hi

Sara would like to say hi and thank you for the nice outfit she's wearing today. She's very happy about it, can't you tell?

The English we speak

Hi,

This BBC series The English we speak is a fantastic source of new expressions. I recommend you dowload its programs and listen to the definition of for example red tape.

Have a good day

Where does English come from?

When we talk about ‘English’, we often think of it as a single language. But what do the dialects spoken in dozens of countries around the world have in common with each other, or with the writings of Chaucer? Claire Bowern traces the language from the present day back to its ancient roots, showing how English has evolved through generations of speakers.

Stress

 
Over 40% of people in the U.S. say they are not doing enough to manage their stress, and the consequences of that could lead to all sorts of health-related problems. A recent study published in the journal Neuron showed people who are stressed have more difficulty with self-control and are more likely to choose to eat unhealthy food. If you’re like many Americans, you often be stressed about work and money, but there are good reasons to take time out of your day to relax. Here’s some examples of how stress affects your entire body. Source: Time magazine

How about you? Do you think Spaniards are equally stressed? How does stress affect you?

Were you a picky eater when a child?

picky, adjective, Informal. Very difficult to please, choosy, fastidious
Mac and cheese: macaroni prepared in a cheese sauce

Despite the fact that many doctors dismiss picky eating as just a phase, a new study shows it may be a sign of deeper issues



Rare is the child who will eat pretty much anything. Most toddlers develop specific favorite foods and, of more concern, absolute no-go foods.

To a certain extent, that’s normal. But when eating preferences make it difficult for the child to eat with others, that could be a sign of more serious sensitivities, say scientists in a report appearing in Pediatrics.

The incredible history of China's terracotta warriors

In 1974, farmers digging a well near their small village stumbled upon one of the most important finds in archaeological history – vast underground chambers surrounding a Chinese emperor’s tomb that contained more than 8,000 life-size clay soldiers ready for battle.
Source: TED Ed            

LISTENING COMPREHENSION:

1. What insights can the Terracotta Warriors provide us about Chinese history?
2. Why would some emperors wish to have “company” in the afterlife? What might that reveal about their beliefs about life and the world?
3. What might the emperor have been considering in burying more than just soldiers in the tombs?
4. The Terracotta Warriors were discovered in __________ by ____________ who were digging a ________.
5. Terracotta, or also known as “_______” is a type of ______ clay.
6. _____________ commissioned the building of the Terracotta Warriors.
7.  The reason he had the Terracotta Warriors built was because he was obsessed with his _________

Richard Blanco's poem Matters of the sea

Hi,

At the reopening of the American Embassy in Havana, I though it would be nice to listen to Richard Blanco's poem written for the occasion, “Matters of the Sea” or ” “Cosas Del Mar.”

Blanco, who is the son of a Cuban exile family, said that the poem was one of the most emotional and complex poems he’d written:

Here’s Why Email Puts You in a Nasty Mood

A combination of anxiety for work during non-work hours and emails make for stressed out workers.

Your alarm goes off, you roll over, grab your phone, and flicker your eyes open. You squint in the glow of the blue and it begins: You’re scrolling through notifications, emails, texts.

It’s already been shown that emailing after business hours can be psychologically damaging, but new research published in the Journal of Occupational Health Psychology confirms what you probably know in your gut to be true: workers who are expected to be available even when they aren’t at work experience an elevated stress response.
Psychologists from the University of Hamburg asked 132 people from 13 workplaces to complete a daily survey over a period of eight days—four on which they were expected to be available for work, four on which they were not. They were all surveyed, and half the the participants also provided saliva samples that were measured for cortisol. (Cortisol is the hormone released in response to stressful situations.)

The results showed that during times when a person was expected to be reachable, people had elevated cortisol levels and reported being stressed. While that might be expected, what is interesting is that when a person is not required to be physically available at the office, there’s still a significant uptick in cortisol.

This is what enduring love looks like

This is a beautiful talk about lasting, durable love. Do you agree with it? Do you know any other couple who experienced long lasting love?

Transcript
Source: Ted Talks

What is a calorie?

We hear about calories all the time: How many calories are in this cookie? How many are burned by doing 100 jumping jacks, or long-distance running, or fidgeting? But what is a calorie, really? And how many of them do we actually need? Emma Bryce explains how a few different factors should go into determining the recommended amount for each person.