Category: Class

Hair Dyes and Straighteners Linked to Higher Cancer Risk

B2 – Upper Intermediate

Whether fine, thick, long, short, curly, or straight, your hair deserves respect. It is our crowning glory, so it deserves much care and attention. Just be careful with the products that we use as some of them are linked to a higher risk of breast cancer. Caveat emptor.

https://www.ecowatch.com/hair-dye-chemicals-cancer-risk-2641588380.html?rebelltitem=3#rebelltitem3

Discussion Questions:

  1. How do you think this study can impact society?
  2. How do you take care of your hair?
  3. Should hair dyes and straighteners be banned from the market?
  4. How in demand are hair grooming products in your country?

Personal Pronouns

Level: Beginner-Intermediate

A personal pronoun is a short word we use as a simple substitute for the proper name of a person.

There are two cases of personal pronouns: subject pronouns and object pronouns.

SUBJECT PRONOUNS
I
-I went to school.
you
-You are my friend.
she
-She is my sister.
he
-He studied hard.
it
-It is a boy!
we
-We went home early.
they
-They are not here yet.

OBJECT PRONOUNS
me
-Give me your phone.
you
-Mom will talk to you.
her
-Take her to the hospital.
him
-Please drive him home.
it
-I had to buy it.
us
-Please give us food.
them
-Throw them away!

Modals – Deductions about the Past

Level: Intermediate-Advanced

Modal verbs for deduction are used when trying to see whether something is true or not. The way we choose these modal verbs is an indication of how big we think the possibility is. Some modals of deductions about the past are must have, might have/may have, and can’t have/couldn’t have.

Compare:

She must be really exhausted from working all day. (present deduction)
She must have been very exhaused when she had to work all day. (past deduction)

must have


Must have + past participle is used to express certainty about something.

She couldn’t find her purse. She must have left it at the restaurant.
Allan must have had the flu. He didn’t show up at any of his appointments today.
We’ve got enough money. Michelle must have saved on her meal earlier.

might have / may have


Might have or may have + past participle is used to express the possibility that something happened.

I might have bought the wrong brand. Can you please ask Mom to check?
Joe thinks his wife may have left with her lover.

Note: Might have is the less formal form compared to may have. Could have is another possible form to be used in such context but it is not that very common.

can’t have / couldn’t have

Can’t have and couldn’t have + past participle are used to express that it is not possible for something to happen.

They can’t have left the party yet because their car is still outside.
Andrea thought she saw her old university professor this morning but it couldn’t have been her – she moved abroad years ago.

Test 250

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Possessives II

Level: Beginner-Intermediate

Possessive pronouns are words that show ownership.

Here are some examples of possessive pronouns used in sentences:

my
-My job is to teach you.

mine
-This apple is mine.

our
-Our house is big.

ours
-These bags are ours.

its
-Its lid is broken.

his
-His dad is a businessman.

her
-Her umbrella is yellow.

hers
-That yellow umbrella is hers.

their
-Their car is blue.

theirs
-That blue car is theirs.

your
-Your dress looks nice.

yours
-This dress is yours.

Test 284

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Phrasal Verbs III

Level: Beginner-Intermediate

Phrasal verbs are combinations of words that when used together, usually have a different meaning to that of the original verb. Phrasal verbs are phrases that indicate actions.

Here are some examples of phrasal verbs:

drop out
-quit a class, school, etc.
Example: I dropped out of Math because it was too difficult.

catch up
-get to the same point as somebody else
Example: You’ll have to run faster than that if you want to catch up with me.

come back
-to return
Example: Come back and see us again sometime.

wake up
-stop sleeping
Example: We have to wake up early.

enter into something
-to start to become involved in something
Example: We don’t need to enter into that yet.

throw away
-to get rid of something you do not want any more:
Example: People throw away plastic bags.

come into
-To arrive in a place, or to enter a place
Example: Children are not coming into school.

Test 276

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Past Simple

Level: Beginner-Intermediate

Past simple is a verb tense that is used to talk about things that happened in the past.

To turn verbs into simple past, add -ed to the root form of the verb, or just -d if the root form already ends in an e.
Example:
walk > walked
play > played
love > loved
like > liked

There are a lot of irregular past tense forms in English. Here are some examples:
choose > chose
come > came
bring > brought
buy > bought
drive > drove
eat > ate
feel > felt
find > found
cost > cost
go > went
be > was/were
begin > began
break > broke
get > got
give > gave
build > built
have > had
cut > cut
do > did
draw > drew

When Advertisers Track Emojis

B2 – Upper Intermediate

Online targeted advertising is nothing new. Advertisers have been using demographics like gender, age, political affiliation, and location to deliver what they consider as relevant ads to the netizens. The folks at Twitter, however, decided to innovate and offer advertisers information about their users’ emotional states through the emojis that they post.

Should this be a matter for concern? Watch the video below and judge for yourself.

Discussion Questions:

  1. According to the video, what is a targeted ad?
  2. What do you think about Twitter giving advertisers access to emoji data?
  3. How does an emoji differ from an emoticon? Which was introduced first to the public?
  4. What three emojis do you use most often?
  5. Give examples of emojis that have an emotional context attached to them. Which emojis come across as positive, negative, or neutral? Which emojis do you feel tend to be ambiguous?
  6. Do you follow any politicians on Twitter? In your country, does the use of Twitter by government officials impact public opinion?
  7. Is it harmless to let a faceless advertiser know how you’re feeling?
  8. A Pew Research Center survey revealed that 51% of US adults are not confident that social media sites protect user data. What do you think about this in the context of data protection practices in your country?
  9. Would you like other social media platforms like YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook to follow Twitter’s lead and use emojis in their targeted advertising?
  10. Can you live without emojis?