English lesson 1-5

Անգլերենի՝ նախագիծը և համակարգումը՝ Վարդ Ղարիբյանի, Անահիտ Աբգարյանի. խորհրդատու- ուսուցիչ՝ Լիլիթ Սարգսյան

Դաս 1

Անծանոթ բառապաշար

Mental- մտավոր

incredible- անհավանական

shot- կրակոց

whole bunch of — մի ամբողջ փունջ

The Effects of Stress

There is a famous expression in English: “Stop the world, I want to get off!” This expression refers to a feeling of panic, or stress, that makes a person want to stop whatever they are doing, try to relax, and become calm again. ‘Stress’ means pressure or tension. It is one of the most common causes of health problems in modern life. Too much stress results in physical, emotional, and mental health problems.

There are numerous physical effects of stress. Stress can affect the heart. It can increase the pulse rate, make the heart miss beats, and can cause high blood pressure. Stress can affect the respiratory system. It can lead to asthma. It can cause a person to breathe too fast, resulting in a loss of important carbon dioxide. Stress can affect the stomach. It can cause stomach aches and problems digesting food. These are only a few examples of the wide range of illnesses and symptoms resulting from stress.

Emotions are also easily affected by stress. People suffering from stress often feel anxious. They may have panic attacks. They may feel tired all the time. When people are under stress, they often overreact to little problems. For example, a normally gentle parent under a lot of stress at work may yell at a child for dropping a glass of juice. Stress can make people angry, moody, or nervous.

Long-term stress can lead to a variety of serious mental illnesses. Depression, an extreme feeling of sadness and hopelessness, can be the result of continued and increasing stress. Alcoholism and other addictions often develop as a result of overuse of alcohol or drugs to try to relieve stress. Eating disorders, such as anorexia, are sometimes caused by stress and are often made worse by stress. If stress is allowed to continue, then one’s mental health is put at risk.

It is obvious that stress is a serious problem. It attacks the body. It affects the emotions. Untreated, it may eventually result in mental illness. Stress has a great influence on the health and well-being of our bodies, our feelings, and our minds. So, reduce stress: stop the world and rest for a while.

refers- վերաբերվել- something for help, advice or a decision

pressure- ճնշել- the act of trying to persuade or to force somebody to do something

common causes- տարածված պատճառներ

increase- աճ- to make something greater in amount, number, value, etc.

rate- խաղադրույք- a measurement of the speed at which something happens

anxious- մտահոգ- feeling worried or nervous

overreact- շատ սուր  արձագանքել- to react too strongly

lead- լուրեր- to go with or in front of a person or an animal to show the way or to make them go in the right direction

hopelessness- հուսահատություն- ​the feeling of being without hope

obvious- ակնհայտ-easy to see or understand

eventually- արդյունքում- at the end of a period of time or a series of events

Դաս 2

The rise of fake news

In December 2016 Edgar M. Welch drove six hours from his home to Washington DC, where he opened fire in a pizzeria with an assault rifle. He had previously read an online news story about the restaurant being the headquarters of a group of child abusers run by Hillary Clinton. He decided to investigate for himself; fortunately, no one was hurt.

The story about Hillary Clinton is one of the most famous examples of the growing phenomenon dubbed ‘fake news’. The conspiracy theory about the pizzeria began to appear on websites and social networks in late October, before the US election. This was quickly denounced by publications such as The New York Times and The Washington Post. However, many people thought that these papers were themselves lying for political ends and instead of disappearing, the fake story snowballed. Tweets from ‘Representative Steven Smith of the 15th District of Georgia’ claimed that the mainstream media were telling falsehoods. Even though both this name and district were invented, the message was re-tweeted many times. A YouTube refutation of the New York Times article got 250,000 hits.

Fake news stories can be hard to control for several reasons. Many people mistrust established news sources and others just don’t read them, so the debunking of a fake story by a serious newspaper or TV channel has limited effect. In addition, the internet is very hard to police. When users are caught misusing one media platform, they simply go to another one or start up a website themselves.

There are also various reasons why people create fake news. Some have political motives, to belittle or incriminate their opponents. Other websites, like The Onion, deliberately publish fake news as satire – humorous comment on society and current affairs. Another group is in it for the profit: many people clicking on entertaining fake news stories can bring in a lot of advertising revenue. One man running fake news sites from Los Angeles said he was making up to US$ 30,000 a month in this way. There are also those, like the small-town teenagers in Macedonia who wrote fake news stories about Donald Trump, who seem to be motivated partly by money and partly by boredom.

So, what can we do to stop fake news spreading? First, make sure that the websites you read are legitimate, for example by looking carefully at the domain name and the About Us section. Check the sources of any quotes or figures given in the story. Remember that amazing stories about famous people will be covered by the mainstream media if they are true. Only share stories you know are true and let your friends know, tactfully, when they unknowingly share fake news. Together we can turn around the post-truth world!

Vocabulary

assault – the crime of attacking somebody physically

rifle – a gun with a long barrel which you hold to your shoulder to fire

headquarters – a place from which an organization or a military operation is controlled; the people who work there

abuser – 1. a person who makes bad use of something or uses so much of something that it harms their health

2. a person or an organization that uses power or knowledge unfairly or wrongly

investigate – 1. to carefully examine the facts of a situation, an event, a crime, etc. to find out the truth about it or how it happened

2. to try to find out information about somebody’s character, activities, etc.

3. to find out information and facts about a subject or problem by study or research

dub –  (somebody + noun) to give somebody/something a particular name, often in a humorous or critical way

conspiracy – a secret plan by a group of people to do something harmful or illegal – դավադրություն

denounce – 1. to strongly criticize somebody/something that you think is wrong, illegal, etc.

2. to tell the police, the authorities, etc. about somebody’s illegal political activities

claim – 1. to say that something is true although it has not been proved and other people may not believe it

2. (something) to get or take somebody’s attention

falsehood – 1. the state of not being true; the act of telling a lie

2. a statement that is not true

refutation – ​proof or a statement that something is not true or is wrong

debunk – (something) to show that an idea, a belief, etc. is false; to show that something is not as good as people think it is

belittle – (somebody/something) to make somebody, or the things that somebody does, seem unimportant

incriminate – (somebody) to make it seem as if somebody has done something wrong or illegal

opponent – a person who is against something and tries to change or stop it

deliberately –  done in a way that was planned, not by chance – դիտավորյալ

satire – a way of criticizing a person, an idea or an institution in which you use humour to show their faults or weaknesses; a piece of writing that uses this type of criticism

affairs – events that are of public interest or political importance

profit – the money that you make in business or by selling things, especially after paying the costs involved

revenue – the money that a government receives from taxes or that an organization, etc. receives from its business

boredom – ​the state of feeling bored; the fact of being very boring

tactfully – ​in a way that is careful not to say or do anything that will annoy or upset other people.

Language Notes

TV = television

get an early start = leave early in the morning

just = simply

pay the price = suffer the consequences

grab a bite = (Informal) get something to eat

coffee shop = a type of restaurant

Okay by me. = It’s all right with me.

Դաս 4

Obviously- Ակնհայտ է

sudden- հանկարծակի

audience- լսարան

claim- պահանջ

paddles- Թիավարում

shame on you- ամոթ քեզ

assume- ենթադրել

Դաս 5

A private detective is a detective who is not a member of an official force but is employed by a private party or self-employed in his or her own practice. The most famous mystery fictional character Sherlock Holmes is a perfect example of what a private investigator is and should be. In this paper, I will be discussing Sherlock Holmes’ life along with the several unique ways he solves his mysteries throughout his books. I will also be comparing and contrasting him with other detectives and review the impact his stories left on others. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is the British writer and physician who created the famous detective Sherlock Holmes. He portrays Holmes so be the smartest and most effective detective in London, England. Holmes was a character very much of his time and place, who appealed to British readers directly by confronting the messy, changeable world they live in (Long). Most people in today’s time are still fairly familiar to such a strongly created character even though his mystery stories were written around the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. Doyle got his inspiration for Holmes from his professor, Joseph Bell, the famous Scottish lecturer who taught at the medical school of University of Edinburgh. Doyle’s most famous book was “The Hound of the Baskervilles”, written in the early 1900’s.