Tag: audio

Breastfeeding Experiment 

B1 – Intermediate

Breastfeeding is a natural and essential way for mothers to nourish their newborns. Mothers produce a special kind of milk that provides all the necessary nutrients for a baby’s growth and development. It also promotes a strong bond between the mother and the baby, creating a sense of closeness and security.

In this lesson, a social experiment was conducted, where people tested how others react to breastfeeding in public.

Listen to this audio and read the transcript.

https://www.newsinlevels.com/products/breastfeeding-experiment-level-2/

Vocabulary Questions:

  1. What does “social experiment” mean? “People created a social experiment to see how others really react to breastfeeding in public spaces. Part of the experiment showed a situation on the tube in London.” Use it in a sentence.
  2. What does “increasingly” mean? “The man became increasingly louder.” Use it in a sentence.
  3. What does “step in” mean? “One of the passengers stepped in” Use it in a sentence.

Discussion Questions:

  1. What are your initial thoughts and feelings about the social experiment? Elaborate.
  2. Should breastfeeding in public be considered a normal and acceptable practice? Why / Why not?
  3. What are some ways society can promote and normalize breastfeeding in public spaces while respecting the comfort of all individuals involved?
  4. Should there be designated breastfeeding areas in public spaces, or should mothers have the right to breastfeed anywhere they feel comfortable? Talk about it.

Dog Drives a Motorbike

B1 – Intermediate

Having a pet dog is a joyful experience. They offer constant companionship, playfulness, and unconditional love, brightening our lives every day. The simple presence of a furry friend can bring immense happiness and warmth to our homes.

Let’s read the article below to learn more about a dog and his owner that gone viral.

https://www.newsinlevels.com/products/dog-drives-a-motorbike-level-3/

Vocabulary Questions:

  1. What does “go viral” mean? “A video has gone viral of a dog named Sydney driving his owner around on a motorbike in Indonesia.” Use it in a sentence.
  2. What does “glare” mean? “The dog wears a pair of thick sunglasses to protect his eyes from any glare on the road.” Use it in a sentence.
  3. What does “lap up something” mean? “The duo is lapping up some limelight at the moment, all because it is something that we are not used to seeing, but the dog’s owner said that this is actually completely normal in Indonesia.” Use it in a sentence.

Discussion Questions:

  1. What are your initial thoughts and feelings upon hearing about this viral video of a dog driving a motorbike? Why do you think it became so popular?
  2. How important is trust in the relationship between humans and their pets?
  3. How do you think the internet and social media platforms impact the spread of viral videos and stories like this one? What are the pros and cons of this phenomenon?
  4. What are some personal stories or experiences related to pets or animals that have had a significant impact on your life or cultural perspectives?

Property

B1 – Intermediate

They say owning a property is probably one of the wisest investments one can ever make. Houses, buildings, and lands continue to increase in value through time.

However, for many people, the property market can be very intimidating and confusing.

Listen to this audio and read the transcript about property owning.

https://listenaminute.com/p/property.html

Vocabulary Questions:

  1. What does ”to rise in value” mean? “Buying property usually guarantees your investment will rise in value.” Use this phrase in your own sentence.
  2. What does ”to play something” mean? “If you have a lot of extra cash, you can play the world property market.” Use this phrase in your own sentence.
  3. What is a “hidden cost”, “I don’t like all the hidden costs involved in buying a property.”? Use this phrase in a sentence.

Discussion Questions:

  1. Do you agree or disagree to this: “Property is one of the best investments you can make.”? Explain your opinion.
  2. Knowing that “Places like Dubai and other areas of the Gulf are good places to buy at the moment.”, would you buy properties if you had the money? Why or why not?
  3. Do you know some people who have made a lot of money from investing in properties? Talk about him/her/them.
  4. Is it common in your country for people to have more than one property under their name? Why or why not?
  5. How knowledgeable are you about the property market?

Public Relations

B1 – Intermediate

Public relations or PR is all about building and maintaining the positive image of a company, organization, or client. It is an important part of many sectors such as business, politics, and even sports and the entertainment world.

In PR, loads of money is spent in order to be sure that the client always does and says the right things.

Listen to this audio and read the transcript about public relations.

https://listenaminute.com/p/public_relations.html

Vocabulary Questions:

  1. What does “to get one’s name out there” mean? “People in PR have to work hard in getting the company’s name out there.” Use this idiom in your own sentence.
  2. Define “image” in this context, “They must always say the right thing and have the perfect image.” Use this word in a sentence.
  3. What does it mean when “something goes wrong”, “When something goes wrong, it’s called a public relations disaster.”? Use this phrase in a sentence.

Discussion Questions:

  1. Why is public relations important to companies? How about celebrities? How about politicians?
  2. Bad publicity is still publicity. What is your opinion on this?
  3. To make a company or celebrity famous and relevant, PR staff sometimes have to lie. What is your opinion on this?
  4. Talk about a public relations disaster you know of.
  5. Talk about your company’s PR.

Drones Deliver Letters

B1 – Intermediate

Over time, technology has rapidly advanced. Robots now handle tasks and jobs once done only by humans. For instance, the U.K. has just introduced its very first drone delivery service for letters.

Read the article or listen to the audio to learn about U.K.’s drone delivery service.

https://www.newsinlevels.com/products/drones-deliver-letters-level-3/

Vocabulary Questions:

  1. What does “aim to” mean? “The Orkney I-Port initiative, in collaboration with Royal Mail and drone company Skyports, aims to transport letters and packages between islands.” Use this phrase in a sentence.
  2. What does “remote” mean in this context? “This innovation is expected to enhance delivery speed and reliability to remote areas like Graemsay and Hoy, often affected by weather and geography disruptions.”
  3. Define “initiative“. “The Orkney I-Port initiative, in collaboration with Royal Mail and drone company Skyports, aims to transport letters and packages between islands.” Make a sentence with this word.

Discussion Questions:

  1. What do you think about the idea of using drones to deliver mail in remote areas like Orkney?
  2. How would you feel if a drone delivery service for mail and packages was introduced in your local area?
  3. Do you think the use of drones for deliveries will become more common in the future? Why or why not?
  4. In your opinion, what are some potential advantages and disadvantages of using fully electric drones for deliveries?
  5. Can you think of any other innovative ways technology could improve services like mail delivery?

Southern Europe on Fire

B1 – Intermediate

Wildfires are affecting many countries in South Europe. There had been deaths and damages on properties.

Listen to this audio and read the transcript about wildfires in southern Europe.

https://www.newsinlevels.com/products/southern-europe-on-fire-level-2/

Vocabulary Questions:

  1. What does ”sweep through” mean? “Wildfires swept through nine countries in the Mediterranean, which led to the loss of 40 lives, mostly in Algeria.” Use this phrase in your own sentence.
  2. What does “blaze” mean? “Firefighters fought against blazes in Turkey, Croatia, Syria, Gran Canaria, and a natural park near Lisbon, Portugal.” Give 2 synonyms and use ‘blaze’ in a sentence.
  3. What does “wildfire” mean, “Algeria’s authorities reported 34 deaths in the mountainous northern region, while Tunisia also faced wildfires.”? Use this word in a sentence.

Discussion Questions:

  1. What is reaction to this news?
  2. What causes these fires?
  3. How can these wildfires be prevented?
  4. How prepared is your country from preventing such fires?
  5. Do you agree or disagree that the increasing frequency and intensity of wildfires is due to the climate crisis caused by humans? Explain your thought.

Healthcare

B1 – Intermediate

Access to free healthcare is a basic human right. However, even in rich countries, they are not provided. Because people can’t afford it, they have no choice but to not go to a hospital to get treated.

In an ideal world, everyone should get free medical treatments and medicines. The question is, is this ever possible?

Listen to this audio and read the transcript about healthcare.

https://listenaminute.com/h/healthcare.html

Vocabulary Questions:

  1. What does “healthcare” mean? “Every country must provide free healthcare to its citizens.” Use the word in a sentence.
  2. What does “afford” mean here, “He went with lots of Americans who couldn’t afford healthcare in America.” Use ‘afford’ in this context in your own sentence.
  3. What does ”treat” mean here, “Amazingly, the Cuban hospitals treated them all for free and gave them medicine.” Use ‘treat’ in this context in your own sentence. 

Discussion Questions:

  1. Do you agree or disagree with this, “Every country must provide free healthcare to its citizens.”? Explain your point.
  2. Why do you think rich countries don’t provide free healthcare to everyone?
  3. Is it possible to provide everyone with free healthcare? Why or why not?
  4. Talk about the healthcare system in your country.
  5. What are the most important health care issues in your country?

Should We Fear Chatbots

B2 – Upper Intermediate

Chatbots have become more and more popular these days. We encounter a lot of chatbots when we do certain transactions on the internet. However, there is this existing fear that chatbots might surpass the level of information stored in human brains.

Listen to this audio and read the transcript to learn more about chatbots.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/english/features/6-minute-english_2023/ep-230706

Vocabulary Questions:

  1. What does “on guard” mean? “…we need to be on guard against that because what’s coming out of ChatGPT is none of that.” Use this phrase in a sentence.
  2. What is a “sentient entity“? “You can provoke it to say things that sound like what a sentient entity would say.” Make a sentence with this phrase.
  3. Define “primed“. “We are really primed to imagine a mind behind language whenever we encounter language.” Use it in a sentence.

Discussion Questions:

  1. What do you think of chatbots?
  2. In your opinion, are chatbots helpful? Why or why not?
  3. Should we fear chatbots? Why or why not?
  4. What are the potential reasons that people might be afraid of chatbots?
  5. What do you think are the pros and cons of using a chatbot?

Bookstore Gets a Fine

B1 – Intermediate

Because they offer a wide selection of books, bookstores are the place to go to find good reads.

Bookstores need to be mindful about how they manage the books they sell because some of them may have topics that are sensitive in nature. Such books need to be handled with more care. 

Listen to this audio and read the transcript about one of Hungary’s biggest bookstore getting fined. Find out why they got penalized.

https://www.newsinlevels.com/products/a-bookstore-gets-a-fine-level-3/

Vocabulary Questions:

  1. What is “depict”? “The Hungarian government has fined the country’s second-largest bookstore, Lira, nearly 36,000 dollars for violating a law that bans depicting homosexuality to minors.” Give some synonyms of ‘depict’ and use the word in a sentence.
  2. What does “vague” mean, “Lira’s creative director Krisztian Nyary says the law is vague and difficult to implement.” Give some synonyms of ‘vague’ and use the word in a sentence.
  3. What does ”appeal” mean in this sentence, “Despite using legal means, the fine can’t be appealed.”? Use ‘appeal’ in this context.

Discussion Questions:

  1. What is your reaction to Lira Bookstore getting a huge fine?
  2. What do you think of this law: “All books with LGBTQ themes to be wrapped and sold separately, at least 200 meters away from schools or churches.”?
  3. Will bookstores always exist? Why or why not?
  4. What problems do bookstores have nowadays?
  5. What is your favorite bookstore? Talk about it.

Climate Change Cause More Diseases

B2 – Upper Intermediate

The effects of climate change are hotter temperatures, stronger storms, loss of species, and food supply issues to name a few.

As temperatures get higher and higher, mosquitos now plague new places and Europe is no exception.

Listen to this audio and read the transcript about how climate change worsen some mosquito-borne diseases.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/english/features/6-minute-english_2023/ep-230525

Vocabulary Questions:

  1. What does the phrase “critical window” mean? “Sometimes parents don’t know about this critical window, and when they bring the child to the hospital, it’s difficult for us to help.” Use this phrase in your own sentence.
  2. What does the idiom “part of the jigsaw/puzzle” mean, “Manisha also talked about the link between poverty and dengue, which is an important part of this jigsaw isn’t it, because as more and more people move to cities and live in cramped conditions, with poor sanitation, then more and more people are exposed to dengue, so there’s something of a domino effect here.” Use this idiom in your own sentence.
  3. What does “domino effect” mean, “These provide the perfect breeding ground for mosquitos creating a domino effect.”? Use this phrase in your own sentence.

Discussion Questions:

  1. What does climate change have anything to do with mosquito-borne diseases?
  2. Share your thoughts/reaction to this: “The domino effect means that dengue is spreading not just in Asia, but in parts of the world which didn’t have it before, including France, Spain, and Italy.”.
  3. Talk about another disease caused or spread by insects or animals. Discuss its symptoms and treatment.
  4. Talk about other diseases that are made worse by climate change.
  5. How else does climate change impact human health?