Category: Class

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? 

Hypochondriacs

B2 – Upper Intermediate

When people start feeling under the weather, they consult with their GPs. However, some people may have more health complaints when they are not actually ill. In 2013, the term “illness anxiety disorder” was used to describe people who have illogical and debilitating concerns over their health.

Read the article about about hypochondriasis.

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20220215-why-even-just-testing-for-diseases-can-make-us-feel-ill

Discussion Questions:

  1. What are your thoughts on this condition?
  2. Hypochondriacs are often belittled and dubbed as time waster. What do you think of this?
  3. What are some factors that can lead to hypochondriasis?
  4. What are some of your fears related to your health condition?
  5. What are some ways to tackle health anxiety?

The Buy Nothing Project

B2 – Upper Intermediate

Buy Nothing is a nonprofit organization that not only helps people save money but also reduce the clutter in their homes. This idea is based on gift-giving. The members of this group barter or offer their old stuff as a gift. The main payment for getting this free stuff is saying “Thank you” a a sign of appreciation.

Watch the video and read the transcript to know more about it and be able to discuss the questions that follow.

https://www.fox5ny.com/news/what-is-the-buy-nothing-project

Discussion Questions:

  1. What do you think of this organization? Is there a similar group like this in your community?
  2. What are the pros and and cons of this type of organization?
  3. Would you like to be a member of this organization? Why or why not?
  4. What do you usually do with your old stuff or other things that you don’t need anymore?
  5. How long can you go without buying anything? Why is that?

Why Is It So Hard to Cure Cancer?

B2 – Upper Intermediate

The difficulty in treating cancer is that it’s not a single disease, but rather a group of diseases. Sometimes a drug works well at first but later on, the cancer becomes resistant and continues to grow because the cancer cells have mutated or changed genetically.

Watch the video to know more about why some cancer patients most often do not survive even with new medical advances that are coming along the line.

Discussion Questions:

  1. Would a clinical trial be right for cancer patients? Elaborate.
  2. When should cancer patients consider having hospice care?
  3. When should you get tested for cancer?
  4. Do you think the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and pharmaceutical companies are blocking or witholding new cancer treatments from the public? Explain your opinion.
  5. What are some treatments for cancer do you know of? Explain them and their rate of efficacy.

These and Those

These and those are plural forms of this and that. We use them to identify the things or people we are talking about. ‘These’ is used for persons or things nearby and ‘those’ is for persons or things at a distance. They are both demonstrative pronouns and demonstrative adjectives.

Demonstrative pronoun is used as a substitute for the noun or noun phrases and they can only be used for objects and not for people.

Example:

Those people are waiting. ( NOT: Those are waiting.)

These girls are pretty. ( NOT: These are pretty.)

Proper use of ‘these’ and ‘those’ as demonstrative pronouns:

I am eating pastries now and they are delicious.
These are delicious.

The cars I saw on TV are expensive.
Those are expensive.

The stars in the sky are too bright.
Those are too bright.

Demonstrative adjectives are found before the noun. They are used to describe or modify the nouns.

Examples:

These clothes are old.

These pencils are mine.

Do you want to buy these flowers?

Those houses are on sale.

Those bags are stylish.

Are those seats taken?

Happiness Can Cause Heart Problems

B2 – Upper Intermediate

Have you had a good laugh today? Laughing helps you and others around you feel happy. Not only that, happiness causes healthy physical changes in the body. Indeed, your sense of fun is among the most valuable ways you have for improving your everyday mood and mental condition, which benefits your general well-being. When you live a cheerful life, it benefits your entire body more notably, your emotions and thoughts.

But have you ever thought that perhaps being overjoyed has its drawbacks too? Excessive happiness not only defeats its advantages for us, but it may also cause heart problems.

Let’s take a look at the article below to find out how happiness can cause heart problems.

https://www.english-online.at/news-articles/health-medicine/happiness-can-cause-heart-problems.htm

Discussion Questions:

  1. Do you worry about having heart problems? Why or why not?
  2. Is heart disease a leading health problem in your country? Why do you think that is?
  3. What things are really bad for your heart?
  4. What can you do to look after your heart?
  5. Is it possible for scientists to be able to produce a mechanical heart that can work forever one day? Why or why not?

Should We Have Let Pandas Go Extinct?

B2 – Upper Intermediate

Pandas are no longer endangered now but that begs the question, should we really have focused on saving them?

Pandas are not very crucial to the environment and it takes a lot of money to save them but we still did because of how cute they look.

Instead of helping pandas, we could have helped other species that are more crucial to the environment and cost less to save.

Watch the video and be ready to answer the questions that follow.

Discussion Questions:

  1. In your opinion, was it necessary to save pandas? Explain your stand.
  2. Do you think that because pandas are no longer endangered now, we won’t make the same mistake again, and help other species that are more cost effective to save and vital to the environment?
  3. If you were able to decide where money goes in saving endangered animals, would you have chosen pandas? Why or why not?
  4. Imagine a world without pandas.
  5. What are some endangered species in your country and what has the government done in order to save them?

Verbs Like, Hate, Love + Gerund

When we want to say what we like or dislike, we use the verbs love, like and hate.

The verbs Like/Love/Hate is usually followed by a gerund (verb + –ing). We use a gerund after these verbs when the meaning is general or when we talk about the action or the experience.

Sentence structure:

Subject + Like/Love/Hate + gerund [verb + -ing] + the rest of the sentence

Examples:

SubjectLike/Love/HateGerundRest of the sentence
Ilove cookingpaella.
Ilikelisteningto music.
Ihatesleepingon the couch.

Sometimes, we use to-infinitive after like, love, and hate if we are talking about a particular time or situation or to express habits or choices.

Example:

I like reading books. – (You like reading books in general.)

I like to read books. – (Reading books is an activity that you choose to do.)

It is more common to use the -ing form after the verbs love and hate.