Tag: First Certificate FCE

Should We Ban Hate Speech

B2 – Upper Intermediate

Each person has their own opinion and often finds it necessary to share it with other people. However, this opinion is not always positive and tolerant, and often it can easily become hate speech. What does it mean? Should we always just be silent about certain matters?

Watch and get acquainted with censoring hate speech.

Discussion Questions:

  1. In your opinion, should hate speech be censored? Support your stand.
  2. How can a person’s inner state be related to their disposition to hate speech?
  3. Why is it important to monitor the mental health of society while studying the phenomenon of hate speech?
  4. Is it possible to create organizations that work with victims affected by hate speech?
  5. How do social networks and the Internet, in general, affect the spread of hate speech?

Home Repairs

B2 – Upper Intermediate

We all want to live in a comfortable home. It could be the whole apartment to yourself or a shared one. That is why people who are looking for a house to live in have many factors to consider before deciding to move in. As for shared apartment, because of the limited space, people want it to be at least a clean and habitable one with no damage and with the apartment essentials.

Let’s listen to the audio and know more about Dave’s apartment and his search for a new housemate.

Home Repairs

Discussion Questions:

  1. Why is Dave looking for a roommate? What are the problems in Dave’s house?
  2. If you were Randall, would you move in with Dave given all the problems he has in his house?
  3. What home repairs have you done before? What one thing would you change about the place where you live now?
  4. Is it better to know how to do home repairs or to just hire someone to do it for you? Explain your stand.
  5. In your neighborhood, which home repairs require a permit? Which ones do not?
  6. Have you ever lived with a roommate/roommates? What do you think about living with other people you don’t necessarily know?

Moving Company

B2 – Upper Intermediate

Moving to a new house can be a very daunting task. It requires a lot of time and effort especially with packing and unpacking your stuff at home. Luckily, there are professional movers who can do this task for you at a price.

Let’s listen to the audio and know more about Mark’s moving experience.

Moving Company

Discussion Questions:

  1. Who is Mark and where is he from? What tasks did the moving company do for him? What unfortunate event happened during his move? How did it end?
  2. What are the pros and cons of hiring moving services?
  3. Have you moved to a different house/apartment before?
  4. If you are moving, would you prefer to hire movers or do everything on your own? Explain.
  5. What do you know about movers or moving companies? Are there a lot in your country?

Medical Advice

B2 – Upper Intermediate

Accidents happen all the time. When they do, it is best to know what first aid you can do to lessen the pain or damage it has caused but most importantly, you need to seek medical advice just to be sure.

Let’s listen to the audio and find out what happened to Ronald and how he made his medical appointment.

Medical Advice

Discussion Questions:

  1. Who is Ronald calling to and why is he calling? Describe what happened to him in this accident. Why was he asked to come to the doctor’s office immediately?
  2. Have you or anyone close to you had a medical emergency before What happened? What did you do?
  3. Why is it important to know first aid? Do you know anything about giving someone first aid?
  4. How do you usually set a medical appointment? How do you choose your doctor?
  5. What is the most important/useful medical advice that has ever been given to you by your GP?

Learning a New Job

B2 – Upper Intermediate

Choosing a degree or getting into a university can be scary and challenging for young people. This is a big decision that affects one’s future. For some, the family’s financial situation is a huge factor.

However, apprenticeships are a good option for choosing a path that you want to take. It provides hands-on experience and a deeper understanding of the field.

Watch the video about this woman’s experience with apprenticeship and how it has given her a good working opportunity.

Discussion Questions:

1. Is an apprenticeship as effective as a college education? Please explain.
2. Should apprenticeship be more available? Why or why not?
3. What are the pros and cons of apprenticeship?
4. Was an apprenticeship something you considered? Why or why not?
5. What industries offer apprenticeship programs?
6. What are your experiences in learning a new task or skill in your current work?
7. What are your thoughts on career changes?
8. What were your top 3 career choices as a teen?
9. Were/Are you interested in working abroad? Why or why not?

Wife Learns Husband Is a Woman

B2 – Upper Intermediate

There is an Indonesian woman who married a man that she met through a dating app. Ten months into the marriage, she discovered that her ‘husband’ is actually a woman even though they have been intimate several times. The ‘husband’ also claimed that they were a doctor but that was also a lie. Now, the wife is suing her ‘husband’ in court for falsifying their qualifications as a doctor but not about their gender.

Let’s read the article below to learn more about the wife who found out that her ‘husband’ is a woman.

https://www.lbc.co.uk/news/wife-22-learns-husband-woman-10-months-marriage-intimate/

Discussion Questions:

  1. What was your initial reaction to this story?
  2. Do you think that what the ‘husband’ did should be punished?
  3. What would you do if your were in the wife’s situation?
  4. What was the biggest lie you’ve told in your life?
  5. What was the biggest lie ever told to you and by who? How did this change things between you and this person/these people?
  6. What are the common reasons married couples break up?

Getting Over a Lingering Grudge

B2 – Upper Intermediate

Who hasn’t been wounded by someone else’s gestures or words? Maybe you were routinely reprimanded by your family at a young age, a teammate hijacked a project, or partner had been unfaithful to you. Perhaps you’ve been through a horrific event, as well as being emotionally and psychologically mistreated by close relatives. And yes, these experiences do leave scars.

While vengeance may feel more satisfying, forgiving someone who has wronged us is undoubtedly a great advantage to us. But can we easuly do so? How do we cultivate forgiving? Is it possible to forgive and forget?

To find out more on how you can ever get over lingering grudges, let’s take a moment to read the full article.

https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20211214-can-you-ever-get-over-a-lingering-grudge

Discussion Questions:

  1. Have you experienced holding a grudge against someone for a long time? What was the situation? How did you feel? How did you get over it?
  2. How do you deal with someone who is constantly rubbing you up the wrong way?
  3. What are the consequences of holding grudges?
  4. Is forgiveness a basic requirement for reconciliation? Explain.
  5. Can you think of some techniques to enhance the ability to forgive?
  6. “Forcing forgiveness isn’t the answer.” What are your thoughts on this?

Showing Stress Can Make People More Likeable

B2 – Upper Intermediate

It’s tempting to mask your stress, but it won’t do you or anyone else any favor. Countless internal physiological changes occur in our bodies’ response to stress. These activations aren’t merely stress-related side effects. They also serve a purpose which help the body to be equipped for its functions.

Our gestures might reveal our stress levels and when communicated properly, these can be extremely beneficial not only to us but also to the individuals around us.

To find out more about the downsides of bottled-up stress, let’s take a moment to read the full article.

https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20220610-why-showing-stress-can-make-people-more-likeable

Discussion Questions:

  1. Do you agree or disagree that “exhibiting signs of anxiety may make people respond better to you”? Explain your stand.
  2. What are reasons people bottle up their stress?
  3. Are you able to manage your stress on your own or do you require assistance? Explain.
  4. Who are the people you can discuss your stress with and why them? How are they able to help you cope with stress?
  5. How can one tell whether they are suppressing stress?
  6. What causes an individual to emotionally shut down?

Why Do Humans Cry?

B2 – Upper Intermediate

All animals cry just like humans so that they can clean their eyes tor lubricate their eyes, but only Humans cry emotionally, why is this?

Babies crying makes sense because they can’t speak, so they have to find another way to show emotions and this carries on to adulthood, and during this time, people also want to comfort us, like when we used to cry as a baby.

There are a few reasons this can happen, in order to find out these reasons, let us watch this video:

Discussion Questions:

  1. When you see another person cry, how do you feel about it/them?
  2. What are other reasons we cry?
  3. In your opinion, is emotional crying beneficial to humans? Explain why or why not.
  4. Which moments make you cry your heart out?

Buzz Lightyear Film Banned

B2 – Upper Intermediate

The LGBT community is now somehow accepted by most of the countries all over the world to the point that we now have same-sex marriages and laws against LGBT discrimination in some places.

However, there are still countries that do not allow any kind of same-sex relationships nor any form of display of such relations.

The spin-off movie Buzz Lightyear has been banned in 14 countries because of a lesbian kissing scene between a female character Alisha Hawthorne, voiced by actress Uzo Aduba, and her female partner.

Let’s read the article below to learn more about the Buzz Lightyear film being banned in some countries over lesbian kiss.

https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-61786355

Discussion Questions:

  1. What are you thoughts about these countries banning the movie?
  2. Should Disney just delete this scene? Why or why not?
  3. How will this ban affect the Disney movie?
  4. Do you think that showing LGBT scenes could affect the viewers, especially the younger ones? Share your opinion on this.
  5. How is the LGBT community viewed and treated in your country?
  6. Do you think that the LGBT community could be accepted by everyone in the future? Why or why not?