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UNIT 1 : LESSONS OF LIFE
1 - Forget mindfulness, stop trying to find yourself and start faking it Classical Chinese philosophers were radical thinkers who exploded the conventions of their society, because they wanted to make the world a better place by expanding the scope of human possibility. The history of Chinese philosophy is so popular that it is the most studied course at Harvard. Indeed, their philosophy was a pragmatic one, based on apparently small questions, because they believed that great change only happens when we begin with the mundane (banale) and doable (fattibile). According to them, many of our most fundamental assumptions about our identity takes us in the wrong direction and so they don’t suggest to look inside ourselves to discover our true self, because our personalities are formed through how we behave with others (and we tend to behave differently according to the people we are talking to), how we react to things and our experiences. Moreover, we also consist of numerous possibilities of what we can become. Here are some suggestions that the Chinese philosophy offer:
- Be inauthentic → Confucius thought that we aren’t who we think we are, we can work on becoming better people all the time. The image we have of ourselves is not authentic because we are ever-changing, while the real self we think we found is just a snapshot of us in one moment in time. We have to recognize our complexity and that our labels can be broken through self-cultivation. For instance, we grow when we understand that we are not shy because we see ourselves as introverts.
- Do rituals → Confucius teaches that some rituals, like when we act “as if” we are different and our feelings are more mature (for example smiling “as if” we are not angry or biting our tongue instead of arguing), we transform into someone who is kind and generous, but we don’t express our true feelings. However, by letting our behavior lead our feelings, we become better over time.
- See the world as capricious → Mencius, a Confucian scholar, saw the world as fragmented and capricious. He thought that we should work with chance conversations, experiences and interactions, setting courses in motion, rather than seeing the world as stable and making plans for our lives.
- Stop deciding → when we have to make decisions we should try out new related experiences on a small scale and pay attention to our responses to them. Indeed, we often make plans and make decisions based on the person we are today and not on the one we will become.
- Be weak → Laozi, the founder of Taoism, advocates the power of weakness over apparent strength. He says we should see everything in the world as connected instead of divided and distinct. Rather than wielding direct power over people, we can subtly alter situations, so we can lead others but they don't perceive they’re dominated.
- Don’t play to your strengths → these philosophers encourage not to focus on who we think we are, but to break our preconceived notions. We tend to do only what we are good at - for example, if someone has always been a good reader, perhaps now studies literature. However, we have to do the opposite: if someone is bad at languages, he/she has to study them. The purpose is to live life as a series of ruptures, because that is what changes you over time.
- Don’t be mindful → mindfulness means paying attention to our emotional responses, engaging with the world and cultivating ourselves in an active way through that engagement, through each encounter and interaction.
- Rethink the traditional and the modern → we have to recognize that we are complex creatures pulled in different directions and we grow by working on our interactions, responses and experiences. The small actions are the ones that conduct us and transform ourselves and the world for the better. Possible questions : think of an occasion when you learned an important lesson or found a good way of doing something (e.g. about people. friends, family, money, work, health, risk, fun). Describe what happened. What did you do? What have you learned from it? 2 - Good riddance to the old CV Nowadays CVs and the ways they are transmitted are changing and very often CVs are transferred in a friendly way, giving them directly to the owner of a bar, for example. Moreover, traditional CVs have been replaced by the personal social media profiles, which can be also seen by the employers. CVs have moved online to Facebook or, even better, to LinkedIn, which can have both positive and negative aspects. On one hand, it’s easier for the employers to find out about you, because they can follow the whole life of a potential aspiring employee. The fact that computers make the first cut allows finding people with the skills an employer is searching for and his hiring depending on attitude, saving time and money. Furthermore, anonymised applications avoid the employers to hire only the people that feel familiar and helps to promote diversity in recruitment. Another advantage is that the traditional CVs were a minefield, because there was information like the previous salary, which always meant a prejudice on your person, because a low previous salary meant you were not good enough, but a high one meant you were over-qualified. On the other hand, sometimes it’s important to get a feel for the person and so employers want to see how the person looks. Moreover, the old CVs references are no longer available and a LinkedIn profile means you can be recommended and approved by everyone and this can be seen by everybody. There’s another reason why CVs have lost their power and that’s because new generations are pickier about what they want - they’re looking for ethical, engaged and empowering jobs, more than salary and pension. In conclusion, the whole employment world has become more transparent, because you can search for information about anyone that can be seen by everyone. According to the writer of the article, following the example of TripAdvisor with an “Employee Advisor” - to help keep away unpleasant people - would be an innovative and useful proposal. VOCABULARY
- Snappy bullet points = punti chiave accattivanti
- Cut the mustard = come up to expectations, reach the required standard
- Back to square one = punto e a capo, start working from the beginning
- Pickier = più esigenti
- There are very few dark horses = a person who keeps their interests and ideas secret, especially someone who has a surprising ability or skill
- Moreover, the video shows the importance of communication: the lack of communication between the boy and the lady is what brought them not to understand each other.
- Addiction to social media is another key point in this video: the boy seemed to be completely absorbed in his music and messaging app, and even when the lady lashed out, he was still listening to music, almost ignoring the lady (who was criticising him for being stuck to his phone). Possible question : what life lesson is the video teaching us? UNIT 2 : MORE THAN A JOB 3 - Moken nomads leave behind their “sea gypsy” life for a modern existence Ngui is a 30 - year-old boy belonging to the Moken, a nomadic seafaring tribe in the southern seas of Burma and Thailand. Even if we don’t know much about the origins of this tribe, perhaps they descend from migrant Austronesians who came from southern China 4000 years ago. His father Jao was born on a boat and spent his childhood at sea. He married at 16 and pursued an aquatic lifestyle, until he and his wife decided to settle on land. The Moken spend 8 months of the year at sea, in boats that they share with their families and that are made of a single tree. They return to land only to trade fish and shells for rice and petrol or to wait out the monsoon season. This way of life has existed unchanged for centuries, but nowadays, especially after the 2004 Tsunami, it is at risk, as the tsunami made seafood disappear. Moreover, the Moken are struggling to reconcile tradition and modernity. Since those who stay at sea are sometimes arrested for lacking permits, some of the Moken have moved ashore, but they discover that their huts have been destroyed to build luxury resorts and so they have to do dangerous jobs for a poor gain, like working in Thai fishing boats, where they have to plant explosives on the seabed, diving with little or no air. As a matter of fact, the few of them who return, die from decompression sickness. They are aware that the sea, which is now polluted, has changed and so has their life. It is for this reason that the younger members of the society find it difficult to carry on the traditional Moken’s lifestyle and they look for easier jobs like working in hotels or resorts and adapting to Thai society, assuming also bad habits, like taking drugs and stealing. The village is trying to fight this kind of behavior by offering classes in Moken language, training them as tour guides and teaching customs to the children, to let them know their traditions. However, the community leader and a cultural anthropologist think that despite these efforts, Moken children have now abandoned their old traditions and they are more and more similar to Thai society, studying English and using mobile phones. Kang, Ngui’s sister, is the first Moken graduated at university and sees herself as a bridge between the Moken and the outside world. Those who have pursued this new kind of life, may determine the future choices of the Moken. VOCABULARY
- Seafaring tribe = tribù marina
- To scour = perlustrare
- Sarongs = copricostume
- Roam= vagare
- Barter = barattare
- Depleted = esaurito, impoverito
- Hooked up = collegato a Possible questions : Think of a job that is a way of life. Is your job or studies a way of life for you? 4 - From intern to inspiration story; landing an adventure job in the Peruvian Amazon Holly O’Donnel is a Scottish zoologist whose bachelor’s degree was considered by a University professor worthless, so she was supposed to put away her career dreams. However, all these disapproval made her more and more determined and she fundraised and interned “Fauna Forever”, a non-profit organization in different countries, like Scotland, Paraguay and the Peruvian Amazon. Nowadays she leads mammal research for this organisation. She discovered her passion for wildlife when she was seven, thanks to a National Geographic DVD. She decided to complete a BSc in zoology, that she passed with honors and she interned with “ Para La Tierra”, a non-profit organisation in Paraguay. While searching for an internship, she bumped into an advertisement for Mammal Coordinator and she sent off an application, even though the closing date had already passed. Unexpectedly, she was hired. Now her days start at 5. 30 am, when she walks up to eight kilometers silently to record animal sightings, sounds, tracks and scrapes. The information issued from these surveys are then sent to the Peruvian government to help inform sustainable management. According to the zoologist, the most difficult challenge was the cultural difference, indeed she had to struggle to establish herself as a female scientist in a male-oriented culture. Moreover, she explains that gaining experience is really important in order to find out your own passion and to understand that there’s a difference between theoretical information learned during lessons and practice. She suggests that once someone has reached a position, they should improve it also through networking, so that it is possible to show that they are really passionate about and get paid eventually. O’Donnell sees hope for the future and she set up a Facebook page to inform and inspire others, most of all those who are not interested in biology. Her goal is to make people aware that this is not a job they can only see on television, but they can actually do it. LiFE 2 a — Keeping a tradition alive, The Ama Divers of Japan (collega a “Moken nomads…”) Even though nowadays the number of people who depend on the sea for their subsistence has declined, there are still some societies that maintain traditional ways of fishing and collecting seafood. For instance, the Ama divers in the Shima peninsula specialise in looking for sea creatures in the coastal waters. Ama means “women of the ocean” and their renown grew thanks to the pearl industry. They dive to great depths just with a wetsuit, a mask and a white cloth to keep sharks away and when they return to the surface they have some techniques to regulate breathing and avoid hyperventilating. Many Ama divers worked all their life, as it’s a hard but healthy job. They traditionally worked six days a week with two extra days off a month, the “fish days”, when they had the opportunity to chat to fishermen.
and so he discovered he had a talent and he could make a living out of it. From that moment he began to travel the world to take pictures of amazing locations and people. Possible questions : what did you learn from Jimmy Chin’s story about mountaineering, choosing a career and approach to life? UNIT 3 : INNOVATION 7 - Why did LOL infiltrate the language? “LOL” (whose letters can be pronounced separately or as a single word), is an internet slang term which means “laughing out loud” and has been added to the Oxford English Dictionary, since it is nowadays heavily used in e-mails, spoken language and social networking, giving tone to the text. It is used as a slow handclap after a bad joke or a humorous statement and means “yes, I understand that was funny, but I’m not really laughing”. It was discovered that the first uses of this word dates back to the 1980 s, in the archives of Usenet, an early internet discussion forum. Computer fanatics used it at the end of emails or in forums in reply to a gag. After this first success, it disappeared for a period and then came back ironically and even got to grandparents who often adopt it as one of their first “internet words”. However, if on one hand there are supporters who thinks that LOL helps to understand speaker’s emotions and it's a polite way of acknowledging someone, this expression is not appreciated by everyone, especially by some people over the age of 25 , who associate this new word to the death of the dictionary, encouraging people to ignore grammar and to speak like teenagers. They even have groups on Facebook where they criticise this term, thinking there could be other alternatives which would sound better. Even if it is sometimes mistaken for “lots of love”, creating some funny misunderstandings, this term is so popular because of its simplicity and its multifunctional being. Finally, to disprove the critics, researches show that kids who use slang abbreviations are the more articulate ones and the literacy crisis doesn’t depend on the use of slang which enriches the language and we have to accept that, because language is constantly evolving. VOCABULARY:
- Mild dismay= lieve sgomento, a worried, sad feeling after you have received an unpleasant surprise
- Ushered = inaugurata
- Alongside = beside
- Hallmark = segno distintivo- distinguish feature or characteristic
- Creeping = strisciante, to become noticed slowly over time
- To go naff= in poor taste, not fashionable 8 - Social responsibility no longer optional for businesses The Cone Communications and Echo Research, a firm involved in public relations and marketing, have published a study that shows how social responsibility in a company is now essential. More than 10. 000 shoppers in 10 countries (including the USA, Canada, Brazil, the UK, Germany, France, Russia, China, India and Japan) were submitted to the survey. The results show that selling a good product is no longer enough to attract today’s consumers, who
are becoming more socially conscious when they shop. Indeed, they prefer brands that support a good cause, giving particular attention to environmental and social issues when deciding what to buy and where to shop, thinking that a business doesn’t just have to make money. Consumers nowadays feel they play an important role in addressing social and environmental issues every time they shop. For this reason they often search a company on social media to learn more about their initiatives and the kind of information they communicate. Possible questions : do you know a company with a social purpose? LIFE 3 a — The sky’s the limit, Drone technology outlook In the future drones will be more sophisticated than now, as they will be able to perform complex tasks thanks to the integration of AI and a lighter hybrid engine, even without human intervention. The areas that are going to benefit more are:
- Delivery services : payload capacity will probably increase a lot in the next few years, making it possible for online retailers to offer a good service using drones.
- Swarm technology : thanks to AI, inspired by collective bird and insect behaviour, will be able to spot disease in crops, plant seeds or monitor wildfires.
- Emergency services : drones should give advances to response times to many emergencies, such as carrying a defibrillator in minutes or evaluating the extent of a fire before the arrival of firefighters.
- Drone-as-a-Service (DaaS) : many businesses will probably provide drone services to customers making them pay every time they use it (on a pay-per-use basis). Moreover, they may be used to take pictures in many sectors.
- Counter-drone solutions : the increasing presence of drones means an increased risk of illegal uses of them, making it necessary to distribute other drones to monitor them. LIFE 3 c — Inclusive design Inclusive innovation means creating products and services that are accessible and available to all. This doesn't design for the “average costumer”, but it gives consideration to every possible user. This type of design improves the lives of people at a disadvantage, but it is also a good business, as the number of possible customers rises. Further, study shows that the innovation for the minority group ends up enhancing all users’ experience - let’s think of voice recognition or AI virtual assistants, for example. AI could drive this trend for more inclusive innovation, but first some problems need to be addressed: the data sets on which AI tools are trained and the developing teams need to be modernised and made more inclusive, the target user needs to have full access to broadband. Finally, some businesses are afraid that the cost to their offering will rise too much for little apparent advantage. However, the benefits are many: a more personalised experience (AI reading tool, personalised shopping assistant), less expensive ways for accessing services (telemedicine app). As business innovators embrace Al, there is a great opportunity to also embrace difference and correct existing inequalities. LIFE 3 f — Industry, innovation and infrastructure, The man who risked it all (collega a testo 5 dispensa - Barcellona)
Possible questions :
- Sanga Moses describes himself as “just an everyday community guy”. For what reasons might people disagree with this?
- What problem have you seen in your community? What could be done about it, do you think?
- Think about: crime/ safety, transport, pollution, lack of shops, noise, lack of recreation space, jobs - describe the problem and a possible solution. UNIT 4 : DESIGN FOR LIFE 5 - Story of cities: Barcelona’s unloved planner invents science of “urbanisation” In the mid- 1850 s, after its expansion during the Industrial Revolution, Barcelona was about to collapse, because, with a density of 856 inhabitants per hectare, people lived in a tiny area, confined by medieval walls, which constituted a health risk. For this reason the mortality rate was higher than that of the biggest European capitals, with life expectancy reaching 36 years for the rich and 23 years for the working classes. Moreover, the city was so crammed that all the social classes coexisted in the same space and there was no more building space. Another problem was traffic, due to the fact that people used to be on the street whenever it was light, worsening the hygiene of the city: indeed, Cholera alone killed more than 13. 000 people. As a consequence, it was decided to tear down (demolish) the walls and the project was given to an unknown Catalan engineer: Cerdà, whose plan was revolutionary. His plan consisted in building a grid of streets that would unite the old city with seven peripheral villages. The result was four times the size of the old city and it was known as “Eixample” (literally, “expansion”). His fame expanded also because he carried out a study on how the working classes lived in the old city. He also calculated the volume of atmospheric air one person needed to breathe correctly and mapped the primary services they might need, such as schools and hospitals, creating a neighborhood where rich and poor lived together, without class divisions. We can say that it was Cerdà who invented the term “urbanisation”, a word and discipline that didn’t exist before and which he codified in his “General Theory of Urbanisation”. Despite being criticized by some architects (his plan was believed to be utopian), his work is nowadays heavily recognized and still studied in Catalan schools, giving him the merit of having turned Barcelona from a provincial town where it was difficult to live, to a truly a modern city. VOCABULARY:
- To be on the brick of= to be about to, very close to (sul punto di)
- Grid = rete
- Cheek by jowl with = to be very close with Possible questions :
- How would you describe your home town?
- What’s your home town known for? (a famous person, a historical event, its produce)
- Has your home town changed a lot in the town you’ve known? How?
- I’ve got a day in your home town. What can I do?
- Where is the best place to get a nice reasonably- priced meal in your home town?
- If you could change one thing about your home town, what would it be?
- Would you be happy to live in your home town all your life? Why?
- Should we create more socially mixed residential areas, where rich people live next to poorer people, instead of in separate communities? 6 - How two architects are transforming Chinese villages In 2005 China was urbanizing rapidly and it became the playground for architects. Between 2005 and 2015 many Chinese villages disappeared, being absorbed into expanding cities or abandoned ones, when residents migrated to urban areas. Due to the necessity of building rapidly, little importance was given to design and all buildings looked alike, as if they were standardized. It was in this context that two architects, Joshua Bolchover and John Lin, decided to lead a non-profit organization called Rural Urban Framework (RUF), whose aim is to work on public service projects for China’s rural areas. One of their most innovative projects was the redesign of a hospital which was badly built, because family members had to carry ill relatives up and down the stairs. RUF’s new building, which was built in collaboration with local manufacturers, solved this problem by connecting all the floors with a wide spiraling ramp and building a central courtyard. Obviously they could have built an elevator, but their aim was to create a public space in which elderly people could exercise and have social exchange. The aim of these architects is to work with villages to develop new technology and new materials - for this reason they give mostly importance to the function and then to the aesthetic. Even if at the beginning they had to convince communities to accept and support their ideas, their success led them to work even outside China. Indeed, they made a project in Mongolia, to solve the problems caused by the fact that migrants prefer to live in their ancestral tents. The RUF’s brilliant proposal was to design a “hybrid” ger that retains the characteristics of a tent so preserving their traditions, but can also be connected to the sewage system, electrical grid and water pipes for basic services. VOCABULARY
- Outskirts = periferia (suburbs)
- Undergo = subire
- Headline-grabbing = da prima pagina
- To hinder = ostacolare (to slow progress)
- To get someone on board = to accept and support an idea LIFE 4 a — How liveable is your town? Coolest cities (literally) Temperatures are rising in towns, whether they are jungle cities or picturesque ones. Buildings and roads absorb the sun’s heat releasing it during night, which is uncomfortable for the inhabitants. This is why some cities are trying to find solutions to keep them cool.
- PAINTING: In Los Angeles roads are being painted in light colour to reflect the sun’s heat without absorbing it, while in New York roofs are being painted white to reduce temperature highs by up to two degrees.
- GREENING: Arnhem in the Netherlands are reducing the less used roads to plant plants, while in Dallas a tree.planting programme is being carried out to balance the presence of trees in low and high income neighbourhoods.
who go will see that the innovative educational process and the process of uplifting the citizens would justify the attention. Video 2 Andrew Freear, the director of Rural Studio, says that doing architecture should be considered as a privilege and it is probably the hardest thing they’ve ever done in their life, but fulfilling as they need to put an incredible effort and passion in it. That’s why they feel good about it, despite being pushed hard psychologically and physically. Theresa Burroughs says that they have made a difference in the county. A student witnessed her gratifying feeling of seeing something that was on a sketch in real life, because it’s you who made that. Robert Hoggle, an engineer collaborator, attest the pleasure of working with the young people of Rural Studio. Possible question : What new building would your community most benefit from? UNIT 5 : TRAVEL TALES - THE MAGIC OF TRAVEL 9 - The highs (and lows) of travelling solo In this article the writer describes their first solo adventure in Africa. It was 1982 and it was the second time they were leaving England. They arrived at the Cairo airport and they immediately regretted traveling solo. They felt vulnerable, isolated and homesick because they had no one to support them and to push them to continue his journey. (Moreover, they state that females have to face even more struggles.) Despite these first difficulties, the author says that once arrived in Kordofan, a Sudanese region, they met Muhammed, a teacher, and since they couldn’t take the trucks to reach his village, they got there by bike. There, they experienced the unusual and extraordinary way of life of the local tribe. As the author admits, when you travel alone you are forced into contact with people and the only one responsible for the choices you make is you, there is anyone to argue against, and as a consequence, you experience a sense of freedom never felt before. They give some advice to those who want to try a similar experience: they suggest becoming familiar by doing a short trip close to home before traveling far away. They warn that the most vulnerable moments are at the beginning of the journey. If you can overcome the first difficulties, this experience will give you the ability to survive and to overcome many tricky circumstances. Besides, the people you meet will always be in your heart, like Muhammed, with whom they kept in contact with through letters. At the end of the article the author says that while difficulties can be intense, the rewards are even greater, making solo travel a deeply enriching experience. 10 - Travellers’ tales: three very different backpacking trips This text is about three different tales of travelers, who talk about the highs and lows of long-term travel. ● The older traveller The first one is John Kikaldy, a 70 year-old man, who, once retired, decided to travel around the world for a year. When he was 18 he tried to take a gap year, but it didn’t go as he hoped, so he
decided to try again. He had more than 5000 dollars with him. Since he’s a historian he decided to go visit some places known to have been important in History (like Gallipoli, Troy, Vietnam and the sites of the Spanish civil war). During his journey he did incredible things, like selling clothes in a boutique in India, volunteering in a women’s sewing project and bungee-jumping, even if he wasn’t physically suited. He met kind people who helped him and walked with him. In particular, he met one of only a dozen survivors of a prison, with whom he spoke through an interpreter and another man with whom he worked at the Queensland smallholder and had heated discussions on philosophy. He stayed in cheap hotels or hostels, but he also slept on public transports. As a matter of fact, he found some obstacles: for instance, he was robbed, he had a mild attack of cellulitis in Istanbul and he found it difficult to leave his family, but he managed to keep in touch with them thanks to social media and technology. In the end he can say that this trip gave him more confidence and the desire to book other shorter trips. He suggest other older people to have a similar experience, but his advice is to pack lighter and take a Swiss army knife in case of need. His daily budget was around 50 dollars. ● The disabled traveller The second one is a man of 40 years, Tony Giles. He’s totally blind and 80 % deaf in both ears. Nevertheless, he visited all the continents and in 2017 he decided to spend three months in West Africa solo. He researched the countries he wanted to visit thanks to screen-reading software on his laptop. The most important thing he learned was to trust people that in the streets helped him and led him to visit some attractions, but also to get money because Africans cash machines don’t have audio technology. It was a challenging but rewarding experience, also because due to his disability he has an unusual way to travel: he discovers and “sees” places through his other senses, like feeling the smells and tasting the food. He found some obstacles. Indeed, it took more than 30 hours to reach the Guinea border due to the fact that he took the wrong bus and the police were suspicious about a blind guy roaming their city alone. He suggests other people who want to do his same experience to organize visas in advance to save time. His daily budget was around 20 dollars. ● The career-breaker The third tale is the story of Antonia Wilson, a 30 - year-old girl who travelled around the world for 10 months with her boyfriend. They left their career in the UK and they started planning their itinerary. For the first three months they visited the south-est Asia and they had unreal moments, like a learning meditation with monks in Chiang Mai. Then they went to the Olympics in Rio and they saw a giant turtle in Mexico. They also drove a camper van to the east coast of Australia from the Daintree rainforest to the Canberra. During their journey they met old friends, but also made new ones. She says that sometimes this kind of experience may be difficult, because you can get sick, tired or argue. Once her clothes got burned up. She says that she would have avoided the party on the first night in Peru, because she got sick due to drinking games and the altitude. Their daily budget was around 50 dollars, but of course it is different according to the places (Asia is cheaper than Australia or US). LIFE 5 a — Take it or leave it, Seven savvy travel tips 1 ) Limit yourself to a small suitcase or backpack and use packing cubes to be more organized. 2 ) Take as few clothes as possible, a Turkish towel and an extra credit card.
According to Neuroscience, there is a link between our brain activity and the sight of something beautiful. A professor of Neuroesthetics (Semir Zeki) has discovered that a specific part of the brain is involved (in particular the part of the reward and pleasure centre of the brain) that activates when someone appreciates art and music. For what concerns art, there are cultural differences: in Eastern countries there is a preference for asymmetry, whereas Western countries prefer symmetry. Moreover, it is not clear why only certain works of art or musical pieces lose their beauty after being seen or listened to many times (for instance we might be bored if we listen too much to a pop song, but we could listen for hours to an opera). However, if we focus on the flaws, the object might lose its attractiveness. ● Beauty in the face : On the other hand, a study shows that the perception of beauty of a face has to do with the symmetry in every culture or tribe. This is because symmetrical features are thought to be markers of genetic quality and also our ancestors looked for a partner that could transmit good genes to their children, to be sure they would be healthy and strong. A recent study shows that women are mostly attracted to men with the strongest immune systems, so with a high testosterone level, whereas they are not attracted to stressed-out men. However, we seek precise canons even in friendship: normally friends share genetic links and in particular women prefer having friends of similar attractiveness, otherwise they would see their more beautiful friend as a mating rival. ● Beauty in yourself : Perception of personal beauty is often related to how we think we look and the comparison we often make between us and others. It can have negative or positive emotional and psychological consequences. A scientific study shows that the importance of one’s own beauty dates back to childhood, based on the importance our parents gave to it. A famous psychologist believes that perception of our own appearance also depends on how people reacted to our appearance in early life. Normally we tend to be really strict when we evaluate our own beauty and there often is a particular body part on which we are obsessed with because we don’t like it. If this becomes too exaggerated, there is a psychiatric diagnosis: body dysmorphic disorder leads people to get plastic surgeries, despite never being satisfied with the outcome. ● Beauty as power The body can be seen as a source of power, because we feel proud of what our body can do. Surveys show that more attractive people appear more competent and successful, influencing also their salary. Moreover, it concerns the legal system: attractive people are less likely to commit crimes and judges are tempted not to blame a more attractive person. However, sometimes there are unrealistic expectations, as happens to models. In conclusion, we should think that a person doesn’t have to be perfect in order to be beautiful, because we will all grow old and the good looks of youth will change. Lastly, beauty seems to be less important when we are loved. 12 - Why am I tired all the time? The science of sleep This article is written by a doctor, Nick Knight, on the Independent, a British online newspaper. The topic of the article is why and how much we need to sleep. According to a study carried out by The Sleep Council, due to the stressful life we lead, a third of the UK population, so almost half of Britons sleep too few hours, because stress or worry keep them awake at night. “Sleep”
can be defined as the reversible behavioral state in which we do not respond to the environment and it is important that we wake up, because otherwise we are in a coma. Sleep can be divided into four stages: the first three are called “non-REM” (non-rapid eye movement) and consist of a deeper sleep, during which we do not react to external stimuli. The final stage, in which we spend the 25 % of our time is called “REM” (rapid-eye movement), because even if our body is paralyzed, our brain still works, producing dreams. We cycle through these four stages every 90 minutes, experiencing 5 to 7 sleep cycles. For what concerns the reason why we sleep, there are no clear answers. What is certain is that all the animals on earth sleep. Surely one of the main functions is to recover after a day and prepare for the next one, but there are also other functions, like supporting our body’s physiological processes, memory processing and learning. If we don’t sleep we may experience a “sleep debt”, which consists in that feeling of needing to sleep during the day, lack of attention and of physical and mental performance, leading to making errors, bad mood and a difficulty in making decisions. According to the National Sleep Foundation, we need between 7 to 9 hours of sleep per night, but almost no one has the possibility to sleep so many hours. There is a set of things we can do to achieve a better night’s sleep and it is called “Sleep Hygiene”. Its principles are:
- Get a regular schedule;
- Try to sleep 7 - 9 hours;
- Try not to do sport 3 hours before sleeping;
- Avoid caffeine, stimulants and late-night meals;
- Avoid drinking alcohol before sleeping;
- Turn off the phone before going to bed;
- Avoid having a television in the bedroom;
- Tidy the bedroom to make it a peaceful environment;
- Take a bottle of water to avoid having to get up during the night;
- Avoid sleep medication —> over 10 million prescriptions are issued for sleeping tablets every year in England, but they are usually given only for a short period of time to avoid becoming addicted and a sense of sleepiness the next day;
- Avoid excessive planning and worrying. Finally, we don’t have to forget the importance of naps, which improve information processing and learning, helping to avoid the so-called “burnout”, which happens when we are overwhelmed by the large amount of information we collect during the day. There are two types of naps: the 20 - minute “power-nap”, if we want just a rest, whereas if we want to consolidate our learning, we need the 60 - minute “consolidation nap”. If we wake up more tired than before the nap it’s because we have broken a sleep cycle too soon and it’s called “sleep inertia”. LIFE 6 a — Made-up games, Mixed-up sports MMA (mixed martial arts), pickleball and chess boxing are all sports that have taken off in recent years. They are created by mixing together 2 + sports —> hybrid sports.
- MMA = mixture of boxing, wrestling and martial arts
- Pickleball = 4 players in a mini-tennis court play with paddles. It’s a mixture of tennis, badminton and squash
- Chess boxing = two opponents play alternate rounds until one is KO or put in checkmate
most important thing of a restaurant was the food, nowadays it seems to be lighting and ambience. Some eateries have understood this new need, making their premises more attractive, with peculiar things, like grey ice cream and multicolored bagels and the setting of photogenic backdrops. Some restaurants offer a “kit” to help you get the best shot. But not only interiors are being reshaped. For instance, Shoreditch (a district in the East End of London in England), works hard to seduce anyone with a smartphone. Its cafes and restaurants are full of hanging plants and other details that people like to show on social media. Another place loved for the same reason is the King’s Cross in London, where there is also the fictional platform 9 3 / 4 that featured in the Harry Potter books, where you can ask a professional photographer to take you a picture. We have to remember that charming restaurant design is nothing new: the neon-lit cafes of the US in the mid- 20 th-century were characterized by hot dogs or donuts on their roof, but of course their aim was not to be photogenic, but to attract the attention of drivers. According to an expert in vintage interiors, Kate Beavis, communal areas will change their look into pastel-colored houses and walls. However, like all the trends, this will change in a few years. Recent statistics show that the most photographed city is New York, followed by Moscow and London. Nowadays photos are used as digital billboards, being able to attract people who aren’t in the area. So, museums and public buildings use social media to increase visitors too. For instance, The Louvre is the most photographed museum on Instagram (in particular the pictures with the Mona Lisa). Its popularity is also due to the music video recorded there by Beyonce. Organizers of the museums have decided to introduce a 90 - minute tour to show tourists the art featured in the video. In conclusion, the risk is that every place looks like the others and people seem to ignore the true art and beauty that surrounds them, seeing places just as background for their pictures. 14 - Logged off: meet the teens who refuse to use social media The topic of this article is the growing number of young people who are deciding to stop using social media. Generation Z (people born after 1995 ) have grown up online, they never had to learn how to use social media, but being surrounded by them is not easy. Indeed, according to a study by US marketing firm Hill Holliday of Generation Z, half of the people surveyed stated they had quit or were considering quitting at least one social media platform. For instance, Isabelle, 18 , decided to quit because she thought that her classmates had become zombified. Another girl stopped because she was bullied online. Another reason is that some of them are becoming aware of the fact that on social media people present a fake version of themselves, seeming a competition for who can appear the happiest, which might cause depression if one is having a bad day. But on the other hand, if you’re not happy and want to find help on social media, you might be scheduled as an “attention-seeker”. It’s like we always need approval via the amount of likes we get for any given post. Moreover, at school you’re listed as popular or not according to the number of followers you have. All these reasons and the necessity of building authentic friendships, motivated some to quit, even if living without social media in our digital era means feeling like joining a monastery, so being excluded from the world, which can cause new anxieties and the fear of missing out.
Dr Amanda Lenhart, who researches young people’s online lives, conducted a survey of US teenagers and 44 % of them, being aware that they waste too much time online, have decided to quit them to use their time in more productive ways. In conclusion, many teenagers wish they were able to log off, but it is difficult for them because they feel like social media is a part of them. The truth is that they have to understand that it isn’t the use of social media that defines them and it is not necessary to have them to live a good life. LIFE 7 a — Phone fixation, Breaking the habit Some studies have highlighted our addiction to smartphones: we can’t help but check them multiple times a day. They are our main tool of communication, but especially young people have developed an unhealthy dependence. Unfortunately, excessive use can result in depression, mood disorders and a negative impact on our ability to focus. There are multiple ways to treat our symptoms:
- going on a screen fast and putting our phone in another room;
- Monitoring screen time;
- Locking the access to some apps (like instagram);
- Placing our phone in pouches before going to class —> this might take too long. Possibile questions :
- Have you ever done a phone fast? (Talk about a period of time you have gone without using your phone)
- What do you think about the new rule of not using your phone at school?
- Can overuse of a smartphone be called an addiction?
- What are the health impacts of an overdependence on smartphones?
- What solutions are there to this overdependence? LIFE 7 c — Out with the old, in with the new, Tackling obsolescence Technological change is accelerating and so is the electronic waste that piles up in landfills. Only 17 % of waste is recycled, despite being high-value thanks to the precious metals it contains. Technological obsolescence is also a psychological factor because the new technology isn’t necessarily better, but we believe it to be more advanced. Companies are aware of the brevity of fashion and they plan the durability of their products according to it. In fact, they deliberately shorten the lifespan of their models to force users to buy newer options. Luckily, people are aware of this wasteful trajectory and are consciously trying to buy second-hand products or to repair the one they already own. Thanks to movements like Repair Cafe, it’s easier to learn how to fix things. LIFE 7 f — The medium of photography Hannah Reyes Morales, a National Geographic photographer from the Philippines, talks about what inspires her in photography. For her, it’s fundamental that a story takes her somewhere she hasn’t been before. She discovered photography when she was little and she came across her mother’s National Geographic magazines. The pictures she saw made her care about the world. Eventually, when she was 23 she got a grant from National Geographic. The reasons why
