Tag: audio

New Alzheimer’s Drug

B1 – Intermediate

Are you recently having some senior moments? Hold your horses and keep calm because as it turns out, you are not alone! It is estimated that around 5 million Americans of all ages suffer from Alzheimer’s.

Thankfully, Science is not sleeping. A US company is claiming that they are already close to getting their Alzheimer’s drug approved for use.

Click the link below and listen to the audio to know more about this new development.

https://www.newsinlevels.com/products/new-alzheimers-drug-level-1/

Discussion Questions:

  1. What are your thoughts on this new drug?
  2. What are your thoughts on the number of people suffering from Alzheimer’s disease?
  3. How important are your memories to you?
  4. How would you feel if you wake up one day and realize that you have lost all your memories?

Get Out of Bed When You Can’t Sleep

B2 – Upper Intermediate

Sleep is one of the most vital and essential things we need for survival. It is the phase where our awareness and stimuli from the environment are being reduced. Sleep was often neglected though, it is one of the major components of overall health of individuals. One of the reasons why sleep is important is because it helps the body to be fit and have energy for another day of work.

But what should you do if you can’t sleep? Let’s check out this video for more information on what you can do when sleep eludes you.

Discussion Questions:

  1. Can you sleep easily? Why or why not?
  2. What do you do when you can’t sleep?
  3. Why do we need to get out of bed when we can’t sleep?
  4. What is chronic insomnia? Do you know anyone who suffers from it? Describe their condition.
  5. Talk about the least and longest sleep you’ve ever had.

Chatting about a Series

B2 – Upper Intermediate

It’s amazing how there are so many great TV series to watch to entertain and even help us learn. Thus, we can share and talk about these with our family and friends. What series do you enjoy watching?

Let’s listen to this podcast about the TV series.

https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/skills/listening/intermediate-b1/chatting-about-a-series

Discussion Questions:

  1. What series do you think this chat is about?

2. What’s your favorite TV show and why? Can you recommend a TV series? Tell us the plot.

3. What streaming platform do you use to watch TV series? Why have you chosen this platform?

4. Are TV series getting better or worse?

5. Why do you think watching series is a popular past-time?

What’s the Point of Blood Types?

B2 – Upper Intermediate

I don’t think we are consciously aware of why we have different types of blood. For some cultures, it could be a determiner of how you possess your personality.

Scientifically, our blood types are most likely to exist to fend off some infectious diseases such as the one that the world is currently facing. They say that the one that defines blood types are the genes that were inherited.

Discussion Questions:

  1. Do you agree with the personality type associated with your blood type mentioned in the audio?
  2. How important is it to know our blood types? How does knowing it been helpful to you so far?
  3. Are different blood types related to different personalities? Support your stand.
  4. When did you know your blood type? What was the situation you were in that led to you knowing your blood type?
  5. Talk about the unique beliefs in your country related to blood types?

No More Bosses

B2 – Upper Intermediate

Holacracy is a method of removing job titles and hierarchy. In this system, decision-making is distributed among self-managing teams. In this method, certain positions in the business hierarchy such as managers are dissolved.

Discussion Questions:

  1. What are the benefits of having a boss/manager? Can you think of any disadvantages in the absence of one?
  2. Do you agree with holacracy? Are there companies in your country that practice holacracy?
  3. Describe your relationship with your former and current bosses. How helpful were they to you?

Coronavirus: Dealing with Mass Unemployment

B2 – Upper Intermediate

A lot of people have been stressing about being permanently or temporarily laid off from their jobs because of the coronavirus pandemic. It has caused financial problems to a lot of people. Some started finding jobs that are not in their fields of expertise and some have been trying to survive by the money that the government has given them. They say that we are not yet in a place where we can talk about recovery and the ripple effect will come in the future.

Let’s listen to the audio below to learn more.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/english/features/6-minute-english/ep-200924

Discussion Questions:

  1. Has the pandemic caused mass unemployment in your country?
  2. What would be the ripple effect of mass unemployment?
  3. Would upskilling or reskilling be the answer to our problem?
  4. What are your thoughts about not having a job for life?
  5. What do you think are other ways to deal with mass unemployment?

A Man Collects Old Phones

B1 – Intermediate

Hassan al-Tourky has a fascination for old phones. This is his unusual past-time. He and his children have the same passion for old telephones. They even have a small business for it.

Read the transcript and listen to the audio to find out more about Hassan al-Tourky’s unusual hobby.

https://www.newsinlevels.com/products/a-man-collects-old-phones-level-1/

Discussion Questions:

  1. What are your hobbies? What are your unusual hobbies?
  2. What thing/things do you collect? Why do you love them?
  3. If you could collect any old thing what would it be and why?
  4. What thing do you want to own from a famous person?
  5. Do you want your children to have the same hobby as you? Why or why not?
  6. Why is having a hobby important?

Vaccine Volunteers

B1 – Intermediate

Over 25,000 people in the US have volunteered to be part of COVID-19 vaccine trials. They will help find a safe and effective vaccine faster. This will help us to see the end of this pandemic soon.

Read the transcript and listen to the audio and be able to answer the discussion questions.

https://www.newsinlevels.com/products/vaccine-volunteers-level-1/

Discussion Questions:

  1. What are the risks and benefits of clinical trial vaccines?
  2. Would you volunteer for a vaccine study? Why or why not?
  3. Are human trials for vaccines worth the risk? Explain your point.

Go to Town

B1 – Intermediate

When you do things, do you do them with a lot of enthusiasm? How about when you want something, do you do or spend everything you’ve got just to enjoy it?

Let’s listen to the audio about the expression ‘go to town’.

http://www.idioms4you.com/complete-idioms/go-to-town.html

Discussion Questions:

  1. What is something that you have done with a lot of enthusiasm?
  2. What is something that you have splurged on?
  3. Are you the type who always ‘goes to town’ or do you do things in minimum?
  4. Why is it good to ‘go to town’? Why is it bad?

Fight Tooth and Nail

B1 – Intermediate

One of the best traits a person can have is being persistence. It is the determination to achieve an objective despite setbacks. In order to do to reach our goal, we must sometimes ‘fight tooth and nail’.

Listen to this audio and find out what ‘fight tooth and nail’ means.

http://www.idioms4you.com/complete-idioms/fight-tooth-and-nail.html

Discussion Questions:

  1. What does ‘fight tooth and nail’ mean?
  2. What do you do when things don’t go according to your plan? Do you usually have a fallback plan?
  3. Is being persistent always good or is it better to know when to give up?
  4. Talk about a time when you had to go through major difficulties to achieve your goal.