Category: Homework

Meeting Singles

B2 – Upper Intermediate

Being asked out on a date isn’t always as flattering as we see in the movies. There are times when you are just not into the person and they have absolutely no clue about it. Do you accept the invitation or do you turn down the person right off the bat?

Listen to the audio about meeting singles.

Meeting Singles

Discussion Questions:

  1. How did Doug find out where Diane lives? What do you think of this action?
  2. Does Diane seem interested in Doug? What excuses did she make up?
  3. How would you describe Doug based on his responses to Diane’s refusal?
  4. Have you ever declined a date invitation? How did you do it?
  5. What tips do you have for letting people down easily?

Career Search

B2 – Upper Intermediate

Assigning a job as “male” or “female” hurts both genders. It lessens the chances of the excluded gender to be considered in the same position regardless of how highly-qualified the person is. There are jobs that are gender-stereotyped such as firefighters, hairdressers, nurses etc. Fortunately, gender lines are blurring in the recent years.

Listen to the audio about career search.

Career Search

Discussion Questions:

  1. What career does the woman want to pursue? How about her boyfriend?
  2. What’s Ryan’s opinion on their career choices?
  3. Do you agree that some jobs are gender-specific? If so, give examples.
  4. How did you decide on your chosen career?
  5. How easy/difficult was it for you to establish yourself in your chose field? Share your experience/s.

Sea Slugs Regenerate Bodies After Decapitation

B2 – Upper Intermediate

Some animals have the ability to regrow body parts that have been cut off. In a new study, it reveals an amazing discovery of regeneration where Japanese sea slugs can regrow hearts and whole new bodies after their heads have been cut off.

Read more about the Japanese sea slugs regeneration.

https://www.nbcnews.com/science/science-news/heads-sea-slugs-grow-new-bodies-decapitation-rcna366

Discussion Questions:

  1. Explain the significance of this scientific breakthrough. What are your thoughts on this discovery?
  2. What did you know about sea slugs before reading this article? What have you learned about them so far?
  3. Is it possible to discover the technology to regrow (human) body parts? Why or why not? Discuss. 
  4. If it ever were developed, how would the technology to regrow human body parts impact our lives?
  5. Sea slugs developed the ability to regenerate their body parts to fight off parasites. What do you think about this?

Drones Can’t Fly Over Paris

B1 – Intermediate

A drone is something like a flying robot. It is operated by humans from a remote location or it can work by itself when it is set. Drones are very popular and widely used because of its functionality and efficiency when capturing images and videos. However, there are some concerns about using them in Paris.

Listen to the audio and read the transcript to find out why Paris decided to impost strict laws against drones and be ready to answer the questions that follow.

https://www.newsinlevels.com/products/drones-cannot-fly-over-paris-level-2/

Discussion Questions:

  1. What is your opinion on Paris prohibiting drones? Is there such a law in your city or country too?
  2. What do you think of drones?
  3. What are the advantages and disadvantages of using drones?
  4. Why do you think they are gaining popularity nowadays?

Young People Put Off Driving

B2 – Upper Intermediate

Driving is a rite of passage. They say it is a very important life skill. It can even represent freedom and maturity.

But during the pandemic lockdowns, one activity that was prohibited was traveling. Hence, people had to stop driving. With everything going on now, is it worth it to take lessons given that the prices of lessons and insurance could be rather steep?

Read the article on why young people are putting the brakes to learning how to drive during the pandemic.

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2021/may/22/cost-young-people-learning-to-drive-covid-driving-lessons-insurance

Discussion Questions:

  1. What does driving mean in your life?
  2. How was your experience learning how to drive?
  3. Why are young people putting off learning to drive? Do you think you have the same problem in your country?
  4. What’s the importance of insurance especially for young/novice drivers?
  5. If you were just to learn how to drive now, would you also put it off? Why or why not? 

Influencing Across Cultures

B2 – Upper Intermediate

Culture is defined as a set of shared values, goals, attitudes, and practices that characterize an organization. It is a key component in business and how well people influence others is beneficial in the success of a business.

Let’s learn a few patterns which are useful for those who are working across cultures.

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/influencing-across-cultures-felicity-menzies

Discussion Questions:

  1. What are the things to consider when trying to influence people who come from different cultural backgrounds?
  2. Which influencing techniques will work best when you are working with people from other cultures?
  3. How do you influence people ? Talk about an experience where you had to persuade people to accept your point of view.
  4. Does your job require a lot of influencing skills?
  5. How can we improve our influencing skills?

A Student Credit Card

B2 – Upper Intermediate

It’s getting harder these days for students to afford their day-to-day expenses. In fact, the majority of fresh graduates in the US incur thousands of dollars in debts even before they can start making money. As a result, many of them take out loans. This is an opportunity for banks to offer credit cards to students. Having credit cards help students pay their daily expenses. However, it could also be the cause for students to sink further into debts and ending up in the red.

Let’s click the link and listen to how the woman used her student credit card.

A Student Credit Card

Discussion Questions:

  1. Is it common for students to take out loans in your country?
  2. What is your opinion about having student credit cards?
  3. What are the advantages and disadvantages of owning credit cards when you are still a student?
  4. How was your financials when you were still a student?
  5. What were your sources of funds when you were still studying?

What Happens When We Stop Exercising?

B2 – Upper Intermediate

There are lots of reasons why we take some time off from working out such as family obligations, work demands, inclement weather, vacation, etc. but there could be consequential changes to our bodies and health if we stop exercising.

Here’s exactly what we can expect to happen to our bodies if we stop exercising. Let’s read the article below.

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20210603-how-soon-do-we-become-unfit-when-we-stop-exercising

Discussion Questions:

  1. What kind of exercises – if any – do you do and how often do you do them? What effects do they have on you?
  2. Can you tell a physically inactive person from someone who takes care of their physical condition? What are the main differences?
  3. What are some challenges to exercising?
  4. Is it better to workout at home or at the gym?
  5. What are other side effects of stopping exercise that you know of?

Zip it

B1 – Intermediate

The phrase “zip it” originates from literally closing a bag by zipping it. Zipping the mouth of the person talking incessantly so that he or she could stop giving more information that others shouldn’t hear. This phrase is used more as a slang since it may sound rude to others specially in a formal conversation.

Let us hear more about the phrase “zip it” in the audio below.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/english/features/the-english-we-speak/ep-210503

Discussion Questions:

  1. Are you talkative? Why or why not?
  2. Do you usually tell people to zip it? What are some reasons?
  3. Do you find it rude when someone stops you when you’re speaking?
  4. What are the topics that you don’t normally talk about with others?
  5. How do you stop someone from talking when you want them to zip it?

Slay

B1 – Intermediate

There are multiple meanings of the word “slay”. It may often mean to kill a person or an animal, sometimes it means to make someone laugh very hard, it could also mean that something is quite impressive but most of the time it means that someone is looking attractively fashionable.

Let us hear more about the word “slay” in the audio below.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/english/features/the-english-we-speak/ep-210524

Discussion Questions:

  1. What comes to your mind when you hear the word “slay”?
  2. Are you a fashionable person? What kind of clothes do you wear?
  3. Do you easily get impressed? What things do you find interesting?
  4. What memory do you have that you have slayed something?