Beechmont Crest Publishing: Spanish Study Pages
Intermediate Spanish Through Translation (2)
El Apagón
III.
El Coste Económico del Apagón
After power was restored, the authorities began calculating the costs associated with the blackout:
Una vez recuperado el fluido eléctrico, los
expertos tratan de averiguar el costo que ha tenido el mayor apagón de la
historia de EEUU que, sólo en la ciudad de Nueva York, podría superar los
1.000 millones de dólares.
(Now that the flow of electricity is restored, the experts are attempting to find out the costs incurred due to the largest blackout in the history of the U.S., which could surpass one billion dollars in New York alone.)
Uno de los primeros cálculos que han salido a la luz ha sido el de las horas
extras que el ayuntamiento tendrá que pagar por las horas extras de los
funcionarios que trabajaron, sin descanso, durante el apagón, y que supondrá
entre 5 y 10 millones de dólares. (Terra.com)
(One of the first figures which has come to light is the overtime that city hall will have to pay to the public employees who worked without rest during the blackout, which is anticipated to be between five and ten million dollars.)
Notes
Una vez
Una vez can mean simply “one time”. However, when combined with the past participle of a verb, it is used in conveying the idea of “once x occurs, then y follows, as indicated in the example below:
a.
Yo no sé si a Bin Laden le preocupa el Tratado de Kioto. Lo que sí sé es lo que dice repetidamente ante las cámaras y lo que escribe en sus fatuas: "La obligación religiosa de cada musulmán es asesinar e infligir el mayor dolor posible a todos los ciudadanos de Occidente, cristianos y judíos". Una vez oídas estas palabras, ¿realmente alguien cree que intenta defender a los pobres del mundo…? (La Vanguardia Digital)
(I don’t know whether or not Bin Laden is concerned about the Kyoto Protocol. What I know is what he repeatedly states before cameras and writes in his fatwas: “The religious obligation of every Muslim is to kill and inflict the most pain possible on all residents of the West, Christians and Jews.” Once one hears these words, will they really believe that he tries to defend the poor of the world..?)
b.
Es muy complicado de manejar pero una vez sabido como funciona todo, y con un poco de practica, todo resulta mucho mas sencillo. (avalonsoftware.org)
It is a bit complicated to operate, but once one knows how everything functions—and with a little bit of practice—it all becomes much simpler.
Salir a Luz
Salir a luz = “to come out;” “to become known.” Dar a luz is used to describe the act of production or creation, as well as the process of giving birth. Sacar a luz = “to publish.”
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