Pyramid Construction | By Naked Science

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Its sides climb at an angle of slightly less than 52 degrees rising to a summit of 480 feet. But how did they manage to maneuver two and a half-ton blocks to such an incredible height without the crane or the block and tackle? It was a challenge to the ancient Egyptians and still remains a mystery to modern archaeologists. Egyptologist Mark Lehner has spent 30 years studying the pyramids hands-on. 
"My approach to the question was where are the quarries? what kind of a ramp can you get from the quarry to the pyramid in a functional slope". 
Lehner and almost all Egyptologists believe that some kind of ramp was used to raise the stone blocks. The type of ramp remains a mystery. Did they approach the pyramid straight on; zigzag up one side or spiral around it. 
"It's not a problem that's been totally solved and you know I've given my suggestions, I've tried to base them in the landscape, but you know a lot of it is still inference". 
Because the ramps were dismantled once the pyramid was complete, only fragments of evidence are available to archaeologists but it was ramps and sheer muscle power that allowed millions of blocks to reach the summit. Once in position, the builders faced a new task. The blocks had to be fitted together. Surprisingly in such a precise build, a large proportion of the internal stones were just roughly finished. The gaps between them were filled with rubble and gypsum mortar. 
"In between the blocks were stuff, lots of limestone chippings mixed with huge dollops of mortar, and it says just like modern concrete." 
But every stone that would be visible when the build was completed was placed with amazing precision. In the Great Pyramid, the blocks of the burial chamber fit precisely. The sides of these blocks had to be almost perfectly flat to make these astonishing joins. This precision engineering was achieved using the most rudimentary of tools.
"We'll use this rod spring tool in order to find out what the surface is truly flat and by using a third rod which is the same length as the other two rods joined by the string which is now called very taut. We can see if it just slips under now we've got a bit of a high spot there now. In ancient times they would mark that simply by what is some red ochre on just to remind the workers where to go to and check along the length of the string". 
The ancient mason would use the rods and string to spot imperfections and then mark them with red ochre to show where more work was needed. 
"Using two further tools this one being a flint scraper and this one being a sandstone rubber. Now we can use the mount as a guide to scrape away the high point like so and it's obvious that as you scrape the mark disappears and with it, of course, the high spot".
This same technique was also used in the final stage of construction. The rough internal blocks were covered with an outer casing of perfectly smooth stone. This was carved from the highest-grade limestone and had to be carried across the Nile to the pyramid site. With this polished casing, the pyramid would have shown dazzling white in the Egyptian Sun.
"But when the pyramids were newly encased, in this special limestone they must have been blinding in the Sun like newly fallen snow". 
To achieve, this every casing stone was cut to sit perfectly with its neighbors. When complete, the Great Pyramid of Giza was covered with thousands of these facing stones. Sadly they have long vanished, taken to build the mosques and castles of Cairo but facing stones can still be seen on the cap of Khafre's pyramid. Even with all the Egyptian skills and tools, building the pyramids was still an incredibly hard task, requiring millions of man-hours to complete. Legend has long suggested that the pyramids were built by armies of slaves. The legends are wrong. Forensic archaeological discoveries are now putting a face on the people who really built the pyramids.

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✍ Vocabulary Review (find the word in the text that is suitable to each below description by your comment): 

1. a shape made up of curves, each one above or wider than the one before
2. A small part broken or separated off something.
3. anything that helps to prove that something is or is not true
4. Take (a machine or structure) to pieces.
5. The highest point of a hill or mountain
6. exact and accurate
7. the number or amount of a group or part of something when compared to the whole
8. the piles of broken stone and bricks, etc. that are left when a building falls down or is destroyed
9. to handle and move something carefully or with difficulty
10. a mechanism consisting of ropes and one or more pulley-blocks, used for lifting or pulling heavy objects.
11. used to emphasize how very great, important, or powerful a quality or feeling is; nothing except
12. a person who studies the language, history, and culture of ancient Egypt
13. a mixture of sand, water, and cement or lime that is used to fix bricks or stones to each other when building walls
14. Extremely surprising or impressive; amazing.
15. only basic, and not deep or detailed
16. tight or completely stretched
17. a yellowish-orange colour, or a substance obtained from earth that is used for giving this colour to paints
18. a very old story or set of stories from ancient times, or the stories, not always true, that people tell about a famous event or person
19. a person who is trained to work with bricks and stones used in buildings
20. a guess that you make or an opinion that you form based on the information that you have.
21. to remove an unwanted covering or a top layer from something, especially using a sharp edge or something rough
22. a covering that protects something
23. Cut (a hard material) in order to produce an object, design, or inscription.
24. Extremely bright, especially so as to blind the eyes temporarily.
25. to cover or enclose something completely
26. Shiny as a result of being rubbed.
27. Disappear suddenly and completely.
28. a building for Islamic religious activities and worship
29. a large strong building, built in the past by a ruler or important person to protect the people inside from attack
30. using the methods of science to provide information about a crime

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Great Pyramid of Giza | By Simple History

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Great Pyramid of Giza. Ancient Egypt 2580 through 2560 BC. Fourth dynasty. 

The Great Pyramid of Giza is the largest of the ancient Egyptian pyramids and is located at El Giza, Egypt. 

In the Giza pyramid complex, there are also two other major pyramids: the Khafre and the Menkaure. 

Beginning construction on 2580 BC, the Great Pyramid was built for Pharaoh Khufu, son of Sneferu and second ruler of the fourth dynasty, as a tomb. The Greeks believed that the pharaoh used slave labor to complete the grand project. However, archaeologists have since discovered that it was built by paid, skilled workers. These manual laborers lived in a town near the construction site. The structure consists of an estimated 2.3 million stone blocks, weighing up to fifteen tons each. These were carried up and down the Nile river from a nearby quarry. During its construction, a block would have to be set every two and half minutes. It is unknown how exactly the ancient Egyptians were able to lift the heavy stone blocks to the top of the pyramid in a time before the wheel was invented. However, theories suggest that ramps were used with wooden sleds. When the pyramid was completed 20 years later it stood at 481 feet or 146.5 meters tall. It had taken 20 to 30 thousand laborers to build the structure. Inside, there are three burial chambers: the Queen's Chamber, the Grand Gallery and at the highest point in the center, the King's Chamber, containing a red, granite sarcophagus. Most of the Great Pyramid was fully looted for its treasures by the time the New Kingdom began. The Great Pyramid of Giza is one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World and the only one to remain mainly intact.

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✍Vocabulary Review (find the word in the text that is suitable to each below description by your comment):  

1. a large artificial hole in the ground where stone, sand, etc. is dug for use as building material
2. a large room used for formal or public events
3. complete and in the original state
4. a solid object with a square base and four triangular sides that form a point at the top
5. a large building with various connected rooms or a related group of buildings
6. (the title of) a king of ancient Egypt
7. a large stone structure or underground room where someone, especially an important person, is buried
8. very valuable things, usually in the form of a store of precious metals, precious stones, or money
9. impressive and large or important
10. a vehicle used for carrying people or goods over snow and ice, having narrow strips of wood or metal on the bottom instead of wheels.
11. done with the hands
12. of or from a very long time ago
13. to create something that has never been made before
14. an artificial slope
15. (usually of large numbers of people during a violent event) to steal from shops and houses
16. the act of putting a dead body into the ground, or the ceremony connected with this
17. a series of rulers or leaders who are all from the same family, or a period when a country is ruled by them
18. a stone coffin, often decorated, that was used in ancient times
19. a person who is legally owned by someone else and has to work for that person
20. someone who studies the buildings, graves, tools, and other objects of people who lived in the past

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The Pyramids of GIZA | By Learn English Through Short Stories

 🎧 Listening comprehension: Source 👉 The Pyramids of GIZA 

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Egypt is in the north of Africa and people have been living there for thousands of years. It has become well known for its ancient culture and famous monuments. Probably the most famous and amazing of these monuments are the Pyramids of Giza and the surrounding structures. 

When they were first built, they were surrounded by desert. The boundaries of greater Cairo, have moved closer and closer so that Giza, a suburb of Cairo now sits right on the edge of this ancient site. Instead of being surrounded by desert, one side of the pyramids now faces modern restaurants, shops, and homes. In 1979 the Pyramids of Giza and other ancient ruins in Egypt were listed as World Heritage Sites. 

The Pyramids of Giza are part of a site that contains many different structures. There are three main Pyramids plus several smaller ones, cemeteries, temples, and the Great Sphinx. As archaeologists continue their research, more and more amazing pieces of Egypt's history are being uncovered. Even in ancient times, people were fascinated by the Pyramids of Giza. 

The biggest of them, the Great Pyramid, is the only structure still standing from a collection of monuments, named by ancient Greeks as the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Herodotus, a Greek historian, visited Egypt about two and a half thousand years ago he wrote about the Great Pyramid of Giza, in a history book. His Egyptian guides told him, that it took 20 years to build the Great Pyramid. He was also told that it took as many as 100 000 slaves to build it. Of course, what makes the pyramids so incredible is that they were built before the introduction of modern technology. The ancient Egyptians did not have the kind of equipment that we use today, but their building techniques were very advanced. The Pyramids of Giza were built many thousands of years ago. Explorers, archaeologists, and scientists have been discovering their secrets for centuries. 

The Great Pyramid is thought to have been built for King Khufu. Behind this Pyramid, stands the Pyramid of King Khafre who was the son of Khufu. Behind the Pyramid of king Khafre, stands the Pyramid of King Menkaure who was the son of Khafre. The three main pyramids at the ancient site of Giza are thought to have served as tombs for the kings after they had died. Kings in ancient Egypt were called pharaohs and were also considered to be gods. Along with these three main pyramids, there are eight other much smaller ones. Four are next to the Great Pyramid of Giza.  Three of these are believed to have been built for King Khufu's queens. The ruins of the fourth smaller pyramid are a mystery because no one is sure what its purpose was. The pyramid of King Khafre also has the ruins of a smaller pyramid next to it. The remaining three sit next to King Menkaure's pyramid. They are thought to have been built for his three wives. The cemeteries near these pyramids contained tombs of varying sizes and styles. The tombs were used for members of the royal court and high officials as well as local workers. The temples found within the site are believed to have been used for rituals and ceremonies connected with the burial process. Several boat pits have also been found near the Great Pyramid. The pieces of one of the boats have been removed from its pit and rebuilt. It now sits in a special museum next to the pyramid. Finally, the Great Sphinx sits in front of the Pyramid of King Khafre and is believed by some to be the guardian of the area. The Great Sphinx is one of the largest sculptures to have ever been carved out of one piece of rock. Its body is that of a lion and its face is that of a man, but there is debate as to which pharaoh's face was used as a model.

The largest of the structures in Giza is the Great Pyramid. Some researchers say that the Great Pyramid is at least 10,000 years old. More modern research and testing, however, have made some researchers believe it is somewhere between 4,500 and 5,000 years old. The original height of the Great Pyramid is estimated to have been around 147 meters. But due to its outer layers having been stripped away, it now stands at about 138 meters. It was also considered the tallest building in the world until the 14th century when Lincoln Cathedral in England was built. The Great Pyramid is about 230 meters long along each of its four sides. It was positioned so that it almost precisely faces north, south, east, and west. High priests some of whom were also astronomers, helped to decide the position of the Great Pyramid. When deciding the position of a Pyramid, it is thought that these priests considered its position in relation to sacred stars. The Great Pyramid of Giza is made up of about 2.3 million blocks of stone. Each one of the blocks that was used to build it, weighs about 2.5 tons on average. Centuries of exploration inside the Great Pyramid has revealed some of its secrets. It has three main chambers and several passages. One of the chambers is underground and carved into the rock in the ground. The other two are above ground and are known as the Queen's Chamber and the King's Chamber. The queen's Chamber was named by early explorers who thought the Queen's body was placed there.  However, scientists have proven that this chamber was never meant to keep the body of one of Khufu's wives. It is now thought that the chamber was meant to house a special religious statue of the king himself and other funeral gifts. The King's Chamber is placed the highest of the three chambers inside the pyramid. It still holds the granite coffin of King Khufu which was found empty without its lid. Nobody has managed to find this huge lid. 

One of the main passages is known as the Grand Gallery. It is a large stone tunnel that leads to the King's Chamber. A descending passage leads to the underground chamber. There is also a passage that leads downward from the entrance of the Grand Gallery. When it was first discovered in the 17th century, it was blocked by a lot of debris. The debris was finally cleaned out in the 19th century, which showed it was connected to the descending passage. Some experts say that the pyramid was never meant to be used as a tomb. They think that the structure was meant to serve as a place from which to look at the stars at night. Most archaeologists however, agreed that the Great Pyramid of Giza was the largest of all the tombs ever built for a pharaoh. 

During Egypt's Old Kingdom, the Egyptians had a good government. The pyramids were a symbol of their power and religious beliefs. Ancient Egyptians believed that when the pharaoh died, he became the king of the dead, so he had to be buried in a way that would keep him happy in the afterlife. They also believed that it was important to take good care of the pharaoh's dead body. If they did not, then the dead pharaoh would be unable to carry out his duties properly as king of the dead. It was believed that Egypt would suffer a terrible disaster if this happened. In order to stop any disaster from happening, all dead pharaohs had their bodies made into mummies, and then placed in a tomb. Everything a pharaoh would need in the afterlife, was also placed in the tomb. This would include things made of clay, stone and gold. They even placed things such as furniture, food, and figures of the pharaoh's servants inside the tomb. 

There is still a great mystery surrounding the Great Pyramid and the king's treasures. Some experts believe that King Khufu's mummy and treasures were stolen. There are other experts though who do not believe thieves were ever able to get into the Great Pyramid. One question still remains:  where are Khufu's mummy ends treasures? Nobody knows where these are. Some people believe that they are still buried somewhere inside the Great Pyramid. People are still searching. With the help of modern technology, specially designed robots are being used to look in places that humans cannot. New stone blocks which are thought to be like doors have been found. Discoveries like this keep the theories alive that there are areas inside the Great Pyramid still to be found. 

Many different kinds of people were involved in the construction of the pyramids. Some think that the pyramids were built by slaves, but this has been proven to be wrong. The pyramid builders were neither slaves nor foreigners. Archaeologists have found skeletons that show that the pyramid builders were Egyptians.  Some of them were permanent employees of the pharaoh but others only worked for a limited time. Some are also thought to have been women. No drawings of women builders have been found, but female skeletons were they show that the women worked with heavy items such as stones. The people building the pyramids lived in nearby villages that were quite sophisticated. In these ancient villages, there were bakeries, butcher shops, storage buildings for grain and cemeteries. There were even shops where drinks like beer and wine were made. Bakeries found near the pyramids may have once produced thousands of loaves of bread every week.

It is also thought that there was some sort of medical care available because there is evidence of workers surviving serious injuries. There is even ancient graffiti. The graffiti, for example "friends of Khufu", suggests that workers were proud of their work and named their teams. The graffiti was written in hieroglyphics, which was a unique writing system used in ancient Egypt. It used pictures to represent particular sounds or objects that were very common at that time. Experts have learned how to read many of these pictures and so they were able to find out the meaning of the graffiti. 

Modern theories estimate as many as 30,000 workers were used to build the three main pyramids of Giza over a period of approximately 80 years. It is also thought that most of the work took place while the Nile River was flooded. Huge stone blocks could then have been floated from quarries up river right to the actual base of the pyramids. However recent discoveries of quarries near the pyramids, have made some researchers think the quarries were not miles up river. It took much more than physical labor to build the Great Pyramid and other pyramids in Egypt. It took a lot of intelligence too. It is thought that ancient architects managed to build perfect pyramid shapes by putting ropes at each corner and then pulling the ropes up to form a point. 

Every single person from the poorest worker to the high priests knew their place in the order of things. They also understood that continuing the life and death cycle of the pharaohs was good luck for Egypt. Many theories about the origins of the Pyramids of Giza have emerged over time. The most widely accepted theory among experts is that the ancient Egyptians built their own monuments. 

One of the stronger theories to challenge this is that the pyramids were built by a long-lost civilization. It is thought that this civilization was destroyed by some enormous disaster around 10,000 BC. Those who doubt, that the ancient Egyptians had the technical knowledge and ability to build the pyramids, raise some interesting points. They point out that there is nothing in Egypt that shows how the ancient Egyptians could have developed such amazing skills that allowed them to build the Pyramids of Giza. Some also say that the pyramids built after those of Giza were not as good. This perhaps will remain one of the biggest puzzles of the pyramids for many more years. 

The Pyramids of Giza continue to attract many experts, archaeologists, and tourists. Perhaps one day someone will be able to find out the truth.

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Building of underwater structures | By Interesting Engineering

 🎧 Listening comprehension: Source 👉 Building of underwater structures

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Bridges, tunnels, dams, these monoliths of infrastructure are all around us. However, if you take a moment to really think about these structures, you might start to wonder how they were even built in the first place; how do engineers construct the foundation of bridges; when they're fully underwater; does it require a skilled team of divers working with concrete; or can the foundation simply be dropped into place; The main ways engineers build structures underwater are through cofferdams, caissons, or newer methods like drilled shaft foundations. All three of these construction techniques involve some manner of construction underwater or in the water. And they also require a bit more information to fully understand.

Let's start with cofferdams. Cofferdams are temporary structures, usually made out of welded steel sheet piles or other rigid interlocking materials which can be arranged in the riverbed or seabed around a construction site. Once a fully enclosed space has been created, the water inside is pumped out, leaving a dry workspace. Early cofferdams were made out of simple dirt mounds in the water, but these were dangerous and prone to failure. Later cofferdams then shifted to wooden piles and structures. With today's custom steel framework or piles being the safest type ever made, cofferdams are commonly used for bridge foundation construction or for pier construction closer to shore. Cofferdams are also used to put ships into dry dock to allow crews to do maintenance. For dam construction, engineers will often construct cofferdams first to keep the dam dry while they finish construction. The temporary cofferdams will then be removed and the dam structure itself allowed to serve its intended purpose. In this way, one builds a dam by first building several temporary dams, close in function to cofferdams but slightly different is a caisson. 

Caissons are essentially large concrete or steel boxes that are pushed into the seafloor, and then similar to cofferdams, the water is pumped out of the inside; however, unlike cofferdams, caissons are one solid structure. These structures will usually have crew access ports to allow workers to access the inside. Caissons and cofferdams are some of the main methods for underwater construction. They both create a dry workspace allowing work to proceed; However, they are also very expensive and are still relatively dangerous. Anytime workers are inside one of these structures, they are at risk of catastrophic failure and collapse of the dams. It's for this reason that engineers are constantly trying to find new safer underwater construction methods. 

One of the newest methods is that of drilled shafts. Drilled shafts are exactly what they sound like. Massive shafts that are drilled into the river or seabed. These shafts can be drilled with equipment mounted on barges or other structures, meaning that caissons or cofferdams are not needed for these constructions. Once the shaft is drilled, they can be backfilled with concrete or other reinforcing structures. This entire process allows engineers to avoid the dewatering process altogether. When it comes to how engineers build structures underwater, the real answer is that they try to avoid it when they can. Even for structures like bridges and tunnels, engineers will work to build as much of the structure on the surface as possible. Dewatering and underwater construction are highly expensive and dangerous endeavors but clever engineers have developed innovative engineering methods over the years to make the process as efficient as possible or even eliminate the need for it altogether.

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Biden Announces New Moves In COVID-19 Fight, as Omicron Quickly Spreads | by VOA News | Intermediate level

 🎧 Listening comprehension: Source 👉 Biden Announces New Moves In COVID-19 Fight

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American President Joe Biden said his administration plans to provide 500 million COVID-19 tests to the United States at no cost to users.

Speaking at the White House, Biden described several efforts to support hospitals, to increase testing, and to increase the availability of vaccines. The president’s message comes as the world is struggling to contain yet another version of the new coronavirus, the Omicron variant.

Biden pushed Americans to get additional COVID-19 vaccine injections known as booster shots. He said he was not planning on shutdowns or severe restrictions like those seen earlier in the pandemic.

"We know a lot more today than we did in March 2020," he said. "We're ready, we'll get through this,"

Biden said vaccination efforts will be increased and he urged Americans who are not vaccinated to get the shot. “400,000 Americans died of COVID this calendar year – almost all were unvaccinated,” Biden said.

Efforts to support hospitals

The president said the government will establish additional testing sites. There are about 20,000 operating now in the U.S. The government will use the Defense Production Act to order manufacturers to make more tests, Biden said.

Biden administration officials say they are working with Google to help people find testing sites through online searches.

The president also said the government will send 1,000 medically skilled troops to hospitals overloaded with COVID-19 cases. Federal medical workers are immediately going to the hard-hit states of Michigan, Indiana, Wisconsin, Arizona, New Hampshire, and Vermont. There are also plans to give hospitals more medical and protective equipment from the national supply.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, will send hundreds of medical vehicles and medical teams to hospitals. The aim is that, if one hospital fills up, patients can be moved to open beds in other hospitals.

The Centers for Disease Control, or CDC, says 204 million people in the United States are fully vaccinated. That amounts to 61 percent of the population. Only about 60 million of the fully vaccinated have received booster shots, the CDC reports.

About 50 million Americans have not gotten any vaccine. Biden said they have a responsibility to get vaccinated.

I’m Jill Robbins.

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   - What do you think of the new government actions? 

Gut Bacteria: We Are What We Eat | by VOA Learning English | Intermediate level

 🎧 Listening comprehension: Source 👉 Gut Bacteria: We Are What We Eat

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This is the VOA Special English Health Report.
The human digestive system is full of bacteria -- mostly good bacteria. These organisms help break down food so the body can use the nutrients. Scientists are exploring the link between what kinds of bacteria live in our gut and what kinds of food we eat. 
Gary Wu from the University of Pennsylvania and other scientists did two studies. These studies looked for connections between the food that people ate and the kinds of microbes living in their intestines. Mr. Wu says, "We found essentially that there are two major categories in which individuals could be classified by the bacteria in their gut: one associated with sort of a western-type diet, and another one associated with a more agrarian or fruit-vegetable type of diet." 
In the second study, ten volunteers took part in a so-called controlled feeding experiment. They had to change their normal diet. Yet their digestive bacteria remained much the same. This suggests that the mix of bacteria is based on long-term dietary patterns, not what people ate in recent days. Gary Wu thinks testing people's mix of intestinal bacteria might be a better way to measure their disease risk than asking about their diet. He says intestinal bacteria might even play a part in the development of disease. If so, this could lead scientists to new ways to help prevent diseases by changing the types of bacteria in a person's gut. "That's a little more speculative," he says, "but that's something that is certainly very much of interest in the field." The two studies are in the journal Science. The research may add to understanding of how diet affects health.
Another recent study involving diet warned that obesity is increasing worldwide, but especially in the United States and Britain. The findings appeared in the Lancet medical journal. Worldwide, experts say one and a half billion adults are overweight. Another half-billion are obese. At current rates, about half of all American adults could be obese by twenty-thirty. In Britain, obesity rates could reach forty-eight percent for men and forty-three percent for women. Experts say the rise in obesity is likely to lead to an increase in cases of diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and other conditions. Obesity is also on the rise among children. 
For VOA Special English Health Report. I'm Alex Villarreal. 
(Adapted from a radio program broadcast 07Sep2011)

Christmas Dinner Traditions | Cre: Learn English by Pocket Passport | Intermediate level

🎧 Listening comprehension: Original Video 👉 Christmas Dinner Traditions

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Hello everyone! Tony here!
Today I will talk about one of my favorite topics. Food
Let’s look at some examples of what people eat at Christmas time around the world. 
Christmas dinner is a time for the entire family to have a big meal together; kind of like Thanksgiving! In my family, we have our Christmas dinner on Christmas eve, the evening before Christmas day, but other people have Christmas dinner on Christmas day. In America, people eat a lot of yummy foods at Christmas time. As the main dish, many people eat roast turkey, just like they do for Thanksgiving dinner.
Other people have roast beef. Roast duck and roast ham are also very popular as a main dish for Christmas dinner.
People in other countries have different traditional foods they eat at Christmas time.  For example, in Puerto Rico, a whole roast pig is a traditional dish for Christmas dinner. Wow!
In Mexico, many people eat a stew called pozole. Pozole is made of pork or chicken and people eat it with a variety of vegetables and spices. It is extremely tasty!
Did you know that December 25th, Christmas day, is in the middle of summer in Australia?
Some people in Australia have Christmas foods like roast ham. Other people have more summertime dishes like salads and cold meats. A lot of people in Australia really love to eat prawns for Christmas dinner!
Do you know what people in Japan do for Christmas dinner?
It is a somewhat new tradition in Japan to eat fried chicken together with your family for Christmas!
Millions of people order their fried chicken weeks before Christmas so they are sure they have a family bucket full of chicken to eat.  It’s a Christmas tradition!
It’s also common for couples to go out and have a nice meal on Christmas day.
These are only a few examples of different foods that people enjoy at Christmas time. There’s a lot more!
I haven’t even started to talk about side dishes or appetizers!
See you next time.

🗪 Roleplaying: 

Warm-Up Questions:

1. Do you have a special dinner with your family at Christmas time?
2. What is the most popular traditional food in your country?
3. Have you ever had some traditional food from another country? What was it?
4. Name three more traditional foods in your country.

Comprehension Questions:

1. Where is Tony from?
2. When does Tony’s family have Christmas dinner?
3. What is a popular main dish at Christmas dinner?
4. What are three other popular main dishes for Christmas dinner in America?  
5. What is a popular main dish for Christmas dinner in Puerto Rico?
6. What is the Mexican dish pozole?
7. In Australia, what season is it in December?
8. What seafood do people really love to eat at Christmas dinner in Australia?
9. What do people eat in Japan at Christmas time?
10. What do many couples do in Japan at Christmas time?

More Discussion Questions:

1. Are there any foods you should NOT eat in your country?
2. Have you ever had roast turkey? roast duck?  How was it?
3. Are there any foods from other countries that you would like to try?
4. Are there any traditional foods in your country that you DON’T like?

Why do we have Christmas Trees? | Cre: Reading Through History | Intermediate level

🎧 Listening comprehension: Why do we have Christmas Trees? 

👄Read aloud:

A Christmas tree can be found in most American homes throughout the month of December.  But, where did this tradition come from? And how long has it been a part of the holiday tradition?

In the earliest history of Scandinavia, it was traditional during the celebration of the Winter Solstice (December 21st) to bring an evergreen tree into the home and decorate it.  Since the evergreen was the only type of tree that lived through the entire winter, the families saw it as a symbol of continued life.

In the 1500s, the practice of decorating an evergreen tree at this time of year was still alive and well in Northern Germany as well as many other parts of Europe.  Apples were hung as decorations (an early form of Christmas ornaments) and candles were used to light the tree.  Other decorations included nuts, pretzels, and paper flowers.

The tradition was primarily practiced on mainland Europe until the mid-1800s, when England’s Queen Victoria married Prince Albert of Germany.  With Albert’s arrival in England, the German practice of decorating a Christmas tree quickly spread to both England and America.  In less than ten years, this had become a common practice in both countries.

Traditionally, Christmas trees were brought into the home on December 24th (Christmas Eve) and decorated that evening.  They were removed from the home on January 6th.  It was regarded as bad luck to have a Christmas tree in the home after this date.

Modern Christmas trees have kept many of these customs.  However, instead of lighting trees with candles, electric lights are normally used because they last longer and are much safer.  Modern Christmas trees are decorated with ornaments, candy canes, garland, and tinsel.  The top of the tree is usually adorned with a star, or an angel, both symbols associated with the Christian aspects of the holiday.

However, whereas people in older times decorated the tree on December 24th, in modern households, the tree decorating is usually done sometime earlier in December.  Especially in homes which use artificial trees.  For many families, the decorating process might even take place sometime shortly after Thanksgiving or even on Thanksgiving evening.

🗪 Roleplaying: 

1. What is "Scandinavia"?
2. When did they bring evergreen trees into the home and decorated?
3. Why did people bring evergreen trees into the home and decorated?
4. In the 1500s, How did they decorate christmas trees?
5. Traditionally, how long did they put chrismas trees in the home? why?
6. What are the differences between modern Christmas trees and ones in the old times?

How sleep can improve your immunity | Matt Walker | Advance level

🎧 Listening comprehension: How sleep can improve your immunity 

🔍Vocabulary:

1. irrational: not logical or reasonable
2. hyperreactive: extremely active
3. conduct: organize and carry out
4. sleep-deprived: suffering from a lack of sleep
5. amygdala: one of two parts of the brain that affect how people feel emotions
6. centerpiece: the most important part of something
7. appropriate: suitable or proper in the circumstances
8. moderate: neither small nor large in size, amount, degree, or strength
9. prefrontal cortex: the front part of the brain
10. executive: relating to or having the power to put plans or actions into effect
11. top-down: starting from the highest levels
12. evolved: having developed through a gradual process
13. sever: to break or separate, especially by cutting
14. accelerator: to make something happen or progress more quickly
15. pedal: each of a pair of foot-operated levers
16. regulatory: controlling
17. brake: a device that makes a vehicle go slower or stop
18. unbuckle: unfasten
19. integrity:  honesty
20. turn out: happen
21. nocturnal: relating to the night
22. soothing: making you feel calm
23. balm: an oily substance rubbed into the skin to reduce pain
24. heal: to make or become well again
25. wound: injury
26. convalescence: recovery
27. cope: to deal successfully with a difficult situation

👄Read aloud: Read each sentence out loud 

🗪 Roleplaying: 

1. What is "hyperreactive"?
2. What did they study about several years ago?
3. Who was taken for their study?
4. What is the "amygdala"?
5. What is "sleep-deprived"?
6. How different about the amygdala between people who had a full night of sleep and the ones who had a lack of sleep?
7. What is the "prefrontal cortex"?
8. What's the role of the prefrontal cortex?
9. How different about the prefrontal cortex is between people who had a full night of sleep and the ones who had a lack of sleep?
10. Why does sleep act almost like a nocturnal soothing balm?

⏺ Record 

✍ Write a comment to answer "How sleep can improve your immunity?" 

Covid-19: How dangerous is Omicron? | The Economist

 💚 Cre: The Economist | Covid-19: How dangerous is Omicron? | The Economist

Reading & Vocabulary:

The world is on edge as omicron - the new variant of covid-19 spreads around the world. "Britain, Germany, and Italy announced their first omicron cases". Countries are scrambling to contain transmission. Researchers say it could be the most infectious form of the virus so far. What does the new strain mean for the global fight against covid-19? 

Our experts answer your questions:

Why has it been designated as a variant of concern?

Omicron has been designated as a variant of concern because of the large number of mutations to its spike protein. It has more mutations than any other variant that has been observed so far by genomic surveillance, and a large number of those mutations are on sites of the spike protein which are known as the binding domain which is the bit of the spike that binds to your cells and they're also the bit of the spike on which antibodies the parts of your immune system which protect you from infection bind in order to prevent that from happening, so lots of mutations on sites where antibodies are being created is of concern.

Between the mutations discovered on the virus itself and this epidemiological data, there are reasons to believe that omicron may indeed be a lot more contagious than delta which is the current variant dominant around the world.

Is omicron more dangerous than the delta variant?

We don't know yet whether omicron causes more severe disease than delta or other variants. It's still too early to tell however preliminary evidence suggests that this may not be the case, and that really hasn't been the case with previous variants. They usually are a lot more contagious but they're not deadlier.

But what we can be fairly confident about is that at least for the component of your immune system that the antibodies run. That is one of the what's known as the humoral immune system. The variant is going to erode the immunity conferred by vaccines to almost certainly a greater extent than any of the other variants that have emerged so far. That's thanks to all of those mutations on the receptor-binding domain of the spike protein. But what we don't know is how far it's going to spread and how sick it's going to make people when it does or if it does and all of that data is coming in over the next two weeks.

Will new vaccines be needed?

The truth is that we don't know yet whether we are going to need new vaccines for omicron that depends on both how widely it spreads around the world and the degree to which it erodes immunity either that built up through infection or vaccination. If the answer to both of those is a lot, then we may need to update them but the good news is that that's a quick process. It takes only a couple of weeks to do the technical bits and then a few more weeks for the safety checks and to spin up mass production.

What are governments doing to contain the spread of omicron?

Many countries have banned travel from South Africa or have placed heavy restrictions such as quarantines at hotels for people arriving from there. Of course, these measures will only delay the spread of the virus if indeed it turns out to be a lot more contagious than delta in which case it will eventually overtake delta as the dominant variant worldwide, but these measures can temporarily slow down any outbreaks that omicron may cause.

As well as implementing a travel ban, the British government has reintroduced rules about mask-wearing in public spaces and on public transport and has also reintroduced guidance around social distancing. This is a sensible precaution given that omicron is almost certainly already seated in the community. 

Is this new variant a setback in the fight against Covid 19?

But even if omicron comes to dominate as the variant worldwide, we are not back at square one, we do have vaccines which are probably going to work very well against severe infection, severe disease, and death, and we also have lots of drugs now which may work against omicron. 

There's also some optimism to be had by gaining a slightly more complete understanding of the immune system, almost all of the discourse around immunity focuses on just one segment of the immune system which is antibodies, but there's a whole other deeper section of the immune system known as the T cell or cellular immune system, and because of the way that works which is very very complicated and much more unique on a per person basis, it's much much harder for variants to escape it, and there is no reason that has emerged to date that we would expect omicron to escape that as well, and immunologists that I have spoken to are hopeful that even if omicron does erode immunity at the antibody, level of the system that cellular immunity that deeper immunity will still be there for us even as it spreads around the world. 

Dr. Fauci Warns Americans To Take New Omicron Variant Seriously | NBC News

 💚 Cre: NBC News | Dr. Fauci Warns Americans To Take New Omicron Variant Seriously

Vocabulary:

a constellation of mutations | spike protein | transmissible | immune parameters | monoclonal antibodies | the convalescent serum and plasma | pop up | prudently | booster shot | diminution | edge | congregate situation | lag

Question:

1. What are they talking about?
2. Who is Dr.Anthony Fauci?
3. Is new omicron variant seriously? Why?
4. Where is it spreading rapidly?
5. How to mitigate against this new omicron variant?
6. How long to see the impact in terms of infection numbers from new variant?
7. Do they have enough information to make the determination about new omicron variant?

Transcript:

• Earlier I spoke to Dr.Anthony Fauci about the new variant and I began by asking what is so concerning about it.
• Well, it has a constellation of mutations around that spike protein which would be strongly indicative that this will be highly transmissible and might in fact escape. Some of the immune parameters such as monoclonal antibodies and the convalescent serum and plasma when people recover and likely even some protection from the antibodies that are induced by vaccinations so we're taking it very very seriously. It's spreading really quite rapidly in South Africa and then we're seeing cases popping up in countries around, particularly when there's been travel from south Africa or southern African countries to other places like Israel and places like that and for that reason, the president decided prudently to put the travel restriction on not only to South Africa but to seven other countries that border South Africa.
• Is what you're seeing right now the kind that keeps you up at night?
• You don't want to frighten the American public but when something occurs that you need to take it seriously. You take it seriously and you do whatever you can to mitigate against that. I mean I'm saying this absolutely clearly that if ever there was a reason for unvaccinated people to get vaccinated and for those who have been vaccinated when your time comes up to go and get a booster shot because even though there may be some diminution and we don't know that in the protection against the vaccine certainly to be vaccinated, and boosted is always better than not to be so that's the first thing. The second thing is what the president has decided to do, he's taking it very seriously and that's the reason for the restrictions from travel from certain countries.
• You talk about the booster shots than the renewed importance of booster shots how much edge do they give you?
• The booster shots give you a very very important edge if you look at the level of these protective antibodies. Following the peak response after two doses and compare the level following the peak response after the third booster dose of an mRNA, it's multiple multiple times higher after the third shot of an mRNA
• How long after this weekend would you expect to see the impact in terms of infection numbers of this holiday?
• Well, whenever you have a congregate situation where people travel it's usually measured in a few weeks two to three weeks or more, when you're talking about infection it's about two weeks or so when you're talking about if anybody gets severe disease, it's always lagging indicator of hospitalization and death we hope that people when they travel they're careful so that we don't see a major spike.
• I don't want to put the words in your mouth but we are at a dangerous turn right now in this pandemic with this new variant
• Well, we have to be paying close attention and take it very seriously. I don't really want to go so far as to say we're at a dangerous turn. We don't have enough information to make that determination but what we can do is do everything we can to make sure we err on the side of safety and that's the reason why you're seeing the travel restriction and the renewed emphasis on getting people vaccinated and boosted.