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TEXT 1: FORGET MINDFULNESS, STOP TRYING TO FIND YOURSELF AND START FAKING
IT
Chinese philosophers such as Confucius, Mencius and Laozi are not traditionalist thinkers, but they are radical thinkers. They don’t agree with debates about how to live in the modern society or how to be ethical. They state that great changes only happen when we start from the doable and the mundane and we have to look inside ourselves to discover who we really are, even if this is not easy because our personality has different facets. Once we have found ourselves, we don’t have to stop, we can’t just follow our authentic self, but we have to work on every aspects of our personality to flourish and to become better people. For example, I may think I’m shy just because I act as an introvert person when I meet new people, but this is just a part of my personality and I can improve. (or hothead, short-tempered) Another way to become a better person, is to fake some behaviours. It may sounds a bit strange because we are used to being told to always act real and to be honest, but sometimes, faking our behaviour is just a way to be kind and not to destroy other people’s feelings by being rude. We seem to be acting fake but, instead, we are acting more mature. We are used to seeing the world as stable and predictable, making plans for our lives and always following the line of things we like or we are good at. However, Mencius overturns this assumption with his idea of a fragmented and capricious world. He states that we should set courses in motion because making decisions for the future without considering who we will become is quite useless. We should stop planning our life. Moreover, our decisions will be easier if we try out new experiences, which could also guide us in new directions. We’ve always believed in the idea that the powerful always wins out. For this reason, we are told to stand strong and be confident. However, Laozi believes in the power of weakness. Indeed, we should see everything in the world as connected, so that we can manage those connections to create harmony with others. This allows for a different kind of influence: we see how to slightly modify situations, so we can lead others but they don’t perceive it. We have always been encouraged to discover our gifts and strengths and to cultivate them. However, the Chinese philosophers state that we should live our lives as a series of ruptures, because that is what changes us over time. Indeed, they say we have to break our preconceived notions so that we can discover new aspect of ourselves. For example, if you’re not good at languages, you should immerse yourself in French. We always think that mindfulness will help us reach peace in our lives. However, Confucius explained that the ideas of mindfulness, as they are understood, are the opposite of what mindfulness was meant to be. In fact, Confucian self-cultivation is about engaging with the world, so it includes an active way of cultivating ourselves to become better people. The contemporary assumption is that we have broken free of a traditional world and live our lives as we choose. But if we define a traditional world as one where humans passively accept the way things are, then we are traditional too. The only thing we can do is to recognise that we are complex creatures who are always pulled in different directions, but it is only through working on our interactions and experiences that we grow. We should also remember that small actions are the most important if we want to become better people.
1B – LISTENING NUMBER 3
When meeting somebody for the first time, we tend to classify them basing ourselves on different criteria such these are the background, the values, the hobbies and interests, the character, the beliefs and eventually their work. There are a lot of aspects that identify us but what defines people first and foremost is experience.
TEXT 2: GOOD RIDDANCE TO THE OLD CV
Nowadays CVs have changed because all the information about a person can be found online, this may be great for people looking for a job, as traditional CVs could contain risky details such as our hobbies or our previous salary that can give a wrong definition of the person.
At the same time, the online CVs have their disadvantages. On Linkedin, for example, if you don’t have the right number of connections you may be considered as not enough qualified. Anyway, Linkedin is better than any other social network that contain too many personal details. Online CVs have the advantage that they will be screened by a computer, which is impartial and doesn’t care about how you write or your photo. Furthermore, traditional CVs have lost their power also because the new generations are pickier and they want to work for ethical and empowering companies. So, not just employees but also employers have to worry about their reputation. Nowadays, the employment world is more transparent and there are few surprise candidates. An additional useful tool could be a sort of “TripAdvisor” of the employers, with a “black list” of bad organisations and opinions of previous employees.
7B – LISTENING NUMBER 53
The effort of many companies of being customer-focused is useless if they cannot attract customers’ interest. Nowadays, social media are a necessary tool for present-day marketing techniques because customers are not merely interested in buying, they also want to have an experience. Brands consequently have to reveal their story, to do surveys and to offer discounts in order to arouse people’s interest. Finally, long-term strategies win over pop-up ads in newsfeeds, because they work towards clients’ loyalty, which brings high benefits and the subsequent boost in sales.
1F – ARCTIC WISDOM
Some members of the organization Explore went to the Arctic to uncover the traditions of the Inuit people. They first meet Elisapee, the mayor of Iqaluit that is the capital city of the Nunavut territory. According to the principle that the future can only be improved by knowing the past, Elisapee explains that advice given by elder people is very important to the community, in fact a committee of elders is also present in the government. The peculiarity of this generation of elders is that it is the first that has settled down, since their ancestors had always lived as nomadic hunters. Furthermore, up until this generation, all of the Inuit traditions and history were passed down orally, making their knowledge of the past invaluable. Thus, it is now the up to the young generation to write down and pass on the wisdom of their forefathers, overcoming the communication barrier set by the Inuktitut language. After being shown some pictures of Inuit ancestors, Charlie learns about the further importance of Inuit elders due to the great age disproportion in Iqaluit as a result of lower infant mortality and improved healthcare. Indeed, 23 years old is the average age in the capital, and only 2% of its population is 65 or older. The elders give the community important lessons. For example, a woman underlines that the respect and the self-esteem are essential, as well as encouraging yourself and other to be positive.
TEXT 3: MOKEN NOMADS LEAVE BEHIND THEIR “SEA GYPSY” LIFE FOR A MODERN EXISTENCE
The Moken are a nomadic, seafaring tribe of hunter-gatherers who live in the southern seas of Burma and Thailand. Little is known about their origins: they are believed to descend from migrant Austronesians who moved from China 4000 years ago. The Mokens spend eight months of the year at sea roaming with their boats and return to land only during the monsoon season or to barter fish and shells they’ve collected. Living off the sea has affected their body, especially their eyes: they keep them wide open underwater. Their way of life has existed for centuries, but nowadays it is at risk. The great quantity and variety of seafood has been wiped out by the 2004 tsunami and now the little that is left is being destroyed by the International fishing boats. Most Mokens have moved to land and, since they are running out of resources, their diving skills are exploited by Thai fishing boats for dangerous jobs, such as planting explosives on the seabed. Many of them suffer from decompression sickness and many have also died. Young Mokens, living now in villages, are under the bad influence of Thai society: many of them steal, use drugs, etc. There is also a Moken museum in the village to preserve traditions. Moreover, the village is trying to offer classes in Moken language and training as tour guides. However, education is not the right solution for everyone, indeed, an anthropologist says that it could be a sort of integration into Thai society.
Jimmy Chin’s opinion about climbing is that it is both physically and mentally demanding: physically because, of course, the difficulty in moving and the reduced speed are gruelling, whereas mentally since it requires a great deal of attention and self-control, both necessary to avoid severe consequences. It was in college when Chin first came across this sport, and after graduating he decided to take a year off to practice climbing full-time before entering the professional realm. Seven years later, though, Chin was still living in his car, but he was in love with what he was doing and he felt so lucky. He was practicing this sport in Yosemite, the place he would describe as his influential home, for there he met many climbing fans, made new friends and also took his first picture while climbing, an action that would change his life completely. In fact, after selling his first photo for $500, that was an action that changed his life. Indeed, Chin decided he would travel around the world in order to climb and photograph some of the greatest mountains and he succeeded in climbing places like Mount Everest (Nepal), Hand of Fatima (India), and Garwhal Himalaya (India).
TEXT 5: STORY OF CITIES: BARCELONA’S UNLOVED PLANNER INVENTS SCIENCE OF “URBANISATION”
In the mid 1850s Barcelona was an important industrial city that had grown during the industrial revolution and was ready to become a European capital. But Barcelona was confined by medieval walls that were the cause of issues like the rising of mortality rates. That’s why the government decided to destroy the walls. After the demolition Barcelona had to be redisegned in order to be efficient for a growing population. The architect charged was Cedrà. The plan of the new city consisted in seven peripherical villages united to the old city. Cedrà was a revolutionary architect. To create the new city he considered each detail, even the volume of atmospheric air one person needed to breathe. He also invented the word “urbanisation” to describe the growth of modern cities. His work is still studied in Catalan schools, but he was also criticised because he created a space without social classes division, where rich and poor people live together. He was considered a utopian socialist just because he had a deep sense of equality. But nowadays he is still remembered for his great work.
3A – TOWNS WITH CHARACTER
Granada, Nicaragua. Granada is the oldest colonial city in Latin America. It can be defined as a city, even if it is a quite small and self-contained city. It has elegant architecture, but it’s a genuine working town with a commercial area where farmers sell their produce. Tourism in Nicaragua has increased in the last few years and tourists often visit Granada because it is an incredibly photogenic place. Billund, Denmark. Billund is an ordinary town in Denmark, but has its own peculiarity: everyone has a connection with Lego. Most people work in Legoland factory or Legoland theme park, others have a café or a hotel linked to Lego. Anyway, Billund is a family-friend town and the Lego company looks after its residents.
3B – LISTENING 21
An architect talks about very small houses, better called compact living spaces. He states that small houses are becoming more popular nowadays, especially in Western countries, because of a trend that has burst out in the last few years. Other reasons are the lack of space in big cities and affordability. The architect explains that he had the idea from a people called Dolgan who lives in northern Russia where the weather is always freezing and small houses are very practical.
3C – THE PAPER ARCHITECT
Zaha Hadid was once known as the paper architect, because her projects were only drawn on paper and have never been built, but she never gave up and within ten years she became one of the most popular architects in the world. This is due to more factors. Firstly, the field of architecture has always been dominated by men and women still have to go through a slow career progress, so most of them leave. Secondly, she wanted to spread her new ideas of modern buildings, different shapes and surfaces. She also wanted to use new building materials and computer technology, but perhaps people weren’t ready for great changes in buildings, yet.
She was a firm believer of the importance of combining innovation with practical designs, with the emphasis on people’s interaction in the spaces, and her ideas have had a huge influence on modern architecture.
3F – A STORY OF SOLUTIONS
When a fire broke out in Newbern, Alabama, the closest firehouse was 15 minutes away, so that firemen could not prevent houses from burning down, and fire insurances from going up. Rural Studio, a partnership between Auburn University’s school of architecture and Hale County, Alabama helped the projecting and building of the $20,000 Newbern Fire Station, the first public building in Newbern, by bringing together students, architects and citizens. The main goal was to provide Newbern with efficient and affordable housing, which is the reason why the Studio also built other 170 architectural solutions, among which the Public Library plays a central role. Anyway, architectures have the potential to be the solution, but they are not the only solution, people actually make the difference.
TEXT 6: HOW TWO ARCHITECTS ARE TRANSFORMING CHINESE VILLAGES
During the 2000s China has become a playground for architects because it was urbanizing as never before. Two young Chinese architects decided to establish a design lab to work on public service projects around China. They started travelling around China and they discovered a lot of ghost towns but also towns experiencing building booms. In their haste to arrange the countryside towns all the buildings had the same design. These two architects wanted to focus on the design and their greatest work was the re-plan of an impractical hospital that became a pentagonal structure with a courtyard and a ramp that connected the floors. All these open spaces are useful to stimulate public relationships. Moreover, the structure has holes that enlighten the inside building. Following the success of their work in rural China, the architects moved to Mongolia to start their first project outside China. Their idea consisted in designing hybrid gear with the characteristics of a tent but can be connected to the sewage system, electrical grid and main water pipes in order to work on urbanisation while preserving the traditions of these places. Currently, they are working on the reconstruction of an entire village that was destroyed during an earthquake. Their aim is to build safer homes and animal-rearing (allevamento) facilities that will generate energy from biogas.
3D – LISTENING 24
In Millenium Park, in Chicago, there is a special artwork. It is an electronic sculpture in the shape of an open book that shows quotes and jokes by famous local people. It is useful to show citizens the ideas of people that have been important for history.
3E – OLD AND NEW
The main question about architecture is if we should allow modern buildings to be built next to older buildings in an historic area of a city. Based on the assumption that not all the historical buildings are attractive, if we consider a limit to the number of new buildings in order to preserve at least the area’s historical feel, modern architecture can often fit perfectly well with buildings from another period without dominating its surroundings too much. Indeed, as long as the new building is pleasing, it should enhance the attractiveness of the area.
TEXT 7: WHY DID LOL INFILTRATE THE LANGUAGE?
The slang term ‘LOL’ has been officially added to the Oxford English Dictionary. Its first appearance dates back to an early internet discussion forum where it was used to mean ‘laughing out loud’. Nowadays it has the same meaning, it is an interjection used chiefly in electronic communications, to draw attention to a joke or to express amusement and it is used everywhere, from pubs to offices. ‘LOL’ is now a legitimate word in our lexicon to convey tone in texts, but not only does it express amusement, it is also used in almost ironic sense, like a slow handclap after a bad joke, to say something like ‘yes, I understand that was funny, but I'm not really laughing’. LOL can also lead to funny situations such as when parents use it in a wrong way.
he began manufacturing canvas shoes and for every pair he sold, he donated another pair to the poor in Argentina. After some initial problems with quality, this proved to be very successful and he began exporting this idea to other parts of the world and setting up other social ventures. He encouraged costumers to become more involved by volunteering in addition to help millions of poor children around the world.
4F – THIS MAN RISKED IT ALL
Education is what made Sanga Moses into who he is now, and so when he saw his sister and many other children missing school at least twice a week to gather and carry wood for their families, he decided he had to find an alternative source of fuel for families to cook with. He then quit his job and sold his house furnishing to earn some money to invest in his business, Eco Fuel Africa, of which he is now CEO. Together with his team, Moses worked out a way to turn farm waste like sugar cane waste, coffee husks and corn waste into clean cooking fuel. This new eco-fuel burns cleaner, longer, it is a lot cheaper and also helps a lot of farmers. The aim of Eco Fuel Africa is to raise the number of families using this new source of fuel over the next ten years, in order to also end deforestation as well as indoor air pollution, and, last but not least, to make sure children can go to school and receive the education they need. He still looks at himself as a community guy who tried to make his community better.
TEXT 9: THE HIGHS AND LOWS OF TRAVELLING SOLO
The narrator describes his own adventure to travelling alone to Africa. It was his second time leaving England. At the beginning, solo travelling seemed to be the worst of all possible worlds because of the feeling of isolation, vulnerability and depression: there is no-one to watch your back or simply your bag, and for female travellers there are extra dangers. Some weeks later he reached Sudan; then he went to a small village where he met a teacher, Muhammed and asked him for a place where he could stay while waiting for the next truck. Muhammed invited him to go to his village; there he met the Baggara tribe and, for about a week, he experienced a new way of life: no electricity, no running water, no means of communication, no plastic… Almost anything from the outside world. Thanks to that, he realised that travelling alone really works: one is forced into contact with people, makes decisions without arguing with anyone, draws pictures, learns languages and the sense of freedom. Indeed, when a friend of his daughter asked his advice about a trip to Thailand she had to make, he underlined that the most vulnerable moments are when you arrive. He suggested that she should find a base among people she trusted, and then, despite the hardship, he told her she would be able to survive and go through any tricky events. Finally, he promised her that when she finds friends, she will never forget them. That’s what he experienced: Muhammed was a friend for him during that adventure, they rode all over the area meeting other tribes, until the day he had to leave. They never saw each other again, but they have exchanged letters for a few years. Since then, the protagonist has found travelling alone a great deal. Obviously, the lows are still lower and the highs still higher, but actually, the experience is always much richer.
5A – HOW WE TRAVEL
There are several points of view regarding travelling. Firstly, the writer explains how he considered travelling as a young typical boy of his Indian culture, that is to say going to spend the summer with grandparents or other relatives. Secondly, he refers to his father’s attitude towards travelling, characterised by a carefree feeling, which permits to take life day by day, without doing things you do not really want to do only because they are on the traveller’s checklist. Finally, in contrast with that, the writer underlines his idea of travelling telling about his wonderful experience in Chile with a strict itinerary.
5C – THE ADVENTURES OF HERGÉ
The Belgian journalist and cartoonist Hergé is famous for creating a series of graphic novels featuring the investigative journalist Tintin. Many children have spent their childhood reading his twenty-three novels. In his books, Hergé describes a lot of far-off places he has never visited, but they are the result of precise research done from his studio, examining catalogues and technical drawings and making sketches and models of his characters to help him describe the scenes in the books. The books give a realistic account of what the investigator would be involved. His talent for understanding and describing places he had never been to, helped make his books so convincing.
5F – ON THE ROAD: ANDREW MCCARTHY
The Camino de Santiago is an old pilgrim’s route across the north of Spain that started in the eighth century during the crusades to reconquer Spain from the Moors. The writer Andrew McCarthy defines it as the trip that changed his life. When he decided he would do the Camino himself, he got the inspiration from a book he had previously bought by chance while waiting for his girlfriend in a bookstore. After seeking advice from the writer of the book himself, McCarthy walked across Spain for a month; for the night he would sleep in pilgrim hostels along the way at first, but then he felt the need of checking into little inns to get a good and comfortable sleep. He went there to see if he could take care of himself. And now he describes the experience as a transformative one, for he felt lonely and scared by the world at the beginning, but then he got rid of his fears and was able to enjoy the rest of the Camino completely. He would like to do it again, maybe with his son or his daughter.
TEXT 10: TRAVELLERS’ TALES: THREE VERY DIFFERENT BACKPACKING TRIPS
At the age of 70, after retiring, John decided to travel around the world for a year and, as he was an historian, he decided to visit historical places. He had a lot of new experiences like selling clothes in India, volunteering in Jodphur and sleeping on trains and buses; but the most incredible thing he did was bungee- jumping. Despite being overweight and suffering from vertigo he managed to do it. He met a lot of people: everyone was friendly and polite and someone joined him in his journey. He had a big downside when he was robbed, moreover, he really missed his family even if he could keep in touch with them thanks to social media. At the end of his journey he had gained a lot of confidence to deal with whatever life might throw at him. A 40 year-old man who is totally blind and 80% deaf from both ears, in 2017 decided to travel solo through Africa. He describes his adventure as challenging but also rewarding. Indeed, he learned to trust people he met on the streets to guide him into museums and other tourist attractions, and even to get him money, since cash machines in Africa do not have audio technology. He managed to see Africa by eating and smelling local food, hearing the sound of music and touching whatever he could. However, he faced some difficulties, especially with means of transports. At the age of 30, Antonia has travelled around the world for 10 months with her boyfriend. They visited a lot of countries among which Thailand, Indonesia, Mexico and Peru. Their idea was to have more vivid memories about this experience, and so they travelled in the most cramped, hairy ways. For example, they cycled in flip-flops across Vietnam. They lived some moments, which seemed to be unreal such as learning meditation with monks or camping on a remote part of the Great Wall. They also met old friends in some places, and made some new ones all over. In addition to this, they tasted different types of food. They also tried campervanning in Australia. Their experience was so incredible that, when they came back, it was tough for Antonia. Nevertheless, she says that being away wasn’t always rosy, in fact you can get sick and tired and you also may argue with the person you are travelling with (if you are).
TEXT 11: BEHOLDING BEAUTY, HOW IT’S BEEN STUDIED
The philosopher Edmund Burke defines beauty as a quality of body, acting mechanically upon the human mind by the intervention of the senses. Scientists are trying to figure out what makes things and people beautiful, what make people see beauty in themselves and what role beauty plays in society. Some brain analysis showed that there are certain patterns through which you find something beautiful. Considering some studies about art appreciation, the only factor common to all what people find beautiful in art and music is activity in the brain’s medial orbital frontal cortex, part of the reward and pleasure centre of the brain. Moreover, even if we see every single blemish in ourselves, there are plenty of people we consider beautiful without examining all the little flaws. A recent study found that self-evaluation may be related to self-esteem, based on common patterns of brain activity. When it comes to facial attractiveness, there are reasons to believe that specific features and biologically-based factors guide our assessment of beauty. Faces that are more symmetrical and average-looking tend to be rated as more attractive in scientific studies. In particular, the theory goes that symmetrical features may be markers of genetic quality. Beauty also plays an important role in relationships: a recent study found that women are more attracted to men with the strongest immune systems which were associated with higher testosterone levels. Beauty is also relevant in friendships: research has shown that women tend to have friends of similar attractiveness because if you are
expensive, it could be possible to install some fitness stuff in the building where people work. Another option may be offering sports that people enjoy, such as team sports or dance. Also exercise groups in the morning may be useful and it also could build team spirit. The important is to be careful not to force people to do exercise, they have to be free to decide.
6E – A CONTROVERSIAL PLAN
This report examines a proposal to raise health insurance for smokers. Over 100 people of different ages and different social backgrounds were interviewed. A lot of people agree with the raise because they think smokers make a personal choice, so they have to pay for the consequences. But most of the people don’t agree with the proposal, stating that it is discriminatory or that people can’t control the habit of smoking. They also think that smokers should be given free help.
6F – THE ART OF PARKOUR
Supposedly, the origin of parkour is to be found in the 1940s, when the a 20-year-old boy showed he could climb a wall or a picket fence without using any special shoes or balancing pole. In the modern era, parkour spread from the suburbs of Paris in the late 1980s as an affordable form of sport or self-expression. It involves navigating the urban landscape, by moving on, off and around obstacles as fast and easily as possible by using physical strength and ability. Improvisation is, hence, very important. Being so accessible, parkour caught on in areas where opportunities are limited, like in the Gaza strip in Palestine, since it is also seen as a way to enter the world of stuntmen, and therefore perform this art professionally. However, it could be a dangerous sport, in fact one of the first lessons one gets is about how to fall, in order to avoid broken fingers, teeth, or even more severe injuries.
TEXT 13: IS INSTAGRAM CHANGING THE WAY WE DESIGN THE WORLD?
Today customers demand much more than the ones of the 18th century. In this digital age, the places we choose to visit, restaurants where we decide to eat and hotel where we want to stay have to be Instagrammable. This new priority does not just mean creating food that can be photographed for social media, instead, the challenge for businesses is to make their stores or hotels attractive to social media influencers. Shoreditch, a trendy area in London, works hard to seduce anyone with a smartphone. Its cafés and restaurants are decorated with hanging plants, rose gold and inspirational signs. This kind of pop- urbanism is becoming the norm, so it makes sense for architects to plan them in. What will happen is that our communal areas will take on a new look and feel to match the Instagram needs, but, in reality, this is what a trend is: something popular that works into our spaces and life. But London is not the only city that pander to our need for beautiful places to photograph. In recent statistics released by Instagram, New York was the most photographed city, followed by Moscow and London. But Los Angeles is the city that pandered social media necessities. Not only cafés and hotels have been redesigned to be photographed. This happens also for museums. The Louvre is the most photographed museum on Instagram. The point is that the more we rely on our smartphones, the more our ability to concentrate seems to dwindle, so the shops and spaces we visit are forced to work harder to offer us new ways to experience life through our gadgets. The fact is that many of us seem to view our surroundings only as a backdrop to our personal portfolio. Nowadays it seems that people have no problem to change the reality around us in using filters in order to create better contents for social media.
7A – SELFIE WORLD
The idea of a selfie is simple, you just have to turn the mobile phone so that you can see the screen, hold the phone away from you and smile, that’s’ all. Selfies have been around from 2011 but, since then, an increasingly number of people are uploading photos on the internet. A professor of the University of New York studied the phenomenon of selfies. He found that selfies are taken especially by young people and that women outnumber men. The most surprising fact is that people spend on average 7 minutes to take a selfie, including editing, deciding on a caption and adding an hashtag or emoji.
7 – LISTENING NUMBER 51
Social media have set a new record for the highest number of written information published and of photos taken and distributed. This new way of looking at the world has also changed the way we experience it, in fact it has been proved that people attending an event usually spend about half of their time recording and photographing it in order to share it live or later; this definitely affects (or even takes over) our ability to enjoy the above-mentioned event fully, but we can still fix this by using social networks with moderation.
4E – PROBLEM OR SOLUTION?
This proposal suggests ways teacher can use technology to get children reading, as they spend a lot of time playing on computers and they don’t read anymore. Teachers can start by encouraging children to use internet in class for research. Moreover, children should write and read blogs on the internet to share their ideas. Another idea for teachers would be putting short stories on screens in classrooms so that children can read them.
TEXT 14: LOGGED OFF: MEET THE TEENS WHO REFUSE TO USE SOCIAL MEDIA
Generation Z, that concerns people born after 1995, has grown up online. But, despite the stereotypes, a lot of young guys are beginning to quit or reduce the use of at least one social media. Teenagers quit social media because they think they force people to show a fake image of themselves or because it is becoming a competition for who can appear the happiest. Indeed, if you had a bad day and you scroll instagram you will only see photos of people at parties and this can cause depression. Moreover, at school social media can be a barometer of popularity. If you have a lot of followers people will like you, while if you don’t have a lot of followers you will be isolated. Some teenagers also feel the heavy pressure of sustaining an online persona that has been created but may not correspond to the reality. Teenagers don’t want this to happen. They look for authentic friendships. A researcher asked young people in the US to take time off social media. 58% had already quitted social media at least once, because of schoolwork or jobs or because of they felt oppressed by conflict and drama on social media. The researcher found that teenagers are becoming more aware of the time they waste on social media. Quitting social media can create new anxieties: the biggest fear is missing out. However, this is typical of those people who live constantly on social media. On a final note, quitting social media is a determined move, which might be madness for many people, but which is helpful for our real relationships.
TEXT 15: MUSIC AND CULTURE
There are different ways to learn music. The established music education sector, still rely on formal learning but, by this way, it fails to reflect the diversity of young people and the different ways in which they progress. In recent years much has been done to encourage children to learn music from early age and most of the schools provide music lessons. Actually, almost half of the children playing an instrument don’t have lessons. A report has shown that, out of the schools, there are many inequities of opportunity for children to learn music at their best. This is also caused by economic and social issues. Moreover, music education and professional musical organisations do not coordinate effectively, making it difficult for children and their families to navigate the music landscape. Music hubs have long provided a bridge between schools and music professions including instrumental tuition and ensembles, through which the young musicians can progress. The driving force for creativity, understanding and engagement in music is learning and participation, but also enjoyment is essential. The challenge is to ensure that every child has the chance to work on his potential and to do so it is important to focus less on the best way to learn and more on the opportunities to engage children in every field of music. It is also important to clarify what are the main steps to reach music progression and success, to show parents the diversity that music routes open to their children and the benefits that music can provide to children.
8A – WORLD MUSIC
The musician Justin Cape expresses the idea that what he likes the most is listening to new types of music, even if new genres can be difficult to appreciate by other people. But tastes are just a question of habit, if
Historians study events investigating very recent history, but most of the people they are studying are long gone so they can’t meet them, they can’t know their thoughts and their opinions. The task of the historian is to judge from a moral perspective and to develop a sense of empathy. The biggest mistake they can make is to take assumptions about people, for example stating that someone was ignorant or prejudiced. The best way to study history, indeed, is to base any perceptions on their evidence. History as a discipline History matters also because it is useful: it is a powerful tool for developing analytical thinking, good communication and other important skills, like analysis and evaluation. Informed leadership and active citizenship History is important because it can make our leaders better informed, so that they can take better decisions. But it also makes citizens more informed and encourages them to be more active in politics and in their communities. However, it is important the way people interpret events and the way people bring facts of the past to the present. History has to be used to generate benefits for the present and the future. History is not a subject that resides in the past History is fundamental in our social, collective memory, in fact it shapes our present and orientates how we think about possible futures. However, we shouldn’t misuse it. History can provide, overall, a sense of social cohesion but often it can come to put us against others. We should be able to use it to look beyond a simplistic past and to develop a more complex understanding of the present and the future.
1A – LEARNING FROM THE PAST
We never seem to learn from the past and to ignore it. Maybe, the most important lesson we should learn is not to be selfish. Regarding this, China is trying to remind people of the lessons given by the philosopher Confucius. Indeed, Chinese government is worried because people seem to have become more individualistic and selfish after the economic boom. Even though people talk a lot about Confucius’ idea of a ‘harmonious society’, they don’t act on it. Sometimes lessons seem to be too difficult to apply also because they need a high degree of unselfishness. Mandela tried to spread the message of peace to the two sides of South Africa who hated each other; he thought the only way to unite the country was to talk about what happened in the past and try to reach peace.
9C – DIAMOND SHIPWRECK
In 2008 a geologist found a ingot in the beach sands in Namibia. But the ingot wasn’t the only one. Later, archaeologists found 22 tons of ingots as well as cannons, swords, ivory, … From the things they found, historians have pieced together the story to explain what happened. In 1533, some Portuguese ships were carrying pepper and spices from far-off places. The most important ship was called Bom Jesus. Four months after the departure, the ship hit a storm and was wrecked near the Cape of Good Hope. This is one of the most inhospitable places on the earth, so even if some sailors had survived, they would have been wet, exhausted and freezing. Indeed, none of them ever came back home. Despite being inhospitable, the desert hid a big quantity of diamonds. The irony is that they were searching for riches, and unknown to them the ship was wrecked on a coast with millions of diamonds.
9F – COLLECTING THE PAST
Private Chinese collectors are repatriating objects belonging to their history. They also compete against each other and against foreigners in order to buy and repatriate art, clothing and other decorative pieces representing the past of their country. It is more common among a new generation of wealthy Chinese buyers, given that China now counts dozens of billionaires and almost one million millionaires, like Mr. Chan, the interviewee. He decided to show 100 million worth objects of a Chinese dynasty in a shopping mall. Although the location is a bit strange for an exhibition, according to the collector the most important things is that people can admire and appreciate part of their history. However, this practice is not new to dealers, in fact, during the late 70s and 80s it was the Japanese who felt the need to buy important works of art back to their country, as well as other more affordable decorative pieces. Auction houses cannot be anything but happy for this “fight”, since each year record sales smash the old ones.
TEXT 18: ON SHARED FALSE MEMORIES: WHAT LIES BEHIND THE MANDELA EFFECT
The Mandela effect is a phenomenon linked to the firm belief that Nelson Mandela died in prison in the 80s. Of course, he didn’t die in prison, a lot of people sure about that. The false-shared memory was explained by some physics experiments that proved that sometimes there are two realities that exist in parallel universes. There are many other cases of shared false memories, for this reason it is fundamental to highlight the main concepts that might explain it. First of all, it’s important to remember that a memory is made up of a system of neurons in the brain that store it. We call ‘memory trace’ the physical location of a memory in the brain. During consolidation, it is created a framework for similar memories to be stored in proximity to each other. This framework is called ‘schema’. Another important thing is reconsolidation, for it can reinforce learning over time by strengthening neural connections and forming new associations. However, putting a memory trace back together makes that memory more vulnerable. Therefore, a large number of general associations increase the possibility that a false memory could appear. The second factor is confabulation. A person confabulating fully believes that the “remembered” details are real. This factor is generally associated with neurological disorders such as stroke and epilepsy, but it can also happen in healthy subjects. The last factor is suggestibility: the tendency to believe what others suggest to be true. This is linked to misinformation, which can actually compromise the fidelity of an existing memory. Against this background, it’s highly unlikely that some people are actually from an alternative universe. The Mandela effect may be the evidence that parallel universes exist or that our universe is a simulation but this was never proved by science. TEXT 19: RELIGIOUS UPBRINGING LINKED TO BETTER HEALTH AND WELL-BEING DURING EARLY ADULTHOOD
According to a new study from Harvard school of Public Health, showed children and teenagers who grew up participating in spiritual practices lead a better and more fulfilling satisfaction life in adulthood and at the same time, they are less likely to have depressive symptoms or to use illicit drugs, compared to those who never prayed, meditated or attended services. For this study experts analysed various health data and controlled for many variables such as mental health, socioeconomic status and history of substance abuse or depressive symptoms. The results showed also that these practices may positively contribute to happiness, volunteering, a greater sense of mission and purpose, and to forgiveness. One limitation of the study is that it consisted mainly of children of white females of relatively high family socioeconomic status. Another limitation is that the study doesn’t look at the influences of parents and peer adolescents’ religious decisions.
10A – A CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETY
There are approximately ten thousand trillion ants of different species worldwide, and we can find these animals everywhere except on icy mountain peaks and around the Pole. All together they weigh about the same of all mankind. Ants are considered sophisticated creatures: they have an unselfish and community- minded behaviour, indeed they have a collective intelligence that allows them to think as one. They form a co-operative society achieving a high level of organization. Each one plays a clearly defined role: there is the queen whose job is to reproduce, some fertile male who die shortly after mating with the queen and the population of workers and soldiers. They communicate through pheromones, which are chemical signals emitted to lead ants towards the food is to alert the colony when an individual ant comes under attack.
10B – THE POWER OF PLAY
Among all the serious business of life, we often forget to play, because we tend to consider play as an activity we can allow ourselves to do when we can waste time after work. However, playing is essential for our social interaction and for our well-being. Moreover, it leads to think out-of-the-box and to improve our problem-solving ability. Apart from the professional realm, laughter drives feelings of relax, improves blood circulation and increases the body’s resistance to disease. Being social life as important as work life (if not more), play is one of the best ways to break down barriers between people and socialise, since it implies having a good time without any formality and also without necessarily establishing lifelong relationships. Last, but not least, play takes our minds back to the present moment, the only one we should actually live in,
whereas the blue ones make them win. The scientists found out that, after a long time, most of them figured the game out. However, they decided to hook each gambler up to a lie-detector machine, which measured the activity of sweat glands in the palm of their hands. They discovered that gamblers started generating stress responses to red decks in little time, even before being able to say what was wrong with the red ones. This experiment showed how powerful our mind is. So, scientists understood that our brain uses two very different strategies to make sense of the situation: the first one is the conscious strategy, which is more logical and slower; the second one, instead, operates more quickly and helps our brain reach conclusions without telling us that it is reaching them.
11B – THINKING FAST AND SLOW, LISTENING 83-
A psychologist’s study revealed that emotional intrusions when making certain rational judgements and logical decisions are in fact more frequent than scientists thought; the study was based on some questions collected in his book Thinking fast and slow. Among these, some showed that when asked about a number, people tend to answer with one similar to the one they already had in their minds for some reason; moreover, when logical questions were provided, people would normally not prefer the more logical answer, but the more detailed one, because it was seen as more “human”. Finally, when having to choose between certainty or risk, people prefer certainty when there is a chance of winning something, whereas people tend to take more risks when there is a possibility of losing, or not losing, something. All these answers are the effect of the intuitive System One of our brain, which affects the more conscious System Two in decision- making processes, above all in financial decisions.
TEXT 22: COMING SOON TO THE LIBRARY: HUMANOID ROBOTS
Westport will be the first city to announce the acquisition of a pair of humanoid evolution robots, and they will stay in a library. It is important to make robots accessible to people so they can learn about them. Humanoid Robots can walk, dance and they can speak 19 languages and their primary purpose is to teach people about the skills required to animate them. They are very expensive and complex as they have a programming software, two cameras, four microphones, motion sensors and a sonar to detect walls. They recognise faces and detect where sound is coming from; they can even touch and feel. Robots are being programmed for practical stuff as well, such as locating books or greeting elementary school groups that visit the library. Moreover, the library has a large development community that continuously adds new behaviour apps that facilitate everything, from high-five gestures to wake up routine including yawning and stretching. The library plans to debut the robots and to organise a series of competitive programming challenges where the robots have to recite a poem and do a dance, among other things. Finally, the growing emphasis in schools on science, technology, engineering and math gives library-based robots added relevance.
11A – EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE
Intellectual intelligence help people to pass university exams or to solve any kind of problems in working life, but it is the emotional intelligence (EI) that helps people manage stress in all difficult situations. Emotional Intelligence needs to be trained. The training is about learning to understand your feelings and to distinguish constructive emotions from harmful ones. In this way, you get to know when to follow your head and when to follow your gut feeling. At the same time, you develop a better understanding of how others feel. Our attitude to our emotions is often formed in the early part of our lives and to train your EI, you have to be aware of your own attitude to your emotions, so you can control your negative feelings in order to not let them influence important decisions. EI training is also useful to reveal what emotions you betray to others non-verbally, through micro- expressions. It is important to be able to control them and also to understand someone’s feelings by their expressions for managing relationships.
11C – WHO’S WORKING FOR WHO?
An increasing number of people think that intelligent computers or robots will replace workers. Artificial Intelligence (AI) would be quicker than human one, but not as intelligent as humans. The fact is that there are more and more parts of our work than can and will be done by machines in future. For many employees
this could be a great advantage, as machines could take over the boring parts of the work, leaving them more time to be creative. Unfortunately, there are three fundamental problems with this idea. The first idea is that technology has already largely replaced people in manufacturing, if it does the same in the service sector, no one has really worked out what all the employees will do. The second is ‘machine learning’, the idea that machines can learn how to do tasks for which they have not been specifically programmed. The third one is ‘crowdwork’, that is people are doing work you would expect a machine to do. Perhaps, the real question is if we will have machines working for you us or we will be working for them.
11F – MADELINE THE ROBOT TAMER
In the new Boston Autodesk’s build space, Madeline and a team of tens of other researchers, engineers and designers are working to find the perfect collaboration between humans and robots in almost every aspect of life. It is important to see robot’s potential. The robot Madeline has been working with the ability to see the environment around it and respond to human gestures. Technical aspects are crucial to make robots work as well: the processes of engineering and logistics can mean from 10 to 12 hours per day spent in front of a computer screen, but still the results are very rewarding. It is also important to make people who have never seen these robots before interact and misuse them, in order to highlight issues that would be found with difficulty through a thorough scientific analysis, or the solutions to them. By doing this it is possible to make robots and new technologies more accessible and more exciting for people.
TEXT 23: NOW RIVERS HAVE THE SAME LEGAL STATUS AS PEOPLE, WE MUST UPHOLD THEIR RIGHTS
Rivers around the world have been contaminated in every way. However, New Zealand and India gave their rivers a legal standing. In fact, their rivers have the status of a legal person and they have spiritual and physical characteristics in order to be preserved and conserved. The history of rivers makes these proclamations remarkable: they were venerated by the indigenous Iwi people and by the Hindus respectively. Yet, they have been polluted and diverted. Rivers are considered as the arteries of earth and lifelines for humanity, animals and plants. This is the reason why it is important to encourage political and economic measures to create a more ethical relationship. Nevertheless, New Zealand law admits that past activities caused damage and it is working to avoid violating the rivers’ rights again; on the other hand, the Indian court orders are vague on some aspects. Moreover, while New Zealand entrusts custodianship of the river to the Iwi people, India puts its faith mostly in government officials and legal experts. The decisions in these two countries created a growing global movement: dozens of communities in the US adopted new laws recognising such rights. In fact, in 2008, Ecuador became the first country to secure the right of nature in its constitution. In addition to this, the Ecuadorian government ordered the restoration of river corridors, which had been affected by road constructions. All these movements mark a transformation in mankind relationship with the natural world; however, recognising such rights means that our actions must not interfere with the ability of ecosystems.
12C – RISE OF THE URBAN ANIMAL
Nowadays more wild animals have moved from their habitats to cities. It's not only about little animals like insects or rodents, but also bigger ones. For example, you can bump into foxes walking the streets of London. This phenomenon is happening everywhere and one of the causes is the abundance of food in cities that attracts animals. Moreover, the problem is that, apart from small animals, there are some of their predators that have moved in too. This might be due to urban sprawl and climate change, which means that animals' native habitats are shrinking or disappearing. At the same time, animals feel less wary of human beings than in the past; however, we should not be less scared of them. In fact, when predators lose their instinctive fear of humans, they become more likely to attack us. Fortunately, incidents of urban animals attacking residents are rare, but we must establish our authority over these animals. In addition to this, many animals have adopted human traits. For example, you can see animals waiting at a traffic light before crossing the road. This is because many of them are naturally cautious or neophobic. City life is not for everyone and some animals will never adapt themselves to it. However, we have to start viewing those animals who live in cities as part of our communities.
12F – THREE YEARS AND 6,000 MILES ON A HORSE
