GREJ1 Oral Exam

ZOO

Vocabulary

 ZOO - a place where captive animals are put on display for humans to see.
 ROADSIDE ZOOS - collections of animals in cages used to lure passing motorists to stop and see,
feed or play with the animals. ... Originally stocked with farm animals and native wildlife, they
offered anything from donkey rides to snakes.
 PETTING ZOO - features a combination of domesticated animals and some wild species that are
docile enough to touch and feed.
 ZOOCHOSIS - a word used to explain the stereotypical behavior of animals in captivity. Animals
in zoos and other forms of captivity suffer from stress and depression and display unusual
behaviors. Zoochosis is displayed through behavioral disorders such as circling, pacing, bar
biting, excessive grooming, addiction, and self-harm. Zoochotic animals also portray eating
disorders such as anorexia.
 ADAPTATION - genetically determined specialization of an animal’s physical structure or
behavior which helps the animal survive.
 ENCLOUSURE - the man-made habitat of an animal in captivity.
 BIOME - a group of areas with similar climates, weather patterns, seasons, and vegetation
(tundra, rainforest, etc.)
 CAMOUFLAGE - the color and patterns of animals’ skin, feathers, or fur which makes them
harder to see when in their natural surroundings.
 DEFENSES - the methods or characteristics a living thing has to protect itself.
 DIURNAL – active during the daytime and sleep at night.
 NOCTURNAL – active at night and sleep during the daytime.
 ENDANGERED - in peril or danger of extinction as a species.
 ENRICHMENT - providing challenging, stimulating, and beneficial activities, environments, and
objects for Zoo animals; toys (made without tape, glue, or chemicals), habitat design, sensory
awareness, increased food variety and foraging opportunities, interactivity, training and
handling.
 MENAGERIES - a collection of captive animals, frequently exotic, kept for display; or the place
where such a collection is kept, a precursor to the modern zoological garden
 URBAN ZOOS - often, these zoos sit in the middle of cities, making expansion difficult.
 OPEN-RANGE ZOOS - give animals more territory to roam and provide more natural habitats.
 SAFARI PARKS - larger than urban and open-range zoos, safari parks are areas where tourists can
drive their own cars to see non-native wildlife living in large, enclosed areas.
 GAME RESERVES - large swaths of land whose ecosystems and native species are protected. The
protections allow animals to live and reproduce at natural rates. Animals are allowed to roam
free.
 ANIMAL WELFARE - means how an animal is coping with the conditions in which it lives.
 CAPTIVE BREEDING PROGRAMMES - departments within zoos, rescues, sanctuaries and so on in
which animals are kept in enclosures and are bred to produce future generations of their
species.
 POACHING - illegal hunting or capturing of wild animals
 LANDSCAPE IMMERSION - popular technique of building realistic habitats

1
 CONSERVATION PROJECTS - programmes undertaken by conservation and environmental
organizations to protect biodiversity, wildlife, wild places or endangered species

ZOOS

Today, zoos are meant to entertain and educate the public but have a strong emphasis on scientific
research and species conservation. There is a trend toward giving animals more space and recreating
natural habitats. Zoos are usually regulated and inspected by the government.

History of zoo (zoological park)

 private collections by the wealthy to show their power

 zoos existed in Egypt, China, Greece and Rome

Modern zoos

 18th century (the Age of Enlightenment)->research of animal anatomy and behavior(kept in

places that looked like their habitats)
 The first modern zoo🡪 1793, Paris, France
 Today they're meant to entertain and educate the public
 Strong emphasis on scientific research and species conservation

Pros

 potential to educate the public about conservation issues and inspire people to protect animals
and their habitats
 bringing people and animals together
 provide a safe environment for animals which have been mistreated in circuses, or pets which
have been abandoned
 carry out important research into subjects like animalbehavior and how to treat illnesses.

Cons

 animals often suffer physically and mentally by being enclosed.

 Animals are closely confined, lack privacy, and have little opportunity for mental stimulation or
physical exercise. These conditions often result in abnormal and self-destructive behavior,
known as “zoochosis.”
 most visitors spend only a few minutes at each display, seeking entertainment rather than
enlightenment
 zoo officials usually favor exotic or popular animals—who draw crowds and publicity—rather
than threatened or endangered local wildlife

ANIMAL TESTING

Vocabulary

 AWA- Animal Welfare Act (e.g. The AWA requires that each research facility develop an internal
Institutional Animal Committee)
 IACUC- Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (e.g. The AWA requires that each research
facility develop an internal Institutional Animal Committee, more commonly known as an
Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee)

2
 USDA- US Department of Agriculture
 APHIS- Animal and Plant Health Inspection Servise (e.g. The US Department of Agriculture
(USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) reports the number of animals used
for research each year)
 Speciesism- is the idea that being human is a good enough reason for human animals to have
greater moral rights than non-human animals (e.g. The 1975 publication of Animal Liberation by
Australian philosopher Peter Singer galvanized the animal rights and anti-testing movements by
popularizing the notion of “speciesism” as being analogous to racism, sexism, and other forms of
prejudice)

Animal testing

 An animal test - any scientific experiment or test in which an animal is forced to undergo
something that is likely to cause them pain, suffering, distress or lasting harm
 Around 26 million animals are used every year in the United States
o Animals are used to:
o develop medical treatments,
o determine the toxicity of medications,
o check the safety of products destined for human use and other biomedical, commercial,
and health care uses
 Research on living animals has been practiced since at least 500 BC
 The AWA (Animal Welfare Act) requires that each research facility develop an internal
Institutional Animal Committee to “represent society’s concerns regarding the welfare of animal
subjects.”
 The Committee must be comprised of at least three members. One member must be a
veterinarian and one must be unaffiliated with the institution.
 The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS)
reports the number of animals used for research each year
 For fiscal year 2010 1,134,693 animals were reported
 The total numbers of animals used is unknown
 The USDA breaks down its data by three categories of pain type:
o animals that experience pain during their use in research but are given drugs to alleviate
it (339,769 animals in 2010);
o animals who experience pain and are not given drugs (97,123);
o and animals who do not experience pain and are not given drugs (697,801).

Why?

 to help scientists understand diseases that afflict animals and humans

 to test new treatments for human and animal diseases
 to help scientists understand the basic biology of animals

Where?

 Testing must occur in a facility with ample space and materials required to house the specific
animals to be used
 Checks are performed in most countries with animal testing regulations
 Private facilities, government laboratories, non-profit facilities, university laboratories

3
Which animals?

 mice, fish, rats, rabbits, guinea pigs, hamsters, farm animals, birds, cats, dogs, mini-pigs, and
non-human primates (monkeys, and in some countries, chimpanzees)
 horses, cows, sheep and pigs are often supplied by dealers and may originate from racing stables
or farms for use in animal experiments

Common animal procedures

 Forced chemical exposure in toxicity testing- oral force-feeding, forced inhalation, skin or
injection into the abdomen, muscle, etc.
 Exposure to drugs, chemicals or infectious disease at levels that cause illness, pain and distress,
or death
 Genetic manipulation, e.g., addition or “knocking out” of one or more genes
 Food and water deprivation
 Surgical procedures followed by recovery
 Infliction of wounds, burns and other injuries to study healing
 Infliction of pain to study its physiology and treatment
 Behavioural experiments designed to cause distress, e.g., electric shock or forced swimming
 Other manipulations to create “animal models” of human diseases ranging from cancer to stroke
to depression

Proponents and opponents

 Proponents of animal testing say that it has enabled the development of numerous life-saving
treatments for both humans and animals
 Opponents of animal testing say that it is cruel and inhumane to experiment on animals

Public opinion

 A public outcry over animal testing and the treatment of animals in general broke out in the
United States in the mid-1960s
 An article from 1965 speaks about an issue of Illustrated about Pepper. Researchers attempted
to implant an experimental cardiac pacemaker in her body
 In 2013 56% of Americans say medical testing on animals is morally acceptable, and 39% saying
it is morally wrong

Animals in space

 Since as early as 1948, animals have been used by the US space program for testing aspects of
space travel
 Several monkeys died in space flights
 The first living creature to orbit the Earth was Laika, a dog sent into space in 1957, she died

Facts

 In Mar. 2013, the European Union banned the import and sale of cosmetic products that use
ingredients tested on animals
 India and Israel have also banned animal testing for cosmetic products
 the United States has no such ban in place
 China is the only major market where testing all cosmetics on animals is required by law, and
foreign companies distributing their products to China must also have them tested on animals

4
 The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a plan on Sep. 10, 2019 to reduce studies
using mammal testing by 30% by 2025 and to eliminate the studies by 2035

Alternatives

 In Vitro Testing
o “organs-on-chips” contain human cells grown in a state-of-the-art system to mimic the
structure and function of human organs and organ systems
o The chips can be used instead of animals in disease research, drug testing, and toxicity
testing and have been shown to replicate human physiology, diseases, and drug
responses more accurately than animal experiments
 Computer (in silico) Modeling
o a wide range of sophisticated computer models that simulate human biology and the
progression of developing diseases
o these models can accurately predict the ways that new drugs will react in the human
body and replace the use of animals in exploratory research and many standard drug
tests
 Study of human beings and populations – epidemiology
o Research on human subjects can give very useful information about the body in health
and disease, and about the distribution of diseases in society

GENE EDITING

Vocabulary

 Selective breeding – a method that allows only those individual organisms with desired
characteristics to reproduce the next generation
 Hybridization – crossing different individuals to bring together the best of both organisms...
Zonkey (Zebra + Donkey)
 Inbreeding – continued mating of individuals with similar characteristics to maintain the desired
characteristics of a kind of organism
 Mutations – changes in DNA structure... Hypertrichosis, also called “werewolf syndrome”
 Transgenic – an organism that contains DNA from another species... Two transgenic mice who
have been genetically modified so that they carry a green fluorescent protein which glows green
under blue light
 Clone – an organism that is genetically identical to the organism from which it was produced
 DNA fingerprinting – analysis of fragments of DNA as a form of identification
 Human Genome Project – a research project that has linked over 20 scientific laboratories in six
countries in an effort to sequence and locate the entire collection of genes in human cells
 Gene therapy – the insertion of normal genes into human cells to correct genetic disorders. A
promising treatment option for a number of diseases (including inherited disorders, some types
of cancer, and certain viral infections), the technique remains risky and is still under study to
make sure that it will be safe and effective. Is currently being tested only for diseases that have
no other cures
 Genome editing (gene editing) – a group of technologies that give scientists the ability to change
an organism’s DNA

5
GMO

Vocabulary

 Modify – to change something slightly, especially in order to improve it or to make it less

extreme
 Crop - a plant grown for food, usually on a farm
 Pest - an insect or a small animal that damages plants or supplies of food
 Bacillus Thuringiensis - bacterium, commonly used as a biological pesticide
 Pesticide – a chemical used for killing insects, especially those that damage crops
 Yield – to give or supply - e.g.This year's crop yielded 1,000 bushels of corn.
 Crossbreed – an organism that is a mixture of two different breeds
 Label - a piece of paper or material fastened to an object that gives information about it
 Outcrossing - the practice of introducing unrelated genetic material into a breeding line
 FDA - the Food and Drug Administration: US government department that controls the food and
drugs that are allowed to be sold

What is GMO?

 Genetically Modified Organism

 plant, animal or other organism whose genetic makeup has been modified in a laboratory using
genetic engineering
 creates combinations of plant, animal, bacterial and virus genes that do not occur in nature or
through traditional crossbreeding methods

GMO in agriculture

 first approved for human consumption in the United States in 1994

 by 2014–15 about 90 percent of the corn, cotton, and soybeans planted in the United States
were GM
 e.g. modified rice - generated to help combat iron deficiency, which impacts close to 30 percent
of the world population

Sociopolitical relevance of GMOs

 potential risks associated with genetically engineered crops have fueled controversy
 many skeptics warn about the dangers that GM crops may pose to human health
 In the 2000s, all GM foods and GM animal feeds in the EU required to be labeled

Cons of GMO

 May contribute to an increase in food-related allergies

 May contribute to antibiotic resistance
 One research paper connects GMOs to cancer formation
 Outcrossing
 Some plants have been engineered to be toxic

Pros of GMO

 Giving food desirable traits - two new varieties of apple that turn less brown when cut or bruised
 Improve the quality of the food that is grown
 Increases nutritional value and enhances flavor

6
 Easier for farmers to grow
 Increases the food yields that we can produce
 Can be shipped to remote areas of the planet
 The FDA requires GM foods to meet the same requirements as all other foods

DYSMORPHIC DISORDER

 pathological preoccupation with an imagined or slight physical defect of one's body to the point
of causing significant stress or behavioral impairment in several areas (as work and personal
relationships)
 characterized by obsessive thinking about a flaw on a specific part of your face or body
 the flaw is often imagined or exaggerated in one’s mind and hardly noticeable to anyone else

Signs and symptoms

 camouflaging (with body position, clothing, makeup, etc.)

 comparing body part to others' appearance
 seeking surgery
 checking in a mirror
 avoiding mirrors
 skin picking
 excessive grooming
 excessive exercise
 changing clothes excessively, etc.

What causes BDD?

 a combination of neurological, biological, environmental, and genetic factors

 the risk of developing BDD :
o close biological relatives with BDD,
o bullying or teasing,
o certain personality traits, such as low self-esteem
o other mental health disorders

SOCIAL ANXIETY DISORDER – a form of anxiety that is brought about by social situations (such as
meeting strangers, dating, or public speaking) in which embarrassment or a negative judgment by
others may occur

OBSESSIVE-COMPULSIVE DISORDER - an anxiety disorder characterized by recurrent obsessions or

compulsions or both that cause significant distress, are time-consuming or interfere with normal
daily functioning, and are recognized by the individual affected as excessive or unreasonable

Treatment

 Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) - teaches patients to recognize irrational thoughts and

change negative thinking patterns
 Antidepressant medications - relieve the obsessive and compulsive symptoms of BDD
 Treatment is tailored to each patient so it is important to talk with a doctor to determine the
best individual approach

7
The influence of social media

 social media - critical part of our everyday lives

 most people ages 15 - 27 are actively engaged in at least one or more forms of social media
 obsession with the concept of perfection
 highly-curated selection of photos, images, and snaps that are far from our reality
 constant exposure to altered images can lead to an unhealthy pressure to achieve unrealistic
body types - body dysmorphic behaviors

OBSESSIVE COMPULSIVE DISORDER

What is OCD?

 a neurological disorder defined by recurrent, unwelcome thoughts (obsessions) and repetitive

behaviors (compulsions)
 impulses that occur over and over again in people's mind
 people with OCD know their obsessions and compulsions are irrational or excessive
 they have little or no control over them
 obsessive thoughts are often disturbing and distracting
 OCD is the fourth most common neuropsychiatric illness in the United States
 one in 40 adults and one in 200 children suffer from OCD at some point in their lives
 at least 5 million people are experiencing the symptoms of OCD
 if not treated appropriately OCD is usually chronic
 in some cases symptoms remain under control
 somtimes hospitalization may become necessary and regular employment impossible
 the emotional costs of OCD to the individual, the family, and society are enormous

Typical obsessions

 fear of being contaminated by germs or dirt or contaminating others

 fear of losing control and harming yourself or others
 intrusive sexually explicit or violent thoughts and images
 exaggerated focus on religious or moral ideas
 fear of losing or not having things you might need
 order and symmetry: the idea that everything must line up “just right”
 superstitions; excessive attention to something considered lucky or unlucky

 Washers
o afraid of contamination
o they usually have cleaning or hand-washing compulsions
 Checkers
o checkers repeatedly check things (oven turned off, door locked, etc.) that they associate
with harm or danger
 Doubters and sinners
o doubters and sinners are afraid that if everything isn’t perfect or done just right
something terrible will happen or they will be punished
 Counters amd arrangers

8
 o counters and arrangers are obsessed with order and symmetry
o they may have superstitions about certain numbers, colors, or arrangements
 Hoarders
o hoarders fear that something bad will happen if they throw anything away
o they compulsively hoard things that they don’t need or use
o they may also suffer from other disorders, such as depression, PTSD, compulsive buying,
kleptomania, ADHD, skin picking, or tic disorders

Vicious cyle of OCD

 usually, compulsions are performed in an attempt to make obsessions go away

 the relief never lasts
 the obsessive thoughts usually come back stronger
 compulsive rituals and behaviors often end up causing anxiety themselves as they become more
demanding and time-consuming

Other symptoms of OCD

 people with OCD may become demoralized or depressed

 feelings of intense anxiety, discomfort or disgust are common
 plucking out strands of hair or eyebrows
 the preoccupation with a minor or imagined bodily defect (body dysmorphic disorder)
 extreme nail biting
 the unfounded fear of having a serious illness

Treatment

 cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT)

 medication
 a combination of medication and CBT is often the most effective treatment for OCD

CBT

 the patient is deliberately and voluntarily exposed to feared objects or ideas either directly or by
imagination
 the therapist should be well trained
 the patient must be highly motivated
 the patient’s family must be cooperative

PLASTIC SURGERY

Vocabulary

 craniofacial - pertaining to the head (skull) and face

 tuck (verb) - if a part of someone’s body is tucked, they have plastic surgery to make their skin
tighter and make them look younger or thinner
 work/job (noun) - cosmetic surgery
 lift (noun) - plastic surgery to remove wrinkles and other signs of aging from your face; an
incision is made near the hair line and skin is pulled back and excess tissue is cut

9
 flap surgery - one type of surgery that involves transporting healthy, live tissue from one
location of the body to another
 Barbie doll - a small replica of a person, used as a toy, usually perfect

Plastic surgery

 plastic surgery is a surgical specialty involving the restoration, reconstruction, or alteration of

the human body
 it can be divided into two main categories: reconstructive surgery and cosmetic surgery
 reconstructive surgery includes craniofacial surgery, hand surgery, microsurgery, and the
treatment of burns
 while reconstructive surgery aims to reconstruct a part of the body or improve its functioning,
cosmetic (or aesthetic) surgery aims at improving the appearance of the body

The most common surgeries

 the most common reconstructive procedures are tumor removal, scar revision, hand surgery and
breast reduction plasty
 some other common reconstructive surgical procedures include breast reconstruction after a
mastectomy for the treatment of cancer, cleft lip and palate surgery, contracture surgery for
burn survivors, and creating a new outer ear when one is absent
 the most popular aesthetic/cosmetic procedures include:
o Abdominoplasty ("tummy tuck"): reshaping and firming of the abdomen
o Mammoplasty: best known is Breast augmentations ("breast implant" or "boob job")
o Buttock augmentation ("butt implant"): using silicone implants or fat grafting ("Brazilian
butt lift") where fat is transferred from other areas of the body
o Cheiloplasty: surgical reconstruction of the lip
o Rhinoplasty ("nose job"): reshaping of the nose sometimes used to correct breathing
impaired by structural defects
o Otoplasty ("ear surgery"/"ear pinning"): reshaping of the ear, most often done by
pinning the protruding ear closer to the head.
o Rhytidectomy ("face lift"): removal of wrinkles and signs of aging from the face
o Liposuction: removal of fat deposits by traditional suction technique

Common complications

 common complications of cosmetic surgery includes hematoma, nerve damage, infection,

scarring, implant failure and organ damage
 breast implants can have many complications, including rupture

Psychological disorder

 though media and advertising do play a large role in influencing many people's lives, such as by
making people believe plastic surgery to be an acceptable course to change our identities to our
liking, researchers believe that plastic surgery obsession is linked to psychological disorders like
body dysmorphic disorder
 there exists a correlation between sufferers of BDD and the tendency toward cosmetic plastic
surgery in order to correct a perceived defect in their appearance

10
VACCINATION

Vocabulary

 VACCINATION = injection of weakened or killed forms of the microbe, its toxins or one of its
surface proteins. The agent stimulates the body's immune system to recognize the agent as
foreign, destroy it, and "remember" it, so that the immune system can more easily recognize
and destroy any of these microorganisms that it later encounters.
 VACCINATION SCHEDULE = a timetable with recommended ages for immunising against
particular vaccine-preventable diseases.
 HERD IMMUNITY = a situation in which a sufficient proportion of a population is immune to an
infectious disease (through vaccination and/or prior illness) to make its spread from person to
person unlikely. Even individuals not vaccinated (such as newborns and those with chronic
illnesses) are offered some protection because the disease has little opportunity to spread
within the community.
 CONTRAINDICATION = a condition in a recipient which is likely to result in a life-threatening
problem if a vaccine were given.
 SIDE EFFECTS = an undesirable reaction resulting from immunization.
 AN EPIDEMIC = the occurrence of disease within a specific geographical area or population that
is in excess of what is normally expected.
 COMBINATION VACCINE = two or more vaccines administered in a single dose in order to reduce
the number of shots given. For example, the MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccine.

Vaccines are good

 a popular opinion
 taught in schools
 if not vaccinated, the child may not be allowed to go to kindergarten and the parents may face
legal consequences
 common misconception: vaccines last forever

Vaccines are bad

 unpopular opinion
 the anti-vax movement

SOME OF THE SIDE-EFFECTS OF THE MMR (MEASLES, MUMPS AND RUBELLA) VACCINE

 about a week to 11 days after the MMR injection, some children get a very mild form of measles
 about 3 to 4 weeks after having the MMR injection, 1 in 50 children develop a mild form of
mumps
 there's a small chance of having a seizure (fit) 6 to 11 days after having the MMR vaccine
 in extremely rare cases, a child can have a severe allergic reaction (known medically as
anaphylaxis) immediately after having the MMR vaccine

THE CHICKENPOX VACCINE

 Chickenpox vaccine became available in the United States in 1995. Each year, more than 3.5
million cases of chickenpox, 9,000 hospitalizations, and 100 deaths are prevented by chickenpox
vaccination in the United States

11
 CDC recommends two doses of chickenpox vaccine for children, adolescents, and adults who
have never had chickenpox and were never vaccinated

Freedom of speech?

 To achieve a reduction in the spread of anti-vax propaganda, Facebook will downrank groups
and pages that spread this kind of content across both News Feed and its search function.
Facebook will also reject ads promoting anti-vaccination misinformation. Repeat offenders
attempting to promote this content through ads may see their accounts disabled.
 Instagram “won’t show or recommend content that contains misinformation about vaccinations
on Instagram Explore or hashtag pages,” effectively burying that content from public-facing
spaces. Facebook noted that it would also remove anti-vax adjacent ad targeting descriptors
including the term “vaccine controversies.”
 After pressure from advertisers and advocacy groups, YouTube has pulled all
advertisements from videos that discourage parents from vaccinating their children and stopped
them from appearing as recommended videos
 Amazon has removed books that promote this topic

ABORTION

 Carla Nordstrom – in the late 1960s she found out that she was pregnant it was before the Roe
v. Wade — the landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling that made it legal for women throughout the
U.S. to end their pregnancy within the first three months. She did an illegal abortion
 "The Clergymen's Committee“- the group that was comprised of clergy — ministers and rabbis
— who arranged safe abortions for women
 "It was true, I looked down and saw that his, you know, the equipment that he used was
wrapped in a soiled cloth."

 the ending of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus before it can survive
outside the uterus
 a miscarriage or spontaneous abortion is an abortion that occurs without intervention
 an induced abortion (miscarriage) is abortion when deliberate steps are taken to end pregnacy
 "late termination of pregnancy“ is the procedure after the fetus has potential to survive outside
the womb
 when properly done, abortion is one of the safest procedures in medicine, but unsafe abortion is
a major cause of maternal death
 when performed legally and safely on a woman who desires it, induced abortions do not
increase the risk of long-term mental or physical problems
 around 56 million abortions are performed each year in the world, with about 45% done
unsafely
 abortion laws and cultural or religious views of abortions are different around the world
 in some areas abortion is legal only in specific cases such as rape, problems with the fetus,
poverty, risk to a woman's health, or incest
 those who oppose abortion often argue that an embryo or fetus is a human with a right to life,
and they may compare abortion to murder

12
 those who support the legality of abortion often hold that it is part of a woman's right to make
decisions about her own body

When an abortion can be carried out

 most abortions in England, Wales and Scotland are carried out before 24 weeks of pregnancy
 they can be carried out after 24 weeks in certain circumstances – for example, if the mother's
life is at risk or the child would be born with a severe disability

Types of abortion

 INDUCED – classified as therapeutic (done in response to a health condition of the women or

fetus) or elective (chosen for other reasons)
 SPONTANEOUS – the unintentional expulsion of an embryo or fetus before the 24th week of
gestation

Methods of abortion

 MEDICAL ABORTION – the abortion pill ( taking medicine to end the pregnacy)
 SURGICAL ABORTION (MVA, EVA)

Vacuum aspiration

 the procedure, which now is typically performed with local anesthetic, is commonly used up to
15 weeks of pregnancy
 it takes about 5 to 10 minutes and most women go home a few hours later

Risk of abortion

 Abortions are safest if they're carried out as early as possible in pregnancy

 Most women won't experience any problems, but there is a small risk of complications, such as:
 infection of the womb – occurs in up to 1 in every 10 abortions
 some of the pregnancy remaining in the womb – occurs in up to 1 in every 20 abortions
 excessive bleeding – occurs in about 1 in every 1,000 abortions
 damage to the entrance of the womb (cervix) – occurs in up to 1 in every 100 surgical abortions
 damage to the womb – occurs in 1 in every 250 to 1,000 surgical abortions and less than 1 in
1,000 medical abortions carried out at 12 to 24 weeks

Spontaneous abortion in animals

 in sheep it may be caused by stress or physical exertion, such as crowding through doors or
being chased by dogs
 in cows, abortion may be caused by contagious disease, but can often be controlled by
vaccination; eating pine needles can also induce abortions
 several plants, including broomweed, skunk cabbage, poison hemlock, and tree tobacco, are
known to cause fetal deformities and abortion in cattle and in sheep and goats
 in horses, a fetus may be aborted or resorbed if it has lethal white syndrome (autosomal genetic
disorder)
 in many species of sharks and rays, stress-induced abortions occur frequently on capture
 viral infection can cause abortion in dogs

13
 cats can experience spontaneous abortion for many reasons, including hormonal imbalance; a
combined abortion and spaying is performed on pregnant cats,to prevent unwanted kittens
from being born
 abortion may be induced in mares that have been mated improperly, or that have been
purchased by owners who did not realize the mares were pregnant, or that are pregnant
withtwin foals; it can occur in horses and zebras due to male harassment of pregnant mares or
forced copulation
 male gray langur monkeys may attack females following male takeover, causing miscarriage

DEATH PENALTY

Vocabulary

 Capital punishment - Killing of a person by judicial process as a punishment for an offense

 Amnesty - A decision by a government that allows political prisoners to go free
 “Death of a thousand cuts” - If something is suffering the death of a thousand cuts, or death by a
thousand cuts, lots of small bad things are happening, none of which are fatal in themselves, but
which add up to a slow and painful demise.
 “Murder will out” - This idiom means that bad deeds can't be kept secret forever.
 “Meet a sticky end” - If someone comes to a sticky end, they die in an unpleasant way
 “Those who live by the sword die by the sword” - This means that violent people will be treated
violently themselves
 Death row - A special placement in a prison that houses inmates awaiting execution after being
convicted of a capital crime.
 “Dead man walking” - A dead man walking is someone who is in great trouble and will certainly
get punished, lose their job or position, etc, soon.
 “Lethal injection” - A method of execution, a practice of injecting one of more drugs into a
person for the express purpose of causing immediate death
 A deterrent - something that discourages or is intended to discourage someone from doing
something

 Death penalty (capital punishment) is a government-sanctioned practice whereby a person is

killed by the state as a punishment for a crime
 Crimes that are punishable by death are known as capital crimes and they commonly include
serious offences such as murder, mass murder, aggravated cases of rape, child rape, terrorism,
treason, aircraft hijacking, drug trafficking and drug dealing, war crimes, crimes against
humanity, genocide…

The use of the capital punishment by country

 Out of the 198 United Nations states, 56 countries retain capital punishment, 106 countries have
completely abolished it 28 are abolitionist in practice

Methods

 Lethal gas
 Lethal injection

14
 Electrocution
 Firing squad
 Hanging

EUTHANASIA

 Greek words: Eu (good) and Thanatosis (death)

 "Good Death, "Gentle and Easy Death."

Types of euthanasia:

 Passive - “In passive euthanasia they don't directly take the patient's life, they just allow them to
die.”
 Active - “In active euthanasia a person directly and deliberately causes the patient's death.”
 Non-voluntary - “Non-voluntary euthanasia occurs when the person is unconscious or otherwise
unable to make a meaningful choice between living and dying, and an appropriate person takes
the decision on their behalf.”
 Voluntary - “Voluntary euthanasia occurs at the request of the person who dies.”
 Involuntary - “Involuntary euthanasia occurs when the person who dies chooses life and is killed
anyway.”
 Assisted - “Assisted suicide usually refers to cases where the person who is going to die needs
help to kill themself and asks for it.”

History

 Ancient Greece and Rome around the fifth century B.C.

 HIPPOCRATIC OATH: “I will give no deadly medicine to any one if asked, nor suggest any such
counsel”.
o one of the oldest binding documents in history
o contains principles held sacred by doctors to this day:
 to preserve patient’s privacy
 to teach the secrets of medicine to the next generation
 to treat the sick to the best of one's ability
 2001: The euthanasia law was adopted in Belgium
 2008: U.S. state of Washington legalizes assisted suicide

Laws

 In Europe euthanasia is only legal in the Netherlands and Belgium

 In Belgium euthanasia is only allowed if the patient is an adult.
 In Japan only passive euthanasia is permitted

Religion

 God has forbidden it ('you must not kill')

 Human life is sacred
 Human beings are made in God's image
 God gives people life, so only God has the right to take it away.

15
BANNED BOOKS

Vocabulary

 CENSORSHIP = the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information, on the

basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient”
 PROFANITY = socially offensive language, which may also be called cursing, curse words or
swearing
 BOOK CHALLENGING = banning a book
 BLASPHEMOUS DIALOG = the author of the book uses words such as "God" or "Jesus" as
profanity; this could also include any use of profanity or swear words within the text that any
reader might find offensive
 POLITICAL BIAS = most commonly occurs when books support or examine extreme political
parties/philosophies such as: fascism, communism, anarchism, etc.
 RELIGIOUS AFFILITATIONS = books have been banned or censored due to an unpopular religious
views or opinions in the content of the book; this is most commonly related to satanic or
witchcraft themes found in the book

Some banned books: Harry Potter, Adventures of Huckelberry Finn, 1984, The Catcher In The Rye,
The Great Gatsby, Da Vinci Code, To Kill A Mockingbird, The Decamerone, Madame Bovary, The Lord
Of The Rings...

Reasons: Anty-ethnic, cultural sensitivity, racism, sexism, anti-family, nudity, offensive language,
abortion, drugs, alcohol, smoking, gambling, gangs, violence, suicide, homosexuality, sex education,
political viewpoint, religious viewpoint, satanism...

Initiators: board member, administrator, teacher, pressure group, religious organization, politicians,
government, parent, patron...

Viewpoints to think about

 Parents have the right to decide what material their children are exposed to and when.
 Children should not be exposed to sex, violence, drug use, or other inappropriate topics in
school or public libraries.
 Books are a portal to different life experiences and reading encourages empathy and social-
emotional development.

RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN PEOPLE

 DO YOUR FAIR SHARE = to do your share of the work “He never does his fair share!”
 TAKE SOMEONE UNDER YOUR WING = to look after someone until they settle in “He took her
under his wing for her first month at work.”
 BEND OVER BACKWARDS FOR SOMEONE = do everything possible to help someone “She bent
over backwards for them when they first arrived in the town.”
 GET OFF ON THE WRONG FOOT WITH SOMEONE = to start off badly with someone “She really
got off on the wrong foot with her new boss.”
 KEEP SOMEONE AT ARM’S LENGTH = to keep someone at a distance “I’m keeping her at arm’s
length for the time being.”
 THEY’RE LIKE CAT AND DOG = to often argue with someone “Those two are like cat and dog.”

16
 A FRIEND IN NEED IS A FRIEND INDEED = a person who helps when we are not doing well or have
problems is a true friend, unlike other people who disappear when difficulties arise “Mary has
lost her keys, so she has nowhere to stay for the night, but Emma suggested that she stay at her
place. A friend in need is a friend indeed.’’
 TO BUILD BRIDGES = to improve relations between people who differ significantly from one
another for one reason or another, or who don’t like one another “A local charity organisation is
working to build bridges between different ethnic groups in the city.’’
 TO BE BORN OUT OF WEDLOCK = llegitimate, born to unmarried parents “I was born out of
wedlock and raised by a single mother.’’
 FRIENDS IN HIGH PLACES = one has friends who have important influential positions “Jim is very
rude to other workers just because he has some friends in high places.’’
 TO BE AT ODDS WITH SOMEONE = to have a conflict or disagreement with someone “The
director and the artist were always at odds while making that short film.’’
 THE HONEYMOON IS OVER = difficult time has started in your life after things have been
relatively easy or pleasant “I knew the honeymoon was over at my new job when they started
making me work late hours.’’

Our mental health and personal well being are tied up in the quality of our personal relationships.

The more closely we are connected to the people we love, the happier we feel and the more
personal satisfaction we have in our lives. Most people rate moments of connection and shared
enjoyment with their loved ones as their most important life experiences.

The relationships we have with other people are projections of the relationships we have within
ourselves. Our external relationships and our internal relationships are in fact the same
relationships. They only seem different because we look at them through different lenses.

Our relationships exist in our thoughts. Your relationship with another person is whatever you
imagine it to be. Whether you love someone or hate someone, you’re right. Now the other person
may have a completely different relationship to you, but understand that your representation of
what someone else thinks of you is also part of your thoughts. So your relationship with someone
includes what you think of that person and what you believe s/he thinks of you.

At first it might seem troublesome that you can never hope to gain a truly accurate, 100% objective
understanding of your relationships. You can never escape the subjective lens of your own
consciousness. The subjective view of relationships implies that you can change or improve your
relationships with others by working on the internal relationships within yourself. Furthermore, you
can improve your internal relationships, such as your self-esteem, by working on your relationships
with others. Ultimately it’s all the same thing.

 FRIENDSHIP.
o Friends are people who we are not related to but choose to interact with. Friends are
people we trust, respect, care about and feel that we can confide in and want to spend
time with.
o A good friendship should be built on honesty, support and loyalty. There are different
degrees of friendship. You may find that you feel closer to some friends than others, and it
is perfectly normal. Some friends, especially if they have only been known for a short time
or are not seen very often, may not be appropriate to confide in about personal issues or
concerns. You may find that you feel more comfortable and able to confide in friends

17
 whom you have known for longer or spend more time with. Friends who are very close
and know each other well are sometimes referred to as “best friends”.
o Some people have many friends, while others may only have one or two. There is no right
or wrong number of friends to have and everyone is different. Good friendships are
mutually respectful and supportive and share common interests and ideas.
 FAMILY.
o Family might be defined as a group of people who are related to each other, but it’s more
than that. It’s a meaningful connection, an experience. It’s an incredible and unbreakable
bond—created by mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers. It’s comfort in a world of
uncertainty. It’s a shoulder to lean on. It’s a source of inspiration. It’s love and support. It’s
that warm and fuzzy feeling. It’s wonderful, and it’s necessary. ‘It is important to have
strong communication with family members as, if a healthy relationship is nurtured, a
family can be a lifelong source of support.’ Even though family members might often
annoy us, they are still an irreplaceable part of our life and most of the people would
probably do everything for the sake of happiness of their family.
 ROMANTIC.
o ‘LOVE is one of the most profound emotions known to human beings.’
o A romantic relationship is one in which you feel very strongly attracted to the other
person, both to their personality and, often, also physically. It is the closest form of
relationship and the two people involved feel an incredibly strong connection and bond to
each other that they do not feel with anyone else, even close friends.
o For many, romantic relationships comprise one of the most meaningful aspects of life,
providing a source of deep fulfillment. The need for human connection appears to be
innate—but the ability to form healthy, loving relationships is learned.
o Some evidence suggests that the ability to form a stable relationship starts to form in
infancy, in a child's earliest experiences with a caregiver who reliably meets the infant's
needs for food, care, warmth, protection, stimulation, and social contact.
o Failed relationships happen for many reasons, and the failure of a relationship is often a
source of great psychological anguish. Most people have to work consciously to master
the skills necessary to make relationships endure and flourish.
o Strong relationships are continually nurtured with care and communication. Although
relationships can take many forms, certain traits have been shown to be especially
important for healthy relationships. Each individual should, for starters, feel confident that
their partner is willing to devote time and attention to the other. They must both also be
committed to accommodating the differences and challenges that inevitably emerge.
o In the 21st century, good relationships are generally marked by a sense of fairness,
emotional as well as physical—particularly in the distribution of chores necessary to
maintain a household. Partners in strong relationships also feel grateful for one another,
openly provide and receive affection, and engage in honest discussions.
 PROFFESIONAL.
o No matter what you want to accomplish, you will need the support and cooperation of
others to do it.’
o Good work relationships provide the foundation for success in any career. Knowing the
right people and building successful relationships will be of great importance.
o Not only must you know people, but you must keep your presence before them. This
involves networking in such a way as to maintain your relationships with your valuable
customers or potential customers, allies and referral sources . . . assuming you want to
count on their help and support in the future.

18
 o Imagine this scenario: Let's say you haven’t spoken with someone in months or years.
Then one day you need his help. You call him only to find out he has moved, or he is no
longer in the same business and is not interested in your services. He or she may no longer
place the same degree of faith in you, and cannot support you now because you let the
relationship go. You have allowed yourself to drop off his radar screen. He probably feels
you didn't place importance upon the relationship.
 SELF.
o ‘Self-improvement should be a high priority for you - as your relationship with yourself
goes, so will all the others.’
o Having a healthy relationship with yourself means that you have a stable self-concept. You
should feel comfortable in your own skin, to the point where you don't need attachment
from others in order to feel whole.
o Studies show that individuals who do take care of themselves and who show self-interest
without selfishness are happier. When you feel good about yourself, it complements every
other relationship that you have.
o Self-love is the best kind of love. It allows us to connect to our soul's purpose and live the
life that we want. In the words of the late, great Louise Hay, “Loving ourselves works
miracles in our lives.”
o According to the subjective model, when you forgive, accept, and love all parts of yourself,
you will forgive, accept, and love all other human beings as they are. The more you
improve your internal relationships between your thoughts, beliefs, and intentions, the
more loving and harmonious your human relationships will become. Hold unconditional
love in your consciousness, and you’ll see it reflected in your reality.

BODY LANGUAGE

 The language spoken by the body in terms of facial expressions, hand gestures, posture, and
other body movements
 Accounts for 50-70% of all communication
 Expresses both conscious and unconscious behaviour

How can we interpret body language?

 How we position our bodies

 Our closeness to the person we are talkin to
 Our facial expressions
 Our eyes, how they move and focus
 How we touch ourselves and others
 How our bodies connect with non-bodily things (pens, cigarettes, clothes...)
 Our breathing, heartbeat, etc.

What is the importance of body language?

 We understand more about people’s feelings, and even our feelings

 We can improve the way we feel, what our body says about us, and what we archive
 Distinguishes liars
 Helps to understand deep feelings
 Increases awareness of the situation

19
 Increaces communication
 Understanding it is one step closer to understanding human behavior and it what it means to
communicate.

Background and history

 The first known experts to consider aspects of body language were probably the ancient Greeks
(Hippocrates and Aristotle), through their interest in human personality and behaviour
 The Romans (Cicero), relating gestures to feelings and communications
 Charles Darwin in the late 1800s was the earliest expert to have made serious scientific
observation about body language, but there was little substantial development of ideas for at
least the next 150 years
 Julius Fast was an American writer of fiction and non-fiction works about human physiology and
behaviour. His book Body Language was the first to bring the subject.

Body language and evolution

 Our cavemen ancestors certainly needed to read body language, if only because no other
language existed
 Shepherds, horse-riders and animal trainers have good capabilities in reading animal body
language.
 Women tend to have better perception and interpretation of body language than men. This may
be feature of evolutionary survival, since females needed good body language skills to reduce
their physical vulnerability.

Six universal facial expressions: happiness, sadness, fear, disgust, surprise, anger

Five types of body language:

 Eye contact
 Facial expression
 Gestures
 Posture and stance
 Space relationship

GENDER EQUALITY

Vocabulary

 FEMINISM - Belief in and desire for equality between the sexes.

 PATRIARCHY - A hierarchical-structured society in which men hold more power.
 MISOGYNY - Hatred of women.
 MISANDRY - Hatred of men.
 YES MEANS YES - A paradigm shift in the way we look at rape, moving beyond "no means no"
toward the idea that consent must be explicit.
 BROPROPRIATING - Stealing an idea from a woman and putting it into the world as your own.
 SEXISM - The idea that women are inferior to men.

20
GENDER IDENTITY

Vocabulary

 GENDER IDENTITY - personal sense of one's own gender

 CONGRUENCE – the feeling of harmony in our gender
 TRANSITIONING - a term commonly used to refer to the steps a transgender, agender, or non-
binary person takes in order to find congruence in their gender
 GENDER BINARY - a system that constructs gender according to two discrete and opposite
categories: boy/man and girl/woman
 CISGENDER - refers to people whose gender identity aligns with their assigned sex at birth
 TRANSGENDER - a gender identity that reflects a binary gender identity that is opposite from the
sex they were assigned at birth
 AGENDER - a person who sees themself as not having a gender
 GENDER DYSPHORIA - when someone feels very unhappy, uneasy, or dissatisfied in relation to
their gender
 GENDERFLUID - genderfluid people move between genders, experiencing their gender as
something dynamic and changing
 GENDER BENDER- one who dresses and/or behaves in a manner or style associated with another
gender/ who challenges, denies, or explores the borders or limitations of gender identity by
various means
 GENDER GAP - a phrase that can be applied to any socioeconomic dif ference that exists
between men and women
 TRANSPHOBIA - fear, dislike of, and/or prejudice against transgender people

Gender identity

 personal sense of one's own gender

 can correlate with assigned sex at birth or can differ from it
 in most societies, there is a basic division between gender attributes assigned to males and
females
 GENDER - the complex interrelationship between three dimensions: body (biological sex),
gender identity, social
 BODY (BIOLOGICAL SEX)
o masculinity and femininity are equated with certain physical attributes
o binary view of sex fails to capture even the biological aspect of gender – intersex traits
(disorders of sexual development) - demonstrate that sex exists across a continuum of
possibilities
o the relationship between a person’s gender and their body goes beyond one’s
reproductive functions
 IDENTITY
o our internal experience and naming of our gender which can correspond to or differ
from the sex we were assigned at birth
o comes from within each of us
o as language evolves, a person’s name for their gender may also evolve - youth and
young adults today no longer feel bound by the gender binary, instead establishing a
growing vocabulary for gender
 SOCIAL
o includes gender expression - the way we communicate our gender to others

21
 o includes gender roles
o everything is assigned a gender—toys, colors and clothes are some of the most obvious
examples
o expression is distinct from identity!

ILLUMINATI

Vocabulary

 Illuminati - people who use dark magic -”All celebrities are illuminati.”
 Conspiracy theory - a belief that some covert but influential organization is responsible for an
unexplained event -” Conspiracy theories sprung up soon after the leader's assassination”
 Veneration - great respect – ”The traditional veneration of saints”
 Hell-bent - recklessness or daring ” Oh, have you heard how old Maine went? She went hell-bent
for Governor Kent”
 Imp - a Devil’s child ”Look at his red, devil eyes. He is an imp!”
 Catatonic - lack of movement, activity ” Soon after a curiously catatonic patient mysteriously
appears in a chaotic emergency psych ward, bodies start dropping.”
 Eye of Horus - the Egyptian symbol ”She has the eye of Horus on her T-shirt. Is she a part of
illuminati?”

What is illuminati?

 Secret Bavarian society 1776 – 1785

 Adam Weishaupt  Enlightenment ideals

Their beliefs?

 Two sides: their odd rituals and their ideals

 They: used signals, adopted pseudonyms, had hierarchies

Why did they disappear?

 1785- Karl Theodor banned secret societies

 The myth expanded- Cospiracy Theories in American History: An Encyclopedia  dreams of
world domination and cultish behaviour

Are they related to the Freemasons?

 NO
 ‘the Illuminati recruited many members in Europe through Freemason lodges’
 Freemasons influenced the USA (Founding Fathers)
 "People will use a term like 'Illuminati' to define anything that they don't like that might
challenge their values," says Joseph Uscinski

Modern Illuminati

 The Illuminatus Trilogy; Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson,

 "It was a great example of the post-'60s ways of ironizing elite forms of power," Mark Fenster
says. "That ironic vision of conspiracy theory is extremely widely distributed. You can be both a
serious conspiracy theorist and joke about it.„

22
 Angels and Demons; Dan Brown  the group is often intermingled with Satanism, alien myths
 the Illuminati became a periodic staple of popular culture

POLITICAL (IN)CORRECTNESS

POLITICALLY CORRECT PERSON - believes that language and actions that could be offensive
to others, especially those relating to sex and race, should be avoided

A politically correct word or expression is used instead of another one to avoid being offensive

If you say that someone is politically incorrect, you mean that they do not care if they offend or
upset other people in society, for example with their attitudes towards sex, race, or disability.

politically correct: appeared in late 1970s to describe something that was in accordance
with established political, legal, or social norms or conventions

SOVIET COMMUNIST PARTY (1920s): to enforce strict adherence to the party line in all aspects of life

INCORRECT CORRECT

Mexican Hispanic

fireman firefighter

waitress server

best man for the job best person for the job

man-made artificial

mankind humanity

steward /stewardess flight attendant

homosexual same sex

actress actor

postman mail carrier

prostitute sex worker / sex care provider

terrorist freedom fighter / rebel / protester

BRAIN DRAIN

Vocabulary

 Brain drain – a large emigration of individuals with technical skills or knowledge, normally due to
conflict, lack of opportunity, political instability, or health risks. (The stagnation in pay at the
university has led to a serious brain-drain.)

23
 Human capital flight – it is a parallel of capital flight which refers to the same movement of
financial capital. It describes the emigration of "scientists and technologists" to North America
and Europe from different developing countries. (Serbia is one of the top countries that have
experienced human capital flight from the fall of communist regime.)

Brain training – Preparing highly skilled people needed for the development of a country. Brain
training is related to an economic cost since training is sponsored by the government. (He runs a
course in brain training for older people.)

Brain gain – occurs when there is a large-scale immigration (as opposed to emigration) of technically
qualified persons. We can talk of highly skilled people coming to Canada as brain gain as opposed to
brain drain which refers to the act of leaving their home country. (Cities and towns must implement
'brain gain' policies to help boost regional growth, it adds.)

Brain exchange – when the highly skilled people leave a country they are replaced by others coming
from other countries. This exchange usually happens between developed countries. (The brain
exchange between those two countries is not enormous, but the benefits are seen.)

Earn a living – to earn the money needed for food, clothing, etc. She’s just trying to earn a living.
(That’s why she’s doing all those things.)

Feel homesick – longing for home and family while absent from them. (Most people get homesick
the first time they leave home.)

Social unrest – happens as a result of collective dissatisfaction and manifests in unconventional and
sometimes violent forms of behavior that disrupts the typical social order of society. (The festival,
however, did not flourish again immediately, due to continued fighting and social unrest.)

Push factors – something that makes people want to leave a place or escape from a particular
situation. (Instead of a fruitless attempt to eliminate illegal immigration, rich countries could focus
on reducing the push factors that force some to flee - chiefly poverty and persecution.)

Pull factors – something that attracts people to a place or an activity. (Warm weather and a low
living costs are two of the pull factors drawing people to Texas.)

IMMIGRATION AND CULTURAL IDENTITY

Vocabulary

 Asylum seeker - someone who leaves their own country, often for political reasons or because of
war, and who travels to another country hoping that the government will protect them and
allow them to live there.
 Refugee - a person who has been forced to leave their country in order to escape war,
persecution, or natural disaster.
 Economic migrant - someone who leaves his or her country of origin purely for financial and/or
economic reasons.
 Acculturation - cultural modification of an individual, group, or people by adapting to or
borrowing traits from another culture.
 Assimilation - in anthropology and sociology, the process whereby individuals or groups of
differing ethnic heritage are absorbed into the dominant culture of a society.

24
 Naturalization - the course of action undertaken to become a citizen of a country other than the
country where one was born.
 Human rights - rights inherent to all human beings, regardless of race, sex, nationality, ethnicity,
language, religion, or any other status. Human rights include the right to life and liberty,
freedom from slavery and torture, freedom of opinion and expression, the right to work and
education, and many more.

MIGRATION CRISIS

Vocabulary

 Migrant - a person that travels to a different country or place, often in order to find work
 Refugee - a person who has escaped from their own country for political, religious, or economic
reasons or because of a war
 Asylum seeker - someone who leaves their own country, often for political reasons or because of
war, and who travels to another country hoping that the government will protect them and
allow them to live there
 Illegal immigrant - someone who lives or works in another country when they do not have the
legal right to do this
 UNHCR - (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees)- a global organization dedicated to
saving lives, protecting rights and building a better future for refugees, forcibly displaced
communities and stateless people
 Multiculturalism - the belief that different cultures within a society should all be given
importance
 Xenophobia - extreme dislike or fear of foreigners, their customs, their religions, etc.

 European refugee crisis exploded into public consciousness in 2015

 Arab Spring of 2011 the civil war in Syria forced millions to flee their countries
 in the fall of 2015, when the number of refugees arriving in Europe increased
 The refugees came mainly from war-torn Syria, from Iraq and Afghanistan, heading to Austria, to
Germany, to Sweden, traveling up from Greece and through the Balkans
 the route across the Mediterranean—the primary path people took to reach Europe from North
Africa
 over a million people came along this route in 2014 and 2015, mainly from Libya to Italy
 170,000 arrived in 2014, 62 000 of those applied for asylum in Italy, while the majority of Syrians
and Eritreans chose to continue to countries like Germany or Sweden
 more than 3,000 migrants died trying to cross the Mediterranean in 2014 alone
 Hundreds of women were sexually assaulted and robbed during New Year’s celebrations on the
New Year’s Eve in 2015 in Cologne, in attacks linked by the police to young men with Arabic or
North African roots.

The fear of migrants

 Hungary- Viktor Orbán forcing out the Central European University and almost destroying the
country’s free press and most other liberal institutions
 Austria- neo-Nazis in the governing coalition wanting to fail kindergarteners for not knowing
German

25
 stoking voters’ fear of migrants, promising to ban new immigrants and to take away the rights of
immigrants already in the country
 Brexit- A YouGov poll in the days before Brexit found that 56% of Britons named “immigration
and asylum” as the biggest issue facing the country

SHOULD SOCIETY ALLOW GAY COUPLES TO ADOPT?

 LGBT adoption can be the form of a joint adoption by a same-sex couple, adoption by one
partner of a same-sex couple of the other's biological child (step-child adoption), or adoption by
a single LGBT person
 Joint adoption by same-sex couples is legal in twenty-seven countries
 Six countries allow one partner of a same-sex couple to adopt a child of the other partner
 In almost whole Asia and Africa for gay couples is forbbiden to adopt
 Homosexual couples cannot adopt in Croatia
 In Croatia, one couple decided to sue the state because they are not allowed to adopt

Pros

 If country allows gay couples to adopt it gives children an opportunity for a better life
 Children raised in gay marriage are more open-minded and sympathetic
 Same-sex adoption does not have a negative impact on children ( they grow up as successfully as
childen raised by heterosexual parents)
 There are no significant differences in the development of gender identity and sexual orientation
 Love that children get in their families is always better than living in orphanage
 Lesbian and gay couples adopt transracially more often than heterosexual couples
 Studies have shown that children are more influenced by their interactions with parents than by
their parents’ sexual orientation

Cons

 Discrimination – child can be bullied because of his familiy

 Teens raised by LGBT parents often have higher rates of depression, drug abuse and suicide
 Every child has a right to have a mother and a father. In homosexual relationships this right is
impossible to fulfill
 A child that has same-sex parents is not aware that its origin comes from two different sexes.
 Diversity is always a greater incentive for development, rather than uniformity. Studies have
shown that a mother and a father contribute to the development of their children with their
diversity in sexes.
 Gay people are usually more promiscuous than straight ones, which can cause destructive
behavior among children

LEGALIZATION OF MARIJUANA

What is marijuana?

 A psychoactive drug from the Cannabis plant used for medical or recreational purposes.
 The main psychoactive part of cannabis is tetrahydrocannabinol (THC).
 CBD

26
 weed, herb, pot, grass, bud, ganja, Mary Jane, joints, bongs, blunts, 420
 no one ever died from marijuana

Short term marijuana effects

 You might feel:

o euphoric
o relaxed
o amused
o giggly
o creative
o hungry
o more sensitive to light, color, sound…
 Physical changes:
o bloodshot eyes
o fast heart rate
o sleepy, lethargic
o lack of coordination
o increased food cravings
 Unpleasant feelings or experiences
o anxiety
o confusion
o delusions and hallucinations
o high blood pressure
o nausea and vomiting
o panic
o paranoia
o psychosis

GUNS

Vocabulary

 BIG GUN - The biggest or most powerful tool or asset for a given task. Usually plural. This axe is
getting nowhere on this stump-it's time to bring out the big guns and use the dynamite.
 An important, successful, or influential person. He's a big gun at the law firm; he wins every
court case he gets.
 SON OF A GUN - A mean or unpleasant man. Julie's ex-husband was such a mean son of a gun,
it's no wonder she divorced him.
 An inanimate object that is problematic. My car broke down, and I can't figure out how to fix the
son of a gun!
 BEAT THE GUN - To take action or finish a task before a deadline. This phrase comes from
sporting events in which gunfire was sometimes used to indicate the end of a contest. We have
to get these pages to the printer by 8, so work faster, people—we've got to beat the gun!
 SPIKE (ONE'S) GUNS - To ruin one's plans or prevent one's success. The phrase refers to the
former military practice of inserting spikes into enemy guns to prevent them from firing. I'm
afraid the rain has spiked our guns. We cannot hold the rally as planned.
 IN THE GUN - alcohol intoxicated. When Fred is in the gun, he’s mean.

27
Croatia

 According to available data, around 150.000 people legally own approximately 250.000 personal
weapons.
 It is estimated that there are about 500.000 illegally owned weapons meaning they were not
procured legally and are not registered.

Categories

 Category A Weapons – prohibited firearms:

o Explosive military missiles and launchers
o Automatic and semi-automatic firearms
o Military and police weapons
o Weapons with silencers
o Explosive devices, etc.
 Category B Weapons – firearms for which you need to be issued a permit to use and own:
o Various guns and rifles that can be used in hunting, sports and for personal protection
 Category C Weapons – firearms and weapons that need to be reported to the authorities:
o Any firearms that have been restructured to fire munitions without missiles
o Non-harmful irritating substances
o Other active substances or pyrotechnic ammunition
o Acoustic weapons
o Weapons that are collectibles and/or no longer function
 Category D Weapons – weapons that one do not need to be reported to the authorities:
o Weapons with a coil force of 450 N or less
o Electric stun guns
o Mace sprays with permitted non-toxic substances
o Cold weapons
o Paintball guns

Gun laws in Croatia

 Who can own a weapon in Croatia?

o Possession of weapons is permitted to all people who legally reside in the Republic of
Croatia on the basis of temporary or permanent residence with a valid permit AND who
fulfill the following conditions
 How to get a gun or weapon permit in Croatia?
o To apply for or inquire about a weapon permit, go to the administrative police station
closest to your place of residence

Conditions for weapon ownership:

1. You may own a gun for hunting, sport or for personal reasons, but you need to provide proof
with documentation, a certificate and/or evidence that you are an active hunter, that you
passed a hunting exam or that you are a member of a club for recreational shooting.
2. Ordinary citizens have to be older than 21 to file for a permit. In case of employees of judicial
bodies, security guards, active hunters and proven recreation, the minimum permissible age
limit for obtaining a permit is 18 years.
3. You can’t be charged with any violent crimes or be involved in proceedings as the accused for
any type of a violent crime.

28
4. You must have secured conditions for safe housing and guarding of weapons, which must be
proven with a written statement.
5. You have to be able to prove that you possess relevant technical knowledge and skills for the
proper use of weapons and you are aware of regulations governing possession of weapons.

Gun laws in the USA

 Some states and localities require that individual firearms be registered with the police or with
another law enforcement agency.,
 All states allow some form of concealed carry, the carrying of a concealed firearm in public.
 Many states allow some form of open carry, the carrying of an unconcealed firearm in public on
one's person or in a vehicle.
 Some states have state preemption for some or all gun laws, which means that only the state
can legally regulate firearms. In other states, local governments can pass their own gun laws
more restrictive than those of the state.
 Some states have enacted castle doctrine or stand-your-ground laws, which provide a legal basis
for individuals to use deadly force in self-defense in certain situations, without a duty to flee or
retreat if possible.
 Some states require a background check of the buyer when a firearm is sold by a private party.
(Federal law requires background checks for sales by licensed gun dealers, and for any interstate
sales.)
 Some states have enacted red flag laws that enable a judge to issue an order to temporarily
confiscate the firearms of a person who presents an imminent threat to others or to themselves.

WHO IS DECIDING FOR US? – VOTING

Vocabulary

 Campaign – an organized effort to win an election. It is alleged that the party used illegal
methods to finance its campaign.
 Caucus – an informal meeting of local party members to discuss candidated and choose
delegates to the party’s convention
 Checks and Balances – the system of dividing power among the three branches of government
(executive, legislative and judicial) to prevent any one from having too much power.
 Fence Mending - What politicians do when they visit their electoral districts to explain an
unpopular action. The term originated in 1879, when Ohio Senator John Sherman made a trip
home that most people considered a political visit. Sherman insisted, however, that he was
home "only to repair my fences."
 Front Burner – where an issue is placed when it must be dealt with immediately.
 Gerrymander – he reorganization of voting districts by the party in power to insure more votes
for their candidates. The term originated in 1811, when Governor Elbridge Gerry of
 Massachusetts signed a bill that changed districts to favor the Democrats. The shape of one new
district supposedly resembled a salamander, provoking a Boston newspaper editor to say,
"Salamander? Call it a Gerrymander!„
 Coattails – the power of a popular candidate to gather support for other candidates in his or her
party.
 Grass Roots- political activity that originates locally, or arises from ground level

29
 Lame Duck – an officeholder whose term has expired or cannot be continued, who thus has
lessened power
 Machine Politics – politics controlled by a tightly-run organization that stresses discipline and
rewards its supporters. Machines are usually found in large cities and are frequently accuded of
corruption.

Government of The Republic of Croatia

 Led by the President of the Government (prime minister) – nominated by the President of the
Republic
 20 government members – deputy prime ministers
 The Government excersises its executive powers in conformity with the Croatian Constitution

They

 Decide on the bugdet, foreign and internal politics

 Direct and oversee the operation of state administration
 Promote the economic development of the country
 Direct the activities and development of public services

VOTERS VS. NON-VOTERS

 WHISTLE-STOPPING: The practice of making speeches in many towns in a short time, often
during a single day.
 TRIAL BALLOON: An idea a politician suggests in order to observe the reaction. If public reaction
is favorable, the politician takes credit for it; if not, the idea dies quickly.
 LAME DUCK: A politician who is considered ineffective, either because he or she was recently
elected out of office or announced retirement.
 RED TAPE: Government paperwork and procedures that are slow and difficult. Stems from an
eighteenth-century British practice of binding official papers with a reddish twine.
 PORK BARREL: Wasteful and unnecessary projects that politicians secure for their local districts,
usually to gain favor with local voters. The term dates from the days when salted pork was
occasionally handed out to slaves from large barrels. An observer once wrote that the mad rush
of politicians to get their district's share of treasury funds looked like slaves rushing to the pork
barrel.
 PHOTO-OP: Short for "photo opportunity," an event staged specifically for news cameras to help
a politician appear in magazines and newspapers, on television, or online.
 FLIP FLOPPER: A candidate or politician who changes his mind on certain important issues over
time.
 AIR WAR: The battle between candidates to get as much advertising on television and radio as
possible. In recent years, online adverts, which are cheaper and can be more carefully targeted,
have grown increasingly important.
 MUCKRAKER: A journalist who seeks out the scandalous activities of public officials. Derived
from the Man with the Muck Rake, a character in John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress, who
could never look up, only down.
 FISHING EXPEDITION: An investigation with no defined purpose, often by one party seeking
damaging information about another. Such inquiries are likened to fishing because they pull up
whatever they happen to catch.

30
 GAFFE: A verbal error or slip-up made by a politician or other political figure. Or in a famous
formulation by American journalist Michael Kinsley, a gaffe is when a politician accidentally says
something he or she really means but that was better left unsaid.

TARGETED ADVERTISING

TARGET - aim online ads at specific users or demographics, for example by geography (country, city),
language, platform (computer, smartphone) etc. Can we target just those users in South America
who speak Spanish?

ADVERTISING - the activity or business of producing advertisements; advertisements collectively.

Many website are supported entirely by advertising.

DATABASE - a computer system containing a large amount of information that can be looked at or
changed easily. The group now has a database of 3,000 members.

CUSTOM ADVERTISING - a type of marketing method whereby an advertiser tries to customize the
message to the unique needs of a specific customer or specific subset of customers. If nothing else,
custom advertising bugs you about something that you might actually want instead of pestering you
about something you would never purchase.

COOKIE - a small text file sent by a website server to the visitor’s browser, often used to identify and
track the visitor, or to show or not show specific ads. I heard that Facebook can snoop on people
who are not Facebook users by setting cookies on their browsers.

THIRD-PARTY COOKIES - Cookies used by online advertisment servers to recognize the same user
across multiple websites. I was shopping online for shoes in the morning and now Nike adds are all
over my phone, I should’ve banned the third-party cookies.

SEARCH RETARGETING - a technique that uses a site visitor’s search history as a basis for the ads that
the visitor will see. When you get ads following you round the web, that’s often the result of search
retargeting. Feels creepy.

CANVAS FINGERPRINTING - Canvas fingerprinting is one of a number of browser fingerprinting

techniques for tracking online users that allow websites to identify and track visitors using the
HTML5 canvas element instead of browser cookies or other similar means. Even if I block cookies,
the Internet will never forget my history because of canvas fingerprinting.

TRIANGULATION - a process of tracing and measuring a series or network of triangles in order to

determine the distances and relative positions of points spread over an area used by advertising
companies. Companies use triangulation by looking for users with very similar patterns of use and
conclude that the very similar ones are likely to be the same people.

ONLINE BEHAVIOUR - The functional and interpersonal behaviours of people whilst online. This
includes behaviours such as social networking, self-representation, pro and anti-social behaviours.
Online behaviour such as cyberbullying musn’t be promoted in schools.

31
SOCIAL MEDIA

 SOCIAL MEDIA - refers to websites and applications that are designed to allow people to share
content quickly, efficiently, and in real-time.
 ENGAGEMENT - any action taken by a social media user on your page. This can be in the form of
‘Likes’, ‘Reactions’, ‘Shares’ or ‘Comments’. For example, if a user on your Facebook page has
‘reacted’ to your post by choosing to ‘Like’ it, they have engaged with that particular post.
 EPHEMERAL CONTENT - content on social media platforms that disappear after a set period of
time. This type of content is seen most frequently on Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat. For
example, Instagram Stories (and Facebook Stories) are limited to a lifespan of 24 hours – they
are ephemeral content.
 HANDLE - user’s account name on Twitter, but it can be in reference to other social platforms,
too. Each ‘handle’ is unique and can be used to find or mention other users on the platform. A
user’s handle is the ‘@’ symbol, followed by their account name.
 LENS - Not to be confused with a ‘Filter’, a 'Lens' is an animated overlay effect that is used while
users are taking a photo of themselves, also known as a ‘selfie’. The lens animate the user’s
image while in camera mode to appear as anything — from a dog sticking its tongueout to a cat
with glasses.
 TWITTERATI - users on Twitter who have an incredibly large number of followers and who post
regularly. Think celebrities, social influencers, etc. If the Twitterati are posting about a particular
topic or sharing a certain hashtag, you can expect it to start trending among other Twitter users.
 CLICKBAIT - a term to describe marketing or advertising material that employs a sensationalized
headline to attract clicks. They rely heavily on the "curiosity gap" by creating just enough
interest to provoke engagement. It is difficult to remember a time when you could scroll through
the social media outlet of your choice and not be bombarded with: You'll never believe what
happened when ... This is the cutest thing ever ... This the biggest mistake you can make ... Take
this quiz to see which character you are on ... They are all classic clickbait models.
 LURKER - a person who reads discussions on a message board, newsgroup, social network, or
other interactive system, but rarely or never participates in the discussion. You can tweet as
much as you want or lurk without comment, though consistent tweeting and audience
engagement are key to attracting and keeping followers.
 CLOUD COMPUTING - a relatively new term in the social media/technology world. Cloud
computing is when you don’t use a physical device to save things such as documents files.
Instead, you save them in the cloud. LINDA, WHY DON’T YOU SAVE SOME STUFF TO THE CLOUD?
 LIFECASTING - when people choose to broadcast their lives on the internet. Now, for some
people, privacy is everything and they wouldn’t think of publicising themselves online. But, it
does give anyone with a camera the chance to be the star of their own TV show! MEREDITH:
UM, HARRY, WHY ARE YOU WEARING A CAMERA? HARRY: I’M NOW A LIFECASTER! I SHOW
PEOPLE WHAT I GET UP TO EVERY DAY!
 STREAMING MEDIA - content that is given to the user live and as it happens. Many people use
streaming media to keep up with events like sports games. But also nowadays, even gamers are
broadcasting streaming media to their followers! In Asia, some gaming events can be streamed
around the world to millions of people. PIP: HEY LEON, WHAT’S THAT YOU’RE WATCHING?
LEON: IT’S THE BIG MATCH! I’M STREAMING IT LIVE ON MY PHONE!

What is social media?

 Social media refers to websites and applications that are designed to allow people to share
content quickly, efficiently, and in real-time.

32
 The ability to share photos, opinions, events, etc. in real-time has transformed the way we live
and, also, the way we do business.
 Every year, there is an increasing amount of people signing up for and using social media

Agree or disagree?

 Social media enables the spread of unreliable and false information.

 Social media sites help students do better at school.
 Students who are heavy social media users tend to have lower grades.
 Using social media can harm job stability and employment prospects.
 Social media causes people to spend less time interacting face-to-face.
 Social media sites empower individuals to make social change and do social good on a
community level.
 Social media facilitates cyberbullying.
 Social media helps people who are socially isolated or shy connect with other people.
 Social media aids the spread of hate groups.

INFLUENCERS

Vocabulary

 Influencers in social media - people who have built a reputation for their knowledge and
expertise on a particular topic. They make regular posts about that topic on their preferred
social media channels and generate large followings of people who pay close attention to their
views. Brands love social media influencers because they can create trends and encourage their
followers to buy products they promote.
 Influencer marketing - a byproduct of marketing that focuses on using an individual’s influence
to amplify your brand’s message. Instead of marketing to a large group of potential customers
brands collaborate with influencers who already have trust and rapport with your desired
audience to help tell the brand story.
 Ambassador - a representative or promoter of a specific activity, service, brand or product. A
brand will usually compensate an influencer for being an ambassador, promoting the brand,
representing them in a positive light, and increasing brand awareness and sales.
 Microblogging - the activity of sending regular short messages, photos or videos over the
Internet, either to a selected group of people, or so that they can be viewed by anyone, as a
means of keeping people informed about your activities and thoughts.
 Social networking - communication with people who share your interests using a website or
other service on the Internet.
 Unboxing - refers to the opening of a package on camera. This is typically done in video form and
posted to the influencer’s Instagram story. The influencer then showcases the product(s) to their
audience on camera.
 Flatlay - a photograph of a product on a surface. Flatlays are typically decorated with props that
compliment the product and the aesthetic of an influencer’s feed. They are effective for
showcasing items such as jewellry, food or drink, and beauty products.
 Power middle - refers to the influencers who have graduated from being a micro-influencer but
are not yet considered a social media celebrity. They tend to have better engagement rates than
mega influencers and often get more partnerships because of it.

33
 Campaign - in terms of social media it means that a company or a website is trying to gain
publicity on a massive scale. They do this by advertising to gain a bigger audience and usually
make more money.
 Clip/clipping - PR or brand representatives may ask you for “clips” which means screenshots or
copies of the promotion you did for them on social media or your blog.
 Cost per click - the amount of money that it costs a brand to get someone to click on a link or ad.
This is also a pricing model for online advertisers, where the advertiser pays the site each time
their ad is clicked on.

Types of Influencers

 Celebrities
 Industry experts and thought leaders (journalists, academics, industry experts, professional
advisors)
 Bloggers and content creators
 Micro Influencers

Facebook statistics

 Facebook adds 6 new profiles every second

 74% of Facebook users check it every day
 If social media companies were countries, Facebook would be the world’s most populous
country.

Instagram statistics

 There are 1 billion monthly active users on Instagram

 There are 4.2 billion Instagram Likes per day
 Over 95 million photos are uploaded every day

Youtube statistics

 300 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute

 People watch 1 billion hours of YouTube videos every day

Twitter statistics

 There is a total of 1.3 billion accounts

 There are 500 million Tweets sent each day

WALT DISNEY

Vocabulary

 TO GENUFLECT - to show respect or worship by bending down on one knee

 A PARAGON - a person or thing regarded as the perfect example of something, or a general
model of excellence
 BEGUINE - a foxtrot-like dance to a bolero rhythm, which originated in the French West Indies.
 AGGREGATION - a group or collection composed of many distinct parts
 QUID PRO QUO - a Latin phrase meaning “something for something”
 NOM DE PLUME - French for “pen name”

34
 CALUMNY - a false and slanderous statement
 CONSTERNATION - a sudden, alarming dismay
 WANDERLUST - refers to the strong desire to travel
 FACADE - an outward appearance used to conceal something
 DOMICILE - a place of residence or home
 LICENTIOUS - lewd or sexually promiscuous, but can also mean disregarding the rules
 LUGUBRIOUS - mournful, dismay, or gloomy

Walt Disney

won 22 Oscars from 59 nominations

was presented with two Golden Globe Special Achievement Awards and an Emmy Award

Snow White displays many of the gender specific female stereotypes seen in society. She is seen
doing domestic work around the house, nurturing to the dwarfs and animals, and naive enough to
take a bite of the poisonous apple. She is saved by her prince charming. Snow White gives the
message to young girls that your duties are cleaning and enjoying it (LOL!), taking care of others, and
waiting for a prince to save you. (LOOL!)

Cinderella is the ultimate "happily ever after" fairy tale. Cinderella is a servant in her own home,
seen doing domestic work and serving her family members. She is obedient and never stands up for
herself to her evil step mother and step sisters. She falls in love with her prince charming, who
ultimately saves her from her terrible servant life. Cinderella teaches young girls that if you are
beautiful enough, a wealthy prince will save you.

Aurora from Sleeping Beauty is born a princess. Prince Phillip falls in love with her at first sight, and
saves her from her death with a kiss. The love at first sight belief is something society instills in
young girls. As a young girl, watching a movie where the prince falls in love with you at first sight,
instills the message that beauty is all that matters. If you are beautiful, a prince will fall in love with
you, without even knowing you.

Ariel seems to be a little more independent, and almost rebellious than the earlier princesses. Once
she falls in love with a prince, she gives up her voice and legs, in order to get her prince
charming. Due to the fact she has no voice, the prince falls in love with her for her good lucks and
behavior, with no knowledge of what she thinks or says. Changing your body and giving up your
voice are two things we do not want young girls doing for love.

Belle is intelligent and loves to read, which is something we have yet to see in any other Disney film.
Although, her relationship with the beast is the first we see that represents an abusive relationship
between a prince and princess. Belle is seen as a nurturer and housekeeper, two typical female
roles. This movie teaches girls that it is okay for men to be aggressive and abusive and despite how
they treat you, you will love them and take care of them.

Jasmine is born into the role of a princess, and is told by her father she must marry a prince. She
defies her father and wants to marry who she loves (FINALLY!). Jasmine uses her sexuality to distract
Jafar - the villain. Jasmine fights for what she wants and wants to be with who she loves. In the end,
she gets her prince Aladdin and a happily ever after.

Disney's Pocahontas features a strong, independent, and compassionate girl who follows her
intuition. Pocahontas does fall in love, and stands up for John Smith, ultimately saving his life from

35
her own father. That is something we have yet to see in a Disney movie: the princess coming to the
rescue.

Mulan was a powerful, brave and independent Disney princess. She defied the stereotypical female
roles and portrayed a male character in order to fight in place of her father. Mulan is the only Disney
princess we see that takes on a male role. This fairy tale is not a love story. Mulan does not rely on a
prince charming to come to her rescue. This a positive role model for young girls, seeing a female
step up and become their own hero.

Tiana is the first dark skin princess featured in a Disney film. Tiana is a princess with a dream, which
is something positive to see. She dreams of owning a restaurant. She kisses the frog, and ends up
turning into a frog, but the two go on an adventure together to find a cure. She is not saved by a
prince charming, she is the one helping find the cure.

Although the story of Rapunzel is the classic princess who needs saving by a prince type of fairy tale,
Disney manages to put a spin on this version in its recent movie Tangled. The princess Rapunzel does
not fall in love with the prince at first sight and is not at all moved by his character or charm. All
Rapunzel wants is freedom from the tower where she was captive in order to gain her own
independence.

Merida is a princess but does not want the responsibilities and definitely does not want a prince
charming. Merida is not the typical Disney princess either. She is as wild and spunky as her crazy red
hair. Brave is also the first Disney princess movie that does not feature a prince charming. Merida is
independent in this film and ends up being the hero in the end, which is refreshing new look at a
Disney princess.

ARE WE ALONE IN THE UNIVERSE?

Vocabulary

 Interstellar – between the stars

 Celestial - of or from the sky or outside this world
 Debris – the remains of something that has beeen destroyed
 Conjunction - in astrology, the situation in which two planets appear to be in the same part of
the sky as seen from earth
 Umbra - the dark inner part of a shadow in which all light is blocked, used especially about a
shadow made during an eclipse
 Syzygy - an arrangement in which two or more planets, stars, etc. are in a straight line

Crazy numbers

 Observable universe – 90,000,000,000 light years

 100,000,000,000 galaxies
 100,000,000,000 to 1,000,000,000,000 stars (each)
 Trillions of planets

Milky Way

 400 bilion stars

 20 billion sun like stars
 Fift of them have an Earth sized planet in its habitable zone

36
 1 milion planets with life in the milky way
 Milky way is 13 billion years old
 after 1 to 2 billion years the first habitable planets were born
 Earth is only 4billion years old
 trillion of chances for life do develop on other planets in the past

Types of civilizations

 Type 1 - able to access the whole energy available on its planet

 Type 2 - a civilization capable of harnessing all of the energy of its home star (Dyson sphere)
 Type 3 - civilization that controls its whole galaxy and its energy

WAS LANDING ON THE MOON A HOAX?

 CELESTIAL BODY - any natural body outside of the Earth's atmosphere

 LUNAR MODULE - a spacecraft that carries astronauts from the command module to the surface
of the moon and back
 ORBITER - man-made equipment that orbits around the Earth or the Moon
 THE SATURN V. - a rocket NASA built to send people to the Moon
 CORONA - a luminous envelope of plasma that surrounds the Sun and other celestial bodies; it is
extended to millions of kilometres into space and is commonly seen during a total solar eclipse
 REGOLITH - any layer of material covering solid rock, which can come in the form of dust, soil or
broken rock
 THE SEA OF TRANQUILITY - the landing ground of Apollo 11
 SPACE POLICY DIRECTIVE - a document signed by Donald Trump in 2017; a change in national
space policy that provides for a U.S.-led, integrated program with private sector partners for a
human return to the Moon, followed by missions to Mars and beyond
 ‘Houston we have a problem!’ - a phrase used by the crew of the Apollo 13 moon flight, to
report a major technical problem back to their Houston base
 ‘The Eagle has landed.’ - Neil Armstrong spoke the phrase to announce the successful landing of
the Apollo 11 lunar module named “Eagle” in the Sea of Tranquility on the moon

Space race. "Control of space is control of the world."

How did people learn about Moon landing conspiracy theories before the internet?

We Never Went to the Moon by Bill Kaysing, 1974

When the astronauts are assembling the American flag, the flag waves. A flag wouldn't wave in a
vacuum.

Any human being traveling through the van Allen belt would have been rendered either extremely ill
or actually killed by the radiation within a short time thereof.

The Apollo 1 fire that killed Roger Chaffee, Ed White and Gus Grissom was no accident.

The Apollo 11 Press Conference

Without air, the sky is black, so where are the stars?

37
„…reports have resurfaced that NASA lost some precious video footage of that first moonwalk.”

NASA has lost or misplaced more than 500 of the moon rocks its Apollo astronauts collected and
brought back to Earth.

HOROSCOPE

Vocabulary

 ASCENDANT - a state or position of dominant power or importance

 CUSP - the time when one sign of the zodiac ends and the next begins
 JOYS - places in the zodiac where planets have the
 LILITH - black Moon Lilith represents a person’s primitive impulses and behavior in their rawest
formmost beneficial effect
 LUNATION - a lunar period, measured from one place in the zodiac until the Moon's return
thereto
 RULERSHIP - different signs are "ruled" by different planets and their influences can be affected
by this fact; the act or fact of ruling or the state of being ruled
 STELLIUM - a group of several planets in a single sign of the zodiac or a single house
 TRANSIT - a planet's movement through a sign or house
 BIRTH CHART - a map of where all the major planets and astral bodies were located at the time
you were born; unique

 'horoscope' - 'view of the hour' ('Horo' = hour, 'Scope' = view)

o a chart of the heavens, showing the relative positions of the Sun, the Moon, the planets,
and the ascendant and midheaven signs of the zodiac at a specific moment in time
 ‘zodiac’ - 'zoo of animals‘
o an area of the sky through which the sun, moon, and most of the planets appear to
move, divided into twelve equal parts, each with a name and symbol, and each
connected with an exact time of year

two systems to determine the planet's movement through the Zodiac:

1) Sidereal Zodiac - uses the North star as the point of departure

2) Tropical Zodiac - measures the movement from the Sun's position on the ecliptic on the
first day of spring

Birth chart

 a map of where all the major planets and astral bodies were located at the time you were born
 all of the astral bodies were moving through different zodiac signs and houses at your time of
birth, and their positions will have different effects on your personality and life
 unique

History

 6,000 years ago in Mesopotamia

38
 tribe Chaldeans looked to the stars for guidance and counted their months by the phases of the
Moon
 the Greeks called the constellations the "circle of animals" or zodiakos kykios

Zodiac signs

ARIES
-born between March 21 and April 20
-the first sign of the zodiac and relates to the first day of spring
-impulsive, initiative, courageous and determined, dynamic, highly competitive
TAURUS
- born between April 21 and May 20
-clever, artistic, romantic, practical, determined, stable and loyal
GEMINI
born between May 21 and June 20
ambitious, kind, thoughtful, open-minded and have strong leadership qualities, curious and love to
be part of the action
CANCER
born between June 21 and Jully 22
honest, tenacious, generous, family and home-oriented, faithful
LIBRA
- born between September 23 and October 22
- the most balanced zodiac sign and it’s known for being fair, correct, romantic and diplomatic
CAPRICORN
born between December 21 and January 19
patient, ambitious and loyal, very professional and intelligent, expects privacy and respect
LEO
born between July 23 and August 22
warmth, humor, pride, joy, creativity, passion and generosity
SCORPIO
born between October 24 and November
loyal, passionate, resourceful and honest
AQUARIUS
born between January 20 and February 18
knowledgeable, future-oriented, inventive, charming and likes meeting new people, enjoy hanging
out with friends and in good company
VIRGO
born between August 23 and September 22
methodical, meticulous and mentally sharp, perfectionists and great rulers
SAGITTARIUS
born between November 22 and December 21
independent, sincere and friendly,very ambitious and have a positive attitude
PISCES
born between February 19 and March 20
social, romantic, artistic, compassionate and base their decisions on intuition

39
MEDITATION

Vocabulary

 Nirvana - the state of ultimate enlightenment; though it is beyond explanation or words, it is

best described as peace and stillness of mind
 Awareness - knowledge that something exists, or understanding of a situation or subject at the
present time based on information or experience
 Mindfulness - the practice of maintaining a nonjudgmental state of heightened or complete
awareness of one's thoughts, emotions, or experiences on a moment-to-moment basis; a state
of awareness
 Zen - a state of calm attentiveness in which one's actions are guided by intuition rather than by
conscious effort
 Mantra - a word or sound repeated to aid concentration in meditation
 Enlightenment - the highest spiritual state that can be achieved
 Concentration - focusing attention on a single object, internal or external
 Observation - paying attention to whatever is predominant in your experience in the present
moment, without allowing the attention to get stuck on any particular thing

What is meditation?

 Meditation is to the mind what physical exercise is to the body.

 Mental calmness and introspection.
 Individually, in a still seated position, and with eyes closed.
 A mental exercise that involves relaxation, focus, and awareness.
 In psychology, meditation is defined as “a family of mental training practices that are designed
to familiarize the practitioner with specific types of mental processes”.
 Word “meditate” actually means to think deeply about something.
 In Christianity, meditation is a type of contemplative prayer that creates a sense of union with
God, or the contemplation of religious themes.
 In Buddhism, meditation is one of the three core practices for the purification of mind and
attainment of Nirvana.

Pros

 Reduces stress
 Controls anxiety
 Decreases blood pressure
 Promotes emotional health
 Boost self-esteem/confidence
 Enhances self-awarness
 Lengthens attention span
 Reduces age-related memory loss
 Helps fighting addictions
 Improves sleep

40
Cons

 Becomming antisocial
 Re-living negative emotions and memories
 It may prompt negative thinking

To think about: Meditation vs. praying, meditation in school

STAND-UP COMEDY

Vocabulary

 KILL, to to give an excellent comedy performance.

 FLOPPING bombing; not getting laughs.
 FLOP SWEAT the over abundance of perspiration one experiences from a panic reaction to
bombing.
 HECKLER an audience member who talks and interrupts a show, usually by exchanging insults
with the comedian
 OPENER the first of three comedians in a standard comedy club line-up.
 HEADLINER the third and last comedian considered the star of a standard stand-up comedy
show.
 SETUP the first part of a joke that contains a target assumption to misdirect the audience into
accepting a bogus 1st story.
 PUNCH the second part of a joke that contains a reinterpretation that creates a 2nd story that
shatters the setup's target assumption.
 ONE-LINER a joke made up of only one or two sentences.
 OPEN-MIKE a policy to allow anyone to get on stage and try to be funny.
 SHOWCASE to perform a stand-up comedy show for little or no compensation for the purposes
of getting experience or being seen by a potential employer.
 SHOWCASE CLUB a comedy club using a line-up of ten or more comics in a row.

SCIENCE VS. RELIGION

Vocabulary

 CREED - a system of religious belief; a faith, a religion

 INCOMMENSURATE – inadequate
 SCIENTISM - excessive belief in the power of scientific knowledge and techniques
 IRRECONCILABLE - of ideas or statements so different from each other that they cannot be made
compatible
 BIGOTRY - intolerance towards those who hold different opinions from oneself
 PROSELYTIZE - convert or attempt to convert (someone) from one religion, belief, or opinion to
another
 VESTIGIAL - degenerate, rudimentary, or atrophied, having become functionless

41
SUPERSTITIONS

Vocabulary

 SUPERSTITION, n. - belief that is not based on human reason or scientific knowledge, but is
connected with old ideas about magic, etc. e.g. According to superstition, if you walk under STAa
ladder it brings you bad luck.
 OMEN, n. – something that is considered to be a sign of how a future event will take place e.g.
The team's final victory of the season is a good omen for the playoffs, which start next week.
 JINX, n. - bad luck, or a person or thing that is believed to bring bad luck e.g. There's a jinx on this
computer – it's crashed three times this morning!
 HOKUM, n. – nonsense e.g. This report on the causes of crime is pure hokum.
 WARD OFF, v. - to prevent someone or something unpleasant from harming or coming close to
you e.g. She was given a magic charm to ward off evil spirits.
 PROPHECY, n. - a statement that says what is going to happen in the future, especially one that is
based on what you believe about a particular matter rather than existing facts

Opinions

 "My mum has tons of superstitions," they say. "[She] can't walk under a ladder, can't put new
shoes on the table (even in their box), can't break a mirror, can't give a purse without money in
it, [has] to throw a pinch of salt over her left shoulder if she spills some.„
 "I think some of these are just common sense comments, such as don't break a mirror or you
might cut yourself because the shards are sharp, that have grown into something more. But they
transform into this set of rules to live by, often for no apparent reason," the reader continues.
 "I think life is a series of random coincidences and can't be shaped by these strange little habits,
but I guess it's reassuring to believe you have some control over it — especially when there's so
much about our lives and society that we can't change."
 "Life is pretty scary sometimes," they add, "so [...] people [do] whatever they can to try to avoid
hidden dangers."
 "There is evidence that positive, luck-enhancing superstitions provide a psychological benefit
that can improve skilled performance. There is anxiety associated with the kinds of events that
bring out superstition.„
 "The absence of control over an important outcome creates anxiety. So, even when we know on
a rational level that there is no magic, superstitions can be maintained by their emotional
benefit."

Examples

 Don't Go Right Home After a Funeral

o A Filipino tradition called "pagpag" dictates that people never go straight back to the
house after a wake. Otherwise a bad spirit might tag along and come inside. Mourners
will make a stop at a restaurant or store first just in case.
 Whistling Indoors Invites Evil
o Whistling while you work may be an issue in Lithuania where it's forbidden to whistle
indoors because the noise is believed to summon demons.
 Avoid Sleeping With Your Head to the North
o According to Japanese superstition, sleeping with your head in this direction is bad luck
because that's how the deceased are laid to rest.
 Hide Your Thumbs When Passing a Graveyard

42
 o People tend to hold their breath when they pass cemeteries, but in Japan, you must tuck
your thumbs in to protect your parents. (The Japanese word for thumb translates as
"parent-finger," so hiding it protects them from death.)
 Don't Trim Your Nails at Night
o Many cultures believe that cutting your nails after the sun goes down is a big N-O.
According to U.S. News, one Japanese superstition states it can cause premature death.
 Carry an Acorn to Stay Forever Young
o Women in Ancient Britain often kept acorns in their pockets to ensure a youthful
complexion. This may just be our favorite anti-aging trick.

Superstition is any belief or practice that is considered irrational or supernatural dubious – discuss:
for example, if it arises from ignorance, a misunderstanding of science or causality, a positive belief
in fate or magic, or fear of that which is unknown. It is commonly applied to beliefs and practices
surrounding luck, prophecy, and certain spiritual beings, particularly the belief that future events can
be foretold by specific (apparently) unrelated prior events.

43