Category: Class

Cabin Fever

B2 – Upper Intermediate

After a long while being stuck indoors, we start feeling bored and restless. This is called “cabin fever”. It sounds like an actual disease but it is not. However, when one gets into this state, some effects could be being anxious, irritable, and even depressed caused by the long period of confinement in a tight or a remote, isolated space.

Read the article to learn more about cabin fever and be able to answer the questions below:

https://www.healthline.com/health/cabin-fever#symptoms

Discussion Questions:

  1. Have you ever had cabin fever before? If so, why and what happened?
  2. How did you cope or deal with it?
  3. What situations usually cause people to have it?
  4. What advice can you give to a person suffering from it?
  5. Are you a social hermit or a social butterfly?

Company Bankrupt

B1 – Intermediate

One objective companies’ have is to make loads of profit. However, they sometimes also face problems with money. When they go bankrupt, it can be a big problem for the company and their workers too.

Read the transcript and listen to the audio from the link below.

https://www.newsinlevels.com/products/company-bankrupt-level-1

Discussion Questions:

  1. What usually cause companies to go under?
  2. What happens when a company goes bankrupt?
  3. How can companies stay profitable?
  4. In your country, what kind of help does the government give to companies that are about to go bankrupt?
  5. Do you know any companies that went bankrupt? Talk about what happened.

Leader’s Health

B1 – Intermediate

Depending on the type of government, countries use different titles to address their leader. They go by different titles such as president, prime minister, chief executive, chancellor, and many more. These leaders play very vital roles in all aspects of nation building. Hence, any issue on their health is a topic their people could not just shrug off.

Read the transcript and listen to the audio from the link below.

https://www.newsinlevels.com/products/leaders-health-level-1/

Discussion Questions:

  1. What are the speculations about North Korea’s leader’s health?
  2. Why is it difficult to verify these speculations?
  3. Do you agree that leaders should make frequent public appearances?
  4. Do you think that country leaders should release their medical records regularly? Why or why not?
  5. Should good state of health be an important qualification for aspiring politicians too?

Google Meet Video Conferencing Platform Improved

B1 – Intermediate

Video conferencing technology gives us the opportunity to communicate with our co-workers, friends, and family. It is changing rapidly over the past few years. Video conferencing is not only for business but also for education and healthcare. It boosts productivity, saves time, and reduces travel expenses.

Let’s read the article below.

https://breakingnewsenglish.com/2004/200429-google-meet.html

Discussion Questions:

  1. How is Google Meet helpful in education and healthcare and at work?
  2. What are some improvements in the Google Meet platform?
  3. What are your experiences video conferencing?
  4. What are the advantages and disadvantages of video conferencing?
  5. How did you communicate with your family and friends during lockdown? How has it changed since things went back to normal?

Reading Might Help You Live Longer

B2 – Upper Intermediate

It’s undeniable that screens compete daily for our attention. Work and entertainment all play out to some extent on these digital displays, so much so that our days are consumed in activities that require their use. This includes reading.

Some argue that reading off anything other than a screen should be relegated to the past. However, some studies suggest that the act of assimilating ideas from the printed page may be just what the doctor ordered.

In this video, Dr. Sanjay Gupta explains how reading (or listening to a good read) can help add years to your lifespan.

Discussion Questions:

  1. What benefits of reading are mentioned by Dr. Gupta?
  2. How do you like your books? On the printed page, as an audiobook, or scrollable on a portable screen?
  3. What do you think can be done to encourage people to read more?

Things Healthiest People Have in Common

B2 – Upper Intermediate

The secret of longevity is mainly eating healthy food. However, it is also proven that the world’s healthiest people have the same habits, not only eating healthy food.

Learn the real secrets to healthy living by reading this article.

https://www.rdasia.com/healthsmart/fitness/17-things-worlds-healthiest-people-have-common?pages=2

 Discussion Questions:

  1. What can you say about the saying “health is wealth”?
  2. Do you do all these habits described in the article?
  3. Do you agree that these habits will keep you healthy?
  4. Aside from these habits mentioned in the article, what else do you think is helpful in providing major health benefits?
  5. What do you think of wellness institutions and their programs?
  6. From your own experience, can you give some examples of how the mind and the body are connected?

Hotel Guests Information Hacked

B1 – Intermediate

Hotels are your home away from home. You book hotels when you are on holiday or business trip. To do that, you need to give them your personal information including your credit card information. But what if those information were stolen from them?

Read the transcript and listen to the audio about a hotel chain’s hacking incident.

https://www.newsinlevels.com/products/hotel-guests-information-level-2/

Discussion Questions:

  1. What is your reaction to this news?
  2. What can businesses do to protect themselves from hacking?
  3. Talk about other people or companies whose accounts/systems have been hacked.
  4. When is hacking good and bad?
  5. If you were to hack a person or company’s account or system, who or which would it be and why? What information would you like to see?

Fathers Are Too Old

B1 – Intermediate

Some men would say that becoming a father is the best thing that ever happened to them. They claim that the best thing about it is the fulfillment you get in raising someone and seeing them grow up to be great people. But is there a perfect age to become a dad?

Click the link below to read the transcript and listen to the audio about being a father when you are older.

https://www.newsinlevels.com/products/fathers-are-too-old-level-2/

Discussion Questions:

  1. Why do men delay having children?
  2. What is your opinion on sperm freezing? Is it popularly done by men in your country?
  3. Do you agree or disagree that earlier fatherhood should be promoted among young men?
  4. What are the good and bad things about having children when you are older?
  5. Do you think men in your country are having children when they are younger or older? Why do you think this is the case?
  6. Talk about your father or being a father yourself.

Ways to Kill Your Dreams

They say that dreams are only for children or for people who have the means to reach it. In reality, dreams are lifelong goals that we can achieve through discipline, hardwork, and believing in ourselves.

Brazillian entrepreneur Bel Pesce enumerate the ways of discouraging thoughts when we try to achieve our dreams and on how to keep ourselves going.

Watch the video below and learn more.

Discussion Questions:

  1. Discuss the five ways how not to follow your dreams?
  2. What does overnight success mean? Share a related story.
  3. What are your first thoughts about the video?
  4. What are your childhood dreams that came true?
  5. In the video, what is meant by “believe the fault is someone else’s?”
  6. From the five tips mentioned in the video, what is one tip that can be most helpful to you?

Nature Rebounding during Coronavirus

B2 – Upper Intermediate

More or less two months now since quarantine has started in most of the countries around the world. Obviously, we are experiencing adverse losses in the economy globally due to bounded outside activities. But amidst this pandemic that we are dealing with, our natural world is healing.

Let’s check some of the photos in different countries showing how nature is flourishing.

https://www.rdasia.com/culture/8-photos-that-show-nature-rebounding-during-coronavirus

Discussion Questions:

1.Is there any news in your place that reports nature’s healing during this lockdown?

2. What can you say about the photos that you’ve seen? Which one is your favorite?

3. Do you think people would do some efforts to maintain the improvement we’ve seen in nature even after this lockdown is over?

4. As a simple citizen, what can you do to help preserve our nature for the future generation?