Greenhouse Gases Reached a New Level

【Unlocking Word Meanings】

　今日の単語・フレーズ

Read the following words/expressions found in today’s article. 

1. contributor [kuh n-TRIB-yuh-ter] (n.) – a person or an object that provides to something

Example: One of the major contributors to climate change is the high level of black carbon.

2. emit [ih-MIT] (v.) – to release or give off (e.g. gases or odor)

Example: The power plant emits too much harmful gases.

3. devastating [DEV-uh-stey-ting] (adj.) – capable of being highly destructive or damaging

Example: The devastating typhoon caused billions of damages in some parts of the Philippines.

4. balance [BAL-uh ns] (n.) – the state of being equal

Example: Large amount of greenhouse gases affects the balance of the atmosphere.

5. glacier [GLEY-sher] (n.) – a very large ice that moves slowly from high mountains or wide lands

Example: The glaciers in Antarctica are now melting due to higher temperature.

【Article】

　ニュース記事

Read the text below.

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) revealed that the atmospheric volume of greenhouse gases that cause climate change has hit a new record in 2012. WMO’s annual Greenhouse Gas Bulletin in Geneva revealed in early November that the level of carbon dioxide [dahy-OK-sahyd, -sid] (CO2), as well as heat-trapping gases like methane and nitrous oxide, has significantly increased. The WMO bulletin said the volume of CO2 grew faster in 2012 than in the previous decade. Being the primary greenhouse gas emitted by human activities, carbon dioxide reached 393.1 parts per million (ppm), a 141-percent increase from the pre-industrial period. The organization also highlighted how heat-trapping gases from human activities have upset the natural balance of the atmosphere. In fact, these gases are the major contributors to climate change. According to Dave Reay, a carbon management expert, CO2 has a ratchet effect, which means its level is expected to further increase over time. The WMO warned that the continuous upward and accelerating trend, which is driving climate change, will guarantee great effects in the future of the Earth. The global average temperatures may also reach 4.6 degrees higher by the end of the century than the pre-industrial era. This condition is expected to have devastating consequences to the planet for about 100 years. The weather will become more extreme, ice sheets and glaciers will melt, and sea levels will keep on rising.

【Viewpoint Discussion】

　ディスカッションテーマ

Enjoy a discussion with your tutor.  

Discussion A

         In your opinion, how is climate change affecting the world right now? Please explain your answer.

         Do you think there is an effective way to reduce the level of greenhouse gases? Please explain briefly.

Discussion B

         What do you think are the long term disadvantages of having too much pollutant? Please explain your answer.

         How can your government help in reducing the pollutants in your country?

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People Know Before They Wed The Wrong One

In the 1994 movie, Four Weddings and a Funeral (screenplay by Richard Curtis), the protagonist, Charles as played by Hugh Grant, suffers second thoughts as he walks down the aisle to wed Fiona in the fourth wedding in the script.  As anyone who has seen the movie knows, Charles, after some very funny inner turmoil, listens to his gut and does not follow through, instead pursuing and eventually marrying Carrie, played by Andie Macdowell.

If you've been through the ordeal of a wedding you may have experienced the second thoughts and sensation of "I'm making a mistake," as you tripped in fear and trepidation down the aisle.  

As it turns out, we already know if the marriage will be good or bad even before we say "I do."

A study by Professor James K. McNulty of Florida State University documents that newlyweds already know whether they will experience wedded bliss or an unhappy marriage as they approach the alter.

McNulty and his colleagues studied 135 heterosexual couples who had been married for less than six months and then followed up with them every six months over a four-year period. They found that the feelings the study participants verbalized about their marriages were unrelated to changes in their marital happiness over time. Instead, it was the gut-level negative evaluations of their partners that they unknowingly revealed during a baseline experiment that predicted future happiness.

"Although they may be largely unwilling or unable to verbalize them, people's automatic gut level evaluations of their partners predict one of the most important outcomes of their lives -- the trajectory of their marital satisfaction," the researchers write.

The conclusions:

• First, people's conscious attitudes, or how they said they felt, did not always reflect their gut-level or automatic feelings about their marriage.
• Second, it was the gut-level feelings, not their conscious ones, that actually predicted how happy they remained over time.

"Everyone wants to be in a good marriage," McNulty said. "And in the beginning, many people are able to convince themselves of that at a conscious level. But these automatic, gut-level responses are less influenced by what people want to think. You can't make yourself have a positive response through a lot of wishful thinking."

To conduct the experiment, the researchers asked the individuals to report their relationship satisfaction and the severity of their specific relationship problems. The participants also were asked to provide their conscious evaluations by describing their marriage according to 15 pairs of opposing adjectives, such as "good" or "bad," "satisfied" or "unsatisfied."

Most interesting to the researchers, though, were the findings regarding gut-level responses. The experiment involved flashing a photo of the study participant's spouse on a computer screen for just one-third of a second followed by a positive word like "awesome" or "terrific" or a negative word like "awful" or "terrible." The individuals simply had to press a key on the keyboard to indicate whether the word was positive or negative. The researchers used special software to measure reaction time.

"It's generally an easy task, but flashing a picture of their spouse makes people faster or slower depending on their automatic attitude toward the spouse," McNulty said. "People who have really positive feelings about their partners are very quick to indicate that words like 'awesome' are positive words and very slow to indicate that words like 'awful' are negative words."

That's because positive gut-level attitudes facilitate congruent cognitive processes and interfere with incongruent cognitive processes. In other words, McNulty explained, people with positive gut-level attitudes were really good at processing positive words but bad at processing negative words when those automatic attitudes were activated. The opposite was also true. When a spouse had negative feelings about their partner that were activated by the brief exposure to the photo, they had a harder time switching gears to process the positive words.

Both the explicit and implicit experiments were performed only once, at the baseline, but the researchers checked in with the couples every six months and asked them to report relationship satisfaction. The researchers found that the respondents who unwittingly revealed negative or lukewarm attitudes during the implicit measure reported the most marital dissatisfaction four years later.

"I think the findings suggest that people may want to attend a little bit to their gut," McNulty said. "If they can sense that their gut is telling them that there is a problem, then they might benefit from exploring that, maybe even with a professional marriage counselor."

*  *  *  *  *

Imagine a future in which everyone has to take the test described above in order to marry someone.  Yes, Big Brother is watching, but is it for the good?  Or is taking the power to make mistakes too infringing on a person's rights? 

Writing romance fiction for love and money
by Helene S Barnhart

Story Engineering
by Larry Brooks

Story Source:  J. K. McNulty, M. A. Olson, A. L. Meltzer, M. J. Shaffer. Though They May Be Unaware, Newlyweds Implicitly Know Whether Their Marriage Will Be Satisfying. Science, 2013

Bangladesh’s Garment Workers Protest over Wage

【Unlocking Word Meanings】

　今日の単語・フレーズ

Read the following words/expressions found in today’s article. 

1. chaotic [key-OT-ik] (adj.) – totally disordered and out of control

Example: The streets are chaotic due to ongoing protests.

2. hurl [hurl] (v.) – to violently throw something

Example: The angry protesters hurled stones at the government-owned buildings.

3. disperse [dih-SPURS] (v.) – to scatter or spread, especially a crowd

Example: The police dispersed the student protesters by hosing water at them.

4. meet one’s needs [meet wuhns needs] (idiom) – to have enough money in order to buy necessities like food, clothing, etc.

Example: The workers fight for a salary increase because their present salary could not meet their needs.

5. flourishing [FLUR-i-shing, FLUHR-] (adj.) – doing very well, especially in a business

Example: The flourishing textile businesses are dependent on the increasing demand for clothing.

【Article】

　ニュース記事

Read the text below.

The streets of Dhaka have recently been chaotic because of protests from thousands of garment factory workers. In the streets of the Ashulia industrial district, angry protesters attacked the owners of garment factories and hurled stones at them. Within only two days, about 200 factories closed down and at least 50 people got hurt. In order to disperse the multitude of protesters, the responding riot police had to use tear gas shells and rubber bullets. The workers’ demand for wage increase brought about these recent protests. Presently, garment factory workers receive a minimum pay of 38 dollars per month. A panel appointed by the government, the Minimum Wage Board, has recommended a 75% hike, which would raise the monthly salary to $66. However, the workers of the garment industry were unwilling to accept the proposal and are now pushing for a salary hike of 100 dollars a month. One of them said that $66 could hardly meet their needs because of the high prices of goods in the market. The salary paid to workers in Bangladesh is just half of what is paid in Vietnam. This low wage is instrumental to the flourishing ready-to-wear industry. Today, Bangladesh’s garment industry is the second largest in the world, next to China. The wage hike would significantly increase the production cost; hence, the industry has not endorsed the government’s recommendation yet. Its big fear is that a salary hike would cause the industry’s competitive edge to be lost.

【Viewpoint Discussion】

　ディスカッションテーマ

Enjoy a discussion with your tutor.  

Discussion A

         Do you think it is proper for the factory workers to demand for a salary hike? Why or why not?

         What do you think the government should do to help the struggling factory workers? Please explain briefly.

Discussion B

         How do you think people can have enough money for their own needs?

         What can the government do to help people who have little to no access to basic needs? Please explain.

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PANKs Tend to Spoil Their Nieces and Nephews

【Unlocking Word Meanings】

　今日の単語・フレーズ

Read the following words/expressions found in today’s article. 

1. surplus [SUR-pluhs, -pluh s] (n.) – the excess from the amount needed

Example: We should return the surplus from the shopping money.

2. coin [koin] (v.) – to come up with or create new phrases or words

Example: The word Blook is a recently coined word that means a book written by a blogger.

3. enamor [ih-NAM-er] (v.) – to attract; to charm

Example: The man was enamored with his nephew’s cuteness.

4. childbearing age [CHAHYLD-bair-ing eyj] (n. phrase) – the age in which a woman can become pregnant

Example: The lady can no longer have babies because she is already past the childbearing age.

5. smother [SMUHTH-er] (v.) – to entirely cover

Example: His aunt smothered him with so much love and affection.

【Article】

　ニュース記事

Read the text below.

Sociologists have recently coined a new term known as PANKs or professional aunts with no kids. With no kids of their own, PANKs tend to shower their nieces and nephews with love, advice, and more importantly, expensive gifts. Recent studies even show that more and more PANKs spoil their nephews and nieces. According to the Office for National Statistics, one in five British women is childless by the age of 45. This may be because more women decide to have children later in life to focus on their careers. As a result, some women get past the childbearing age, leaving them with no children. Thus, PANKs express their nurturing and caring side to their siblings’ or friends’ children. Without children, professional women use the surplus of their money to pamper their nieces and nephews without second thought. Euromonitor, a global marketing research firm, revealed that American PANKs even spend around £6 billion a year for their nephews and nieces. One of the well-known PANKs is Cameron Diaz. She could not resist giving her nieces so much love and smothering them with gifts. Another PANK is Jennifer Aniston, who plays like an aunt to friend Courtney Cox’s daughter, Coco. As the number of PANKs increases, the number of PUNKs or professional uncles with no kids also grows. One of the devoted PUNKs is Hollywood actor Jake Gyllenhaal, who has long been enamored with the joys of being an uncle. He even spends most of his evenings babysitting his sister’s children.

【Viewpoint Discussion】

　ディスカッションテーマ

Enjoy a discussion with your tutor.  

Discussion A

         Why else do you think PANKs like spending their money on their nephews and nieces? Please explain your answer.

         If you were a parent, would you want other people to spoil your children with gifts and toys? Why or why not?

Discussion B

         In your opinion, is it appropriate to spend so much money on other people’s children? Why or why not?

         How else can aunts and uncles show their love for their nephews and nieces?

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South Korea’s Education System “Produces Robots”

【Unlocking Word Meanings】

　今日の単語・フレーズ

Read the following words/expressions found in today’s article. 

1. notorious [noh-TAWR-ee-uh s, -TOHR-, nuh-] (adj.) – well-known for something negative

Example: South Korea is notorious for making high school students stay up all night to prepare for the Scholastic Aptitude Test.

2. put to the test  [poot too thuh TEST] (idiom) – to assess or try something out

Example: The Scholastic Aptitude Test puts to the test the students’ knowledge on five different subjects.

3. panel [PAN-l] (n.) – a group of people gathered for a certain purpose

Example: The panel that will be making the examination is composed of the country’s best teachers.

4. conceal [kuh n-SEEL] (v.) – to keep something secret or hidden

Example: The organization conceals the identity of the makers of the examination.

5. obligatory [uh-BLIG-uh-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee, OB-li-guh-] (adj.) – required by a particular rule

Example: The college entrance exam is obligatory for all students who wish to enter a college or university.

【Article】

　ニュース記事

Read the text below.

The recent notorious Scholastic Aptitude Test of Korea gave rise to some issues about the country’s education system. The test, known as “suneung” [SOON-uh ng] in Korean language, is an eight-hour exam that puts the students’ knowledge on five subjects to the test. These subjects are Mathematics, History, Science, Korean language, and English. This examination, one of the most difficult in the world, is conducted once a year and determines which school a student would enter. This year, more than 650,000 Korean high school students took the test. A panel of 490 professors and high school teachers created this year’s examination. The panel met for 34 days in a secret location in the mountainous Gangwon province. The members brought with them thousands of test preparatory books to make sure that no questions are similar to the hundreds of “suneung-designed” review books in the country. It was obligatory for the panel members to conceal the reason of their disappearance to their friends and relatives. They were also required to surrender their cell phones to ensure separation from the outside world. Although South Korea’s education system is praised internationally, some people still expressed their criticisms. Sunchon National University professor Lee Yun-ho argues that South Korean schools focus on memorization. Students simply sit and listen to the teacher without engaging in creative thinking. As a result, students who enter universities are ill-equipped for the pure intellectual capacity that tertiary education requires. According to Lee, South Korea’s educational system produces “robots.”

【Viewpoint Discussion】

　ディスカッションテーマ

Enjoy a discussion with your tutor.  

Discussion A

         Is it necessary to have an extremely difficult college entrance exam? Why or why not?

         Do you agree that South Korea’s educational system is producing “robots”? Explain.

Discussion B

         How can we help students learn creative thinking and be well-prepared for university?

         In your opinion, how important is college education? Explain.

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