means believe<\/i> or calculate<\/i>. axe<\/i><\/strong> means cancel<\/i>.<\/p>\n

\"liv<\/a><\/p>\n

liv tyler holding an <\/i>axe<\/i><\/u> over her head (from the hbo series <\/i>the leftovers)<\/strong><\/h5>\n

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<\/strong><\/p>\n