Mstudy Student’s Guide for Topic Talk

Level: 6.2
Lesson No. 01 : Mold: Friend and Foe!

Some molds save lives, Others kill. Some add to

the flawn of cheeses and vines. Other make food
poisonous. Some grow on logs, others infest
bathrooms and books. In fact, molds are everywhere
and spores might even be passing through your
nostrils.
Molds belong to the Fungi Kingdom, which
boasts over 100,000 species, including maddens,
mushrooms, plants, rusts, and parts. Only about 100
fungus are known to cause diseases in humans and
animals. Mold begins life as a microscopic spore
carried by air currents. If the spore lands on the
suitable food source that has among other things the
right temperature and moisture level, mold may also
resemble dirt or a stain, such as when it forms on
the grout between bathroom tiles.

Penicillium Mold

The friendly face of mold has also been a blessing to the palate. Take cheese, for example. Did you k
now that Brie, Camembert, Danish blue, Gorgonzola, Roquefort, and Stilton owe their district flaws to cert
ain species of the mold penicillium? Likewise, salami, soy sauce, and beer owe much to mold.
The same is true of wine. When certain grapes are harvested at the correct time and with a suitable
measure of fungal growth on each bunch, they can be used to produce exquisite dessert wines. Medicines d
erived from mold have saved many lives.

Source: By Awake! Writer in Sweden

Vocabulary: fuzzy coat DID YOU KNOW THAT

spores
resemble
…
grout Stachybotrys is known to make mentally ill for u
p to 2 years since the first time of contaminatio
infest n.  People are called crazy by others who are e
mold xposed by stachybotrys before they are educat
ed by this mind destroyer and hallucinogen.  Th
erefore the phrase, "Stachy wacky" has been c
oined.
Questions:
1. What do you think the exposures from mold through inhalation,
ingestion, or contact with the skin do to our health?
2. Do you have any doubt about molds where they came from?
3. Do molds often save lives?
4. What can molds do to us?
 Mstudy Student’s Guide for Topic Talk

Level: 6.2
Lesson No. 02 : Your Marvelous Red Blood Cells

The most common cell in your blood stream gives blood its red color and is thus called a
red blood cell. Just one drop of your blood contains hundreds of millions of such cell. When
reviewed through a microscope, they look like doughnuts with a depressed canter instead of hole.
Each cell is packed with hundreds of millions of hemoglobin molecules. Each hemoglobin molecule is,
in turn a beautiful spherical structure made up of about 10,000 hydrogen, carbon nitrogen, oxygen,
and sulfur atoms, plus four heavier atoms of iron, which give blood its oxygen carrying ability.
Hemoglobin enables your red blood cell to remove carbon dioxide waste from your lungs and then to
replenish your body with oxygen that you breathe in from the air. Another vital part of your red
blood cells is their skin, called a membrane. This marvelous covering enables the cells to stretch
into thin shapes so as to pass through your finest blood vessels and thus sustain every part of your
body.
Your blood cells are manufactured in your bone marrow. Once a new cell enters your
bloodstreams, it will circulate through your heart and body more than 100,000 times, unlike other
cells, red blood cells have no nucleus. This gives them more space to carry oxygen and makes them
light, which helps your heart to pump trillion of red blood cells throughout your body. However,
lacking a nucleus, they are unable to renew their internal parts. Thus, after about 120 days, your
red blood cells begin to deteriorate and lose their elasticity. Large white blood cells called
phagocytes consume these worn-out cells and spit out the iron atoms.
The scarce iron atoms attach themselves to transport molecules that take them to your
bone marrow to be used in the manufacture of new red cells. Every second, your bone marrow
releases two to three million new red cells into your bloodstream.
If millions of our red blood cells were suddenly to stop functioning, we would be lifeless
within minutes.

Source: Awake, A South African Writer

Vocabulary:
marvelous
replenish
sustain
circulate
DID YOU KNOW
deteriorate THAT…
spherical
bloodstream A red cell will make about
elasticity 50,000 circuits through the
body before it is removed after
about 120 days.
Questions:
1. How important are red blood cells to the body?
2. Describe a hemoglobin molecule and its functions.
3. What is a cell membrane?
4. What is a bone marrow?
5. What will happen if red blood cells suddenly stop functioning?
 Mstudy Student’s Guide for Topic Talk

Level: 6.2
Lesson No. 03 : Silk “The Queen of Fibers”

Some of the most beautiful garments in the world including the Japanese Kimono, t
he Indian Sari, and the Korean hanbok – have something in common. Often they are made of
silk, a lustrous fabric that has been called the queen of fabrics. From royalty of the past to
commoners of the present, people world wide have been captivated by the elegance of silk.
But it has not always been so widely available.
Silk is produced by silkworms, or caterpillars of the silkworm moth. There are hun
dreds of types of silkworms, but the scientific name of the one that produces the finest qu
ality silk is Bombyx mori. It takes quite a number of silkworms to make silk fabrics, which h
as given rise to sericulture, the raising of silkworms. The family of Shoichi Kawaharada, wh
o live in Gunma Prefecture, Japan, is one of the approximately 2,000 house holds in this cou
ntry still engaging in this labor intensive work. This two-story house, ideally built for seric
ulture, is situated on the side of a hill overlooking a mulberry grave.
The female silkworm moth lays up to 500 eggs, each of them the size of a pinhead,
after about 20 days, the eggs hatch. The tiny silkworm have an insatiable appetite. Night a
nd day they eat mulberry leaves. In just 18 days the silkworms will have grown to 70 times
their original size and will have shed their skin a couple of times. Some 120,000 silkworms a
re raised in Mr. Kawaharadas farm. The sound of them feasting creates a noise not unlike t
he sound of heavy rain falling on leaves. By the time a silkworm is grown, its weight will have
multiplied by 10,000! Now it is ready to spin a cocoon.

Source: By Awake Writer in Japan

Vocabulary:
lustrous
elegance
insatiable DID YOU KNOW
feasting THAT…
commoners Perhaps the first evidence of the silk trade is
captivated that of an Egyptian mummy of 1070 BC. In
subsequent centuries, the silk trade reached as
intensive far as the Indian subcontinent, the Middle East,
Europe, and North Africa. This trade was so
extensive that the major set of trade routes
between Europe and Asia has become known
as the Silk Road.
Questions:
1. How did the silk monopoly in China come to an end?
2. What is the sericulture?
3. What are the best known qualities of a silk fabric?
4. Why are silk worms called silent spinners?
5. What do you think is the secret of silk?
 Mstudy Student’s Guide for Topic Talk

Level: 6.2
Lesson No. 04 : Useful Expressions

Small Things can do wonder!

Susan: Good morning Mia!

Mia: Oh, hey Susan!
Susan: What’s up! You look like you’re woken up on the wrong side of the bed.
Mia: Well, last night I made my self a sandwich. It tasted funny but I didn’t
mind because I was so hungry I could’ve eaten the horse.
Susan: You eat the bread that had molds on it? I was going to throw it away but it
slipped my mind.
Mia: You got be kidding me! That’s why I peel green around the gills.

Words and Expressions

Woke up on the wrong side of the bed – woke up in a bad way

Could’ve eaten a horse – could eat a really big meal
Slipped my mind – Totally forgotten
Kidding me – fooling me
Green around the gills – sickly, dizzy
 Mstudy Student’s Guide for Topic Talk

Level: 6.2
Lesson No. 05 : Genius: The Neurobiology of Giftedness

Toby Rosenburg, in all the five years of his life, has never been your typica
l toddler. At the age of 14 months, Toby could read aloud from posters his stroller
passed by. A year later, he spoke both British and English fluently, and at the age
of 4, he completed a dictionary of hieroglyphics after visiting a museum shop and p
erusing through a book on ancient Egypt from W.A. Mozart to Bobby Fisher to Tob
y Rosenberg. Some children have since their birth amazed the world with their inc
redible intellect and ability that can at times outdo even the brightest of adults.
Why is this so? Many parents-to-be wonder how can a genius be created. It is evid
ent that when a child’s mental development is displayed far beyond the usual time,
the only reasonable explanation is that the brain and nervous system are much mor
e highly developed than what is normal for that age. Some scientists believe that t
hese differences may possibly have a genetic link. However, though results seem t
o indicate this is so, more data is needed to establish it firmly and ultimately expla
in why so few children have such gifted abilities.

Souce: Irma Iskandar

Vocabulary:
perusing
typical
toddler DID YOU KNOW THAT…
compiled
hieroglyphics Some of the most famous gifted children suffered
strange childhood incongruencies in developmen
abilities t. Einstein did not speak a word until he was four
genetic and had early difficulties with arithmetic. Thomas
Edison did not learn to read until he was 9, and w
as considered a delinquent.

Questions:
1. What for you is a gifted child?
2. Why do you think very few children have such gifted abilities?
3. Do you think it is normal to be a gifted child?
4. If you are a parent of a gifted child, how would you rear him/her?
5. Do you think there is a special formula for parents in order to create a gifted
child?
 Mstudy Student’s Guide for Topic Talk

Level: 6.2
Lesson No. 06 : Signs of Intelligence
This morning, Carolyn told me quite clearly that she wanted some yogurt for
breakfast. Technically, what I said was “more baby?” but I knew what she meant.
How did a 13-month-old manage to tell me what she wanted by using sign
language? Kat and I have been teaching her Baby Signs which is a simplified version of
the American sign language.
At this point, we’re actually looking more to real ASL signs than we are to the
Baby signs vocabulary when teaching Carolyn new signs. I think the real utility of Baby
signs is that it gets you started where it makes the most sense. Teach your baby signs like
food, water, more and all done. This allows the child to communicate their wants and needs
long before they ever become verbal. It works because motor skills advance more quickly
than verbal skills do. I’ll be very interested to see if Carolyn retains the signing as she
grows up. This will enable her to pick up secondary languages more easily.
Carolyn’s first sign was “hat” which of course didn’t help at all within deducing her
needs, but it was still incredible to witness. I was actually there when she figured it out.
She was looking through a Baby signs board book while I stood watching. She stared very
intently at a picture of a baby signing “hat, and then put her hand to the side of her head ,
just like in the picture.
Sometimes I think she’s smarter than we are. So if you’re a new parent or a
parent-to-be, I strongly recommend that you try this with your own baby. When a baby
starts waving bye-bye, that’s when they’re to start leaving sign language. We started
earlier than that, hoping to lay a foundation , and may or may not have been wasting our
time. It will help reduce frustration and therefore tantrums, because you’ll be better able
to communicate.
Source: copyright 1995 – 2006 Eric A. and Kathryn S. Meyer. All rights reserved.

Vocabulary: amazing
simplified
incredible DID YOU KNOW THAT…
verbal Gifted children are better at encoding
foundation some information while ignoring other
information. They are better at
frustraytion suppressing irrelevant associations.
intentl They are better at automation.

Questions:
1. What do you think are the early sings of advanced intelligence?
2. What can you say about this story?
3. If you know that your child has an advanced learning capability, how would you
further develop him?
4. Do you think it is good to exploit a child’s intelligence?
 Mstudy Student’s Guide for Topic Talk

Level: 6.2
Lesson No. 07 : Idioms

1. A chip on his shoulder - he is angry about something.

Example: “I don't know why he is so unhappy.

He seems to have a chip on his shoulder.

2. Come full circle - a process has been completed.

Example: “The salmon has returned to the place

where it originally hatched. Its life
cycle has come full circle."

3. Squeaky clean - legitimate and proper.

Example: “We checked all of her references.

She is squeaky clean."

4. In the clear - out of trouble.

Example: “His innocence has been proven. He is

in the clear."

5. Steer clear of - avoid.

Example: “She is not very nice. I think we

should steer clear of her."
 Mstudy Student’s Guide for Topic Talk

Level: 6.2
Lesson No. 08 : Word Pairs

pat bat time dime could good

pig big train drain class glass
peach beach tuck duck crab grab
rope robe root rude back bag
crip crib slight slide Rick rig

few view van ban sick think

fan van very berry sank thank
rifle rival verse burst sought thought
leaf leave vote boat sum thumb
proof prove Viking biking sinner thinner

tens tenth ship chip see she

mass math shop chop seat sheet
face faith sheet cheat same shame
use youth cash catch sock shock
burse birth wash watch sour shower

 
 Mstudy Student’s Guide for Topic Talk

Level: 6.2
Lesson No. 09 : Facts About Dreams

There are some interesting facts about dreaming that you may not be aware of. These facts include:
• One third of most people’s lives is spent asleep, and a good portion of that time is spent in dream sleep.
• In the average lifetime, a person will have spent approximately six years in dream sleep equivalent to
more than 2,100 days of dreaming.
• Dreams interpretation existed almost as long as dreaming.
• Many animals dream as well. What they dream about, however, remains a mystery.
•If people are prevented from dreaming, they suffer a variety of personality disorder and psychological
problems. It is known that dreaming is an indispensable part of life.
• The dreams of blind people who were previously sighted sometimes contain visual images, while the dream
s of those who have been blind from birth do not.
• Dreams are forgotten very quickly upon waking. It is estimated that 50% of the content of a dream is lo
st within five minutes of walking and after 1 minute, as much as 90 % of the dream can be forgotten.
• The word dream is derived from a word in Middle English. The word “dreme” translates to “music” and “jo
y”. It is therefore apparent that dreams have long been looked at as a source of wonder and inspiration.
• Men most often dream about other men, while women tend to dream about men and women equally.
• In general, toddlers do not appear in their own dreams until they reach the age of three and four.
• It is impossible to snore and dream at the same time.
• Children commonly experience nightmares and these nightmares usually begin by the age of three and las
t until the child is seven or eight years old.
• More than 60% of people surveyed have been reported experiencing déjà vu in their dreams. Déjà vu dre
ams occur more frequently in women than in men.

Author: Badi Purwa

Vocabulary:
vivid DID YOU KNOW
imbued THAT…
indispensable
One famous dream is that of the pharaoh. He
derived dreamed that seven fat cattle came out to feed
apparent followed by seven lean cattle, which devoured
the fat cattle. After this, seven ragged ears of
Déjà vu corn ate seven good ears of corn. Joseph said
that it meant that there would be seven good
years of plenty followed by seven years of
famine.
Questions:
1. Do you think your dreams tell you something significant?
2. How often and when do you dream?
3. Do you try to interpret your dreams?
4. Do you believe that you would be lucky if you saw a pig in your dream? If so,
would you buy a lottery ticket?
 Mstudy Student’s Guide for Topic Talk

Level: 6.2
Lesson No. 10 : (ESP) Extrasensory Perception

An awareness that some people claim to experience independently of, and

beyond, their usual sensory abilities is termed extrasensory perception (ESP). Seeing,
hearing, smelling, touching, and tasting are known and common sensory process. Believers
of ESP claim that it is one of several kinds of psychic phenomena for which there is no
obvious explanation. The field of study called parapsychology includes the investagation of
extrasensory perception and psychokinesis, a phenomenon similar to ESP. An example of
psychokinesis is the falling of dice in a particular way, supposedly influenced by an
individual’s power of concentration.
Three main types of ESP are generally described. They are clairvoyance, tel
epathy, and precognition. Clairvoyance, which means “clear seeing” in French, is said to be
supernormal awareness of events, objects, or people obtained without the use of the know
n sense and not necessarily known to any other person. Telepathy is said to be the direct t
ransference of thoughts or mental states from one person to another, also without use of
the usual sensory channels, Precognition is said to be the perception of some future event.
Questions about whether or not ESP really exists have been debated by scie
ntists since the late 19th century. Most experiments that offer supporting evidence involve
card guessing. But setting up experiments or test for it is difficult. One of the best-know
n investigators of such phenomena was the psychologist Joseph Banks Rhine of the United
States. One of the tests he used involved the Zenar cards. These cards bear five differe
nt symbols: a cross, a star, a circle, a wave, and a rectangle. A pack consists of 25 cards. T
he subject of the experiment have proved inconclusive. Although many scientists continue
to doubt the existence of ESP, people who claim this ability are sometimes used by investi
gative teams searching for missing persons or things.

Vocabulary: psychic
phenomena
extrasensory DID YOU KNOW THAT
perception …
psycho kinesis
clairvoyance The Delphic Sibyl was the priestess presiding
over the Apollonian Oracle at Delphi, a Greek c
precognition olony, located in Mount Parnassus. She lived o
n Mount Parnassus and was believed to be a pr
ophet. The Delphic Sibyl was most renowned b
Questions: ecause of the famous receivers of her advice,
who were Aegeus, Cadmus, Herakles, Oedipu
s, Orestes, and Perseus.
1. What is ESP?
2. What are the five common sensory processes
3. What does parapsychology include?
4. What are the three types of ESP?
5. What is clairvoyance?
 Mstudy Student’s Guide for Topic Talk

Level: 6.2
Lesson No. 11 : What is Psychoanalysis

As a therapy, psychoanalysis is based on the observation

that individuals are often unaware of many of the factors
that determine their emotions and behavior. These
unconscious factors may create unhappiness, sometimes
in the form of recognizable symptoms and at other times
as troubling personality traits, difficulties in work or in
love relationships, or disturbances in mood and self-
esteem. Because these forces are unconscious, the advice
of friends and family, the reading of self help books, or
even the most determined efforts of will, often fail to
provide relief.

Psychoanalytic treatment demonstrates how these unconscious factors affect current relationships and
patterns of behavior, traces them back to their historical origins, shows how they have changed and
developed over time, and helps the individual to deal better with the realities of adult life. Analysis is the
intimate partnership, in the course of which the patient becomes aware of underlying sources of his or her
difficulties, not simply intellectually, but emotionally – by re-experiencing them with the analyst. Typically,
the patients comes four or five times a week, lies on a couch, and attempts to say everything that comes
to mind. These conditions create the analytic setting, which permits the emergence of aspects of mind not
accessible to the other methods of observation.
As the patient speaks, hints of the unconscious sources of current difficulties of current gradually begin
to appear – in certain repetitive patterns of behavior, in the subjects which the patient find hard to talk
about, in the ways the patient relates to the analyst. The analyst helps elucidate these for the patients,
who refines, corrects, rejects, and adds further thoughts and feelings. During the years that an analysis
takes place, the patient wrestles with these insights, going over them again and again with the analysis of
experiencing them in daily life, in fantasies, and in dreams. Patient and analyst join in efforts not only to
modify crippling life patterns and remove incapacitating symptoms, but also to expand the freedom to
work and to love. Eventually the patient’s life – his or her behavior, relationships, sense of self – changes in
deep and abiding ways.

Vocabulary: therapy
psychoanalytic DID YOU KNOW
elucidate
THAT…
wrestles
insights Psychoanalysis is a family of psychological
theories and methods based on the pioneering
incapacitating work of Sigmund Freud. As a result of talking
with patients, Freud came to believe that their
problems stemmed from culturally
unacceptable, thus repressed and
Questions: unconscious, desires and fantasies of a sexual
nature.
1. What is psychoanalysis based on?
2. What does psychoanalytic treatment demonstrate?
3. Why does the patient have to lie in a couch when he visits a psychologist?
4. Would you consider consulting a psychologist if you experience any emotional
problems?
 Mstudy Student’s Guide for Topic Talk

Level: 6.2
Lesson No. 12 : Useful Expressions

Employment Issue

Jake: Hey Ronald! I haven’t seen you in ages?

Ronald: Hey there Jake! Yeah, I’ve been a busy bee.
Jake: Busy with what? You’re a coach potato.
Ronald: I’ve been working at the cemetery, digging for those who bought the
farm.
Jake: Holy cow! I thought you where afraid of the dark?
Ronald: I’m still a scaredy-cat but this job is better than me screwing around.

Words and Expressions

In ages – A long time
Couch Potato – person who is addicted watching to all day
Bought the farm – person who put died.
Scaredy-cat – person who get scared easily.
Screwing around – Hanging around doing nothing.
 Mstudy Student’s Guide for Topic Talk

Level: 6.2
Lesson No. 13 : The Top 10 Companies for Asian Americans
While Asian Americans have strong representations in
technical fields, their rise in U.S. management ranks has
been slower. The Top 10 Companies for Asian Americans
demonstrate a long-term commitment to this community
and to recognizing developing and promoting top Asian-
American talent.
Here are the top companies for Asian Americans:
No. 1: Hewlett-Packard
Also No. 9 on the top 10 Companies for supplier
diversity list, No. 4 in the top 10 Companies for GLBT
Employees, and No. 31 on The Diversity Inc Top 50
Companies for Diversity list.
No. 2: Abbott
Also No. 8 on The Diversity Inc Top 50 Companies
for Diversity list.
Asian Americans are only 6.3 percent of all
managers at this pharmaceutical company but
received 9 percent of management promotions and are 9
percent of the top 10 percent highest-paid employees.
No. 3: New York Life Insurance Co.
Also one of the 25 Noteworthy Companies
This company has almost twice as many Asian-
American women in mid-management as the Top
50 (8 percent vs. 5 percent) and a retention rate for
Asian American of 92 percent. The company is
launching an employee-resource group for Asian
Americans.
No. 4: Merrill Lynch & Co.
Also No. 44 on The Diversity Top 50 Companies for
Diversity list and No. 1 on the Top 10 Companies for
People With Disabilities list.
Ten percent of all managers are Asian Americans at the
financial-services giant, but 13 percent of management pr
omotions go to Asian Americans and 9 percent of the top
10 percent highest-paid employees are Asian Americans.
No. 5: Southern California Edison Co.
Also one of the 25 Noteworthy Companies.
Seventeen percent of all women managers – 13.5 percen
t of all managers – are Asian American. Asian American al
so receive 13 percent of management promotions.
No. 6: Sempra Energy
Also No. 19 on the DiversityInc Top 50 Companies for d
iversity list and No. 1 on the top 10 Companies for supplier
s Diversity list.
No. 7: Novartis Pharmaceutical
Also No. 42 on The DiversityInc Top 50 Companies for
Diversity list.
With a 96 percent retention rate for Asian Americans,
the drug company reports that 12 percent of women at th
e CEO and direct-report level. Of All managers, 13 percen
t are Asian American.
No. 8: Merck & Co.
Also No. 4 on the Top 10 Companies for People Disabiliti
es list and No. 34 on the DiversityInc Top 50 companies f
or Diversity list.
Asian Americans are 9 percent of all managers (and 10
percent of all women managers) and receive 10 percent of
all management promotions.

Vocabulary: respondents
diversity DID YOU KNOW THAT…
bottom-quarter Asian American young people see themselves a
retention s trendsetters in three cultural categories: techn
ology/gadgetry, anime/manga and video-gaming.
pharmaceutical   Nearly 80% of respondents believed the first tw
recruitment o are areas where Asian Americans are influenci
ng trends, while 72% of respondents cite video g
representation aming as the third major area. 

Questions:
1. Which among the top 10 Asian-American Companies mentioned above is the
most familiar to you?
2. Would you rather have a low position in a big company or a high position in a
mediocre company?
3. Do you think being on the list is important for a company?
4. Would you like to work for a big company someday? Why?
5. How important is it for a company to be included in a best/top list?
 Mstudy Student’s Guide for Topic Talk

Level: 6.2
Lesson No. 14 : Are Women Earning More Than Men?

Without husbands, women have to focus on earning more. They work longer hours, they’re willing
to relocate and they’re more likely to choose higher-paying fields like technology. Without children men
have more liberty to earn less- that is, they are free to pursue more fulfilling and less lucrative
careers, like writing or art or teaching social studies.
According to Catalyst, a nonprofit organization that advocates for gender equality, in the business
world, men are nine times more likely to be responsible for bottom-line sales, marketing and finances,
not human resources or public relations.

But wait. Don’t companies favor men for these greater responsibilities to begin with? Overall,
though, track records being equal, whoever is more willing to relocate, travel and work 80-hour weeks
receive greater responsibilities. The male corporate model is built on a man’s greater willingness to
be a slave of sorts – especially once he has to provide for children.
There’s no denying that the old boys’ network is alive and well. But there’s also discrimination
against men. For example, try getting hired as a male dental hygienist, nursery school teacher or
cocktail waiter, or try selling clothing at Wal-Mart Stores. (Even the employees in the men’s wear
department are 93% women.) When we focus our binoculars only on discrimination, we miss
opportunities available to women, such as the 80 fields (e.g., financial analysis, radiation therapy,
statistics and most engineering fields in which women now earn more than men.)

Source: Warren Farrell

Vocabulary:
liberty
pursue
lucrative
career DID YOU KNOW
advocate THAT…
relocate
discrimination The first Jewish woman to win
the Nobel Prize is Nelly Sachs.
She is most famous for her
poetry about the Holocaust.

Questions:
1. Do men get paid more than women in your country? Why?
2. What are the common jobs for women in your country? For men?
3. Do you think there’s discrimination against women in the work place?
4. Is it possible for men and women to have equal opportunities for work? How?
5. What’s more important for you, earning more money or gaining more friends?
 Mstudy Student’s Guide for Topic Talk

Level: 6.2
Lesson No. 15 : Peace and Happiness Everyone’s Desire

Who does not want to be happy? Who does not want to enjoy good
health and long life? Who does not wish to see peace and security? These are the
normal desires of everyone. Sadly though, reality often goes contrary to our
wishes. The world today is full of distress. Worldwide disasters, calamities, wars,
diseases, crimes, and injustices are constantly on the rise. How can peace and
happiness be found? To those who claim to be practical and realistic, the way to
happiness is through wealth and riches. They feel that money is a safeguard.
With money, they can be comfortable in life and that comfort is equated to
happiness. They live with no more worries about food and shelter. True as it may
seem, money can bring fortification and advantage in some ways. But, is wealth
really the most important thing in life? Can money provide lasting protection?
How reliable is it when people equate happiness with monetary contentment? No
matter how successful a person may be, he must admit that circumstances can
change quickly and he can lose his position and possessions overnight. Wealth,
fame, prominence, pleasure, revelry - none of these can bring lasting happiness
and contentment. For our life to be meaningful, we must first understand why we
are here, and know the propose of life and existence. It’s not all about money.
It’s all about living in service of God fellowmen, environment and self.
Source: (English (pc-E)

Vocabulary:
security
circumstances
fame
prominence DID YOU KNOW
revelry THAT…
contrary
The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded annually to
distress persons, generally peacemakers and
contentment visionaries who have overcome notorious
cycles in violence, conflict or oppression
through their leadership in an attempt to
achieve peace.
Questions:
1. How do you satisfy your needs?
2. Is wealth really the most important thing in life?
3. How can peace and happiness be found?
4. In what ways have people tried to find peace and happiness?
5. What is the purpose of life?
 Mstudy Student’s Guide for Topic Talk

Level: 6.2
Lesson No. 16 : Idioms

1. Runs deep - entrenched, or ingrained.

Example: “He loves his country. Patriotism runs deep

in his veins."

2. Out of your depth - beyond your existing knowledge or ability.

Example: “You do not seem to have much

experience in this subject. Are you sure that you
are not out of your depth?"

3. All good things must come to an end - regretfully, we are finished

Example: “I have enjoyed reading the vancouver

english centre list of idioms but all good
things must come to an end.“

4. Arm and a leg – an exorbitantly high price that must be paid for
something that isn’t really worth it.

Example: “It’s true that to get a decent

apartment these days in new york, you have
to pay an arm and a leg.”

5. Make a way with – take; carry away

Example: “Two masked men held up the clerk and

made a way with the payroll.”
 Mstudy Student’s Guide for Topic Talk

Level: 6.2
Lesson No. 17 : Regular Transitions of Nouns and Verbs

Nouns Verbs

an accent [æks’nt] to accent [æksεnt]

a concert [känsert] to concert [k’nsert]
a conflict [känflikt] to conflict [k’nflikt]
a contest [käntest] to contest [k’ntest]
a contract [käntræct] to contract [k’ntrækt]
a contrast [käntæct] to contrast [k’ntræst]
a convert [känvert] to convert [k’nvert]
a convict [känvict] to convict [k’nvict]
a default [deefält] to default [d’fält]
a desert [dεz’rt] to desert [d’z’rt]  
a discharge [dischärj] to discharge [d’schärj]
an envelope [änv’lop] to envelop [envel’p]
an incline [inkline] to incline [inkline]
an influence [influ(w)’ns] to influence [influ(w)ns]
an insert [insert] to insert [insert]
an insult [ins’lt] to insult [insəlt]
an object [äbject] to object [əbject]
perfect [prf’ct] to perfect [prfekt]
a permit [prmit] to permit [prmit]
a present [prεz’nt] to present [pr’zεnt]
produce [produce] to produce [pr’duce]
progress [prägr’s] to progress [pr’grεss]
a project [präject] to project [pr’jεct]
a pronoun [pronoun] to pronounce [pr’nounce]
a protest [protest] to protest [pr’test]
a rebel [rεbəl] to rebel [r’bel]
a recall [reekäl] to recall [r’käll]
a record [rεk’rd] to record [r’cord]
a reject [reject] to reject [r’jεct]
research [res’rch] to research [r’srch]
a subject [s’bjekt] to subject [s’bjekt]
 Mstudy Student’s Guide for Topic Talk

Level: 6.2
Lesson No. 18 : Plenty of food – yet the poor are starving

In Tahoua market, there is no sign that times are hard. Instead, there are piles of red on
ions, bundles of glistening spinach , and pumpkins sliced into orange shards. There are plastics bag
s of rice, pasta nd manioc flour, and the sound of butchers’ knives whistling as they are sharpene
d before hacking apart joints of goat and beef.
A few minutes drive from the market, along muddy streets face of Niger under Canvas te
nts aid workers coax babies with spider limbs to take sips of milk, or the smallest dabs of high pr
otein paste.
Wasted infants are wrapped in gold foil to keep them warm. There is the sound of childre
n wailing, or coughing in machine-gun bursts.
“I cannot afford to buy millet in the market, so have no food, and there is no milk to give
my baby,” says Fatou, a mother cradling her son Alhassan. Though he is 12 months old he weights
just 3.3kg(around 7lbs). Fatou, a slende. Childlike young women in a blue shawl, ate weeds to survi
ve before her baby was admitted to treatment center run by the medical charity MSF.
This is a strange reality of Niger’shunger crisis. There is plenty of food, but children are
dying because their parents cannot afford to buy it
Niger, the second-poorest country in the world, relies heavily on donors such as the EU a
nd France, which favour free market solution to African poverty. So the Niger government declin
e to hand out free food to the starving. Instead, It offer millet at subsidized prices. But the poo
rest could still not afford to buy.
The food aid will arrive as children weakened by hunger face a new battle against disease.
It is the rainy season in Niger, and the water helps spread disease such as malaria and diarrhea. I
n desperate times adults can get by on the poorest of foods weeds and the stubble of their crop
s, but mothers cannot make breastmilk on this diet and infants cannot eat weeds.

Source: Guardian Newspapers Limited 2005

Vocabulary: glistening
spidery limbs
millet DID YOU KNOW THAT…
slender A total of 3.6 million people live in
shawl the region of Niger was affected by
subsidized the food crisis. According to the
declined most reliable estimate, some
874,000 people now need free food
desperate
to survive.

Questions:
1. What can we find in Tahoua market?
2. What is the situation of the children and infants there?
3. Why do you think there is hunger in Niger even if there is plenty of food?
4. What do you think should the Niger government do?
5. If you were in a position to help, what would you do to eradicate hunger
 Mstudy Student’s Guide for Topic Talk

Level: 6.2
Lesson No. 19 : Bonded Child Labor
Bonded labor takes place when a family receives an advance payment (sometimes as little as
U.S. $15) to hand a child-boy or girl-over to an employer. In most cases the child cannot work off d
ebt. Nor can the family raise enough money to buy the children back. The workplace is often structu
red so that “expenses” and/or “interest” are deducted from a children’s earnings such amounts that
it is almost impossible for a children to repay the debt. In some cases, the labor is generational-tha
t is, a child’s grandfather or great-grandfather was promised to an employer with a new-often with
no pay at all.
Two years ago at the age of seven, Anwar started weaving carpets in a village in Pakistan’s pr
ovince of Sindh. He was given some food, little free time, and no medical assistance. He was told rep
eatedly that he could not stop working until he earned enough money to pay an alleged family debt.
He was never told who is his family had borrowed money nor how much he had borrowed. Any time h
e made an error with his work, he was fined and the debt increased. Once when his work was consid
ered to be too slow, he was beaten with a stick. Once after a particularly painful beating, he tried t
o run away, only to be apprehended by the local police who forcibly returned him to the carpet loom
s.
On the advocacy front, we have met with children’s and human rights groups, as well as repr
esentatives from the United Nation Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the International labor Organization
(ILO), the World Bank, and other organizations, to try to develop a holistic strategy to prevent chil
dren from losing their childhood, education, and opportunities by being entrapped in bonded labor.
We have also worked to provide to children’s organizations and international advocacy groups object
ive on-the-spot reporting to support effort o effect change.

Source: Human Rights Watch 1995/hrw. Org (Defending Human Rights World Wide)

Vocabulary: bonded
advance
employer
structured DID YOU KNOW THAT…
generational Bounded labor is outlawed by the
abolition 1956 U.N. Supplementary Convention
advocacy on the Abolition of Slavery, the
alleged Slave Trade, and Institutions and
institutions Practices Similar to Slavery.

Questions:

1. What is bonded child labor?

2. Why do you think bounded child labor exist?
3. Can you till Anwar’s story in your own words?
4. How did the organization handled the situation on bounded child labor?
 Mstudy Student’s Guide for Topic Talk

Level: 6.2
Lesson No. 20 : Global outrage after India bombs

MUMBAI – Worlds powers condemned the bombs that killed over 160 people in
the Indian city of Mumbai overnight, and September 11-scared New York tightened
security on its subways. UNITED SATES Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the
string of explosions on commuter trains and at railway stations during the financial
capital’s evening rush hour was a “hideous incident”. We condemn thoroughly this
terrible terrorist incident,” Rice told reporters in Washington. “We will stead with
India in the war on terror.
“We will stand with India in the war on terror. It just shows this kind of hideous
incident can happen anywhere in the world against innocent people.”
In New York, police said they had heightened security on subways as precaution
but stressed that they had received no specific threats to the city.
The additional security measures in the subway system, which carries some 4.5
million people on a typical weekday, included increased patrols and increased random bag
searches.
New York has remained on high alert for another attack since the September 11
hijacked plane attacks destroyed the World Trade Center’s twin tower in 2001.

Source: New Zealand Herald: Reuters Thu 13 July 2006

Vocabulary: • outrage
• world powers DID YOU KNOW
condemned
commuter
THAT…
hideous incident Condoleezza Rice (born November
heightened security 14,1954 is the 66th and current United
patrols States Secretary of the state and the
second in the administration of Pres.
hijacked George W. Bush. She is the first
African American women to serve as
Secretary of State.

Questions:

1. What is the news about?

2. Who do you think are these world powers?
3. Who is Condoleezza Rice?
4. What are the effect of the India Bombing?
 Mstudy Student’s Guide for Topic Talk

Level: 6.2
Lesson No. 21 : Useful Expressions

Throwing good money after bad !!!

Harry: We're having such problems with our database software.

Diane: Does it crash a lot ?
Harry: It does but it also seems to be full of bugs, which gives us
inaccurate results at times.
Diane: That's bad. What are you going to do about it ?
Harry: Well we're thinking of getting a software consultant in to get the
bugs out of the system.
Diane: That could be throwing good money after bad. Why don't you buy
newer and more reliable software ?

Explanation : If you say that someone is throwing money after

bad, you are critical of them for trying to improve a
bad situation by spending more money on it, instead of
doing more thoughtful of practical things to improve it.

Example :  Do you know that he has gambled away the $5,000 you
lent him last time ? If you lend him any more money, you
are throwing good money after bad.
 Mstudy Student’s Guide for Topic Talk

Level: 6.2
Lesson No. 22 : American Indians

LONG BEFORE the white man set foot on American soil, the America Indians, or rather t
he Native Americans, had been living on this land. When the European came here, there were pro
bably 10 million Indian north of present-day Mexico and they had been living here for quit some ti
me. It is believe by many anthropologist and archaeologist that the first people arrived during th
e last ice-age, approximately 20,000 – 30,000 years ago , crossing the land bridges at the Bering
Sound, from northeastern Siberia into Alaska. The oldest documented Indian cultures in North A
merica are Sandia (15000 BC), Clovis (12000 BC) and Folsom (8000 BC).
So when the European started to arrive in the 16th and 17th century they were met by Nat
ive Americans, and enthusiastically so. Te Native regarded their white complexion visitors as som
ething of a marvel, not only for their outlandish dress and beards and winged ships but even more
for their wonderful technology – steel knives and swords, the fire-belching arquebus and cannon,
mirrors, hawkbells, earnings, copper and brass kettles, and so on.
It was the Europeans’ cultural arrogance, coupled with their materialistic view of the land
and its animal and plant beings, that the Indians found repellent, Europeans, in sum, were regarde
d as something mechanical – soulless creatures who wielded diabolically ingenious tools and weapo
ns to accomplish mad ends.
The end of the wars more or less coincided with the end of the 19th century. The last maj
or war was not really war, it was a massacre in 1890 where Indian warriors, women, and children w
ere slaughtered by U.S. cavalryman at wounded Knee, South Dakota, in final spasm of ferocity.

Source: http://www.americanwest.com/pages/indians.htms

Vocabulary: Anthropologist
Archaeologist
approximately DID YOU KNOW
originated THAT…
outlandish
documented The name “Indian” was first applied
to them by Christopher Columbus,
diabolically who believed, mistakenly that the
enthusiastically mainland and island of America were
part of the Indies, in Asia.

Questions:

1. Who were the first people to set foot on American soil?

2. What did archaeologist and anthropologist find out about American Indians?
3. How did the American Indian welcome to European?
4. How did the conflict between them start?
5. How did the conflict between them ended?
 Mstudy Student’s Guide for Topic Talk

Level: 6.2
Lesson No. 23 : Australian Paleontologist find traces of “Demon Ducks”
In 1972 Australian Anthropologist, Kenneth Maddock,said: “Australia is the only continent to have
been populated until modern times exclusively by hunters and gatherers…”(Australian Aborigines. A Portrait
of her Society ). He also quoted statistics showing that in 10,000 BC all human beings (100%) were hunters
and gatherers: by 1,500 AD this had reduced to about 1% because mankind had generally developed skills in
the cultivation of crops and domestication of animals. By 1960 only 0.001% of the world’s population were hu
nters and gatherers.
The fact that the Australian Aborigines did not cultivate land to grow crops or domesticate animal
s, they have often been portrayed as being a backward race.
However this can be disputed. After all, the Aborigines did harvest crops in the sense that they ma
de a form of flour from various types of flora. Domestication of animals was not possible due to the type (or
perhaps kind) of animals that roamed the continent of Australia. For example are kangaroos, wombats, possu
ms and snakes.
Aboriginal men and women who lived in coastal regions or in areas where there were rivers, caught a
nd collected food by fishing. Males usually used spears, while females used hand lines with hoks made from s
hells and rocks as sinkers. Fish species were also caught by the use of fish traps. Some traps were made fro
m rocks in the form of pen. At high tide fish could swim in and out of them, but some were trapped within th
e rock walls at low tide. Traps were also constructed from sticks and tree branches a cross rivers to make a
dam. When sufficient numbers were trapped the people would enter the water, scoop up the fish in their ha
nds and throw them onto the river bank to be collected from cooking.
Males hunted animals such as kangaroos, wallabies, echidnas and possums. But also reptiles (snakes
and lizards) and birds such as ducks, swans and parrots. They used spears and boomerangs to hit, catch and
kill – but also climbed trees to get their food . Sometimes they hunted in parties or groups and each person
shared the catch. On these occasions some of the men acted as ‘beaters’ driving animals towards another gr
oup of men who were armed and waiting to spear the animals that were driven towards them. Sometimes the
y used fire to drive the animals forward.

Source: http://www.crytalinks.com/dreamtime.html

Vocabulary: exclusively DID YOU KNOW THAT…

sufficient
statistics The aborigines had a number of laws that
governed their society. They ranged from
portrayed family discipline (whereby children and ot
boomerangs hers were expected to conform and behav
cultivation e to a code of conduct) to laws about tres
passing, food taboos, marrige laws or regu
coastal lations and breaches of acceptable behavi
domesticate or such as rape, murder and stealing.

Questions:

1. What did Kenneth Maddock say about the aborigines in his book?
2. What does “backward race” mean? Why was this used to describe the aborigines?
3. What proves that te aborigines were not a backward race after all?
4. Described the aboriginal men and women in Australia?
5. How did the aborigines live?
 Mstudy Student’s Guide for Topic Talk

Level: 6.2
Lesson No. 24 : Idioms

1. Enough is enough - this should stop.

Example: "i have listened to his complaints

for years but enough is enough."
2. Hang out - be together. Spend time with each other.

Example: "hey lauren, let's get together at

the starbucks on robson. We ca
n just hang out and p
ractice our english.“

3. A change of heart - a changed opinion.

Example: "at one time, i supported george

bush. As time went on, however,
i had a change of hea
rt.“

4. Get something off your chest - explain something

that is bothering you.

Example: "gary, you do not seem happy. Is

there something you would like t
o get off your chest?
“

5. Don't count your chickens before the eggs have

hatched - Do not make plans for something that might hap
pen.

Example: "yes, i think we will probably get a raise

in pay this year. Remember, though,
don't count your chickens befo
re the eggs have hatched."
 Mstudy Student’s Guide for Topic Talk

Level: 6.2
Lesson No. 25 : S or Z?

The sound of the letter S is [s] only if it follows an unvoiced consonant.

Otherwise, it becomes a Z in disguise. When an S follows a vowel, a voiced
consonant, or another S, it turns into a [z]. The following exercise will let
you hear and practice S with its dual sound. There are many more Z sounds
in English than S sounds.

When S becomes Z

Contrast
S Z S Z
1. price prize nouns books waxes
2. peace peas maps pencils
3. place plays months dogs
4. ice eyes hats trains
5. hiss his pops oranges
6. close to close bats clothes
7. use to use bikes windows
8. rice rise laughs washes
9. pace pays verbs thanks arrives
10. lacey lazy eats comes
11. thirsty Thursday takes goes
12. bus buzz speaks lunches
13. dust does contractions it’s there’s
14. face phase what’s he’s
15. Sue zoo that’s she’s
16. loose lose possessives a cat’s eye a dog’s ear
 Mstudy Student’s Guide for Topic Talk

Level: 6.2
Lesson No. 26 : Monkey Brains

Brain-eating in general is a tough realm for most of us to embra

ce. Brains don't really make for a sublime dining experience; Larouss
e notes that “they are considered as an easily digestible substance, o
ften given to invalids and children,” though not everyone finds them
easy to swallow. Even fans of cow-brain sandwiches had to abandon t
hat acquired taste after the federal government banned beef brains
as food over concerns about mad cow disease.
But few brain-food customs could be more unsettling than mon
key brains. Still considered a delicacy, or at least a foodstuff, in par
ts of South Asia, Africa and China, there's no doubt monkey brains h
ave their constituency. An admittedly small one. 
It's a bad practice to draw too many lines along the evolutionar
y chart, but monkeys are frankly a bit far up the food chain, and the
primate part brings with it faint suggestions of kuru. Google yourself
up some “monkey brains” and you'll find a blend of scientific studies
on simian cognition and Kipling-esque tales of exotic meals in shadow
ed, humid corners of the world.
Source: MSNBC, Some bravery as a side dish

Vocabulary: mad cow disease

customs
realm DID YOU KNOW THAT…
delicacy
tough Cow brain delicacy is served in the
sublime form of sandwiches in Evansville
Indiana, USA.
digestible

Questions:
1. Are you brave enough to eat spiders?
2. What are entomologists?
3. What are exotic foods?
4. What is an exotic food for you?
5. Do Korean people practice spider-eating?
 Mstudy Student’s Guide for Topic Talk

Level: 6.2
Lesson No. 27 : Spiders

Entomologists might disagree but the practice of eating insects doesn't s

eem nearly so bad as it sounds at first. 
But the line has to be drawn somewhere and arachnids seem to be a good
place to draw it.  Spider-eating is practiced in a number of places but Cambodia
seems to be the place where it has drawn the most attention, thanks to a practic
e of eating meaty finger-sized tarantulas known in Khmer as a-ping. For about a
dime per arachnid, you can get a cheap, ample meal of the critters fried up with
salt, pepper and perhaps a bit of garlic. (Keep in mind that a full restaurant entr
ee can be found in Phnom Penh for under $2.)
In the town of Skuon, on the road between Phnom Penh and Siem Reap, yo
u can pile your plate high with crispy critters and wash the whole thing down wit
h a slug of sider wine (made from fermented rice, spider added later).
The practice apparently was born out of grim necessity in the dark days of
the Khmer Rouge, but the taste has endured as the country rebuilt itself, event
ually earning the tarantulas an unofficial reputation as the caviar of Cambodia.

Source: MSNBC, Some bravery as a side dish

Vocabulary:
entomologists
apparently
ample DID YOU KNOW THAT…
critters
slug In the South Pacific people have eaten
the same spiders they use to weave
tarantulas fishing nets—with some diners saying
endured the cooked spiders taste nutty and
sticky like peanut butter. In spots in
Southeast Asia, street vendors sell
fried spiders to passerby.
Questions:
1. Are you brave enough to eat spiders?
2. What are entomologists?
3. What are exotic foods?
4. What is an exotic food for you?
5. Do Korean people practice spider-eating?
 Mstudy Student’s Guide for Topic Talk

Level: 6.2
Lesson No. 28 : Ortolan

This small songbird, part of the bunting family and found in southwest Fra
nce, among many places, doesn't seem much less palatable than other small birds
like squab.
Once captured, the ortolan would traditionally be left in a dark box, where
the lack of light would prompt it to gorge itself.  When plumped up to three or f
our times its normal size, the bird would be drowned in a snifter of armagnac, th
en quickly roasted for six or eight minutes and served hot. 
It's the brandy part that usually raises eyebrows; in an era of bolt guns an
d humane slaughter, drowning your food seems a tad gratuitous.  The only obviou
s corollary is drunken prawns, found on some Singaporean and Indonesian menus,
drowned in rice wine. Drowning a rare songbird somehow seems more sadistic tha
n dunking a shrimp in booze.
The traditional means of eating the ortolan is whole — bones, innards and a
ll, except the head or beak, which is bitten off — with the diner's head covered
by a napkin. The upfront explanation of the ritual?  This impromptu headgear allo
ws the diner to inhale all the roast bird's earthy, rich aroma.

Source: MSNBC, Some bravery as a side dish

Vocabulary:
bunting
gratuitous
corollary
DID YOU KNOW THAT…
humane This famous use of the towel as covering o
gorge f the head while eating Ortolan was launch
ed by a priest, a friend of Jean Antheline
palatable Brillat Savarin,a famous french lawyer.

Questions:
1. In what country can you find the ortolan?
2. How do people prepare an ortolan delicacy?
3. Traditionally, how do people eat the ortolan?
4. Have you eaten an ortolan before?
 Mstudy Student’s Guide for Topic Talk

Level: 6.2
Lesson No. 29 : Useful Expressions

Exceeding the speed limit !!!

Harvey: Just my luck. Look at this letter.

John Jo: Ah yes, I thought it was something official looking. You're
being fined for exceeding the speed limit it says. Why
weren't you fined on the spot ?
Harvey: Because I was photographed by a speed camera. I didn't
even know it was there.
John Jo: They're installing more and more of them around here.
Two of my friends were caught speeding by them last
month. You're going to have to be more careful in future.
Harvey: You're not kidding - the fine is $60. That's a lot of money
and it would be double if I got caught again.
John Jo: I know, speeding is an expensive hobby.

Explanation :  Exceed - To go beyond a permitted limit

 Mstudy Student’s Guide for Topic Talk

Level: 6.2
Lesson No. 30 : Land of the Midnight Sun

In the Area above the Artic Circle, lies a land cov

ered with mountains, valleys, lakes and streams come to
gether with Mother Nature to form an untamed region
on Sweden. It is famous for its strange weather activit
y – the sun never sets from May until mid-July of each a
nd every year. Winter, in contrast, bring the stunning di
splay of the northern lights across the night sky. All typ
es of skiing and snow activities abound in this region dur
ing the winter months. It is here that Sami (Lapp) peopl
e work together to keep their culture alive, herding rein
deer for a living. Someone of the major attractions in S
weden include Abisko and Savek National Park, where hi
kers of all fitness are attracted to trek a 18,500 adres
and 2,703 miles of hiking and skiing trails. Tukkasjarvi,
home of the world’s largest igloo, and Arvidsjaur, a Lapp
center and a popular tourist. Because of its wild and vas
t landscape and adventures, exotic experience, Sweden
has been a major destination and attraction for tourist
from all walks of life. It’s a place like no other It is, aft
er all, the last wilderness of Europe.

Vocabulary: untamed
strange
stunning DID YOU KNOW
abound THAT…
vast
landscape People of Sweden uses a lot
adventurous of candles to dispel the
darkness of winter and make
their homes a winter proof.
Questions:
1. What is Sweden famous for?
2. What are the activities people do during the winter months?
3. Name some of the major attraction in Sweden?
4. What are the major attraction in your country?