Tag: Preliminary PET

Marriage Makes You Less Stressed

B1 – Intermediate

Getting hitched can have its pros and cons. In this lesson, we find out one advantage of being married. A study reveals that being married helps your body have lower cortisol levels. Cortisol is a stress hormone.

Read the lesson below to find out more about this study and be ready to answer the questions that follow. 

https://breakingnewsenglish.com/1702/170217-married-people-4.html

Discussion Questions:

  1. Do you agree or disagree: “Marriage is good for our health.“?
  2. In your opinion or own experience, how do intimate social relationships influence one’s health and diseases?
  3. What are other ways the stress hormones or cortisol can be lowered?
  4. In your country, do you think fewer and fewer are getting married? What do you think are the reasons for this?

The End of New York’s Public Payphones

B1 – Intermediate

Public payphones are being removed on New York streets to give pedestrians more space and give this much needed sidewalk spaces to people with disabilities and those with little kids.

Let’s read the article to find out more about this news.

https://breakingnewsenglish.com/2003/200320-pay-phones-1.html

Discussion Questions :

  1. How important are pay phones?
  2. Should New York keep some pay phones for tourists’ use?
  3. Are there any public pay phones in your town? Do you use them?
  4. What would our lives be like without pay phones? Are they still important these days?
  5. What would your life be like without your mobile phone?

What Am I…Chopped Liver?

B1 – Intermediate

As a member of a group, we feel important and needed when our opinion or presence is recognized. In situations when our feelings tend to be overlooked, we feel less relevant. We tend to ask, “What am I…. chopped liver?” Does this expression make sense?

Check out this lesson to learn more about the expression “What am I… chopped liver?”.

What Am I, Chopped Liver?

Discussion Questions:

  1. What does the expression “What am I chopped liver?” mean?
  2. What is the origin of this expression?
  3. Have you ever been ignored or overlooked before? How did you react to this situation?
  4. How do you make people around you feel important?

Astronauts Bake First Space Cookies Ever

B1 – Intermediate

Astronauts have baked cookies in space for the first time ever. Normally, space food is prepared on Earth and then astronauts heat them up there before eating them. But now, they can bake in space too.

Read more about this news from the link below.

https://breakingnewsenglish.com/2001/200128-space-baked-cookies-0.html

Discussion Questions:

  1. What is your reaction to this news?
  2. Do you know anything about baking? Why or why not?
  3. Talk about your favorite bakery and your favorite baked products.

Keep Someone at Arm’s Length

B1 – Intermediate

It is good to keep a healthy relationship. It helps us become better people. However, there are some relationships that are too toxic that they would bring more harm than good. Do you opt to stay or do you keep them at arms’s length?

Watch the video and learn what the expression “keep someone at arm’s length” means.

Discussion Questions:

  1. Have you been in any form of unhealthy relationship? If yes, how long did it last? Is it still ongoing?
  2. Have you had to cut ties with people that you feel are not contributing to your wellbeing?
  3. Is it difficult to end a toxic relationship?

Scientists Start Search for Extra-Terrestrial Life

B1 – Intermediate

E.T. stands for Extra-Terrestrial. Back in the 80s, a film became very famous. It is a story of an alien who was left behind on Earth, found by a little human boy and the two eventually become the best of friends.

More than three decades later, scientists have started working on finding more signs of alien life. 

Read the article below to know why scientists are interested to know more about the possibility of life in space.

https://breakingnewsenglish.com/2002/200217-extraterrestrial-life-1.html

Discussion Questions:

  1. What is your opinion on the fact that scientists are spending time and money on this subject?
  2. What are your thoughts on E.T?
  3. What pieces of evidence that aliens exist do you know of?
  4. What would you do if you found out aliens really exist?
  5. Talk about films about aliens you know about or have watched.

Best Railway Station in Europe

B1 – Intermediate

London St. Pancras is ranked as the best railway station in Europe. Most of the train stations on the top ten are from Germany. 

Read the article and find out more about some of the best train stations in Europe.

https://breakingnewsenglish.com/2002/200225-railway-station-1.html

Discussion Questions:

  1. Have you ever been to any of the top ten best train stations in Europe? Which one? Describe it. Talk about your experience there.
  2. What is the best and worst train station you have ever been at?
  3. What do you think of the train stations in your city/country with respect to their ease of  access/cleanliness/connectivity/friendliness of staff/platforms?
  4. How often do workers at the train stations in your country go on strike?
  5. Do you enjoy the shops, restaurants, and services located near the train stations?

Big Breakfasts Help Burn More Calories

B1 – Intermediate

Some people don’t usually have breakfast so they don’t gain wait. However, a recent study shows that making big breakfasts a daily habit can help you lose weight. It could also help you burn more calories throughout the day.

Read the article to find out why some researchers recommend patients with obesity as well as healthy people to eat a significant amount of food for breakfast.

https://breakingnewsenglish.com/2002/200223-big-breakfast-4.html

Discussion Questions:

  1. How important is breakfast for you?
  2. What’s your breakfast usually like?
  3. Do you always have breakfast in the morning or do you sometimes skip it? Why/Why not?
  4. Do you agree that big breakfasts could result to weight loss? Explain.
  5. What is the most important meal of the day for you?
  6. What are other ways to lose weight that you know of?

Take Someone Under Your Wing

B1 – Intermediate

When someone needs your guidance on something, you help them. In a way, you are like their protector. You guide them to let them learn something that they need to know about.

When you join a new company, you are going to have a training and then have a coach or mentor to help you start with your tasks. Your coach/mentor has to take you under their wing during this time.

Listen to the audio and know about the expression “take someone under your wing”.

youtu.be/qToUpkUXXHQ?si=fIThrP1DpWoKWBu0

Discussion Questions:

  1. What does ‘take someone under your wing’ mean?
  2. Have you taken someone under your wing before? If yes, Why did you do so?
  3. Speak about your experience being taken under someone’s wing.
  4. In your opinion, does taking someone under your wing come with a lot of responsibilities?

Songwriting Pages on Spotify

B2 – Upper Intermediate

The popular music streaming platform Spotify is launching a new feature for songwriters. These pages would have a list of songs that composers have written. This will help musicians showcase their music and for users to discover more songs they may enjoy.

Read this article and be ready to answer

https://techcrunch.com/2020/02/12/spotify-is-giving-songwriters-their-own-pages-and-playlists/

Discussion Questions:

  1. What do you know about Spotify?
  2. How can this new feature help songwriters in the future?
  3. Are streaming music services harming piracy more than they’re harming music sales?
  4. What is the most unique feature that Spotify has?
  5. What other music streaming applications do you enjoy using?