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Level Two
| Unit 4: The Lord of the Rings |
The British author J.R.R. Tolkien is famous for a series of novels he wrote called The Lord of the Rings. This series was recently released as a movie trilogy by New Zealand director Peter Jackson. Part of the popularity of The Lord of the Rings comes from the story being seen as a series of metaphors.
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| Unit 5: Small is Beautiful |
Buddhist economics was introduced to the world in a popular book called Small is Beautiful. Its author, E.F. Schumacher, was more concerned about people and their well being than money. He was especially concerned with the impact of globalization on societies around the world.
The "What about you?" section of this unit features a note about harvesting drinking water from fog in Chile. It is fascinating to see how this is done.
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| Unit 6: Is Money Everything? |
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Psychologists are usually concerned with people and their problems. The psychologist Abraham Maslow, however, looked at what made people happy. From his research, he identified a hierarchy of needs that prioritized how people valued things. Maslow then suggested that people must satisfy one level of need before progressing to the next higher level. The lowest level he called psychological need, while the highest level of needs was called self actualization.
A big concern for many people is money or rather the lack of money! Making a budget is the best way to control your spending and to help you save. |
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| Unit 8: Looking for Lost Treasure! |
History is full of stories about ships sinking with precious cargoes. Many people only dream of finding such lost treasure, while otherscalled treasure huntersgo looking for it. An interesting story introduced in the unit involves Oak Island.
Lost treasure is found all over the world, on land and in the sea. Some places, like England, are particularly rich in hidden treasure because many people have lived there over the centuries.
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| Unit 10: The Future of Education |
Oxford, Cambridge, Harvard and Yale universities are among the most famous universities in the world. Many people believe that attending one of these prestigious colleges will make you rich and famousgraduates from Oxford University include J.R.R. Tolkien (the author of The Lord of the Rings), Rowen Atkinson (the comedian Mr. Bean) and Hugh Grant (a Hollywood actor). However, before you can think about going to one of these schools, one of the big questions that you will probably have is what subjects can I study.
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| Unit 11: Extinct! |
Island biogeography refers to the study of life on islandsreal islands in the ocean or "islands" of trees within a city. Specifically, it is concerned with how different species of wildlife live and their rate of extinction. People who are interested in island biogeography are generally concerned about saving the environment.
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| Unit 12: Angels or Outcasts? |
Today, many people want to change the way they look; they want to look younger, more beautiful, thinner or just different to everyone else.
Common ways of looking different include having plastic surgery or getting tattoos. It is important, however, that people change their appearance for the right reasons, not because they lack self-esteem.
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