B2 – Upper Intermediate
Inflation doesn’t just impact money—it changes how people spend time together. As prices for things like food, transportation, and entertainment rise, many are cutting back on eating out, going to events, or hosting get-togethers. Budgets now play a bigger role in planning social activities, with more people choosing cheaper or free options. This shows how financial challenges can also affect relationships and how communities connect.
Watch the video to learn more and be able to answer the following questions.
Vocabulary Questions:
- What does ” disposable income” mean? “Gen X and Millennials are struggling with having disposable income.” Use it in a sentence.
- What does the idiom, “to keep up with the Joneses‘ mean? “It’s a whole new ‘keeping up with the Joneses‘. I can’t have friends because it doesn’t live up to an Instagram ideal.” Make one sentence using the word.
- What does “to live up to” mean in this sentence, “I can’t have friends because it doesn’t live up to Instagram ideal.“? Use it in a sentence.
Discussion Questions:
- Do you think inflation has had a noticeable effect on your social life or the social lives of people you know?
- In your opinion, is it possible to maintain a vibrant social life despite financial challenges?
- How do rising costs of entertainment and dining out influence the way communities interact and socialize?
- What alternative ways of socializing might emerge or grow in popularity during periods of economic hardship?
2 replies on “Inflation Impacts Americans’ Social Lives”
Vocabulary Questions:
– What does ”disposable income” mean? “Gen X and Millennials are struggling with having disposable income.” Use it in a sentence. **Response**: “Disposable income” means the quantity of money that a person has it available to spend. **Sentence**: “I haven’t enough disponsable money to travel this year to Japan.”
– What does the idiom, “to keep up with the Joneses‘ mean? “It’s a whole new ‘keeping up with the Joneses‘. I can’t have friends because it doesn’t live up to an Instagram ideal.” Make one sentence using the word. **Response**: “To keep up with the Joneses” means trying to match or surpass the lifestyle, possessions, or social status of those around you. **Sentence**: I felt pressured to renovate my home just to keep up with the Joneses.
– What does “to live up to” mean in this sentence, “I can’t have friends because it doesn’t live up to Instagram ideal.“? Use it in a sentence. **Response**: “To live up to”: means the expectations or requirements that a person has about something. **Sentence**: “That movie didn’t live up to the hype.”
Discussion Questions:
– Do you think inflation has had a noticeable effect on your social life or the social lives of people you know? Of course it has, but I think that if workers salaries increased on the same way that the inflation does, maybe this kind of things it will not a problem.
– In your opinion, is it possible to maintain a vibrant social life despite financial challenges? I think, that having a financial control about the expenses oneself is a good thing because is a signal of maturity, but a the same in this financial control it’s important to dedicate a part of the money to entertaiment or social life.
– How do rising costs of entertainment and dining out influence the way communities interact and socialize? With things getting more expensive, people hang out less at restaurants or events and stick to cheaper ways to connect, like chatting online or doing social events in their houses.
Welcome to the Phoneenglish blog! Good job answering your lesson’s vocabulary and discussion questions.
Take a look at how this sentence can be revised:
Hope you can keep up practicing your writing through this exercise.