Tag: First Certificate FCE

Ingredients of Mental Health

B2 – Upper Intermediate

We often overlook what an astonishing and difficult accomplishment it is to feel mentally well because of how effective and quiet our brains are in their daily activities. Healthy minds are constantly engaged in a series of actions that support our feelings of clarity and purpose.

Mental health needs some attention and effort to maintain.

Here are various approaches for maintaining our composure and equilibrium.

Discussion Questions:

  1. What comes to mind when you hear the term ‘mental health?
  2. What do you do to maintain or improve your mental health?
  3. Do you think modern society increases the likelihood of mental health problems?
  4. What programs does your government offer to help those suffering from mental illnesses and issues?

Feel Sorry for High Achievers

B2 – Upper Intermediate

The people we refer to as high achievers might initially appear to have no connection to self-hatred. We can’t possibly assume that these people are suffering from the effects of self-loathing, can we?

The fact that we are so quick to applaud outstanding achievers yet so hesitant to see the pain that fuels them speaks much about our collective fantasy.

Watch the video about the silent struggles of the high achievers.

Discussion Questions:

  1. Do you agree with what the video says about high achievers?
  2. Do you personally know one? How do you feel about them?
  3. How do you think it’s like to be a high achiever?
  4. What’s your most important achievement in life?
  5. How were you as a student/worker?

Dating Apps Misunderstand Love

B2 – Upper Intermediate

Relationships were generally straightforward for most of human history for a plain but unavoidable reason: it was incredibly difficult to find someone who was acceptable and everyone knew it.

Although dating apps have increased our options to meet people, they haven’t helped us find or maintain real love. Here are some suggestions about how to address them delicately.

Watch the video about datings apps’ misconstrued concept of love.

Discussion Questions:

  1. What is your definition of love?
  2. What are some popular dating apps in your country? What do you think of them?
  3. What are the benefits and drawbacks of using dating apps?
  4. Would you ever consider finding love through dating apps? Share your opinion.
  5. Would you pursue a relationship with someone you are not convinced by? Explain your thoughts.
  6. Is the possibility of constantly meeting someone new a good or bad thing? Explain your point.

Eastern vs Western Ideas of Happiness

B2 – Upper Intermediate

Comparing the East to the West, the answer to the question of what makes people happy is radically different. Westerners might benefit from adopting the Eastern perspective.

Contrary to what the Western intellectual tradition indicates, the Eastern tradition has long taught us something entirely different. In order to be happy, what we need to do most of all is to go out and rule the world; obtain resources, create enterprises, run governments, earn reputation, and conquer nations. It has been argued that for us to be content, we must learn to master not the world but the lens through which we perceive this world—that is, our thoughts.

Watch the video about the Western and Eastern ideas of happiness.

Discussion Questions:

  1. What is your opinion about the Western concept of happiness?
  2. What are your thoughts on the Eastern view of happiness?
  3. What is happiness for you?
  4. What do you think are the ingredients of contentment?
  5. Do you agree or disagree that success and great wealth wouldn’t, in the end, “do the trick”? Share your thoughts.

Stop Taking Your Fears to Social Media

B2 – Upper Intermediate

Many people today look to social media for comfort during their most trying times. Unfortunately, we have a higher propensity to promote more self-hatred when you put our emotions out on social media.

Watch the video about why we should not put our fears out on social media.

Discussion Questions:

  1. What social networking sites do you frequently use?
  2. What is the role of social media in your life?
  3. Have you ever turned to social media for reassurance?
  4. How do you believe expressing your feelings in such a public way impact you?
  5. Share your thoughts on this statement, “Social media is built on the troubles of the individual soul.”

Passion or Duty

B2 – Upper Intermediate

We are frequently faced with what appears to be a very difficult decision when determining what to do with our lives: the passionate route vs. the safe one, but which is best for us in the long run?

Watch the video about the choice between passion and duty.

Discussion Questions:

  1. What are you passionate about? Would you give up your current job to pursue it? Why or why not?
  2. Share your thoughts on this statement, “A decade of mixed results on a passion project is inherently less onerous than unspectacular returns for a whole career in a hateful field”.
  3. Do you tend to go the passionate route or the safe one?
  4. What is your opinion about pursuing your passion? How about staying on a safe route?

Why It Might Be Your Body, Not Your Mind

B2 – Upper Intermediate

One of the difficulties of attempting to comprehend our minds is that, sometimes, we have to admit that what goes through them may have more to do with our bodies than the actual functioning of our brains.

Watch the video about the workings of our minds.

Discussion Questions:

  1. Do you ever find yourself suddenly becoming pessimistic? What normally triggers this and how do you overcome these thoughts?
  2. How do you calm yourself when you’re agitated or having negative thoughts?
  3. What physical processes typically have an impact on how you think?
  4. What is one thing you have learned from this video?

More Young Adults are Renting Next Door to Retired Folks

B2 – Upper Intermediate

A trend called intergenerational roommates is making a buzz in America. The idea is to arrange affordable accommodation for a young person on someone else’s property. The property owner is at least one generation older than the renter.

This living arrangement is beneficial for both parties. The older person will have someone to help around the house, while the younger one will only have to spend at least $700 a month in a tier one city like Boston.

Read the entire article in this link.

https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/more-and-more-young-adults-are-renting-alongside-retirement-age-with-intergenerational-benefits/

Discussion Questions:

1. The article mentions the growing isolation among the elderly in the US. Considering this factor, discuss how the trend of intergenerational roommates helps improve the situation.

2. Do you get along well with people from the older generations? Why or why not?

3. How is your relationship with people from younger generations?

4. What can younger people learn from the older generation and vice versa?

5. Do you see any drawbacks in having intergenerational roommates? If so, what are they?

Conjoined Twins Separated with the Help of Virtual Reality

B2 – Upper Intermediate

Surgeries are already complex as they are. Medical advances keep getting more and more developed to help patients get the best treatment possible.

Though it may sound a lot like a scene from a sci-fi film, medicine and technology have gone hand-in-hand in successfully providing the most effective and efficient procedures to treat patients, even those with the most complex of conditions.

Read the article about the Brazilian conjoined twins who have been separated all thanks to virtual reality.

https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-62378452

Discussion Questions:

  1. Surgeon Noor ul Owase Jeelani described the procedure as “space-age stuff”. Do you agree/disagree with him and why?
  2. What are your thoughts on this surgery?
  3. How would you feel going through medical procedures using technologies like the VR?
  4. Where else can VR be useful?
  5. Describe the most complex medical procedure you’ve ever gone through.

The Movement that Inspired the Holocaust

B2 – Upper Intermediate

Early advocates of Eugenics considered mental illness, physical disabilities, poverty, and criminal behavior as inherited traits. Their efforts to control human population to breed out undesirable traits inspired this scientific movement.

Let’s watch the video and know more about the theory of Eugenics.

Discussion Questions:

  1. What is Eugenics and how did this movement begin?
  2. What were its members’ ideal genetic standards? What did they consider as undesirable human traits?
  3. What series of events around the globe resulted from this idea of Eugenics?
  4. What is your take on the idea of Eugenics? Do you think there is one single set of desirable human traits?
  5. What is your opinion on this, “Eugenicists worldwide believed that they could perfect human beings and eliminate so-called social ills through genetics and heredity.”?