Upper-intermediate

Around 48 million people have some degree of hearing loss. Given the rise of wearing face masks in public, hearing-impaired people are struggling to understand those wearing ordinary masks as they muffle their voices. One way to solve this problem is to put on masks with clear windows.

When wearing such a mask, people can see your lips, which allows the deaf or hard-of-hearing to lipread and see facial expressions.

Alicia Austin teaches infants and children who are deaf or hard-of-hearing. Currently, Austin has many online lessons with her students, and she says that wearing a mask can make communication problematic. She says that children need to see facial expressions and recognition to learn, even if they do not have a hearing disability.

Classic Australian lollies Redskins and Chicos are set to be renamed so they don't marginalise consumers, confectionery company Allens has announced.

The decision was made by the brand's parent company, Nestlé, because a redskin is a slang term for Native Americans in the U.S., where it is considered offensive. Chico, which is Spanish for "boy", is also used in a derogatory way. 

"This decision acknowledges the need to ensure that nothing we do marginalises our friends, neighbours and colleagues," the company said in a statement. "These names have overtones which are out of step with Nestlé's values, which are rooted in respect."

The company has yet to announce new names for the popular treats.

According to CNN, the outbreak of the coronavirus is pushing many Americans to buy their groceries online. With shoppers stuck in their homes, downloads of Walmart's grocery app and Shipt increased by 160%, and 124%, respectively, in early March compared with the same period last year. Instacart more than tripled, increasing by 218%!

While shopping for books and electronics online, and ordering dinner through delivery apps, have become the norm in American life, before the coronavirus outbreak most customers still preferred to purchase their meat and vegetables at the store. Last year, only 4% of grocery sales in the United States were made online.

According to a survey by analysts at Gordon Haskett Research Advisor, a third of consumers said that they had purchased groceries for online pickup or delivery in March, 2020. Around 41% said they were buying groceries online for the first time.

Global News, a Canadian news outlet, reported that astronomers detected an explosion over fifteen times the size of our galaxy. This makes it the biggest blast ever recorded.

The massive explosion occurred hundreds of millions of light-years away, where a supermassive black hole emitted large amounts of energy and matter while devouring a galaxy, blowing a hole in space that’s 2.58 million light-years across. It wiped out trillions of stars and tore through the surrounding galaxies. Researchers spotted the hole from the colossal gap it left in the middle of a cluster of galaxies.

The blast occurred in the Ophiucus cluster, a collection of galaxies some 390 million light-years away. It’s unclear exactly when the explosion happened, but researchers say it was definitely millions of years ago.

The cashless economy has become increasingly prevalent in developed countries such as the U.S. and Japan. Consumers are incentivized to use debit or credit cards through discounts and freebies, and banks and credit card companies collect information on people’s spending habits.

Some stores in the U.S. have decided to stop accepting cash from customers altogether, which has resulted in a backlash. Millions of people, most of whom live below the poverty line, do not have a bank account and only deal in cash. Advocates have argued that the cashless economy discriminates against poor people and the homeless.

American cities and states have started banning cashless stores on the grounds that they are discriminatory. San Francisco, New York City, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia and New Jersey have recently passed legislation forcing stores to accept all types of legal tender.

According to The Japan Times, the tragic events of March 11, 2011, when a massive earthquake and tsunami triggered meltdowns at three nuclear reactors in Fukushima, forced Japan to reconsider nuclear energy. Today, 24 of Japan’s 33 reactors remain offline.

After the disaster, the government increased its push toward renewable energy, but it also invested heavily in coal projects. The dirty fuel was seen as the fastest, cheapest and most reliable way to keep the lights on.

A return to coal has left Japan with only modest long-term climate goals. Electricity generation is now responsible for almost 40 percent of the country’s emissions, and Japan aims to cut total emissions 26 percent by 2030 from 2013 levels.

The Japan Times reports that the number of hikikomori in Japan, or those choosing complete withdrawal from all social interactions, has grown over the past few years. Psychiatrist Tamaki Saito, an expert on the subject, has stated that there might be some 2 million hikikomori in Japan, more than the official government estimate of 1.15 million. He also warned that the total number of Japanese foregoing social interactions might be as high as 10 million.

Official government estimates state that 613,000 hikikomori are between the ages of 40 and 64, raising the question of just how many elderly hikikomori will survive after their parents, who provide for all their daily needs, become ill or pass away.

This simple equation is at the heart of the global economy: One person’s spending = another person’s income.

It’s referred to as “supply and demand”—producers will supply as much as consumers demand. So if consumers aren’t buying anything, producers won’t be able to sell anything. In other words, whenever you buy something, you pay someone else’s wages.

So the current COVID-19 pandemic is not just a global health crisis but also an economic one. When people are told to stay at home, they stop going to restaurants, bars, and movies. They can’t travel, so they don’t spend money on gas or airfare, and they don’t stay at hotels. And when no more than 10 people can be together in one place, everything from birthday parties to music festivals to major world sports events are canceled.

According to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, a report studying freelancers published by consulting firm Mackenzie said that the gig economy has done away with workers’ rights achieved through decades of activism and legislation. Mackenzie concluded that freelancers face labor conditions similar to those of workers before the Industrial Revolution.

The advantage for employers is clear, as working with freelancers offers companies managerial flexibility. They pay for the services of a person as if that person were an entire company, without any obligation to provide social benefits or fulfill labor laws. It turns the employer–employee relationship into a customer–supplier one, which can be very unequal.

A report by the Upwork and Freelancers Union forecasts that by 2027, some 50% of all U.S. workers will be freelancers. Mackenzie estimates that the current proportion is around 20-30%, which includes people who supplement their income through freelance work.