Author Archive: admin

Harvard Law School starts to consider GRE scores

2017年4月21日

Education - B

Pre-reading questions: Do you think academic admission test is important? Why? What are the university admission test requirements in your country? Harvard Law School piloted a new program that accepts GRE (Graduate Record Examination) score as an admission requirement for law students for the coming school year 2018. The said law school is the second accredited law school in the United States to accept GRE scores for admission. Most law schools in the US only recognize LSAT (Law School Admission Test) scores. LSAT is exclusively used for admission to law school programs. Vocabulary: pilot – [verb] test or experiment before formally introducing something admission – [noun] the process of allowing…
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Beginner

Yoga may beat depression

2017年4月20日

Health - Intermediate

  Major Depressive Disorder, also known as MDD, is a medical condition that can affect one’s mood, behavior, and even physical functions. Up to 40% of people who have the disorder do not achieve desirable results even with proper medication. But who could have thought that the calming, deep-breathing exercises of yoga can become a complementary therapy for overcoming depression? Researchers believe that yoga is helpful to those who are not taking any medications and to those who are taking medications but with unfruitful results. In line with this, individuals with MDD were randomly assigned into “high-dose” and “low-dose” groups. Both groups were involved in 90-minute classes with home practice…
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Expert

Yoga may beat depression

2017年4月20日

Health - Beginner

  Pre-reading questions: Do you exercise regularly? Is yoga popular in your country?   A recent study revealed that the calming and deep-breathing poses of yoga might help ease the mind of a depressed person who is not taking medications. Dr. Alan Manevitz, a clinical psychiatrist, stated that yoga can activate brain chemicals that can relax and make a person “feel good.” Yoga can also reduce immune system chemicals that can worsen depression. 30 people with major depressive disorder participated in a research. Doctors tagged the first group as “high-dose” group since they had three 90-minute yoga classes with home practice while the second group was tagged as “low-dose” group…
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Intermediate

Yoga may beat depression

2017年4月20日

Health - Beg

Pre-reading questions: Do you exercise regularly? What are the exercises you know? Yoga is a system of exercises for mental and physical health. A new research suggests that the calming poses and deep breathing exercises of yoga might help people deal with depression since not all people take medications for this kind of disorder. Doctors recommend weekly yoga sessions to keep calm and ease the symptoms of patients such as hopelessness and sadness. Vocabulary: calming [adjective] – without rough motion depression [noun] – a mental illness in which a person is very unhappy and worried for long periods and cannot have a normal life during these periods medication [noun] –…
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Beginner

Software can identify skin cancer

2017年4月18日

technology

A team from Stanford University developed an image-scanning software that can identify skin cancers with an accuracy that’s comparable to that of a licensed specialist’s. The software’s technology uses an algorithm, which tells objects apart based on images. This software has over 130,000 images in its database. The algorithm used for this software has been further refined by computer scientists to combine visual processing with a type of artificial intelligence called deep learning. The results are amazing! The software was pitted against licensed dermatologists to check 370 images. Dermatologists can tell malignant lesions based on school training and clinical experience. Armed with their respective training and technology, the software and…
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Expert

Software can identify skin cancer

2017年4月18日

technology

Pre-reading questions: Describe a healthy skin. What’s the best way to keep your skin healthy? An image-scanning software, developed at Stanford University, can precisely detect skin cancers as well as dermatologists. This new discovery may be available on your smartphones soon. The team imitated a Google algorithm that can classify images. A database with 130,000 photos of different skin diseases has been organized. The images were gathered from the internet and examined by dermatologists. The software was tested to identify cancerous and non-cancerous lesions. The app’s capability was compared to that of 21 board-certified dermatologists’. The results were remarkable as the app did as well as the dermatologists. The creators of…
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Intermediate

The surprising friendship of former president George W. Bush and former first lady Michelle Obama

2017年4月11日

entertainment

  There are two main political parties in the United States; the Republican Party and the Democratic Party. Ever since then, there’s a conflict between the two parties because of their respective beliefs. We can read some tweets on Twitter like “#BigLeagueTruth: Not all Republicans are #racist, but all racists VOTE #Republican.” and “Anyone who expects #Republicans to do what is best for the country hasn’t been paying very close attention for a while now.” Opinions like those are really not new issues for many people, but who would have thought that there will come a time when two powerful people who come from different parties will be friends? At…
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Expert