Newsgroup: it.cultura.linguistica.inglese
Titolo: Present simple or progressive in a summary

Tratto da un riassunto da me composto:
"While the world is suffering the consequences of global warming and
is entering the Biometric Age with optimism, some terrorist attacks
set off a chain of events leading to..."
E' giusto scrivere "is suffering" e "is entering" o dovrei optare per
"suffers" e "enters" considerando che si tratta di un riassunto dove
uso il present simple?
Grazie.

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Tutt' e due vanno bene ma direi: 'have set off'. 

On 5 Mag, 18:42, "Tony the Ice Man"
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Grazie, ma credo che "set off" sia la forma adatta.
Anche in italiano va il presente:
"Mentre il mondo soffre/sta soffrendo le conseguenze del
surriscaldamento globale ed entra/sta entrando con ottimismo nell'era
biometrica, alcuni attentati terroristici danno il via ad una catena
di eventi che portano...."
"Hanno dato il via" suona male. C'è rapporto di contemporaneità tra la
proposizione principale e la subordinata introdotta da "mentre".

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Parliamo dell'Inglese, non dell'Italiano. Se hai scritto 'While the world
_was_ suffering...' potevi scrivere 'set off a chain' (perché 'set' è anche
la forma passata), ma se scrivi 'while the world _is_ suffereing...' devi
scrivere 'have set off' se dai un giudizio sugli attacchi che hanno già
successo. Se parli invece di una possibilità generale puoi usare 'set off'
ma, allora,  ometti il 'some'.

 off' ma, allora,  ometti il 'some'.
Oops! ...sugli attacchi che sono già successi.

 ma, allora,  ometti il 'some'.
Ho capito.
"While the world is suffering the consequences of global warming and
is entering the Biometric Age with optimism, some terrorist attacks
have set off a chain of events leading to the establishment of a
superstate in Europe."
Però poi è corretto usare il presente. O no?
Ecco:
"Against this background, Kevin receives a letter from his friend
David asking him to find and lead his daughter to a safe place.
Although he is dogged by misfortune and even wanted by the police
suspecting he has killed David, Kevin avoids arrest and finds the
girl.
They do not know that David has been kidnapped by a group wanting him
to steal a fund; and, until they arrive at destination and find him
alive, think he has been killed by their trackers, the same ones who
have kidnapped David and that David has left empty-handed after
managing to steal the fund and to disappear."
Grazie.

 ma, allora,  ometti il 'some'.
Ho capito.
"While the world is suffering the consequences of global warming and
is entering the Biometric Age with optimism, some terrorist attacks
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 managing to steal the fund and to disappear."
How can David be empty-handed if he managed to steal the fundS? You don't 
need the 'to' before disappear. By the way, these are sweet kidnappers if 
they allow David to send a letter to Kevin about his daughter. I assume the 
'they' about whom you write are the police, but it's not entirely clear. And 
this mysterious 'destination'... oh, never mind. Writing in English is a 
good exercise for you. 

> Parliamo dell'Inglese, non dell'Italiano.
You should write "inglese" and "italiano" with the lower case letter.
Kiuhnm

 these are sweet kidnappers if they allow David to send a letter to Kevin about his daughter.
La corruzione è qualcosa che fa paura. E' sconvolgente quello che può
fare. ;-)

 this mysterious 'destination'... oh, never mind.
OK.
The text modified for your curiosity:
While the world is suffering the consequences of global warming and is
entering the Biometric Age with optimism, some terrorist attacks have
set off a chain of events leading to the establishment of an anti-
American superstate in Europe. Against this background of tension, the
CIA hires an European interpreter, David Bledel, as an informer.
Soon David is kidnapped by a group wanting him to deceive the
biometric verification systems of a bank and steal the CIA funds. But
before his mission, David manages to send his friend Kevin a letter
asking him to find and lead his daughter Kimberly to a safe place.
Although he is dogged by misfortune and even wanted by the police
suspecting he has killed David, Kevin avoids arrest and finds the
girl.
Until they reach their "safe place" and find him alive, Kevin and the
girl do not know what David has been involved in; and, on the basis of
circumstantial evidence, they think he has been killed by their
trackers, the same ones who have kidnapped David and that David has
left empty-handed after managing to steal the CIA funds and disappear.
The novel ends with Kimberly persuading her father to make a deal with
the government of the USA, where some military leaders are taking
advantage of the civil disorders following the piece of news of the
theft to stage a coup.

 You should write "inglese" and "italiano" with the lower case letter.
Of course, you're right. They should have an initial cap in English but not 
Italian. Thanks for reminding me. 

 theft to stage a coup.
the piece of news = the news story
virgola dopo 'theft'
By the way, have you been watching too much Fox News? 

 By the way, have you been watching too much Fox News?
Why?

Why?
Scherzo. È un canale americano che finge di presentare le notizie senza
pregiudicio, ma invece è il al-Jazeera della destra americana. Allora, i
programmi sono esagerati.

i programmi sono esagerati.

 (suona un po' male quell'allora messo lì...)
Allora, come si dovrebbe dirlo?

 Allora, come si dovrebbe dirlo?
qui suonerebbe meglio: Come si dovrebbe dire?
Mah, io avrei detto: proprio per questi motivi, i programmi sono esagerati. Dire 
soltanto "allora" o "perciň" (che forse era piů adatto in questo caso) č troppo 
sintetico in italiano.