Category: Homework

Market Boom for Fake Tanks

B2 – Upper Intermediate

The Russia-Ukraine War has boosted the need for heavy military weapons and vehicles. Such military supplies cost an arm and a leg, though. This most probably the reason fake army equipment makers have seen a rise in demand for their products.

These equipment are more cost-effective, yet still pretty much gets the job done when it comes to tricking and intimidating the enemy.

Read the article about the rise in demand for inflatable military decoys worldwide.

https://www.voanews.com/a/czech-company-sees-boom-in-market-for-fake-tanks-himars/6992819.html

Vocabulary Questions:

  1. What does ”decoy” mean, “The company has added HIMARS to its fleet of over 30 types of inflatable real-size decoys it sells to customers worldwide, Chief Executive Vojtech Fresser said Monday.”? Use this word in your own sentence.
  2. What does the expression “to find one’s way somewhere” mean, “Inflatech would not confirm Ukraine is among the destinations, but Fresser said he would expect them to find their way there.“? Use this idiom in your own sentence.
  3. What does the word “reconnaissance” mean, “The decoys are made from synthetic silk and, apart from misleading the adversary visually, have a thermal footprint and appear on radars to fool enemy reconnaissance.”? Use this word in your own sentence.

Discussion Questions:

  1. What are your thoughts on placing life-size inflatable decoys on the front lines to deceive the enemy?
  2. What are the pros and cons of using fake military equipment?
  3. Share your opinion on this: “Inflatech would not confirm Ukraine is among the destinations, but Fresser said he would expect them to find their way there.”

Supermarkets Ration Fruits and Vegetables

B1 – Intermediate

In the UK, there have been a shortage in the supply of fruits and vegetables. Customers are having difficulties finding places to buy fruits and vegetables from. The big supermarkets said there are many reasons for this shortage in their supplies. As a result, most of their shelves are left almost empty.

Due to this, supermarkets have no choice but to ration some produces in the middle of this problem with low fruits and vegetables supply in the country.

Read the article about the fruits and vegetables shortage in the UK and how the supermarkets started rationing the supply to their customers.

https://breakingnewsenglish.com/2303/230306-uk-vegetable-rationing-5.html

Vocabulary Questions:

  1. What does ”bare” mean here, “The big chains have given various reasons for the shortfall in supply and why shelves are bare in supermarket aisles.”? Give 2 synonyms of the word ‘bare’ in this context and use them in sentences.
  2. What does the expression “to play a part” mean, “An industry analyst said Brexit has also played a part.”? Use this idiom in your own sentence.
  3. What does “war-torn” mean, “Many shoppers are shocked at seeing photos on social media of supermarket shelves in Europe, and in war-torn Ukraine, full of fresh produce.”? Use this word in your own sentence.

Discussion Questions:

  1. What is your reaction to this news? Has something similar happened in your country too?
  2. What are the reasons for the lack of supply in fruits and vegetables in the UK?
  3. Is it a good solution to limit how much fruits and veggies each customer can buy? Explain your opinion.
  4. Do you agree or disagree to this, “If there are shortfalls in production in the EU, then it makes sense for EU producers to serve their local demand first.”? Share your thoughts.
  5. Talk about some products or produces that became low in supply in your country. How did that shortage affect you?

Inflation

B1 – Intermediate

Inflation is one of the most important economic issues in the world. It can be defined as the price of goods and services rising over monthly or yearly. Inflation leads to a decline in the value of money, it means that we cannot buy something at a price that same as before. This situation will increase our cost of living.

Listen to this audio and read the transcript about inflation.

https://listenaminute.com/i/inflation.html

Vocabulary Questions:

  1. What is “inflation rate“? “Zimbabwe once had an inflation rate of trillions of percent.” Use this phrase in a sentence.
  2. What does the phrase “to keep something under control” mean, “Many countries around the world are fighting to keep inflation under control.”? Use this in a sentence.
  3. What does “to lose the battle against something” mean, “Sometimes you read about countries that lose the battle against inflation.” Use this in a sentence.

Discussion Questions:

  1. Why is inflation important to economists?
  2. Have you changed your spending or your habits because of the rising prices?
  3. Do you think your government should do more to help people manage in the middle of this problem with inflation? Share your opinion.
  4. What will happen to the world if prices keep rising?
  5. What will happen to your lifestyle if prices keep rising?
  6. What hurts you more, increase in fuel prices or food prices? Why?

Reasons Unemployment Is Scary

B2 – Upper Intermediate

Unemployment always sounds familiar to each and every one of us. Due to the fact that it is an issue that many people can relate to, it has long been one of society’s most pressing problems and a top concern for many governments all over the world.

Please watch the video below to find out why unemployment is so scary.

Vocabulary Questions:

  1. What does “scarce resource” mean, “All of this is done with the aim of allocating scarce resources.” Use this in your own sentence.
  2. What does “inner workings” mean, “Behind this definition, there is something much bigger going on, something that teaches us about the inner workings of the economy.” Use this in your own sentence.
  3. What is “free market“? “Free market economics does miraculously work quite well to get people paired up with jobs all over this country and world.” Use this in your own sentence.

Discussion Questions:

  1. What do you think of unemployment? Should we be concerned about it?
  2. Is unemployment one of your nation’s most pressing societal issues? Why or why is it not the case?
  3. Explain ‘natural unemployment’. Share your thoughts on it.
  4. Have you ever been without a job? Talk about this situation.
  5. How does unemployment impact our lives and the country’s economy?

Gambling

B1 – Intermediate

Gambling is defined as placing money or betting in a game to win even more money depending on luck without working really hard. Gambling is a kind of a shortcut to getting a lot of money. Everyone would like to follow an easy way to make money. Even rich people gamble to become even richer. However, it is a game of chance. Many people also end up losing a lot of money to it.

Listen to this audio and read the transcript about gambling.

https://listenaminute.com/g/gambling.html

Vocabulary Questions:

  1. What does “nothing good comes out of something” mean, “I don’t think much good comes [out] of gambling.”? Use it in a sentence.
  2. What does “odds to be against someone” mean, “The odds are always against you.”? Use this idiom in a sentence.
  3. What does “to get fed up with someone/something” mean, “They must get fed up with throwing their money away.”? Use it in a sentence.

Discussion Questions:

  1. Have you ever won or lost money from gambling? Share that situation.
  2. Do you think buying lottery tickets is a form of gambling? Why or why not?
  3. Why do you think so many people like gambling?
  4. How can someone stop from gambling too much?
  5. What damage does gambling do to an individual and the society?
  6. How different do you think the world would be if gambling didn’t exist? Explain.

Unusual Jobs You Might Not Know Exist

B2 – Upper Intermediate

It’s not unusual now to have a job that can be difficult to explain to people who are used to more common ones such as a teacher or a manager.

Read the article and learn from the stories of representatives with some unusual professions.

13 More Unusual Jobs you might not know exist

Vocabulary Questions:

  1. What does “confidant” mean, “Friend for hire, organizer, confidant, non-complaining member of the wedding party  – if you get along well with people and want to help a bride’s wedding day run smoothly, then this could seriously be a job to consider.“? Use it in your own sentence.
  2. What does “side hustle” mean, “If you’re patient or perhaps you just enjoy people watching, and you don’t mind being out in the elements, you could make line standing a side hustle that could earn you money.”? Use it in your own sentence.
  3. What does “strike a chord” mean, “You never know what’s going to strike a chord and be the spark that ignites a career you’ll love.”? Use it in your own sentence.

Discussion Questions:

  1. Have you ever had an unusual job? What about your friends or relatives? Have they? Why or why not?
  2. Are there any other professions that are hard to understand or explain for you? What are they and try explaining them.
  3. What are the pros and cons of having a bizarre job?
  4. Why do you think people might choose such professions?
  5. How do you explain to others what your job is about?

AI Chatbots ChatGPT and Google Bard

B1 – Intermediate

Chatbots are computer programs used to simulate chat with a human user. The latest chatbot to become more popular is ChatGPT. When a user asks something on ChatGPT, it can answer almost every question you ask it and with perfect grammar. It’s like you are really talking to another person.

Google didn’t waste time and launched its own version called Google Bard. 

It has now become a race for the best AI chatbot in town between Google and Microsoft.

Read the article on the AI chatbot battle between ChatGPT and Google Bard.

https://breakingnewsenglish.com/2302/230213-chatgpt-chatbot-4.html

Vocabulary Questions:

  1. What does ”hot on the heels of sb/sth” mean, ”Hot on the heels of ChatGPT came Google’s Bard.”? Use this expression in your own sentence.
  2. What does the expression “to spread like wildfire” mean, “A new online revolution has begun and is spreading like wildfire.” Use this idiom in your own sentence.
  3. What does “shake up” mean, “There are many questions about how chatbots will shake up our world.” Use this phrase in your own sentence.

Discussion Questions:

  1. What is your opinion on AI chatbots like ChatGPT and Google Bard? Would you use such programs?
  2. What are the uses and dangers of such AI chatbots?
  3. How is this going to change our lives/societies?
  4. Share your opinion on this: “Teachers are worrying about “the end of homework”. 
  5. Do you agree or disagree that “AI can deepen our understanding of information and turn it into useful knowledge making it easier for people to get things done.”? Explain.

Sensitivity Readers

B1 – Intermediate

Roald Dahl and Ian Fleming are famous authors. Roald Dahl wrote “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” and Ian Fleming, the “James Bond” novels. Their novels are classics. 

However, many things have changed in our society since these books were written more than 50 years ago. Language that were considered acceptable then, might be offensive now.

So, some classic novels have to be edited by what we call “sensitivity readers”. Publishing companies let “sensitivity readers” check for words that might not be politically-correct now.

Read the article on sensitivity readers.

https://breakingnewsenglish.com/2303/230302-sensitivity-readers.html

Vocabulary Questions:

  1. What does ”upset” mean here, ”They are worried that language in older books might upset people today, especially children.”? Give two synonyms of the word ‘upset’ and use it in your own sentence.
  2. What does the expression “belong to another time” mean, “A lot of the language they check belongs to another time.” Use this idiom in your own sentence.
  3. What does “character” mean, “The recent edits of the James Bond books are because of insensitive language about black characters and women.” Use this word in your own sentence.

Discussion Questions:

  1. Why are sensitivity readers important?
  2. What do you think of the job of sensitivity readers?
  3. Should classic novels be edited to be politically-correct? Why/why not?
  4. How would you feel reading a book that contains language that might be considered offensive now?
  5. Name one classic book that you read. Were there parts that you thought were offensive?

Social Media and Plastic Surgery

B1 – Intermediate

Social media has a been a tool for people to be exposed to plastic surgery. Apparently, beauty standards are a thing on social media. Hence, people are wanting to get cosmetic procedures to conform to these so-called beauty standards.

Read the article to learn more about social media and plastic surgery.

https://www.newsinlevels.com/products/social-media-and-plastic-surgery-level-3/

Vocabulary Questions:

  1. What does “alter” mean, “Social media have built-in filters that alter face shape or facial features to fit current beauty trends.”? Give two synonyms of this word and use them in your own sentences.
  2. What does “go viral” mean, “This gives users an instant picture of what they might look like, and it helps the filters go viral.”? Use this phrase in your own sentence.
  3. What does “ditch” mean, “They also warn that doctors with less training ditch their chosen profession to perform procedures.”? Use this word in your own sentence.

Discussion Questions:

  1. What is your opinion on plastic surgery?
  2. What are the pros and cons of plastic surgery?
  3. Are people in your country open-minded about plastic surgery? Why / why not?
  4. Have you been influenced by social media? In what way?
  5. What do you think of the beauty standards on social media?
  6. Would you be open to get plastic surgery? Why/why not?

The Billion-Dollar eSports Industry

B2 – Upper Intermediate

More and more teenagers now prefer playing computer games to doing traditional sports. For them, it would be a dream job if they could play video games for a living.

Watch the video to know more about the billion-dollar eSports industry.

Vocabulary Questions:

  1. What does the phrase “on the cusp” mean, “We haven’t really had our biggest victory yet, but we are really on the cusp of it and I’m certain there we’re going to have it very soon.“? Use it in your own sentence.
  2. What does “fit for a king” mean, “When they’re not on the road, most American teams go back to Los Angeles, the unofficial home of eSports in the US, where their franchises pay for them to live in mansions fit for [a] king.“? Use this idiom in your own sentence.
  3. What does the idiom “rise (up) through the ranks” mean, “I would describe it like we’re playing like the NBA or something and you rise up through the ranks.”? Use this expression in your own sentence.

Discussion Questions:

  1. What do you think of eSports?
  2. What can you say about how professional egamers’ life was presented in the video?
  3. The popularity of games at times even surpasses the popularity of traditional sports. Do you see this as a problem? Explain.
  4. Do you agree that perseverance is very important in eSports? Is it true about every sport?
  5. What might be reasons parents don’t support their children getting involved in egaming?
  6. Is it possible to become a successful gamer even if you haven’t started at an early age? Explain.
  7. Why do you think the life of a pro gamer requires discipline?