Listening: Do you have any regrets?
By Di, Agosto 11 2022Do you have any regrets for things you did or didn't do? Listen to 70 people from 5 to 75 years old talk about their regrets. Do you share any of them?
Do you have any regrets for things you did or didn't do? Listen to 70 people from 5 to 75 years old talk about their regrets. Do you share any of them?
English is a modern lingua franca. It is a leading language in so many areas: from global affairs and science to entertainment. One of the reasons for that lies in the colonial history of the British Crown in the 17th century, when the British Empire became the biggest empire in history. With colonialism, trade relations boomed, following the progress in science, industrial manufacturing and literature. However, there were many other competing languages, such as French, Spanish and German. To know more about how English won the competition against other languages to become a global communication tool, watch this short part of the video, "Why Did English Become the International Language?"
People say a lot with their body language. When we're happy, we smile. When we're excited, we might dance a little, or raise our hands in the air. Body language is an important part of communication. How well do you communicate with your face and body? Let's find out!
With your partner (your teacher, if you're in a lesson), try to communicate these feelings with just your face and body. No words allowed! Choose one and see if you can get your partner to guess it. Then your partner will do the same. Keep trading places like that. You can choose the same ones your partner has already done, and see if you can express it well, too. Once you've done a few of the feelings, talk about the experience with your teacher/partner.
Feelings:
People’s diets have varied considerably around the world, and have often been dictated by geography, the types of crops that the land can sustain and animals that dominate the ecosystem. However, with advances in technology and globalization, billions of people can now eat all sorts of fruits and vegetables out of season, as well as exotic, imported meats.
Take a look at the two maps below and discuss what you see with your teacher.
A new free trade agreement with the UK allows New Zealand to remove export tariffs during the next 15 years. This deal promises a GDP boost of up to $1 billion.
On top of the economic elements, the agreement includes conditions for the environment, tackling climate change and creating equity in economic advancement. According to New Zealand Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, it is the country’s “first bilateral trade agreement to include a specific article on climate change”.
Another unique point of that agreement is a separate Māori trade chapter featuring the acknowledgement of the relationships between the Māori people and the British, who colonised the country. In addition, the chapter included the protection of Ka Mate haka, in which the UK promises to protect the famous ceremonial dance.
New Zealand expects to grow its exports by 1.8 billion a year by 2035, thanks to the new deal with the EU. Initially, 91% of tariffs will be eliminated, followed by 97% of all tariffs being removed by 2031. It is estimated that New Zealand will get $1.8 billion after the seventh year of the deal.
There are several provisions to protect the authenticity of the EU produce. For instance, cheese makers in New Zealand will no longer be able to use the names feta and port, meaning that only manufacturers in Greece and Portugal can name their cheeses so.
Continue reading: New Zealand signs free trade agreement with United Kingdom
Floating solar farms, also known as "floatovoltaics," are an efficient way to collect solar energy. They have a number of advantages over land-based systems:
But they also come with an environmental cost: the panels sit on plastic floats. So far, floatovoltaic developers have relied on virgin (new) plastic to keep the panels afloat. As we know, plastic is one of the biggest contributors to pollution, uses fossil fuels to manufacture, and is deadly for sea creatures. But a new floatovoltaic farm in Alqueva, Portugal, is under development by the EDP corporation, an energy company committed to sustainability.
The EDP farm uses floats made of recycled plastic and cork. This material has reduced the carbon footprint by 30%. The solar farm will produce enough electricity to support about 1,500 households in the region. Made up of 12,000 solar panels (the size of 4 soccer fields), it will be the largest floatovoltaic farm in the world so far.
In 2021, the floatovoltaic industry was valued at $2.5 billion; by 2030, it's projected to be worth over $10 billion. So an environmentally friendly design is imperative as the industry expands.
According to the Harvard Business Review (HBR), it is possible to be a business leader and still have a personal life with careful planning, but most people wouldn’t know this if they look at some of the most successful CEOs out there. Tesla CEO Elon Musk rarely sleeps or sees his kids and had a public meltdown, and Apple’s Tim Cook is on email before the sun rises.
These intense work styles are often celebrated as the only way to get to the top and be a super-productive leader. Surveys show that managers and executives describe the ideal worker as someone with no personal life or caregiving responsibilities.
The ThirdPath Institute, an organization dedicated to helping people find time for work, family, and life, was founded by Jessica DeGroot 20 years ago. She discovered that for leaders to stand up to status quo pressures and make work-life balance a priority, they had to cultivate skills around three relationships: learning to work differently with their teams at work, making a plan with their families to put home and family first, and shifting their own mindsets to not only believe change is truly possible, but to give themselves permission to try, and speak up about it.
The killing of the Japanese ex-prime minister, Shinzo Abe, shocked the whole world. Even though some of the people in Japan did not agree with his policies, the ex-prime minister’s murder is a sad event for the entire nation.
The murder is shocking because it happened in Japan, where deaths from guns are very rare. It is also uncommon to hear about politicians being killed in developed countries.
Please, have a look at the graphs below and discuss them with your teacher.
European football (soccer) has a history of racism. Recently, there has been a rise in racist comments from fans against players of color. Many football clubs are taking action against it. There are even projects involving computer- and A.I.-assisted technology to pinpoint racist fans.
But fans aren't just shouting abuse at matches; they're using social media as well. A 2021 study of online messages against the U.K's Premier League players found more than 3,000 abusive messages, 56% of which were racist.
So, how are social media platforms responding? Are they doing enough? The graph below shows what fans across Europe think.
For a long time, we believed that Neanderthals and Homo Sapiens (modern humans) were two separate species. With the advent of DNA sequencing, however, it was discovered that Sapiens interbred with Neanderthals as they migrated from Africa 60,000 years ago. Another previously unknown hominid species, known as Denisovans, was also discovered at that time, and it interbred with Sapiens and Neanderthals, too.
Gene sequencing shows that non-African genomes today contain about 2% Neanderthal DNA, and people from Papua, New Guinea, and Australia are about 3% Denisovan. Studies on modern African DNA are taking longer because climate, geography and politics make locating skeletons much more difficult.
We are able to look in the other direction as well thanks to new technologies in genetic sequencing and computation. It appears that Sapiens contributed their genes to Neanderthal DNA more than 200,000 years ago. There is also evidence that another unknown hominid species interbred with everyone else, making up 4%–8% of modern human DNA.
Clearly, prehistoric peoples met and mixed a great deal more than we previously thought. In fact, we might not actually be all that separate. As biologist Adam Siepel has said, “It suggests that maybe Neanderthals actually are us. As different as they are, maybe they’re just another version of us.”
The war in Ukraine has had a vast impact on the whole world. In addition to the humanitarian catastrophe, it has also caused increased rates of inflation all over the globe.
This rise is mostly linked to increases in food, energy prices and disrupted supply chains. The impact is affecting the poorest countries the most.
Look at the graph below describing the projected inflation rates for several countries, and discuss it with your teacher.
There has been a lot of bad news in the last few years. Some people have decided to stop looking at the news because it's so bad. Since 2017, the number of people who avoid seeing the news has doubled in some places. The graph below shows the increase in countries around the world. Look at the graph and discuss it with your teacher.
Birdwatching is a popular pastime across the globe. Some people take it very seriously, buying expensive gear and traveling all over the world to see rare birds. Most people, though, just have a good pair of binoculars and stay closer to home.
But what if your home is a big city? What birds can you see in a city besides really common ones, like pigeons or crows, that are often pests and boring to watch?
I thought that way until I watched a film called, Birders: The Central Park Effect. The lake in the middle of Central Park is the only large body of water for miles on that migration route, so flocks of birds use it as a stopover. You can see birds there—in the middle of a huge, busy city—that you'd normally only see in the wild. And even in winter and summer, between migrations, there are lots of different species to see.
So just because you live in a city doesn't mean you can't enjoy birdwatching, every day if you want! Get yourself some binoculars and go find the birds.
A deadly 6.1-magnitude earthquake hit Afghanistan on June 22. So far, more than 1000 people have been reported dead, and at least another 1500 have been injured. This is a humanitarian disaster that requires aid.
People in remote areas have to dig through the rubble with their bare hands, hoping to find people under the destroyed buildings. In addition, recent rains have damaged many roads making access even more difficult. Afghanistan has already experienced multiple humanitarian crises in recent months. This has caused shortages. 95% of households do not have enough food and the health system is not functioning properly.
The Taliban leader, who seldom appears in public, addressed the international community for help. This is a difficult situation because many countries do not recognise the Taliban as an official government and do not want to send any money to this terrorist organization. This forces countries and organisations to question what they should do to assist and how.
Watch this video clip of fantasy writer Ursula LeGuin's acceptance speech of the 2014 U.S. National Book Award. Be prepared to summarize and discuss the points she makes about writers and the contemporary world.
Harvard Business Review has researched the mindsets that affect a person’s leadership ability. Here are different mindsets they have found.
Growth and Fixed Mindsets. People with a growth mindset believe that people change. Everyone can develop their abilities, intelligence, and talent. However, people with a fixed mindset believe people are born with specific skills and cannot develop them.
Learning and Performance Mindsets. Learning mindsets mean people are motivated to learn something new just because they like learning. They want to learn without any external factors. On the other hand, people with performance mindsets are motivated to learn to get positive feedback or because they are afraid to get negative critiques.
Promotion and Prevention Mindsets. People with promotion mindsets are focused on gaining something and winning. They tend to have goals and work on achieving them. People with prevention mindsets want to prevent losses and avoid problems.
Harvard Business Review says that people with the first type of mindsets in each paragraph become better leaders. They suggest companies teach their managers not only leadership skills but also how to change their mindset.
Elon Musk has ordered all employees to return to the office full-time or resign. In two leaked memos, he makes it clear that remote work will not be allowed except for "particularly exceptional contributors for whom this is impossible". These memos have been reported on news networks and Twitter feeds. The news network CNBC transcribed the first memo.
Meta, owner of Facebook and Instagram, says it will provide outside researchers more information on how political and social ads are targeted on its platform, providing insight into the ways that politicians, campaign operatives and political strategists buy and use ads during election periods. Starting from May 2022, academics and researchers registered with Facebook Open Research and Transparency will be allowed to see more detailed targeting data, including which interest categories—such as “people who like dogs” or “people who enjoy the outdoors”—have been chosen to aim ads at specific people.
Meta also plans to include summaries of targeting information for some of its ads in its publicly viewable Ad Library. Created in 2019, the Ad Library allows the public to obtain information about political ads, thus helping to safeguard elections against the misuse of digital advertising.
While Meta provides outsiders some access into how its ads are used, it has been known to restrict the amount of information available, citing privacy reasons. This has led to conflicts, including with a group of New York University academics in 2020.
Even though punishment by death has been abolished in many places globally, there are still fifty-five countries that practice the death penalty, with the USA and China being among them. So what are the arguments for and against the death penalty?
Watch this short video about what happens in the brain when we sing. Listen carefully to hear what happens in the different parts of the brain.