Reflection 1

The other day I was travelling on the underground and I couldn’t help hearing a few people in my carriage talking on their phones. I was forced to listen to a girl chatting with a friend about their boyfriends, a man doing business on the phone (and possibly disclosing some confidential corporate info) and a woman planning a weekend away with someone.

Somehow these people found it acceptable to share their personal and professional lives with complete strangers. I find it difficult to understand on at least two levels. On the one hand, I don’t wish random people to know what I do at weekends and what I think about my boss (and what if one of the unwitting listeners happens t be my boss’s cousin?). Why on earth would anyone want to share such ins and outs of their life with strangers? On the other hand, I am not interested in knowing about random people’s love lives and shopping habits and I’d rather they kept them to themselves.

Privacy seems to be a thing of the past, which I find deeply disturbing.

Welcome back!

I hope everybody's had good holidays and you are all ready to get back to work. 
This term your homework is going to involve, among other tasks, watching some selected TED talks. You are expected to:
1. watch the talk, preferably without subtitles, and definitely without translation
2. take notes concerning the main points the speaker made and other interesting facts or thoughts that caught your attention
3. put down key vocabulary and any collocations/idioms you found interesting
4. be ready to discuss the talk in class

Here is the viewing schedule (the dates refer to the classes in which we will discuss the talk): 

2b 2018 / 2019 – viewing schedule 1^st term  Source: www.ted.com

20 Sep	1.      Amy Cuddy Your body language shapes who you are (2012)
27 Sep	2.      Barry Schwartz On the paradox of choice (2005)
4 Oct	3.      Kathryn Schulz on being wrong (2011)
11 Oct	4.      Dan Pink The puzzle of motivation (2009)
18 Oct	5.      Frans De Waal Moral behaviour in animals (2011)
25 Oct	6.      Celeste Headlee 10 ways to have a better conversation (2015) CANCELLED
8 Nov	7.      Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie The danger of a single story (2009)
15 Nov	8.      Ben Goldacre Battling bad science (2011)
22 Nov	9.       Dan Gilbert Why are we happy? (2004)
29 Nov	10.  Brett Hennig What if we replaced politicians with randomly selected people (2018)
6 Dec	11.  Ken Robinson Schools kill creativity (2006)
13 Dec	12. Kelly McGonigal: How to make stress your friend (2013)
20 Dec	13.  Jonathan Haidt Can a divided America heal? (2016)
3 Jan	14.  Hans Rosling The best stats you’ve ever seen (2006)

Group 2-BLOG questions

Dear Group 2. Here is the list of all the questions you were supposed to write answers to.
I' m waiting patiently till the 10 th of June.

1.Should money be spent on space exploration?
2. Why do people believe in supernatural things like magic, astrology etc. if they have science?
3.Who or what is to blame for obesity in today's world?
4.Is the fact that things last much shorter nowadays really so bad?
5.Would you like to spend a week in The Mandarin Oriental?
6.Would you consider going vegan?
7.What does it mean to be a real man in the 21st century?
8.A letter of application.
9.Does  art need to be beautiful?
10.What do we learn about modern society from "The Joneses"?

Please write overdue posts.
Regards
A.Rożyńska

Dear Group 2
Watch the Columbian Exchange.Crash Course World History for Thursday 10th May.
Your English Teacher-Agnieszka Rożyńska :)

Vocabulary revision

Below is the list of words and expressions we have covered so far this term. To make it even easier for you to recall and revise the vocabulary, each box represents a video you have watched. I assume you'll be ready with this after Easter.

giant to trick sb into an ingredient quirky coffee chains to take (sth) over to rot gradually fascist independent to drive sb out of business high streets see-through to get sth / nothing in return tax	consciousness-raising (exercise) speed dial, sexual assault drag, unconscious,  fiancée,  elevator , to suspend to punch, deeply rooted in, masculinity, peer culture, sweep in under the carpet, speak up, to redefine	an incident every now and then whipped cream to sink to apply to suspend indignant to his credit to intend to scoop to float skimmed milk to come up with to verify to confirm confirmation bias	divisive in/at one stroke to be/ go out of date to go back (for) …  years to congratulate sb on sth to call sth into question a fatal blow to be faced with / to face sth to orbit to be for the chop gravity to put sth to the vote spherical a dwarf
exquisite fleeting (beauty) don’t be fooled a blight on a constant reminder of a throwaway society landfill take years to do sth to decompose to hoard sth tend to. to catch up with sb  charge take sth for granted to alter icon disposable a handkerchief	overseas wealthy top notch quintessential Middle Eastern to oversee to look immaculate to pick sb up to drop sb off a parking bay a chauffeur temporary to extend to renew to move up the career ladder arrogant a shift cultural awareness	a molecule a cell to replicate to diversify a descendant to stiffen an internal rod segments hard protective skin rigid(ity) to  venture meanwhile to gulp air fleshy scaly skin, to exterminate vacant insulated algae sponges amphibians reptiles mammals	diabetes heart disease obesity carbohydrates taste buds flavours bitter sour unripe, to crave sth / cravings to domesticate sth on a large scale to have a sweet tooth variety

Cambridge Analytica Whistleblower

Watch this interview with Christopher Wylie, who describes the practices of Cambridge Analytica, a company involved in data gathering and analysis, as well as political campaigns. The interview is conducted by Carole Cadwalladr, a journalist who uncovered the scandal.
Cambridge Analytica Files

"The Tree of Life" task

DAVID ATTENBOROUGH   “The Tree Of Life”

Answer the questions 1-5. If possible, use the words below in your answers.

1.      What are the characteristics of these groups of organisms: algae, sponges, insects, fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, mammals?

2.      How are these organisms related in the process of evolution?

3.      How can the process of evolution explain the following: the birds’ wings, amphibians’ legs, birds’ feathers, skulls and backbones?

4.      What happened on earth

a) 450 mln years ago?

b) 375 mln years ago?

c) 65 mln?

5.   Why did mammals manage to dominate the Earth?

a molecule

a cell

to replicate

to diversify

a descendant

to stiffen

an internal rod

segments

hard protective skin

rigid(ity)

to  venture

meanwhile

to gulp air

fleshy

scaly skin,

to exterminate

vacant

insulated