Using "he or she" as a catch-all.

      In order to be inclusive of all people, we often use the socalled gender catch-all "he or she." But when making it a goal to be inclusive of all people under the transgender umbrella, it's important to remember that binary pronouns don't include all genders.

      Non-binary and transgender individuals sometimes use pronouns like they/them and ze/hir. Using "he or she" actually excludes a group that deserves to be recognized.

      The solution: The limitations of our language make correcting this problem tricky. Intentionally using "they" as a term to be deliberately inclusive to all genders works well, but may irritate some grammar lovers. Another option? Just rewrite the sentence. It's worth the trouble.

(From: “5 accidentally transphobic phrases allies use − and what to say instead”, Mashable, http://mashable.com/2015/ 10/18/transgender-ally-words/#Q0K4bAJH7kqV) 

Using "he or she" as a catch-all.

      In order to be inclusive of all people, we often use the socalled gender catch-all "he or she." But when making it a goal to be inclusive of all people under the transgender umbrella, it's important to remember that binary pronouns don't include all genders.

      Non-binary and transgender individuals sometimes use pronouns like they/them and ze/hir. Using "he or she" actually excludes a group that deserves to be recognized.

      The solution: The limitations of our language make correcting this problem tricky. Intentionally using "they" as a term to be deliberately inclusive to all genders works well, but may irritate some grammar lovers. Another option? Just rewrite the sentence. It's worth the trouble.

(From: “5 accidentally transphobic phrases allies use − and what to say instead”, Mashable, http://mashable.com/2015/ 10/18/transgender-ally-words/#Q0K4bAJH7kqV) 

                            On “Star Wars: The Force Awakens”

                                       (2015 − original title)

       The latest episode is not all bad. Most actors are good, and the actress is a nice choice. I give it three stars because I am disgusted by how they have literally copy-pasted the old trilogies, in the most commercial way. They've cloned everything, the story, the dynamics, and some aspects of the new characters. Even the new bad guy, Kylo Ren, is a laughable copy of Darth Vader, but at least Darth Vader was imposing, while Kylo would not scare a cat. He reminded me a bit of Draco Malfoy from Harry Potter, weak and insecure behind a mask of aggression. Speaking of Harry Potter, I notice more similarities: Rey is somehow like Hermione (strong, intelligent, beautiful, brave) and Finn is somehow like Ron (jumpy, rather sweet than beautiful, a bit of a clown and not so strong). (Edward Pond, Washington D.C.)

                                                                             (From: IMDB, http://www.imdb.com) 

                            On “Star Wars: The Force Awakens”

                                       (2015 − original title)

       The latest episode is not all bad. Most actors are good, and the actress is a nice choice. I give it three stars because I am disgusted by how they have literally copy-pasted the old trilogies, in the most commercial way. They've cloned everything, the story, the dynamics, and some aspects of the new characters. Even the new bad guy, Kylo Ren, is a laughable copy of Darth Vader, but at least Darth Vader was imposing, while Kylo would not scare a cat. He reminded me a bit of Draco Malfoy from Harry Potter, weak and insecure behind a mask of aggression. Speaking of Harry Potter, I notice more similarities: Rey is somehow like Hermione (strong, intelligent, beautiful, brave) and Finn is somehow like Ron (jumpy, rather sweet than beautiful, a bit of a clown and not so strong). (Edward Pond, Washington D.C.)

                                                                             (From: IMDB, http://www.imdb.com) 

Read TEXT 4 and answer question.

TEXT 4

LESSON PLAN – A SCHOOL TRIP  
Pre-task (15-20 min)

Aim: to introduce the topic of a school trip and to give the class exposure to language related to it. To highlight words and phrases

Steps:

- Show pictures of students in a school trip, such as museum, park, airport, botanic garden and ask them where they go to have a good class out.

- Brainstorm words/phrases onto the board related to the topic: people, verbs, feelings, etc.

- Introduce the listening of a teacher and students planning a class out.

- Write up different alternatives on the board to give them a reason for listening eg. (a) museum/public library; (b) meet at the train station/in the square.

- Play it a few times; first time to select from alternatives, second time to note down some language.

- Tell them they are going to plan a class out and give them a few minutes to think it over. Task (10 min):students do the task in pairs and plan the day out. Match them with another pair to discuss their ideas and any similarities/differences.

Planning (10 min)

- Each pair rehearses presenting their class out. Teacher walks around, helps them if they need it and notes down any language points to be highlighted later.

- Report (15 min)

- Class listen to the plans; their task is to choose one of them. They can ask questions after the presentation. - Teacher gives feedback on the content and quickly reviews what was suggested. Students vote and choose one of the school days out.

- Language focus (20 min)

- Write on the board five good phrases used by students during the last task and five incorrect phrases/sentences from the task without the word that caused the problem. Students discuss the meaning and how to complete the sentences.

- Hand out the tape script from the listening and ask the students to underline the useful words and phrases.

- Highlight any language you wish to draw attention to, eg.: language for making suggestion, giving opinion, collocations, etc.  

Read TEXT 3 and answer question.  

TEXT 3  

THE PAPERLESS CLASSROOM IS COMING  

Michael Scherer

Back-to-school night this year in Mr. G’s sixth-grade classroom felt a bit like an inquisition.

Teacher Matthew Gudenius, a boyish, 36-year-old computer whiz who runs his class like a preteen tech startup, had prepared 26 PowerPoint slides filled with facts and footnotes to deflect the concerns of parents. But time was short, the worries were many, and it didn’t take long for the venting to begin.

“I like a paper book. I don’t like an e-book,” one father told him, as about 30 adults squeezed into a room for 22 students. Another dad said he could no longer help his son with homework because all the assignments were online. “I’m now kind of taking out of the routine.”, he complained. Rushing to finish, Gudenius passed a slide about the debate over teaching cursive, mumbling, “We don’t care about handwriting.” In a flash a mother objected: “Yeah, we do.”

At issue was far more than penmanship. The future of K-12 education is arriving fast, and it looks a lot like Mr. G’s classroom in the northern foothills of California’s wine country. Last year, President Obama announced a federal effort to get a laptop, tablet or smartphone into the hands of every student in every school in the U.S. and to pipe in enough bandwidth to get all 49.8 million American kids online simultaneously by 2017. Bulky textbooks will be replaced by flat screens. Worksheets will be stored in the cloud, not clunky Trapper Keepers. The Dewey decimal system will give way to Google. “This one is a big, big deal,” says Secretary of Education Arne Duncan.

It’s a deal Gudenius has been working to realize for years. He doesn’t just teach a computer on every student’s desk; he also tries to do it without any paper at all, saving, by his own estimate, 46,800 sheets a year, or about four trees. The paperless learning environment, while not the goals of most fledgling programs, represents the ultimate result of technology transforming classroom.

Gudenius started teaching as a computer-lab instructor, seeing students for just a few hours each month. That much time is still the norm for most kids. American schools have about 3.6 students for every classroom computing device, according to Education Market Research, and only 1 in 5 school buildings has the wiring to get all students online at once. But Gudenius always saw computers as a tool, not a subject. “We don’t have a paper-and-pencil lab, he says. When you are learning to be a mechanic, you don’t go to a wrench lab.”

Ask his students if they prefer the digital to the tree-based technology and everyone will say yes. It is not unusual for kids to groan when the bell rings because they don’t want to leave their work, which is often done in ways that were impossible just a few years ago. Instead of telling his students to show their work when they do an algebra equation, Gudenius asks them to create and narrate a video about the process, which can then be shown in class. History lessons are enlivened by brief videos that run on individual tablets. And spelling, grammar and vocabulary exercises have the feel of a game, with each student working at his own speed, until Gudenius – who tracks the kids’ progress on a smartphone – gives commands like “Spin it” to let the kids know to flip the screens of their devices around so that he can see their work and begin the next lesson.

Source: TIME- How to Eat Now. Education: The Paperless Classroom is Coming, p. 36-37; October 20, 2014 

Read TEXT 3 and answer question.  

TEXT 3  

THE PAPERLESS CLASSROOM IS COMING  

Michael Scherer

Back-to-school night this year in Mr. G’s sixth-grade classroom felt a bit like an inquisition.

Teacher Matthew Gudenius, a boyish, 36-year-old computer whiz who runs his class like a preteen tech startup, had prepared 26 PowerPoint slides filled with facts and footnotes to deflect the concerns of parents. But time was short, the worries were many, and it didn’t take long for the venting to begin.

“I like a paper book. I don’t like an e-book,” one father told him, as about 30 adults squeezed into a room for 22 students. Another dad said he could no longer help his son with homework because all the assignments were online. “I’m now kind of taking out of the routine.”, he complained. Rushing to finish, Gudenius passed a slide about the debate over teaching cursive, mumbling, “We don’t care about handwriting.” In a flash a mother objected: “Yeah, we do.”

At issue was far more than penmanship. The future of K-12 education is arriving fast, and it looks a lot like Mr. G’s classroom in the northern foothills of California’s wine country. Last year, President Obama announced a federal effort to get a laptop, tablet or smartphone into the hands of every student in every school in the U.S. and to pipe in enough bandwidth to get all 49.8 million American kids online simultaneously by 2017. Bulky textbooks will be replaced by flat screens. Worksheets will be stored in the cloud, not clunky Trapper Keepers. The Dewey decimal system will give way to Google. “This one is a big, big deal,” says Secretary of Education Arne Duncan.

It’s a deal Gudenius has been working to realize for years. He doesn’t just teach a computer on every student’s desk; he also tries to do it without any paper at all, saving, by his own estimate, 46,800 sheets a year, or about four trees. The paperless learning environment, while not the goals of most fledgling programs, represents the ultimate result of technology transforming classroom.

Gudenius started teaching as a computer-lab instructor, seeing students for just a few hours each month. That much time is still the norm for most kids. American schools have about 3.6 students for every classroom computing device, according to Education Market Research, and only 1 in 5 school buildings has the wiring to get all students online at once. But Gudenius always saw computers as a tool, not a subject. “We don’t have a paper-and-pencil lab, he says. When you are learning to be a mechanic, you don’t go to a wrench lab.”

Ask his students if they prefer the digital to the tree-based technology and everyone will say yes. It is not unusual for kids to groan when the bell rings because they don’t want to leave their work, which is often done in ways that were impossible just a few years ago. Instead of telling his students to show their work when they do an algebra equation, Gudenius asks them to create and narrate a video about the process, which can then be shown in class. History lessons are enlivened by brief videos that run on individual tablets. And spelling, grammar and vocabulary exercises have the feel of a game, with each student working at his own speed, until Gudenius – who tracks the kids’ progress on a smartphone – gives commands like “Spin it” to let the kids know to flip the screens of their devices around so that he can see their work and begin the next lesson.

Source: TIME- How to Eat Now. Education: The Paperless Classroom is Coming, p. 36-37; October 20, 2014 

Read TEXT 2 and answer question

TEXT 2  

Zainab Akande

May 13, 2013 

‘It seems not a lot of people are impressed with TIME's latest magazine cover, dubbing millennials as the "ME ME ME" generation: 

Although there's a subtitle that suggests despite selfies and living in the basement with parents, past the narcissism, millennials have the power to save the world. I tried reading the article to get a sense of how, but sadly I was blocked by a paywall to Joel Stein's article. (The journalism industry needs to do what a journalism industry has to do in order to survive, after all.) 

Still, the nature of the cover itself can be easily interpreted to suggest that millennials are the only generation to have suffered from crippling egotism, when that simply isn't the case.The only major difference now is that millennials have Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to highlight their meness.’  

Source: Available <https://mic.com/articles/41419/me-me-me-generetion-top-5-time-magazine-cover-paroidies#.sX0pzb9yt> Accessed on 10 November 2016. (Adapted).