Category: Class

Passion Exploitation

B2 – Upper Intermediate

Most likely, you have heard that once you have found the job you are most passionate about, “you will never have to work a day in your life”. But what if your passion for what you do gives people you work with the idea that they can take advantage of you?

Read the article about passion exploitation.

https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20190719-passion-exploitation

Discussion Questions:

  1. What do you think about this being practiced/done by some in certain industries?
  2. Do you think passion exploitation is more likely to happen if you work in particular industries? Explain your stand.Why do you think workers in artistic and creative industries are more susceptible to this kind of exploitation?
  3. Talk about an instance when you were asked to work more, on unrelated tasks, or for free. How did that make you feel?
  4. What is the best way to refuse paying the “passion tax”?
  5. What are your thoughts on this, “Doing what you love a double-edged sword.“?
  6. In general, how can some exploitative actions of managers be prevented?

The First Supervised Illegal Drug Injection Site

B2 – Upper Intermediate

In the fight against opioid addiction in the country, the first supervised drug injection center of America has just been opened in New York. Hopefully, this will be the beginning of the establishment of many more centers such as this to help curb the record overdoses in the country.

Watch the video and read the article about the first supervised illegal drug injection site in New York.

https://www.euronews.com/next/2022/02/22/amid-the-ongoing-opioid-crisis-america-s-first-safe-injection-site-has-just-opened-in-new-

Discussion Questions:

  1. What do you think of injection centers such as this?
  2. Do you think that the centre will attract more drug users to the area? Explain your opinion.
  3. How does substance abuse impact a person’s life?
  4. How big is the problem of addition in your city/country? Why do you think this is?
  5. What else can be done to help address the problem with addiction?

Stem Cell Transplant Using Umbilical Cord Blood as HIV Cure

B2 – Upper Intermediate

A female patient who’s been living with HIV was cured using a new approach in which stem cells are taken from umbilical cord blood. The goal is for other patients with HIV to undergo the said stem cell transplant in hopes of curing cancer and other serious conditions.

Read the article about the first stem cell transplant using umbilical cord blood for curing HIV.

https://www.euronews.com/next/2022/02/16/woman-reportedly-cured-of-hiv-after-first-stem-cell-transplant-using-umblical-cord-blood

Discussion Questions:

  1. Describe the treatment and the most important element to its success.
  2. What are your thoughts on this new treatment approach to possibly curing HIV and other serious diseases?
  3. What do you think are its pros and cons?
  4. What else do you know about stem cells and stem cell transplants?
  5. Would you be willing to undergo such a new approach if you were inflicted with a very serious condition?

Anti-Ageing Vaccine

B2 – Upper Intermediate

Ageing is a biological life process that is inevitable. It is also the biggest factor that increases the risk of developing diseases such as cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and Alzheimer’s disease. However, Japanese researchers are developing a new approach to slowing down or reversing the ageing process.

Let’s read the article below about this new anti-ageing vaccine.

https://www.euronews.com/next/2021/12/14/can-we-live-forever-new-anti-ageing-vaccine-could-bring-immortality-one-step-closer

Discussion Questions:

  1. What are your thoughts on this new anti-ageing vaccine?
  2. Do you want to live forever? If yes, what are you going to do while you live eternally? If not, how long do you want to live and why?
  3. What is a disadvantage of immortality? How would it change our lives?
  4. Who is the oldest person you know? How is their view of the world different from yours?
  5. “We all die. The goal isn’t to live forever, the goal is to create something that will.” Do you agree with this statement? Explain your answer.

Working from Home Tips to Stay Motivated and Productive

B2 – Upper Intermediate

Due to the pandemic, a lot of people were constrained from going to the office and obligated to start doing work remotely.

Surely, there a lot of pros in working from home but there are cons as well. But regardless of these things, the question is, are we making the most out of this new work setup?

Here are some tips which could help ensure we get the best results while working in our homes.

Discussion Questions:

  1. What are the tips to stay motivated while working from home according to the video?
  2. Which among the tips do you apply personally?
  3. What are the pros and cons of working remotely?
  4. Do you prefer working in the office or at home? Why?
  5. How long have you been working from home? How did you adjust to this work style at first?
  6. Give your personal tips on how to be productive while working remotely.

Uncountable Nouns

Unlike countable nouns, uncountable nouns are for abstract ideas and concepts or physical objects that cannot be counted. It may be helpful to know that uncountable nouns are also known as mass nouns.

Here are some common examples of uncountable nouns:

water, milk , rain
information, news, knowledge
rice, sugar, bread
luggage, furniture, cotton

In most cases, they do not have a plural form and a singular verb is always used with uncountable nouns.

Examples:

This furniture looks heavy.
That information is useful.
The news is disturbing.

Note: We cannot use the indefinite articles a/an alone with uncountable nouns. We can only use them when paired with other words to indicate the quantity or measurement of this noun such as a lot of, a bottle of, a piece of, a bag of, etc.

Examples:

A carton of milk.Five cartons of milk.
A bottle of wine.Three bottles of wine.
A loaf of bread.Two loaves of bread.

Other expressions of quantity includes, some, much, any, etc.

She has some money.
Do you have any food left?/Have you got any food left?
I don’t have much time to do my homework.

Middle Ground Fallacy

B2 – Upper Intermediate

We have grown to believe that moderation in all things is the key to a good life. We tend to think that when we are in between two seemingly equal choices, we have to compromise and choose the middle ground. This way of thinking, however, has resulted to countless injustices in the world.

Let’s watch the video and learn more about the middle ground fallacy.

Discussion Questions:

  1. What is the middle ground fallacy? Share your thoughts on it.
  2. Aside from slavery, can you give other historical events wherein it was used?
  3. Do you agree that a compromise between one action/idea that is morally indefensible and one that is not is still wrong? Explain your stand.
  4. Have you fallen prey to this fallacy? Share that instance.

More and More Children with Food Allergies

B2 – Upper Intermediate

A food allergy is an abnormal immunologic reaction to specific foods. Although allergic reactions are often mild, they can be very serious. It affects around 5% of adults and 8% of children. Unfortunately, the prevalence of food allergies among children is on the rise.

Let’s read the article below to know why food allergy is on the rise among children.

https://www.english-online.at/news-articles/health-medicine/more-children-with-food-allergies.htm

Discussion Questions:

  1. Are you allergic to something? If yes, with what and what symptoms do you usually have when you have an attack?
  2. What do you do to ease your symptoms when you’re having an allergic reaction?
  3. What would your life be like if you suddenly became allergic to your favorite food?
  4. How difficult is life for people with allergies?
  5. What do you think would be the worst thing to be allergic to and why?

The Danger of the Glass Cliff for Women and People of Color

B2 – Upper Intermediate

The term ‘glass cliff’ is when a woman or member of a minority group is appointed as leader amidst crisis when succeeding or rising above it seems almost impossible.

Read the article about about the invisible danger of leaving women and people of color on the edge of a glass cliff.

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20220204-the-danger-of-the-glass-cliff-for-women-and-people-of-colour

Discussion Questions:

  1. Why do you think this is being done to women and POC?
  2. Researchers did not find a glass cliff in companies in the UK and Germany and so they dismissed it as a “myth”. What are your thoughts on this?
  3. Have you ever felt like you were or someone you know was put on a glass cliff? Talk about that instance. What did you/they do in order to succeed in that moment?
  4. How do you support your leaders at work?
  5. What do you know and think about the promotion pattern of your own company or the companies you’ve worked for before?

Super Immunity Cells

B2 – Upper Intermediate

When Covid-19 started affecting millions of people, sometimes even leading to long-term health effects or worse, fatality, one of the many efforts in finding as much information about it was started by a group of virologists from New York. They launched a study to attempt and anticipate the emergence of more dangerous Covid-19 variants.

Memory B cells was discovered more than half a century ago. But scientists are only starting to have a grasp of how crucial these cells are in helping protect people from some serious diseases.

Read the article about about the cells that can give you hybrid-immunity.

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20220210-the-cells-that-can-give-you-super-immunity

Discussion Questions:

  1. What are your thoughts on these cells?
  2. How else can they be beneficial for humans?
  3. How strong do you think your immune system is? How can you say so? 
  4. What are things do you do to boost your immunity?
  5. How would you feel about having super immunity?
  6. Would you like a procedure or drug to be discovered to help humans achieve this super immunity? Why or why not?