Tag: First Certificate FCE

Beat the Monday Blues

B2 – Upper Intermediate

Mondays signal the beginning of yet another productive week of work. However, not everyone feels this way toward Mondays. Weeks start with you feeling anxious, blue, or stressed out. You are demotivated and sluggish. When this is the case, you might be suffering from Monday Blues.

Take it easy. It is dreadful but there are ways to fight Monday blues. Read this article to find out some ways on how to deal with Monday Blues.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jacquelynsmith/2013/02/25/11-ways-to-beat-the-monday-blues/#2cb6a71b23f5

Discussion Questions:

  1. What causes Monday blues?
  2. What were the most interesting tips for you?
  3. What were the tips that you didn’t find very useful?
  4. In general, how do you view or how do you feel about Mondays?
  5. What do you do to cope with Monday Blues?

How Flight Attendants are Trained

B2 – Upper Intermediate

They are often the unsung heroes of our air travel experience, catering to our every whim with a ready smile and reassuring mien as we traverse vast distances. But did you know that there’s more to being a flight attendant than meets the eye?

This video will enlighten you on the rigors of this profession.

Discussion Questions:

  1. Discuss a few of the phases of the training that would-be flight attendants have to undergo.
  2. What are the perks and perils of this career?
  3. Talk about any interactions you’ve had with flight attendants.

Bottled Water Has Plastic

B2 – Upper Intermediate

One cause for concern is the presence of plastic in bottled water. Research indicates that most bottled water contains micro plastics, which may pose health risks. Your bottled water probably has plastic in it, should you worry?

Even though water is not acidic (unlike soda), whenever you drink out of a plastic bottle, you risk ingesting the chemicals used to make the bottles as these toxins can leach into the water over time.

Watch the video and read the article to find out more about the dangers of drinking water from a plastic bottle:

https://time.com/5581326/plastic-particles-in-bottled-water/

Questions Discussions:

  1. Do you think tap water is better than bottled water?
  2. How concerned are you with plastic bottles and their use of resources? Why?
  3. Will this article cause you to stop buying bottled water? Why/not?
  4. What problem causes the greatest damage to the environment? Why do you think so?
  5. Were you surprised by how much Americans pollute? Why/not? How does your country compare?
  6. If we continue to use resources and pollute, what will the world be like in fifty years? Please explain.

How to Wake Up Before 6:00 a.m. Daily

B2 – Upper Intermediate

There’s an English adage that goes “early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise”. Assuming this is true and that there truly is a lot to be gained from throwing back the covers at the break of day, then it seems that the majority of us have trouble jump-starting a key habit which could lead to more success.

In this video, one vlogger shares how he cracked the code when it comes to waking up before 6:00 a.m. daily.

Discussion Questions:

  1. Do you consider yourself an early or late riser?
  2. What are some advantages of waking up early?
  3. What ideas does Matt D’Avella have towards achieving early wakefulness? Which suggestions would you be willing to try?
  4. Do you have any tips of your own to enable one to wake up early?
  5. What are reasons you would normally rise early?

Brothers Conquer Ironmans as a Team

B2 – Upper Intermediate

The bond between siblings goes beyond consanguinity. It is forged through a lifetime of shared experiences replete with triumphs and tribulations, characterized by fraternal affection in all circumstances. The Pease brothers, each extraordinary in their own right, epitomize such indefatigable love.

Watch the short feature and be inspired by their story of inclusiveness and unfettered determination.

Discussion Questions:

  1. What activities do you enjoy doing with your siblings? What are your common hobbies, passions, or interests? If you have no siblings, you can think of other family or friends whom you think of as siblings.
  2. When was the last time you’d proven people wrong? What did they say you couldn’t accomplish, and how did you confound their expectations?
  3. How do you motivate yourself to take on challenges?
  4. How would you describe the attitudes in your country towards people with disabilities?
  5. Some people have likened life to running a race. Is this an apt comparison?

Store Sells Only Expired Food

B2 – Upper Intermediate

A nonprofit community grocery store called The Daily Table, founded by Doug Rauch, sells discounted food past its sell-by date. It aims to provide food to communities most in need at prices that are affordable to everyone thereby finding solutions to food waste and hunger.

Watch the video and be able to answer the questions that follow:

Discussion Questions:

  1. What do you think of stores selling out-of-date food?
  2. Do you think this is a solution to reduce food waste and hunger?
  3. Do you think expired food is edible and safe to consume?
  4. What do you usually do with food past its expiration date?

Should You Trust Your First Impression?

B2 – Upper Intermediate

There is this saying that “First impressions are lasting impressions”. You never get a second chance to make a good first impression. Positive first impressions can lead to a good relationship with people especially in business and negative first impressions can set in stone for an entire relationship and leads to lesser opportunities. That is why people try to put their best foot forward as much as possible during first encounters because most of us want to be liked.

Let’s watch the video below to learn more.

Discussion Questions:

  1. Are your first impressions of people long-lasting or do you believe in second chances?
  2. What are examples of first positive impressions that you know? How about negative impressions?
  3. Have you met anyone who had a first bad impression to you? How was your second encounter?
  4. How about meeting someone who had a first bad impression of you? Did you try to change it?
  5. Is it hard to change people’s impressions especially if it is negative? How do you cope with that?

Is This the Future of Driving?

B2 – Upper Intermediate

Some automotive pundits claim that technology will effect great changes in the car industry. A number of them even predict that such developments are just around the corner.

A senior reporter at a popular American news channel describes these innovations in the video below. Only time will tell if these technology-enhanced cars will take the world by storm.

Discussion Questions:

  1. According to the video, what’s in store for the future of driving?
  2. What makes electric cars a viable alternative to petrol-guzzling cars?
  3. Would you take a ride in a self-driving taxi or ride-hailing service vehicle?
  4. Does a future without car ownership sound appealing to you? Why or why not?
  5. What features do you look for in a car?

Adulting 101 – Things We Learned the Hard Way

B2 – Upper Intermediate

Growing up, we often hear our parents, especially our mom’s common and loud assertion of a common phrase “when will you grow up?” in moments when you are being mischievous. They are perhaps tired of a kid-like nature which is not responsible enough to even know what they really want in life.

Have you ever thought of a certain point where you know exactly what you want and you are able to meet the mundane demand of independent and professional living? That is an informal description of adulting.

Let’s learn more by watching the video below.

Discussion Questions:

  1. How do you define adulting?
  2. Can we determine a specific stage or age for maturity?
  3. Why do we have to learn the hard way?
  4. What is the most challenging part of adulting?
  5. What are some things that you learned the hard way?
  6. How would you describe your adult life?

Too Many Cooks Spoil the Broth

B2 – Upper Intermediate

Some say “two heads are better than one”. This is true in some cases wherein better judgment is reached when an issue is decided from different perspectives. However, there are some instances where having too many people involved bring about disastrous outcomes.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/english/course/experiment/unit-1/session-3

Discussion Questions:

  1. What does “too many cooks spoil the broth” mean?
  2. Do you agree or disagree with this?
  3. Can you retell the other expressions with similar meaning that were mentioned in the video?
  4. Give a situation you were in where too many cooks spoil the broth.
  5. What are instances where you need more collaborators and those when you don’t?