It's times like these

 

 

It’s times like these …

 

time = period = (moment) = era = epoch = generation

My time to be happy, to do what I want to do, to live my own life (emphatic) Can you live another person’s life? You can try

It’s common for the mothers of beauty contest candidates or participants live their daughters’ lives.

In my time, …

We live in a time …

Now is the time …

It’s times like these …

 

In the past there was as much uncertainty, insecurity. violence, loneliness (solitude) as there is today

The neighborhood has a provincial. parochial style

People are more individualistic or selfish or egotistical or self-centered

We are living in our time

We live in a time ...

• of uncertainty
• when people are lonely
• when people are individualistic

Now is the time for people to rethink or re-assess their values

to assess = to evaluate

assessment = evaluation

go once a year

a child would go to sleep early

Here is the original video for your enjoyment

The US is still in shock after the recent bombings in Boston during the yearly marathon.

How would you react if someone said a sentence like this:
"It's times like these I am so glad I am not American".

Something no one else can afford

The central word of this post is AFFORD, which is usually hard to explain in other languages or to give a synonym. Let's use the word then in our discussion here in as many ways as possible.



A few days ago US president Barack Obama launched the BRAIN project to discover the mysteries of the human mind. An ambitious project that will probably reveal how we think, how we learn, and how we remember. This will consequently lead to discovering cures for disorder and dementia like Parkinson and to helping research with stem cells. 

What do you think: Is this a project that they can't afford to implement? How important is it now for our society that is getting older and older?

  Of course, there are many questions when a project of that magnitude is launched:

• Is it technologically and financially viable?
• Do laboratories want these people to get cured or is it in their interest to make sure people need to buy the medication?
• Will there ever be something like the Bubonic Plague, which destroyed nearly half of the European population during The Middle Ages?
• What will 
  old age
  be like with so many people healthy?
• What is something everyone would like to do in their old age?
• What else will they discover - a cure, a medicine, a vaccine, a new treatment, a therapy, a surgical procedure, a method, a drug
  
  
• Is it never too late, even for terminal patients?
• Do you believe in miracle workers, healers and shamans? What's the difference between to cure and to heal?
• Did you know that t
  he syrup used in the liquid for Coca-Cola was medicinal?

What's in a seat?

Is the question self-explanatory? NOT REALLY!



When you ask "what's in ...?", you want to know (choose one)

1. the contents of the chair
2. the importance of a chair

Which of these would you prefer to sit on?

• a hammock
• a chair
• a sofa
• a futon
• a beanbag chair
• an armchair
• a reclining seat
• a rocking chair

Seats are usually arranged in horizontal lines, or ROWS

To talk about where we sit, we can use any of these phrases:

not exactly/right in the middle of the room or the class

in the fourth row

to the back x to the front

at my workstation

to the back of the class

in the back of the class

front row

second row

third row

I choose a

• a comfortable position
• a relaxing position
• a strategic position

from the middle row to the back x from the middle to the front

from the middle up x from the middle down

I like to sit near my friends

I like to sit close to my friends

What about in an airplane or a train?

aisle seat /ail/

middle seat

window seat

I’ll sit in the aisle seat

If you sit in the window seat, do you draw the curtains to shut the light out

Why do most people choose a window seat?

because of the view

Why do most people choose an aisle seat?

because of the bathroom

because of the blood circulation in the legs

Who chooses your seat at work or in a family get-together?

My boss arranges the seats according to the personality of the group

Usually, the most important person of the family sits at the head of the table?

This person could be a

patriarch (man)

matriarch (woman)

In a classroom, ...

who usually sits in the back?

Those who want to hide from the teacher

Those who want to talk during class

Life is but a dream = Life is just a dream

Life is ...

• a mix of dreams and nightmares
• a learning experience
• unpredictable
• good
• a box of chocolates because you never know what you’re going to get