Tag: B2 – Upper intermediate

Dutch People Let You Peer Into Their Homes

B2 – Upper Intermediate

Every country has its own traditions and practices. Some of which are standard and others seem rather strange. Most people try hard to ensure privacy in their homes. It is that one place where we can act freely without the fear of embarrassment and humiliation. However, in the Netherlands, people believe otherwise.

Let’s read the article and know more about this seemingly bizarre practice of Dutch people.

https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/dutch-windows/index.html#:~:text=That’s%20because%20many%20Dutch%20people,quirk%20seems%20even%20more%20intriguing.

Vocabulary Questions:

  1. What does “interwoven” mean? “It’s so interwoven in their culture that researchers have struggled to figure out exactly why people in the Netherlands care so little about their privacy.” Use it in a sentence.
  2. Define the word “bourgeois“. Give two synonyms and use them in sentences. “Astrid Brooke says she considers curtains bourgeois adornment to a window and has rarely felt the need for them.”
  3. What does “tight-knit” mean in this sentence, “Anthropologists Hilje van der Horst and Jantine Messing researched the phenomenon in 2006 and observed that people in tight-knit neighborhoods were more likely to leave their curtain open – and more likely to decorate their windows with statues, vases, and (fake) flowers.”? Use it in a sentence.

Discussion Questions:

  1. According to the article, what reasons do Dutch people have for not using blinds or curtains? What is your stand on Dutch people’s open culture?
  2. How do people in your country protect their private domestic lives?
  3. Do you think that privacy in the real world is just as important as that in the virtual world? Why or why not?

Aid Package to Ease Inflation Pain

B2 – Upper Intermediate

As nations struggle with widespread cost of living crisis, governments must come up with measures to help their respective countries deal with the consequences of inflation.

Read the article about Spain’s $10bn aid package as a bid to ease the impact of inflation in the country. 

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/12/27/spain-announces-10bn-aid-package-in-bid-to-ease-inflation-pain

Vocabulary Questions:

  1. What does the expression ”to hit one’s wallet” mean, ”But food prices have continued to hit Spaniards’ wallets, climbing 15 percent during October and November from a year earlier.”? Use this idiom in your own sentence.
  2. What does “haulage” mean, “However, a rebate on the price of petrol for consumers except for the haulage sector will be discontinued.”? Use this word in your own sentence.
  3. What does “exacerbate” mean, “Measures come as Madrid grapples with a cost-of-living crisis exacerbated by the economic fallout from the Ukraine war.”? Use this word in your own sentence.

Discussion Questions:

  1. How is this aid package advantageous and disadvantageous?
  2. What are your thoughts on handing millions of low-income households a one-off bonus of 200 euros?
  3. Talk about some measures that your government has implemented to ease inflation consequences in your country.
  4. What other measures do you think can help a country get by during inflation?

Juggling Three Jobs Just to Get By

B2 – Upper Intermediate

Amidst Britain’s cost of living emergency, many struggle to make ends meet. Those in dire situations are pushed to juggle two to three jobs at a time just to survive.

Read the commentary on the worsening problem with steeply increasing cost of living in the UK and how citizens cope with it.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/feb/14/heat-or-eat-poverty-rising-costs

Vocabulary Questions:

  1. What does the expression ”to drop the ball” mean, ”I’m juggling so I don’t drop the balls.”? Use this idiom in your own sentence.
  2. What does “sleaze” mean, “Tory sleaze every day, a drip, drip, drip effect.”? Use this word in your own sentence.
  3. What does “drip effect” mean, “Tory sleaze every day, a drip, drip, drip effect.”? Use this phrase in your own sentence.

Discussion Questions:

  1. What is your reaction to having to keep 2 to 3 jobs at a time just to get by? How would you feel if you were in the same situation?
  2. Is it common for people to keep more than one job in your country? Why is this the case?
  3. What are ways to make ends meet amidst rising cost of living?
  4. Talk about the current cost of living in your country. 
  5. What are your thoughts on the writer’s opinion about the accountability from the government?

Sushi Terrorism

B2 – Upper Intermediate

Sushi is one of the most popular Japanese dishes all around the world. Recently, some pranks have become viral on social media where some pranksters are seen meddling with the food at some conveyor belt sushi restaurants. 

This lead to customers rethinking about going to this kind of restaurants, police conducting investigations, and restaurants’ shares plummeting.

Read the article about a series of pranks at conveyor belt sushi restaurants that is dubbed as “sushi terrorism”. 

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/feb/03/wave-of-sushi-terrorism-grips-japans-restaurant-world

Vocabulary Questions:

  1. What does “meddle” mean, “Signature cuisine is at the centre of a police investigation after customers at revolving sushi restaurants posted video clips of themselves meddling with dishes.”? Use this word in your own sentence.
  2. What does ”egregious” mean, ”A clip of the most egregious culinary crime, which has been viewed almost 40m times on Twitter, shows what appears to be a teenager licking the open top of a communal soy sauce bottle and the entire rim of a teacup, which he then places back on a shelf.”? Give at least one (1) synonym of this word and use it in a sentence.
  3. What does “outpouring” mean? “The firm’s president, Kohei Nii, said he had been overwhelmed by the outpouring of support.”  Use this word in your own sentence.

Discussion Questions:

  1. What is your reaction to this news? How does this affect your interest in going to a conveyor belt sushi restaurant?
  2. How can the restaurants bounce back from this controversy?
  3. What are your thoughts on the action by some conveyor belt sushi restaurants to install cameras above conveyor belts to monitor customers?
  4. How should these pranksters be punished?

Free Subway Rides for the Elderly

B2 – Upper Intermediate

Elderly people in South Korea have been enjoying free subway rides for about 40 years now. However, rapidly aging population coupled with increasing operating costs of subways have caused this perk to spark some issues for their national government.

Read the article about how these free rides for the elderly have become a complicated political problem in South Korea.

https://www.voanews.com/a/in-south-korea-free-subway-rides-for-the-elderly-become-a-political-headache/6965331.html

Vocabulary Questions:

  1. What does “thorny” mean here, “They have, however, become a thorny political issue as South Korea’s population rapidly ages and subway operating costs soar.” Use this word in your own sentence.
  2. What does ”staunchly” mean, ”The finance ministry is staunchly opposed.”? Give at least one (1) synonym of this word and use it in a sentence.
  3. What does “to remain in place” mean? “To cope, Seoul unveiled plans in December to hike subway fares for the first time since 2015, by as much as 30%, although free rides for the elderly will remain in place.” Use this word in your own sentence.

Discussion Questions:

  1. What are your thoughts on these free subway rides for elderly people? Do you have the same perk for senior citizens in your country? Why or why not? Do you think it is a good idea?
  2. What are the advantages and disadvantages of free subway rides for the elderlies? 
  3. In your opinion, should the national SK government shoulder some of the cost of these free rides for the elders?
  4. What is your reaction to this, “Any scaling back of subway perks for the elderly will not help their chances in next year’s parliamentary election.”?
  5. To cope, some cities in SK are raising the minimum age for senior citizen benefits including free subway rides to 70. Express your opinion on this.
  6. Share your thoughts on the cost of senior welfare in your country.

Why We Need Subtitles

B2 – Upper Intermediate

Do you enjoy watching TV shows and movies a lot? Have you ever felt the need for subtitles to fully grasp what the speakers are saying? If so, don’t you think subtitles should be a requirement and that relying on them would help us understand what we are watching more?

To find out more about the topic, kindly watch the video below.

Vocabulary Questions:

  1. What does “intelligibility” mean? “Naturalism isn’t always the best for intelligibility, though.” Use it in your own sentence.
  2. What is the meaning of “impede“? “Microphones don’t impede performance as much anymore.” Make your own sentence using this word.
  3. Do you know the meaning of “mumbler“? “Take Tom Hardy, an actor I personally love, but who famously is a mumbler.” Kindly make your own sentence.

Discussion Questions:

  1. Do you rely on subtitles when watching movies or series? Why/why not?
  2. What are the advantages and disadvantages you could think of subtitle dependency?
  3. Why are subtitles considered an absolute necessity when watching movies or series?
  4. What factors do you believe most influence whether or not viewers in your country choose to watch movies or television shows with subtitles?

Rule of Personal Communication

B2 – Upper Intermediate

We all want to make a good impression when we meet people for the first time, but how?

Read the article and find out what role body language plays in communication and what gestures to use when you want to make an excellent first impression on somebody. 

https://www.rightattitudes.com/2008/10/04/7-38-55-rule-personal-communication/

Vocabulary Questions:

  1. What does “incongruent” mean, “The non-verbal elements are particularly important for communicating feelings and attitude, especially when they are incongruent: if words and body language disagree, one tends to believe the body language.” Use this in a sentence.
  2. What does “substantiate” mean, “These non-verbal elements can present a listener with important clues to the speaker’s thoughts and feelings and thus substantiate or contradict the speaker’s words.”? Use this in a sentence.
  3. What does “only a fraction” mean, “In communication, a speaker’s words are only a fraction of his efforts”? Use this phrase in your own sentence.

Discussion Questions:

  1. What are your thoughts on this statement, “If a speaker’s words and body language differ, listeners are more likely to believe the nonverbal communication of the speaker, not his words.”?
  2. How can one be effective and persuasive in their verbal communication?
  3. What is the most crucial factor you pay attention to when you talk to someone? Is it their appearance, manners, or behavior? What about their voice and gestures?
  4. Are you surprised at the statistics? Why or why not?
  5. How do you control your voice and gestures when you talk to someone?

Spot A Vacation Rental Scam

B2 – Upper Intermediate

Short-term rentals have become more popular nowadays, especially among travelers. Most of them prefer renting Airbnb places because of their low cost, convenient location, and household amenities. Unfortunately, fraudsters have started scamming people.

Read the article to learn how to spot a vacation rental scam.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/how-to-spot-vacation-rental-scam-airbnb-vrbo_l_63bed1f6e4b0b2e1506d1838

Vocabulary Questions:

  1. What does “to get bad press” mean, “These types of accommodations have also gotten bad press, thanks to reports of fraudsters using fake listings to swindle families out of their hard-earned vacation dollars.”? Use this phrase in your own sentence.
  2.  What does “swear by something” mean, “Many travelers swear by short-term rentals due to their space, privacy, and price options.”? Use this phrase in your own sentence.
  3. What does “fall victim to” mean, “If you fall victim to any type of vacation rental scam, it’s important to report it immediately…”? Use this idiom in your own sentence.

Discussion Questions:

  1. Do you prefer Airbnb to hotels when on a vacation? Why/why not?
  2. How and where do you usually book accommodations?
  3. What do you look for in accommodations?
  4. Have you or anyone you know experienced getting scammed when booking on Airbnb? Share this experience.
  5. Do you think the techniques mentioned in the article are helpful? Why/why not?
  6. What are other ways to avoid falling victim to rental fraud?

Spot a Phone Scammer

B2 – Upper Intermediate

Phone scams are quite prevalent these days. Although this may seem like a little problem, it has had a large-scale impact and made the fraudsters very wealthy and their victims forever scarred.

Check out this video to learn how to spot a phone scammer.

Vocabulary Questions:

  1. What is a “cold-call“, “Cold-call scammers pretending to be from the HMRC are targeting households threatening legal action unless you call them back.“? Use this word in your own sentence.
  2. What does the idiom “out of the blue” mean, “The HMRC will never contact you out of the blue and threaten you with arrest.“? Use this expression in your own sentence.
  3. What does the phrase “at hand” mean, “The issue at hand is extremely time-sensitive.“? Use this phrase in your own sentence.

Discussion Questions:

  1. What do you think about cold-calls?
  2. Talk about some kind of calls such as this that you have received and how you handle it.
  3. If you had the ability to help stop these scam call centers, what would you do?
  4. How can you and others close to you prevent being phone scammed?
  5. Do you believe that law enforcement could do a better job in this type of situations? How so?

The Science Behind TikTok Brain

B2 – Upper Intermediate

TikTok is a social media platform that allows users to create and share short-form videos with a wide range of music, filters, and other effects. Studies have shown that its usage can activate the release of dopamine in the brain, which is associated with pleasure and reward. The fast-paced, highly-engaging nature of TikTok videos can make it difficult for users to look away and can lead to addiction.

Watch the video about TikTok’s impact on the brain, behavior, and mental health.

Vocabulary Questions:

  1. What is “dopamine hit“? “They are getting these dopamine hits that feel good, just the way it does when people sometimes use drugs or they use alcohol, or they become addicted to other things.” Explain what it does to our body.
  2. What does the phrase “spike up” mean, “We see that it gets spiked up.“? Use it in a sentence. Ex. Running up the stairs spike up my heart rate.
  3. What does the idiom “take [ the bull ] by the horns” mean, “As an adult, I can take that by the horns and just make a change.“? Make one sentence using this expression. Ex. I took the bull by the horns and confronted him about his mistreatment of the workers.

Discussion Questions:

  1. According to the video, what is a “TikTok Brain”?
  2. Do you have a “TikTok” account? If so, how do you feel when you’re engaged on it? How does it affect you?
  3. What are some negative effects of it and what do you think of this?
  4. What might be the positive effects of scrolling and scrolling through TikTok?
  5. While potential harmful effects of using TikTok exist, what should be done to curb its impact on mental health?