Beginner

Pancake Tuesday before Lent

2017年3月31日

Lifestyle

Pre-reading questions: Do you like eating pancakes for breakfast? Why or why not? What is your favorite topping for your pancake? Explain your answer. Britons celebrate Pancake Day every year. It is held on a Tuesday before Ash Wednesday. Pancake Day is a way of using up rich foods like eggs, milk, and sugar before the 40-day fasting season of Lent. Making pancakes is an all-in-one way of using fatty foods before Lent. Vocabulary: pancake [noun] – a thin, flat cake of batter, usually fried and turned in a pan Britons [noun] – a native citizen of Great Britain all-in-one [adjective] – combining two or more items fatty [adjective] –…
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Beginner

Traditional approach of Tokyo hotels

2017年3月31日

Lifestyle

Pre-reading questions: What is your favorite sport? What kind of Olympic sports do you like to watch? As a preparation for 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, hotels have started to offer ryokan or Japanese-style accommodation. Foreign guests can now experience ryokan without even leaving the city. Newly renovated hotels use tatami, paper screens, shiraki (plain wood furniture) and lantern-like lighting for their rooms. Underneath the traditional look, the rooms are equipped with modern amenities. Hotel managers are hoping that the Japanese-style rooms would attract foreign and local travelers. Vocabulary: accommodation – [noun] a group of rooms in which someone may live or stay renovated – [verb] restored to a good condition…
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Beginner

Recipe for success: The growth of team-building cookery classes

2017年3月31日

Business - B

Pre-reading questions: Do you like cooking? Please explain your answer. What kind of activities do you enjoy doing with your friends? Company away days are activities spent with co-workers outside the office. Examples of the activities are team building, seminars, and charity. However, there is a new company away day activity in Europe. Office workers can try cooking classes to know their peers better. Cooking classes can help workers bond with each other. Vocabulary: activity [noun]- something done for pleasure or entertainment seminar [noun]- meeting charity [noun]- an activity to help the poor peer [noun]- a member of a group with the same rank bond [noun]- bring together True or…
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Beginner

Abe ‘builds trust’ with Trump

2017年3月31日

World News - Beginner

Pre-reading questions: Do you think America and Japan have a good relationship? Do you think President Donald Trump is a good leader? Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visited US President Donald Trump. The meeting happened a few days after Donald Trump’s win in the 2016 elections. The Prime Minister is the first state leader to visit Trump after the elections. According to the US Department of State, the relationship between Japan and the United States is important to Asia’s economy. The prime minister is planning another visit later this year. Vocabulary: visit [verb] – to go to a place in order to look at it, or to a person in order…
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Beginner

Apple cider vinegar for weight loss

2017年3月29日

Health - Beg

Pre-reading questions: Do you like the taste of vinegar? Do you know apple cider vinegar? Apple cider vinegar or ACV is known for its many purposes. It is rumored that ACV can help with weight loss. Professor Carol Johnston said that it may contribute lose weight, but the effects would be subtle. Professor Carol has been studying vinegar and its health benefits. According to her, acetic acid found in all types of vinegar, including ACV, is the key ingredient to a healthier digestion. Vocabulary: cider – [noun] an alcoholic drink made from fermented crushed fruit, typically apples acetic acid– [noun] the acid that gives vinegar its characteristic taste metabolism –…
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Beginner

Japanese government to give scholarships in 2018

2017年3月29日

Education - B

Pre-reading questions: Is studying in college difficult? Is it expensive to study in Japan? Starting 2018, Japan will give scholarships to students from low-income families for them to enter universities. This means that students from low-income families can study in college for free. Many Japanese students nowadays borrow money from the government to pay for college. With the scholarship program of Prime Minister Abe, students would not need to pay a lot of money to the government. The government wants everyone to have the chance to finish school. The government has prepared ¥7 billion for this program. Vocabulary: scholarship [noun] – an amount of money given by a school, college,…
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Beginner

Asia’s fastest growing economies have the fastest growing slums

2017年3月29日

Business - B

Pre-reading questions: What kind of environment would you want to live in? Why? Do you think many people live in cities? Please explain your answer. Many people live in the cities of countries like Cambodia, Mongolia, Myanmar, and the Philippines. Since there are many people in cities like Manila and Jakarta, some people live in slums. World Bank says more people in cities mean that economy is growing. Cities need to lessen the population so World Bank suggests two solutions: make a rural town into an urban city like Singapore or make cities in places far from the city. Vocabulary: slum [noun]- an area with poor housing economy [noun] a…
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Beginner

Turrón

2017年3月28日

Lifestyle

Pre-reading questions: Do you like sweets? What is the most popular dessert in your country? Turrón is a popular Spanish dessert made from honey, sugar and nuts. The best turrón is at the Convent of Hermanas Clarisas. Twenty-two nuns make several kinds of turrón at the convent. The most popular turróns of the convent are Turrón de Trufa, made with chocolate beans; and, Turrón de Yema Tostada, a soft turrón made from egg yolk mixed with ground almonds and sugar, and burned on top with a special iron. For the nuns at the Convent of Hermanas Clarisas, their work is a gift. Vocabulary: dessert [noun] – sweet food eaten at…
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Beginner

E.U. fines three banks $520 million

2017年3月23日

Business - B

Pre-reading questions: What is the most famous bank in your country? Are banks good or bad? Discuss. JPMorgan Chase, HSBC and Credit Agricole were charged by European Union officials a total of $520 million. They were fined for secretly working together to control the market. They also illegally shared important information to get more money. Four banks were fined for the same reasons three years ago. According to a European Union official, if banks continue to have this kind of control, only a few can benefit. Vocabulary: European Union [proper noun] – a union of 28 states that are located primarily in Europe charge [verb] – to ask an amount…
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Beginner

Blueberry juice helps improve brain function

2017年3月22日

Health - Beg

Pre-reading questions: Do you like to eat fruits? What are your favorite fruits? Our brain functions decline as we get old. In a study conducted, it was found out that elderly people who drink concentrated blueberry juice every day have healthier brains as compared to those who don’t. The study also suggests that blueberry juice helps improve memory. Blueberry is a small round fruit that contains flavonoids. Flavonoids are considered to be healthy for our body. Vocabulary: blueberry [noun] – a small round fruit with blue, purple, or blackish skin flavonoid [noun] – substance that is found in fruits that is healthy for the body improvement [noun] – better than…
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Beginner