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Education
Today's article is about laughter. Before reading
the article look at the caption and picture. What do you think
the article will focus on?
Laughter can be the best medicine
Talk to a friend and decide:
i) What makes you laugh?
ii) Who makes you laugh and why?
iii) Which TV programme(s) make you laugh?
iv) What kind of film(s) make you laugh?
Here
are some words and expressions from the article.
Check out any words you don't know in a dictionary before
reading.
Now
read the article quickly.
| When
you are down on your luck, it may be the last thing on
your mind. But in Austria doctors know the health value
of a good chortle, and are offering homeless people lectures
on how to laugh. The project began in the southern city
of Graz in October 2004. It has been such a success that
other disadvantaged groups, including asylum seekers,
are about to be taken on as students.
The courses
are conducted by professors such as Leopold Neohold
from the Karl Franzens University in Graz, who have
been to four local hostels to deliver a lecture called
'Laughter is the best medicine'. 'This is a fantastic
project' he said. 'One of the main problems for the
homeless is getting a foot back in the door of society
… we hope this programme will be the first step
towards achieving that goal'. The project is sponsored
by a magazine called Megaphon, which supports homeless
people.
Dr Neohold said
his first 30 homeless students had learned the importance
of humour in the face of adversity, and added 'It demonstrates
that education should be open to everyone, including
the homeless'. 'Anyone who completes a course will be
given a certificate, and I'm sure it will give them
back a degree of respect'.
 Graz
University has conducted pioneering research into how
laughter strengthens the immune system and builds self-confidence.
The Berlin University laughter expert Professor Gunther
Sickl said: 'Phrases such as 'laughing yourself sick'
should actually be turned around to read 'laughing yourself
well'. 'Up to 80 muscles are used to have a really good
laugh and the body gets a very healthy work out. It
is such good exercise that it sometimes even leads to
cramps for those having their first good belly- laugh
in a while. When we laugh the heart beats faster, blood
pressure rises and oxygen levels in the blood increases
as breathing accelerates. Also, and possibly the most
important of all, endorphins, the brain drugs are released
- they not only promote a feeling of well-being but
are seen by most doctors as the best natural drugs of
all. After the laughing has stopped the blood pressure
falls again and stress hormones are reduced, increasing
the strength of the immune system'.
The
homeless are not the first to benefit from the laughter
lectures. Many places in Germany and Austria have special
laughter clubs where the forgotten art of laughter is
taught using techniques ranging from laughter exercises
to joke telling. Laughter holidays are also offered.
A hotel owner, Franz Pirktl, 55, said; 'As a health
and fitness hotel we used to cater just for people's
physical well-being. But the amount of money that people
in Germany have been spending on laughter clubs and
courses has shown there is a market for improving people's
sense of fun. Our 'Laugh a minute holidays' have been
a great success'. |
When
we add less to nouns we make adjectives that mean 'without
something'. Check in your dictionary what happens to the meaning
of the following nouns when we add less
Some
of the words from the text are listed below. Can you match
them with their definitions?
1. People
who are ........................... live in bad conditions
and tend not to get a good education or have a reasonable
standard of living.
2. A ........................... is a large house where people
can stay cheaply for a short period of time.
3. In Britain, a ........................... event is an event
in which people try to do something such as walk or run a
particular distance in order to raise money for charity.
4. ........................... is a very difficult or unfavourable
situation.
5. To ........................... a fact means to make it
clear to people.
6. ........................... work is work that has not been
done before.
7. If you have ........................... , you behave confidently
because you feel sure of your abilities or value.
8. A ........................... is a piece of tissue inside
your body which connects two bones and which you use when
you make a movement.
9. ........................... is a sudden strong pain caused
by a muscle suddenly contracting.
10. If the process or rate of something ...........................
, it gets faster and faster.
Was
your guess correct about what you thought the article was
going to focus on? Discuss the following with a friend
1. Would you like to go on a laughter course? Why or why not?
2. Do you think courses like these would be popular in Bangladesh?
Why or why not?
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(R) thedailystar.net 2005 |
