Category: Life Style

Read time : 4 mins

Level : Intermediate

By HUIZHONG WU and EMILY WANG FUJIYAMA Associated Press

BEIJING (AP) — Starting next year, China will raise its retirement age for workers, which is now among the youngest in the world’s major economies, in an effort to address its shrinking population and aging work force.

The Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, the country’s legislature, passed the new policy Friday after a sudden announcement earlier in the week that it was reviewing the measure, state broadcaster CCTV announced.

The policy change will be carried out over 15 years, with the retirement age for men raised to 63 years, and for women to 55 or 58 years depending on their jobs. The current retirement age is 60 for men and 50 for women in blue-collar jobs and 55 for women doing white-collar work. Continue reading

Read time : 2 mins

Level : Intermediate

By DANICA KIRKA Associated Press

LONDON (AP) — One doesn’t need to know sign language to understand what Michael Connolly feels about his colleagues’ efforts to break down the barriers posed by his deafness.

When asked what he thought of his teammates’ decision to learn British Sign Language, the 45-year-old autoworker at the Nissan plant in Sunderland, England, grinned and flashed a universal symbol: Two thumbs up.

Connolly loves having the chance to banter with his workmates, to talk about everyday things — the kids, vacation plans, a TV program. And now he can, because the entire 25-member bumper-paint team at Sunderland started learning BSL at the beginning of the year. Continue reading

Read time : 2 mins

Level : Intermediate

Tara Gerner | Wealth of Geeks undefined

Although classic desserts such as chocolate chip cookies and ice cream never go out of style, interest in vegan desserts continues to rise in 2024. In fact, the latest numbers show The global vegan dessert market is estimated to reach $3.75 billion this year, and it won’t be stopping anytime soon.

Global Growth Insights reports vegan frozen desserts, cakes and pastries, and cookies and biscuits were the most popular plant-based sweet treats last year. While interest grows in other areas, North America remains the dominant region for vegan desserts, despite still be dominated by love for traditional desserts.

Dessert popularity is affected by local traditions, customs, and preferences. Many regions in the United States have a favorite or signature dessert built into their culinary legacy. Continue reading

Read time : 2 mins

Level : Intermediate

Melanie Allen | Wealth of Geeks undefined

Americans spend more than five hours every day on leisure activities and hobbies, ranking second only to sleep in the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics’ 2023 time use survey.

Though we all love leisure time, we don’t spend it the same way. Some pastimes are far more popular than others.

America’s Favorite Hobbies

A Statista survey of more than 60,000 Americans determined which hobbies we love the most. Discover something new to try as we explore America’s favorite pastimes. Because respondents could choose more than one hobby, reported percentages surpassed 100. Continue reading

Read time : 2 mins

Level : Advanced

By JOCELYN GECKER Associated Press

Americans are increasingly skeptical about the value and cost of college, with most saying they feel the U.S. higher education system is headed in the “wrong direction,” according to a new poll.

Overall, only 36% of adults say they have a “great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in higher education, according to the report released Monday by Gallup and the Lumina Foundation. That confidence level has declined steadily from 57% in 2015.

Some of the same opinions have been reflected in declining enrollment as colleges contend with the effects of the student debt crisis, concerns about the high cost of tuition and political debates over how they teach about race and other topics. Continue reading

Read time : 2 mins

Level : Intermediate

By Maike Corbett | Wealth of Geeks undefined

Conventional wisdom says breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but a 2022 Statista report indicates only 35% of Americans actually stop to eat the meal each morning. The reasons for this vary. Some people say they’re not hungry in the mornings, while others feel they don’t have time to make something and eat it.

Is breakfast that important? The science doesn’t support an answer either way. It comes down to individuals. Some people can’t stand the thought of food when they first wake up. Some say they can’t get along without breakfast.

 

 

What Is Breakfast, Anyway?

The word ” breakfast ” has been around since the 15th century. Those who went to Catholic Mass each morning didn’t eat until after the service, so their first meal broke their fast from the night before. The word eventually came to mean the morning meal in general. Continue reading

Read time : 2 mins

Level : Intermediate

By Michael Dinich

The average American engages in five generous acts per week, totaling 260 random acts of kindness each year. What goes around comes around? That’s the belief of 84% of United States citizens asked by OnePoll on behalf of banking app Chime.

Another 84% say they will go out of their way to “pay it forward” whenever possible. This most often comes in the form of a special treat for their loved ones, generous tips, or helping out a neighbor, carrying their groceries, mowing their lawn, or helping them shovel snow.

Not all of these acts are attributed to karma, or an attempt to rebalance some cosmic scale. Some simply believe in the value of doing good deeds for others, regardless of whether or not they’re rewarded for it. Continue reading

Read time : 2 mins

Level : Advanced

By EDITH M. LEDERER Associated Press

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The world’s population is expected to grow by more than 2 billion people in the next decades and peak in the 2080s at around 10.3 billion, a major shift from a decade ago, a new report by the United Nations said Thursday.

The report — released on World Population Day — says the global population is then expected to decline to around 10.2 billion by the end of the century.

John Wilmoth, head of the U.N. Population Division which prepared the report, said the probability that the world’s population will peak within the current century is quite high – about 80%. Continue reading

Read time : 2 mins

Level : Intermediate

By MELINA WALLING Associated Press

Around 134 million people in the U.S. are under alerts as an “extremely dangerous and record-breaking” heat wave broils much of the country, according to the National Weather Service.

Regions that may see temperatures above 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32 degrees Celsius) or much higher into the triple digits (well above 37 degrees Celsius) include nearly all of the West Coast, the southern Plains, most of the lower Mississippi Valley into the Ohio Valley and parts of Florida, said Bob Oravec, a lead forecaster with the National Weather Service.

The Pacific Northwest will see the mercury rising later in the weekend. Arizona will continue to sizzle as firefighters battle a wildfire near Phoenix, where some contend with burns from blazing hot asphalt, concrete or other surfaces. And more humid regions will see a muggy weekend. Continue reading

Read time : 2 mins

Level : Advanced

BY JAN M. OLSEN

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Sweden launched a groundbreaking new law on Monday, allowing grandparents to step in and get paid parental leave while taking care of their grandchildren for up to three months of a child’s first year.

The development comes after the Swedish parliament, the 349-seat Riksdag, approved last December the government’s proposal on transfer of parental allowance. This comes 50 years after the Scandinavian country became the first in the world to introduce paid parental leave for fathers and not just mothers. Continue reading