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EQUAL RIGHTS FOR FAT PEOPLE 

Read the newspaper article and answer the questions (from USA Today)

Beth Marinelli is 29 years old, 5 feet 4 inches tall ( about 1,72 meters) and approximately 350 pounds ( about 180 Kilos).
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 She is not always able to fit herself into theater or restaurant seats, or into train or airplane seats . She has to go to specialty stores to buy clothes. All of this angers Beth Marinelli. But what angers her most is New Jersey’s mandatory seatbelt law.
New Jersey drivers and front seat passengers are required by law to wear seat belts. The problem for Beth Marinelli is that car manufacturers don’t make seat belts large enough for obese people. As a result, people with weight problems are not required to buckle up like everybody else.
“Statistics show how much safer it is to be in an accident while wearing a seat belt “- says Marinelli -“The lawmakers are saying that if you’re fat, you don’t need to wear a seat belt - that it’s OK to die in a car accident. “  - “I’m not fat because I like it. I was born like this “  she says.
Marinelli talks publicly about the obese who face discrimination and has formed a group called HOPE - Helping Oversized People Everywhere - . But this is only one step in her attempt to get the same opportunities for overweighted people as for “normal“ people. - “ I want they to change the anti-discrimination laws from “ You can’t discriminate on the basis of race , creed , color , or sex “ to “ You can’t discriminate on the basis of race , creed , color , sex , or weight “  - says Marinelli , she claims that she is forced to work as a cook at her brother’s fast food restaurant because her weight discourages employers from hiring her.
Social discrimination against the obese is very strong, according to Marinelli. She left high school because of constant jokes about her weight. But the cruel jokes and comments didn’t end with her youth. She recalls being out on a date with a young man and overhearing a woman say to a friend:
“What is that handsome man doing with that fat cow? “ (that wasn't polite, was it?)
One day Marinelli wants to write a book about her life .She’ll call it “Growing Up Fat in America”. She wants to warn young people who are overweight about what’s in store for them, and encourage them to lose weight. “If a ten-year-old fat kid listens to me and says, I don’t want to go through that, then I’ve succeeded “

 

Some words to help:(entre parenteses a pronuncia aproximada.
inches = polegadas (inxis)
pounds (paunds) = libras
to fit herself = acomodar-se, caber no espaço (ela)
lawmakers (ló meikers)= legisladores, “fazedores de leis”
this angers ( dis enguers)= isso irrita, deixa zangada
publicly (pâbikli)= publicamente
race (reisse)= raça
creed (kriid)= credo(religioso)
youth ( iuth)= juventude
she recalls ( xi ricóls)= ela se lembra
succeeded (suk sided)= bem sucedido(a)

Answer these questions according to the text with "True" or "False" and click in "Answer" to check

Marinelli has problems with theater seats size.
In New Jersey people must wear seatbelts.
Even fat people have to wear seatbelts.
Marinelli wants to change the anti-discrimination laws.
She left highschool because she didn't like the teachers.
She is going to write a book about fat people problems.
She is fat because she likes that.