Tag: B2 – Upper intermediate

Building a ‘Halal’ Internet

B2 – Upper Intermediate

Officials in Iran are planning to build a completely separate Internet called Yooz. Its purpose is to filter objectionable information just like China’s “Great Firewall”, the largest web filtering and censorship operation in the world.

Read the article below to know more about Yooz then express your opinions.

http://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/iran-next-step-in-building-hala-internet/2676579.html

Discussion Questions:

  1. How often do you use the internet?
  2. How important is the internet to your day to day life?
  3. What is your opinion about filtered and censored internet access
  4. Do you think that Yooz will do its job in filtering and securing?

The Family That Eats Together

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B2 – Upper intermediate

Family dinner builds good and positive relationship among the members. It also helps kids do better in school. But because of hectic schedules many families seldom have the time to do this anymore.

Read the article below to discover the benefits of dining together.

https://www.vision.org/family-eats-together-1336

Discussion Questions:

1. Do you agree with what the article is saying about family dinners?
2. Is this something that is usually practiced in homes in your country?
3. Does your country have very strong familial relationships?

Old Style Parenting

B2 – Upper intermediate

Old style parenting may no longer be appealing and can be equated to neglect. Others feel, however, that it is necessary to let kids wander.

Read the article below then share your opinions. Watch the 2 videos included in the article to get a bigger picture of the topic.

http://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/old-style-parenting-starts-debate-in-us/2679250.html

Discussion Questions:

1. What’s your take on “free-range” parenting?
2. Should the government interfere in a family’s parenting decision?
3. What do you think is the best parenting style?
4. How did your parents raise you as a child?

The Coldest City on Earth

B2 – Upper Intermediate

We sometimes travel to places to be able to experience a different kind of weather. Going to the beach to experience warmth during the winter. Or travelling to somewhere cold to beat the heat of summer.

The article below tells of a city about 450 kilometers south of the Arctic Circle that experiences winter for 8 months with temperatures of up to -50° C.

http://www.english-online.at/news-articles/travel/yakutsk-coldest-place-on-earth.htm

Discussion Questions:

  1. In your own words, tell me something about Yakutsk and how it was founded. How do people live there?
  2. What’s the coldest temperature you have ever experienced?
  3. How do you deal with the cold weather?
  4. Would you be interested in visiting Yakutsk?

*Here’s a site you can go to view pictures of Yakutsk: Yakutska in Russia

Organ Donation Myths

B2 – Upper Intermediate

More than 100,000 patients in the U.S. are waiting for an organ donor. However, there’s just not enough people who are interested in doing this. There’s always the fear of the risks surrounding this procedure.

What do we really need to know about organ donation?

Read the article below that might help clear up some myths about organ donation.

http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-living/consumer-health/in-depth/organ-donation/art-20047529?pg=1

Discussion Questions:

1. What was your notion on organ donation before reading this article?
2. What is your opinion about organ donation?
3. Would you consider organ donation?

Runcible: A Circular Smartphone

B2 – Upper Intermediate

We live in a world of quadrilateral architecture and design. Gadgets may have developed curve corners, but they are still predominantly four-sided.

Has living in a world of four-cornered tangibles affected the human thought process? Would developing a circular smartphone be the first step toward rethinking?

Read the article below and express your thoughts.

https://edition.cnn.com/2015/03/12/tech/mci-runcible-smartphone/index.html

Discussion Questions:

  1. What are your thoughts on circular smartphones?
  2. What could be Monohm’s motivation in working on the circular “anti-smartphone” called Runcible?
  3. The article suggests that the shape of an object’s frame impacts its use. Can you think of an everyday object that people would approach differently if it were round instead of rectangular?
  4. The author notes the rise of circular avatars in apps and various interfaces. Does this design choice make any difference at all to gadget users? Why or why not?

Riding a $10,000 Hoverboard

B2 – Upper Intermediate

It’s safe to say that startup companies have been working on creating a hoverboard for the past few years now, bringing in a sense of nostalgia from the film ‘Back to the Future’.

Read the article below to know more about Arx Pax and their hoverboard design.

https://www.engadget.com/2014-10-21-we-rode-a-hoverboard.html

Discussion Questions:

  1. Would you buy or try out a Hendo Hoverboard? Why or why not?
  2. Aside from being another form of transportation, how else do you think the Hendo Hoverboard can be useful?
  3. For what other things could levitation technology be helpful?

British Pubs Closing Down

B2 – Upper Intermediate

The number of British pubs closing down are increasing. This means jobs are lost and a conspiracy that big supermarkets are taking over the space.

Read the article below to know some of the effects of neighborhood pubs closing down.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2014/aug/12/pubs-closing-rate-31-week

Discussion Questions:

1. What do you think are the consequences if neighborhood pubs continue to close?
2. Does your city have very strict laws when it comes to planning and building?
3. Do you think there’s too many commercial spaces in your neighborhood?
4. If it was in your power, what changes would you make in your city?

Microchip Implants for Employees

B2 – Upper intermediate

Implanting Microchips has always raised issues worldwide.  Is it ethical and are we really ready for it? In Sweden this year, the newly opened Epicenter office complex in Stockholm makes this chip implant possible.

Check the video and share your thoughts.

Discuss:

1. What do you think about being chipped? Is it ethical?
2. What are the advantages and disadvantages of having a microchip implant?
3. Would you voluntary have one under your skin?

*Click the title to listen to an audio of a similar topic: Human Microchips

 

Understanding the Teenage Brain

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B2 – Upper intermediate

Most parents around the globe have the same struggle of understanding a teenager’s behavior. Teens are often misunderstood. Even if we, ourselves, became teenagers once, we are still baffled by how they conduct themselves.

Read the article below to get a better picture of why teenagers act as such.

Understanding the Misunderstood Teenage Brain

Discuss:

1. Have you been in this stage where you feel no one understands you?
2. How would you describe yourself as a teenager?
3. How would you differentiate teenagers during your time and teenagers of today?
4. What do you think is the best way to raise teenagers?