Intro
1. Learn Vocabulary - Learn some new vocabulary before you start the lesson.
2. Read and Prepare - Read the introduction and prepare to hear the audio.
Have you ever tried a fad diet? Most fad diets promise you amazing results, but they have lots of rules. For example, if you eat only watermelon for five days, you’ll lose ten pounds. Or maybe, if you consume only foods with a yellow color, you’ll never be sick again. When the fad diet is over, most people feel exhausted by all of the rules!
Breatharianism is a popular topic on the internet nowadays. Instead of counting calories, a Breatharian is a person who consumes no food and no water. Breatharians believe they can replenish their bodies just by breathing air and meditating. Other people are not buying it. In fact, they think it’s dangerous and absurd. How can a human be sustained by only air?
Marni has decided to try Breatharianism for a while. Listen to this English lesson to find out why Marni’s new diet makes Andy very unhappy.
Dialog
1. Listen and Read - Listen to the audio and read the dialog at the same time.
2. Study - Read the dialog again to see how the vocab words are used.
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Marni: Andy, I have been trying this new way of living. Breatharianism. Do you know anything about it?
Andy_H: Oh, no. My cousin Phil literally just told me about Breatharianism. Sorry, but there’s no calories in the air. I’m not buying it.
Marni: I will admit I am very hungry, but I’m trying this whole new way of approaching the universe and the world. It’s all just based on prana, which is the idea that you can be sustained from everything in the universe. The life force of the universe will give you what you need.
Andy_H: OK. I’m just going to let you know, first of all, that’s absurd. I like to work out and when you do, you burn calories. You need to consume things so that you can replenish what makes your body. I mean, it just seems like a really dangerous fad diet to me.
Marni: Well, I haven’t been working out. I’ve been doing a lot of meditating, a lot of deep breathing. I’ve consumed a little water in the past few days, but that’s about it. I do feel sort of amazing and sort of exhausted, and I’d really just like to eat a pizza.
Grammar Point
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Discussion
Marni has stopped eating food. She heard about an idea called Breatharianism. The rules are simple. Don’t consume food or water. Spend lots of time meditating. Soon, her body will start to replenish itself from air instead of from calories. After learning that Marni is trying to be a Breatharian, Andy is in shock. He thinks Breatharianism is an absurd fad diet.
Andy tells Marni that she needs calories to live. Since there are no calories in air, her body can’t be sustained by the air she breathes. Marni does admit that she’s exhausted and hasn’t been working out. Instead, she spends her time meditating and deep breathing. She’s had a little bit of water to drink and nothing to eat, so she’s already dreaming of a nice big pizza.
Have you ever tried a fad diet? Have you ever tried meditating and working out?
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