- Damning: /ˈdæmɪŋ/ critical of somebody/something; suggesting that somebody is guilty. Sp. Condenatorio, mordaz. E.g. damning criticism/evidence. A damning conclusion/report.
- Hard-line: very fixed and unlikely to change. E.g. a hard-line attitude.
- Bar somebody (from something/from doing something) to ban or prevent somebody from doing something. E.g. The players are barred from drinking alcohol the night before a match.
- Hitherto: /ˌhɪðəˈtuː / until now; until the particular time you are talking about. E.g. a hitherto unknown species of moth. Her life hitherto had been devoid of adventure.
- Put in: to officially make a claim, request, etc. E.g. The company has put in a claim for damages. We should put in for this money.
- Dodgy: /ˈdɒdʒi / not working well; not in good condition. E.g. I can't play—I've got a dodgy knee. The marriage had been distinctly dodgy for a long time.
- Flooring: material used to make the floor of a room. E.g. wooden flooring. Kitchen/bathroom flooring.
- Whereby: by which; because of which. E.g. They have introduced a new system whereby all employees must undergo regular training.
- Hike something (up) to increase prices, taxes, etc. suddenly by large amounts. E.g. The government hiked up the price of milk by over 40%.
- Out of line: behaving in a way that is not acceptable or right. E.g. That comment was way out of line.
Showing posts with label Objective Proficiency U 14. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Objective Proficiency U 14. Show all posts
Objective Proficiency p 127. Vocabulary
Ex 3
Objective Proficiency p 126. Vocabulary
Part 1 Proposal
- Refute: /rɪˈfjuːt/ to prove that something is wrong. E.g. to refute an argument/a theory, etc.
- Outline something (to somebody)/ outline what, how, etc: to give a description of the main facts or points involved in something. Sketch. Sp. dar una idea general. E.g. We outlined our proposals to the committee.
Objective Proficiency p 125. Should We Bribe People to Be Healthy? Extra Listening
The eminent Harvard political philosopher Michael Sandel brings his trademark style to a discussion on a current issue, questioning the thinking underlying a current controversy. In this programme, he takes a provocative look at the controversial subject of incentivising good health.
Michael Sandel has been enthralling students at Harvard for years. These discussions are challenging, outspoken and interactive.
Sandel turns his attention to health and ponders whether the present constraints on the NHS leave us with no choice but to bribe people to be healthy. Profound moral questions lie behind paying people to lose weight, quit smoking or abandon alcohol. Michael Sandel weaves through these issues with the help of philosophers past and present.
You can also listen to the same discussion on a BBC Radio 4 programme called The Public Philosopher: Should We Bribe People to Be Healthy?
Objective Proficiency p 125. Healthy Mind, Healthy Body . Extra Listening
Youth Radio's Venus Morris finds that changing teen eating habits is about much more than food.
By Venus Morris
When I was 17, I was living out on my own, free from my parents' rules. But it was no walk in the park, because I happened to be sleeping in one. I was homeless.
During that time, I ate at fast food restaurants like Taco Bell and Jack in the Box. The food wasn't great for me, but if it was convenient for my pocket, then it was convenient for my stomach. In any case, it was better than eating nothing at all.
I had so much going on in my life back then. It took me a couple weeks to notice that my jeans were getting tight. I was gaining weight even though I was only eating once or twice a day. People told me I needed to eat organic and shop at places like Whole Foods and Trader Joe's. But that was the last thing on my mind. I wanted to cook my own food or go buy a salad, but how was I supposed to prioritize what I ate when I was sleeping at a bus stop?
After six weeks on the street, I went back to my parents' house. But by then, I had gotten used to my bad eating habits. Rather than have my parents tell me what and when to eat, I just didn't. It got to the point where I passed out on my way to Spanish class from dehydration. I was in a health crisis. And I knew I needed help. So I went to a counselor to finally work out my issues.
Now I'm 21, and I work at a youth center where I cook for at-risk teens. A lot of them don't have support in their lives, let alone a home. I see so much of who I used to be in them. They have low self-esteem, and eat too much or too little. And they constantly hear they aren't good enough. But instead of me telling them they can't have chips, and they need to eat a salad, I ask them, "How's your day going?"
I've learned that you have to ask kids what's on the inside before you tell them how to fix the outside.
With a Perspective, I'm Venus Morris.
Venus Morris is 21 and works in Oakland.
During that time, I ate at fast food restaurants like Taco Bell and Jack in the Box. The food wasn't great for me, but if it was convenient for my pocket, then it was convenient for my stomach. In any case, it was better than eating nothing at all.
I had so much going on in my life back then. It took me a couple weeks to notice that my jeans were getting tight. I was gaining weight even though I was only eating once or twice a day. People told me I needed to eat organic and shop at places like Whole Foods and Trader Joe's. But that was the last thing on my mind. I wanted to cook my own food or go buy a salad, but how was I supposed to prioritize what I ate when I was sleeping at a bus stop?
After six weeks on the street, I went back to my parents' house. But by then, I had gotten used to my bad eating habits. Rather than have my parents tell me what and when to eat, I just didn't. It got to the point where I passed out on my way to Spanish class from dehydration. I was in a health crisis. And I knew I needed help. So I went to a counselor to finally work out my issues.
Now I'm 21, and I work at a youth center where I cook for at-risk teens. A lot of them don't have support in their lives, let alone a home. I see so much of who I used to be in them. They have low self-esteem, and eat too much or too little. And they constantly hear they aren't good enough. But instead of me telling them they can't have chips, and they need to eat a salad, I ask them, "How's your day going?"
I've learned that you have to ask kids what's on the inside before you tell them how to fix the outside.
With a Perspective, I'm Venus Morris.
Venus Morris is 21 and works in Oakland.
Objective Proficiency p 125. Vocabulary
Pronunciation
Campaign for teenage pregnancy
- Trip: to catch your foot on something and fall or almost fall. E.g. She tripped and fell. Trip over/on something E.g. Someone will trip over that cable.
- Entrance: /ɪnˈtrɑːns/ (verb) to make somebody feel great pleasure and admiration so that they give somebody/something all their attention. Enthral. Sp. Extasiar, encantar. E.g. He listened to her, entranced.
- Incense somebody: /ɪnˈsens/ to make somebody very angry. E.g. The decision incensed the workforce.
- Produce: /ˈprɒdjuːs/ things that have been made or grown, especially things connected with farming. E.g. farm produce. The shop sells only fresh local produce. It says on the label ‘Produce of France’.
- Alternate: /ˈɔːltəneɪt/ (verb) alternate A and B E.g. Alternate cubes of meat and slices of red pepper. Alternate A with B Alternate cubes of meat with slices of red pepper.
- Alternate: /ɔːlˈtɜːnət/ (adj) 1 (of two things) happening or following one after the other regularly. E.g. alternate layers of fruit and cream. Stretch up 30 times with alternate arms as a warm-up exercise. 2 if something happens on alternate days, nights, etc. it happens on one day, etc. but not on the next. E.g. John has to work on alternate Sundays. The ferry service will initially run on alternate days, increasing eventually to daily sailings.
- Bus shelter: a structure with a roof where people can stand while they are waiting for a bus.
Campaign for teenage pregnancy
Objective Proficiency p 124. Tackling the Obesity Problem. Extra Listening
The government has been accused of "conniving with the food industry" and ignoring scientific evidence on obesity by a former advisor. Critics are also concerned that only a handful of companies have heeded voluntary guidelines launched last year to label food in restaurants with calorie counts and to reduce saturated fats, salt and sugar in food products.
So should the Government be doing more to monitor what is going into our food and introducing tougher regulation forcing the food industry to reduce fats and sugars? Or should you the consumer be doing more to stay healthy?
Listen to the programme on the You and Yours website.
So should the Government be doing more to monitor what is going into our food and introducing tougher regulation forcing the food industry to reduce fats and sugars? Or should you the consumer be doing more to stay healthy?
Listen to the programme on the You and Yours website.
Objective Proficiency p 124. Chocolate Cake for Breakfast ‘Helps’ Weight Loss. Extra Reading
TUCKING into a pudding as part of a full breakfast can help one lose weight and keep it off, scientists claim.
It should be a balanced 600-calorie breakfast that includes proteins and carbohydrates as well as the sweet treat, say the research team from Tel Aviv University.
The reasoning behind this is that the body’s metabolism is at its most active in the morning, so the body is better able to work off the extra calories throughout the day, according to Professor Daniela Jakubowicz and her team.
Attempting to avoid sweets completely can create a psychological addiction to these same foods in the long term, she said.
Breakfast is also the meal that most successfully regulates ghrelin, the hormone that increases hunger.
Adding dessert items to breakfast can control cravings throughout the rest of the day.
Participants in the 32-week –long study who added cookies, cake or chocolate to their breakfast lost an average of 40lbs more than a group that avoided such foods.
They also kept the pounds off for longer than the group that ate a low carbohydrate diet including a small 300 calorie breakfast.
In the first half of the study both groups had lost an average of 33lbs per person.
But in the second half the low-carbohydrate group regained an average of 22lbs per person while the participants in the group with the larger breakfast lost another 15lbs each.
It should be a balanced 600-calorie breakfast that includes proteins and carbohydrates as well as the sweet treat, say the research team from Tel Aviv University.
The reasoning behind this is that the body’s metabolism is at its most active in the morning, so the body is better able to work off the extra calories throughout the day, according to Professor Daniela Jakubowicz and her team.
Attempting to avoid sweets completely can create a psychological addiction to these same foods in the long term, she said.
Breakfast is also the meal that most successfully regulates ghrelin, the hormone that increases hunger.
Adding dessert items to breakfast can control cravings throughout the rest of the day.
Participants in the 32-week –long study who added cookies, cake or chocolate to their breakfast lost an average of 40lbs more than a group that avoided such foods.
They also kept the pounds off for longer than the group that ate a low carbohydrate diet including a small 300 calorie breakfast.
In the first half of the study both groups had lost an average of 33lbs per person.
But in the second half the low-carbohydrate group regained an average of 22lbs per person while the participants in the group with the larger breakfast lost another 15lbs each.
Objective Proficiency p 124. Why Organic Food May Not Be Healthier For You. Extra Listening
A Stanford University study challenges whether organic foods are more nutritious than conventional foods grown with pesticides. Will this study impact your buying habits at all? Why or why not?
Listen to these two programmes:
Listen to these two programmes:
- The Salt on NPR
When It Comes To Buying Organic, Science And Beliefs Don't Always Mesh
- Forum on KQED
Objective Proficiency p 124. Vocabulary
Ex 1
Statements
- Scare: (used especially in newspapers) a situation in which a lot of people are anxious or frightened about something. E.g. a bomb/health scare. Recent scares about pesticides in food. A scare story (= a news report that spreads more anxiety or fear about something than is necessary). To cause a major scare. Scare tactics (= ways of persuading people to do something by frightening them).
- Complacent (about somebody/something): /kəmˈpleɪsnt/ (usually disapproving) too satisfied with yourself or with a situation, so that you do not feel that any change is necessary. E.g. a dangerously complacent attitude to the increase in unemployment. We must not become complacent about progress.
Statements
- To date: until now. E.g. To date, we have received over 200 replies. The exhibition contains some of his best work to date.
- Prey on/upon somebody/something: 1 (of an animal or a bird) to hunt and kill another animal for food. E.g. Hawks prey on rodents and small birds. Sp. cazar, alimentarse de. 2 To harm somebody who is weaker than you, or make use of them in a dishonest way to get what you want. Sp. explotar, aprovecharse de. E.g. Bogus (false) social workers have been preying on old people living alone. It's relatively easy to prey on people's preoccupation with their health.
- Complacency: / kəmˈpleɪsnsi/ (usually disapproving) a feeling of satisfaction with yourself or with a situation, so that you do not think any change is necessary. E.g. Despite signs of an improvement in the economy, there is no room for complacency.
- Confection: /kənˈfekʃn/ 1 (formal) a cake or other sweet food that looks very attractive. 2 a thing such as a building or piece of clothing, that is made in a skilful or complicated way. E.g. Her hat was an elaborate confection of satin and net. 3 (figurative) fabrication. Sp. invención. E.g. this is just a media confection.
- Communicable: /kəˈmjuːnɪkəbl/ that somebody can pass on to other people or communicate to somebody else. E.g. communicable diseases. The value of the product must be communicable to the potential consumers.
- Spook: to frighten a person or an animal; to become frightened. E.g. We were spooked by the strange noises and lights.
- Strike somebody down: struck struck [usually passive]1 (of a disease, etc.) to make somebody unable to lead an active life; to make somebody seriously ill; to kill somebody. E.g. He was struck down by cancer at the age of thirty. 2 to hit somebody very hard, so that they fall to the ground.
- Miserly: /ˈmaɪzəli/ 1. (of a person) hating to spend money. Mean. 2 (quantity) a miserly amount is very small and not enough. E.g. their miserly offer is unlikely to be accepted. Miserliness (noun) Sp. avaricia.
- Margarine: /ˌmɑːdʒəˈriːn/
- Line: an attitude or a belief, especially one that somebody states publicly. E.g. The government is taking a firm line on terrorism. He supported the official line on education.
- Lobby: a group of people who try to influence politicians on a particular issue. Sp. grupo de presión. E.g. The gun lobby is/are against any change in the law.
- Discount: /dɪsˈkaʊnt/ 1 to think or say that something is not important or not true. Dismiss. Sp. descartar, no tener en cuenta. E.g. We cannot discount the possibility of further strikes. The news reports were being discounted as propaganda. 2 to take an amount of money off the usual cost of something. E.g. discounted prices/fares. Most of our stock has been discounted by up to 40%.
- Deprive somebody/something of something: /dɪˈpraɪv/ to prevent somebody from having or doing something, especially something important. Sp. Privar. E.g. They were imprisoned and deprived of their basic rights. Why should you deprive yourself of such simple pleasures?
- Clog: to block something or to become blocked. Clog something (up) (with something) The narrow streets were clogged with traffic. Tears clogged her throat. Clog (up) (with something) Within a few years the pipes began to clog up.
- Noise: information that is not wanted and that can make it difficult for the important or useful information to be seen clearly. Background noise: noise that can be heard in addition to the main thing you are listening to. Sp. Ruido de fondo.
- Fallacious: /fəˈleɪʃəs/ wrong; based on a false idea. Sp. erróneo, engañoso. E.g. a fallacious argument.
Objective Proficiency p 123. Britain's Body Image Secrets with Anne Robinson. Extra Listening
Britain's Body Image Secrets with Anne Robinson
Britain's Body Image Secrets with Anne Robinson
Britain's Body Image Secrets with Anne Robinson
Objective Proficiency p 123. Helping Obese Kids Maintain a Healthy Weight. Extra Listening
17% of American kids are obese. That puts them at risk for health
problems such as heart disease, asthma, and diabetes. It also comes at
an emotional cost: obese kids get teased more than others and are often
excluded from group activities. We'll discuss the latest research on
nutrition and obesity in children and hear about the best ways to talk
to kids about their weight, and help them lose it.
Listen to Forum
Listen to Forum
Objective Proficiency p 123. The Truth About Your Medicine Cabinet. Extra Listening
The Truth About Your Medicine Cabinet
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b05qpzc5
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b05qpzc5
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