Category: Class

Too Heavy to Fight

B2 – Upper Intermediate

(CNN) — More than a quarter of young adults are unable to meet physical requirements to join the military, creating a potential threat to national security, a group of retired armed forces leaders said Tuesday.

“It’s not drug abuse, it’s not asthma, it’s not flat feet — by far the leading medical reason is being overweight or obese,” said retired U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. Norman Seip at a news conference.

About 27 percent of young adults are medically ineligible for the military, according to Mission: Readiness, a group of retired admirals, generals, and other senior military leaders.

Mission: Readiness’ report, “Too Fat to Fight,” said that 75 percent of young Americans between the ages of 17 to 24 do not qualify for the military because of failure to graduate [from high school], criminal records or physical problems. The study cited Department of Defense and health data.

Different branches of the military have their own policies, but they all measure strength, body fat, aerobic capacity, weight and height, Seip said.

A person must pass the physical fitness standards at the time he or she signs up for enlistment. These standards include sit-ups and push-ups.

“The logic is pretty obvious,” said retired Army Brig. Gen. Clara Adams-Ender. “The troops need to be in excellent physical condition because of the demands of the important jobs they do in defense. Rigorous physical and mental standards are critical if we are to maintain the fighting readiness of our military.”

The maximum weight depends on the person’s sex, height and age. The Army allows a woman who is between 21-27 years of age, with the height of 5 feet 3 inches and no prior service, up to 137 pounds. A man between 21-27 years of age, height of 5 feet 8 inches and no prior service can weigh up to 186 pounds. The weight allotment increases with age and height.

The Army’s body fat limit for women in the 21-27 age range, with no prior service is 32 percent body fat and for males, 26 percent.

Once enlisted, individuals also have to pass annual physical tests.

“We lose upwards to 12,000 young men and young women a year before they even finish up the first term of enlistment,” Seip said. “That’s another person, who has been recruited, trained and left because they’re not able to maintain standards and can’t pass the physical fitness test.”

Retired officials said it’s not about looking good in uniform, but ensuring the future health of the nation.

“We cannot wait until our young adults reach enlistment age to do something about it,” said retired Navy Rear Adm. James Barnett Jr. “By that time, they may have already developed a chronic and lifelong weight problem.”

Mission: Readiness urged Congress to pass a new childhood nutrition law to remove school junk food, improve nutritional standards and quality of school meals, and to open access to anti-obesity programs for children.

“If we do something about it, school can become a terrific environment for proper meals,” Barnett said.

The retirees referred to a similar push military leaders made in 1945, when concerns about poor nutrition in potential recruits resulted in the creation of a national school lunch program.

The retired military leaders were joined by Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana and Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack.

“The reality that so many youngsters are not fit for military service is indeed a wake-up call for this country,” Vilsack said.

Discussion Questions:

  1. What is your general opinion of the article?
  2. Why is important for military personnels to be in excellent physical condition?
  3. What do you think are the risks of having unhealthy service men?
  4. What are ways to help combat the obesity problem among servicemen?
  5. Are the men in service in your country very fit (police officers, soldiers, firefighters, EMT)? Do you think it is important that they are physically in shape? Explain.

Learning Languages Boosts our Brain

B2 – Upper Intermediate

Do you worry about getting old? Our memory naturally deteriorates. There are different studies conducted by different organizations that show how languages shape the way we think.

Language shapes the way we think. Whether we’re listening to a persuasive speaker, absorbed in powerful writing, or engaged in a conversation, language can introduce us to new ideas, perspectives, and opportunities.

But at a more fundamental level, language might physically alter your mind. Bilinguals, for example, have denser gray matter in their language centers than monolinguals. Bilinguals can more easily focus on two tasks at once. They think more analytically. Parts of their brain devoted to memory, reasoning, and planning are larger than those of monolinguals.

Learning a second language is like a workout for your mind. The benefits of bilingualism, from increased creativity to the delayed onset of Alzheimer’s, should encourage everyone to pick up a second – or third! – language.

Let’s follow the path of language through your head as you hear, comprehend, and create words and phrases, and then pinpoint how language can shape the brain and what benefits it bestows. Here is your brain on language.

Speech in the brain

While our brains make sense of words instantaneously, the process of transforming sounds into meaning and then formulating a response winds through several areas of the brain. When your ear turns sound waves into neural impulses, those impulses trigger reactions from four major regions of the brain devoted to language comprehension and production: The auditory cortex, Wernicke’s area, Broca’s area, and the motor cortex.

The auditory cortex: The sounds funneled into your ear are converted to neural impulses and make their first stop in the auditory cortex, located on both sides of the brain. This region lets your brain know where the sound came from and when, then relays that information to the more specialized areas of the brain.

Wernicke’s area: After passing through the auditory cortex, neural sound information moves to Wernicke’s area, located in the left hemisphere of the brain. This area turns the impulses into recognizable words and phrases, and thus meaningful communication.

Broca’s area: Also located in the left hemisphere, Broca’s area is concerned with language production and motor planning. Simply put, once your brain has interpreted the language and its meaning, Broca’s area is where your response is formulated.

Motor cortex: The final brain location associated with language processing is the motor cortex, which helps plan, control, and execute voluntary movements. This region controls the movement of your mouth and lips as they form words. After other areas of the brain handle word conceptualization and phrase formulation, the motor cortex assists articulation as your vocal tracts produce the sounds we recognize as language.

How language shapes the brain

From the moment sound waves enter your ear and become neural impulses, your brain executes this rapid-fire series of events that few of us are ever aware of, but without which we’d be unable to communicate.

For bilingual speakers, this process involves both languages — from the first syllable they hear, their brain is working to identify the word, and the listener’s brain begins identifying any words, in either language, that could fit the sounds as they arrive in sequence. Having to distinguish between two languages can be tricky in some situations, but the brain’s executive functions, especially the attention and inhibition processes, are strengthened through this process, ultimately making bilingual speakers better at switching between two tasks or handling tasks that require conflict management.

How language shapes your brain depends in part on when you learn another language. For example, Broca’s area differs between young language learners and older language learners. If a child grows up bilingual, the same region in Broca’s area handles the processing of both languages. However, if you learn a language after adolescence, a separate area develops for the second language near the area used for your native tongue. Despite the difference in brain structure, language learners both old and young gain the benefits of speaking multiple languages.

Because the language centers in the brain are so flexible, learning a second language can develop new areas of your mind and strengthen your brain’s natural ability to focus, entertain multiple possibilities, and process information.

Just as you exercise your body to keep your heart healthy and muscles strong, exercising your mind can sharpen your decision-making and improve your communication skills. So if you only speak one language or haven’t spoken your second language since high school, now’s the time to get learning.

Discussion Questions:

  1. Do you think learning another language would make your brain healthier? Explain.
  2. How would you describe your experience in learning English?
  3. What other languages can you speak? What else would you like to learn?
  4. What other activities do you think are good for the brain?

Tacos with Insects

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B1 – Intermediate

A restaurant owner in Mexico is offering tacos topped with insects. He has wild items added to his menu such as scorpions and spiders too.

 Tacos with insects

Discuss:

1. What exotic kinds of food do you know or have tried?
2. Are there exotic foods in Spain?
3. For you, is it okay to use and put insects in our food? Why or why not?

Deleting memories

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B2 – Upper intermediate

Neurons work as transmitter of information in the brain but when the process is disturbed they lose the connection between brain cells and can cause memory loss. Scientists have successfully done a process called Electroconvulsive Therapy to delete specific memory.

Find out how this therapy works and how it helps people with post- traumatic stress disorder.

Deleting memories

Click on the title to listen to the report: Deleting Memories: Audio

Click on the title to read the text: Deleting Memories: Text

Discuss:

1. Do you have a memory that you would like to forget?
2. Is deleting a specific memory a helpful way treat depression?
3. How do you deal with traumatic memory and depression?

Sexist Poll on Women’s Mood

B2 – Upper intermediate

Below is an interesting study about men and women and their mood swings.

Read the article and express your thoughts about it. Be prepared to share some of your experiences.

http://www.breakingnewsenglish.com/1409/140924-moodiness.html

Discussion Questions:

1. Do you think that women are grumpier than men?
2. What puts you in a bad mood?
3. How do you deal with little, everyday stress in your life? How do you keep your cool?

People From a Rainforest

B1 – Intermediate

A footage shows native people emerge from the Amazon rain forest and make contact with the outside world. Brazilian experts said the indigenous people likely crossed the border from Peru facing pressure from illegal logging and drug trafficking at home.

http://www.newsinlevels.com/products/people-from-a-rainforest-level-3/

Discussion Questions:

1. Is drug trafficking happening in Spain? How about illegal logging?
2. Have you ever taken a trip to exotic places?
3. Are there still places in your country that are still “untouched” by civilization?

Stress Management

B1 – Intermediate

Stress is a very common word for most people. It comes from different causes and everybody can have it. Everyone can experience stress and there are ways to be free from it.

Let’s learn how to manage stress properly.

College can be a stressful time for anyone. Some stress pushes you to meet goals by studying more, working harder or sticking with a challenging task. But sometimes stress reaches an unhealthy level that can prevent you from functioning well and meeting your goals. Recent research from The Jed Foundation and mtvU found that over half of all college students had been, at times, so stressed that they couldn’t function during the last year. Your health, school performance and social life can all suffer when stress becomes too much to handle. That’s because stress can affect your mood and ability to think clearly. It can also weaken your immune system and make you more susceptible to getting sick.

Chronic stress can lead to — or worsen — serious health problems, including high blood pressure, autoimmune illnesses, digestive issues, depression and anxiety. So it’s important to manage stress, prevent negative stress levels and speak up if you are feeling overwhelmed. Here are some tips for managing stress while in college:

• Watch out for signs of stress overload. Symptoms of too much stress can be physical, emotional, mental and behavioral. While everyone is different, some common signs are: memory problems, trouble concentrating, racing thoughts, irritability, anger, sadness, headaches, frequent colds and changes in sleep or appetite.

• Know your stress triggers. Stress and its triggers are different for everyone. Certain people, places or situations might produce high levels of stress for you. Think about what causes you stress, and brainstorm solutions. If public speaking or presentations make you stressed, start researching early and practice several times. If there are friends or social situations that cause extreme stress, you may want to avoid them when you are already feeling tense or overwhelmed.

• Exercise. All forms of exercise reduce stress hormones, flood the body with feel-good endorphins, improve mood, boost energy and provide a healthy distraction from your dilemmas. Plus, exercise may make you less susceptible to stress in the long run. Find physical activities that you enjoy and try to devote about 30 minutes to them each day.

• Relax. While it’s impossible to eliminate all negative stress from your life, you can control the way you react to stress. Your body’s natural fight-or-flight response can take its toll. When you’re faced with a stressful situation that your mind perceives as a threat, it sends various chemicals, like adrenaline and cortisol, throughout your body. As a result, heart rate and breathing speeds up and your digestion slows down. This tires out the body.

Relaxation techniques are a huge help in calming you down, boosting mood and fighting illness. Try a variety of techniques — like yoga, breathing exercises, meditation and visualization — to see what works for you, and schedule a relaxation break every day.

• Manage your time well. Time can seem like a luxury in college, but there are various ways to manage it effectively. First, focus on one task at a time. Multitasking rarely works. Jot down everything you need to do in a calendar or a task management app/program, prioritize your list and break projects into single steps or actions.

• Be realistic. Pulling yourself in different directions will only stress you out, so try not to over-commit yourself or do extracurricular activities when you’re super busy with school.

• Curb your caffeine. Caffeine might help you study in the short term, but it interrupts sleep and makes you more anxious, tense and jittery. This obviously ups your stress level. Try and drink no more than one caffeinated beverage a day.

• Don’t self-medicate. Some students drink, take drugs, smoke and use other unhealthy behaviors to cope with stress. However, these behaviors can exacerbate stress by negatively affecting your mood and health.

• Reach out. If you’re stressed out, talk to your friends and family. If you feel like you can’t handle the stress on your own, schedule an appointment with a counselor on campus.

Discussion Questions:

1. Would you consider yourself stressed out?
2. What are the major causes of your stress?
3. What are the ways you do to deal with your stress?

Video Games Good for Children

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B1 – Intermediate

Different studies were conducted on how behavior among children and teenagers are affected by playing video games. A study in Oxford University found that playing video games for less than an hour a day is good. On the other hand, playing violent video games influence teenagers to be more aggressive.

Read the article to know more about the possible benefits and consequences of vieo games on children.

Study: Playing Video Games Good for Children

Discuss:

1. Do you play video games?
2. Does it affect your way of thinking and behaviour?
3. Do you agree with idea suggested in the article?
4. Would you allow your children to play video games? If yes, what set of rules would you impose?

Caffeine Improves Long-Term Memory

A2 – Elementary

Most people drink coffee or tea to jump-start their day. It works as stimulant. It gives them energy and keeps them awake. But, according to the study conducted by Mike Yassa, together with the University of California in Irvine, caffeine also helps improve long term memory.

Video Player

 

Discuss:

1. Are you a coffee or tea drinker?
2. How does caffeine affect you in a daily basis?
3. What is the best coffee for you?

The Six Secrets of Self-Control

C1 – Advanced

Do you have the habit of checking your phone all the time, even when it’s not necessary? Are you an impulsive person who just can’t resist buying when there’s a sale? Our self-control is always on the line.

Click on the title below and read the article to know more about self-control.

The Six Secrets of Self-Control

Discuss:

1. Explain the 6 secrets of self-control.
2. Which ones do you practice? Do you agree with all of them?
3. Would you say that self-control is your strength?
4. When was the last time that you had to practice self-control?