A hidden power of smiling

1.

A collar: the part of a shirt, coat, dress, blouse, etc., that encompasses the neckline of the garment and is sewn permanently to it, often so as to fold or roll over.

2. Embark: to board a ship, aircraft, or other vehicle, as for a journey

3. Span: the distance between the tip of the thumb and the tip of the little finger when the hand is fully extended.

4. Womb: the uterus of the human female and certain higher mammals (Phôi thai)

5. Cannibalism: the eating of human flesh by another human being.

6. Ritual: a system or collection of religious  (Nghi lễ)    

7. Impaired = decrease

8.Courteous = polite

9. Competent:  having suitable or sufficient skill, knowledge, experience,etc., for some purpose; properly qualified

TRANSCRIPT:

When I was a child, I always wanted to be a superhero. I wanted to save the world and then make everyone happy. But I knew that I'd need superpowers to make my dreams come true. So I used to embark on these imaginary journeys to find intergalactic objects from planet Krypton, which was a lot of fun, but didn't get much result. When I grew up, and realized that science-fiction was not a good source for superpowers, I decided instead to embark on a journey of real science, to find a more useful truth.

I started my journey in California with a UC Berkley 30-year longitudinal study that examined the photos of students in an old yearbook and tried to measure their success and well-being throughout their life. By measuring their student smiles,researchers were able to predict how fulfilling and long-lasting a subject's marriage will be, how well she would score on standardized tests of well-being and how inspiring she would be to others. In another yearbook, I stumbled upon Barry Obama's picture. When I first saw his picture, I thought that these superpowers came from his super collar.But now I know it was all in his smile.

Another aha! moment came from a 2010 Wayne State University research project that looked into pre-1950s baseball cards of Major League players.The researchers found that the span of a players smile could actually predict the span of his life.Players who didn't smile in their pictures lived an average of only 72.9 years, where players with beaming smiles lived an average of almost 80 years.

The good news is that we're actually born smiling.Using 3D ultrasound technology, we can now see that developing babies appear to smile, even in the womb. When they're born, babies continue to smile -- initially, mostly in their sleep. And even blind babies smile to the sound of the human voice.Smiling is one of the most basic, biologically-uniform expressions of all humans.

In studies conducted in Papua New Guinea, Paul Ekman, the world's most renowned researcher on facial expressions, found that even members of the Fore tribe, who were completely disconnected from Western culture, and also known for their unusual cannibalism rituals, attributed smiles to descriptions of situations the same way you and I would. So from Papau New Guinea to Hollywoodall the way to modern art in Beijing, we smile often,and you smile to express joy and satisfaction.

How many people here in this room smile more than 20 times per day? Raise your hand if you do. Oh, wow. Outside of this room, more than a third of us smile more than 20 times per day, whereas less than 14 percent of us smile less than five. In fact, those with the most amazing superpowers are actually children who smile as many as 400 times per day.

Have you ever wondered why being around children who smile so frequently makes you smile very often? A recent study at Uppsala University in Sweden found that it's very difficult to frown when looking at someone who smiles. You ask, why? Because smiling is evolutionarily contagious, and it suppresses the control we usually have on our facial muscles. Mimicking a smile and experiencing it physically help us understand whether our smile is fake or real, so we can understand the emotional state of the smiler.

In a recent mimicking study at the University of Clermont-Ferrand in France, subjects were asked to determine whether a smile was real or fakewhile holding a pencil in their mouth to repress smiling muscles. Without the pencil, subjects were excellent judges, But with the pencil in their mouth,when they could not mimic the smile they saw,their judgment was impaired.

In addition to theorizing on evolution in "The Origin of Species", Charles Darwin also wrote the facial feedback response theory. His theory states that the act of smiling itself actually makes us feel better -- rather than smiling being merely a result of feeling good. In his study, Darwin actually cited a French neurologist, Guillaume Duchenne, who used electric jolts to facial muscles to induce and stimulate smiles. Please, don't try this at home.

In a related German study, researchers used fMRI imaging to measure brain activity before and after injecting Botox to suppress smiling muscles. The finding supported Darwin's theory by showing that facial feedback modifies the neural processing of emotional content in the brain in a way that helps us feel better when we smile. Smiling stimulates our brain reward mechanism in a way that even chocolate -- a well-regarded pleasure inducer --cannot match.

British researchers found that one smile can generate the same level of brain stimulation as up to 2,000 bars of chocolate. (Laughter) Wait. The same study found that smiling is as stimulating as receiving up to 16,000 pounds Sterling in cash.That's like 25 grand a smile. It's not bad. And think about it this way: 25,000 times 400 -- quite a few kids out there feel like mark Zuckerberg every day.

And, unlike lots of chocolate, lots of smiling can actually make you healthier. Smiling can help reduce the level of stress-enhancing hormones like cortisol, adrenaline and dopamine, increase the level of mood-enhancing hormones like endorphin and reduce overall blood pressure.

And if that's not enough, smiling can actually look good in the eyes of others. A recent study at Penn State University found that when you smile you don't only appear to be more likable and courteous,but you actually appear to be more competent.

So whenever you want to look great and competent, reduce your stress or improve your marriage, or feel as if you just had a whole stack of high-quality chocolate -- without incurring the caloric cost -- or as if you found 25 grand in a pocket of an old jacket you hadn't worn for ages, or whenever you want to tap into a superpower that will help you and everyone around you live a longer, healthier, happier life, smile.

Essay: What is qualities of a talent manager?

Topic: What is a quality of a good manager?

It is unarguable that leading other people is always a hard work and nowadays it seems to be more difficult. There are many arguments globally debating that a manager is a person who delegates all work to subordinates or only knows to use his authority to control other employees. From my point of view, a good leader not only controls working process but also has some important features such as ability to judge people, good communication skills and especially delegating skills.

Delegating skill may be the most important quality which all talent managers must have. Each employee is good at different parts of work, for example, some are good at accounting or administrative jobs while other work well with dealing with clients. A good manager knows which part of the whole working progress will suit with each employee and hence delegates tasks to the right staff. For instance, in most companies, the manager is responsible for every part of the work, so if he or she delegates jobs to the inappropriate staff, the tasks will not be completed in deadline.

Additionally, a good manager also needs to have good communication skills. More detailed studies have shown that normally the manager is not the best person in a group. Although there are people who are better than him or her but a manager must have the best communication ability. A supervisor’s duty is making people in the group interact well and ensure everything is good. Hence communicating with other partners is a vital skill.

However, a good communication ability does not mean to satisfy everyone in a group. A talent manager knows when to make decisions even if they make some employees dissatisfy. It is clear that there are always arguments and conflicts between colleagues and a manager has to judge who is right. If the manager gives a correct judgment, it will not only encourage him to work better but also make employees believe in his ability. In contrast, if the manager makes an incorrect decision, the employees will feel disappointed and may not work effectively as usual.

In general, becoming a talent manager is always a difficult task and a good employer needs many abilities. But nothing is impossible, if a manager knows how to delegate and make good decisions, it is not hard to become an excellent leader.

Writing task 1: The various sources of electricity in the U.S.A

The two pie charts represent the various sources of electricity in the USA.

Describe the information by selecting the main infoemation and make comparisons where relevant. (150 words)

The pie charts indicate the variety of electrical origins in the USA in 1970 and 1984 by percentages. There are many ways to produce electricity which are by coal, by oil, by hydro – power and by nuclear. As can be seen, the electricity which is manufactured by coal had the biggest proportion in both 1970 and 1984, with 46% and 55.5%

According to the pie charts, in 1970, besides the biggest percentages of electricity made by coal, with 46%, most of electricity was produced by natural gas, hydro – power and oil. It was just 12.1 percent of electricity made by oil, which was about a half of the percentages of the electricity produced by natural gas, with 24.3%. There was very small amount of electricity made by nuclear, just 1.4%

It was clear that in 1984, electricity made by coal was still the most used electricity in USA with 55.5%. However, there were many changes in other origins of electricity. The percentage of electricity produced by natural gas was just as a half of the ones in 1970, with 12.3%. Electricity manufactured by hydro – power and oil were also lower than they were in 1970 with 13.7% of electricity made by hydro – power and just only 7% of electricity produced by oil. But the electricity made by nuclear was increased sharply, just from 1.4% in 1970 to 13, 5% in 1984.

To sum up, the electricity made by coal still had the biggest proportion. Other origins of electricity which was hydro – power, oil and natural gas was decreased gradually while the proportion of electricity produced by nuclear was rise sharply.  

Essay: Teaching children how to become good members of society

Topic: Some people think that parents should teach children how to be good members of society. Others, however, believe that school is the place to learn this.

Discuss both these views and give your own opinion 

It is unarguable that nowadays teaching children how to have a good manner is becoming more and more difficult. There are many debates globally that parents should take responsibility to make their children become good members of society. However, other people think that this duty has to be taken by schools. From my point of view, it is a responsibility of both schools and parents.

It is clear that parents have a big effect on their children. If parents are bad, their children will have a bad behavior. So they have to live in good way if they want their children to grow well. Another principal reason is that parents are the only people who the children can share their secrets and help them get over their troubles. Recent researches show that the more parents listen to their children the better they are in future.

 Furthermore, beside parents, children are also affected by many other things such as society, friends and especially schools. If children go to school everyday and they are only taught knowledge about maths, literature, history etc they will be bored quickly. They want to prove themselves in many ways so if schools teach them the right ways, they will follow them. Another point I want to add is that friends also have a large impact on the children. Maybe friends have an effect as large as parents do so a good school will have a right method to choose students who are good enough.

In general, I think that children are affected by a plenty of things and teaching them how to become good members of society is always very difficult and takes a long time. However, I believe that with the patience and advice from both parents and school, children will become good members of society in future.                 

Essay: The early and recent technologies

Topic: Early technological developments helped ordinary people and changed their lives more than recent developments.

To what extent do you agree or disagree

  It is unarguable that technologies are making humans life more and more convenient and modern. However, there are many debates in all over the world about early technological developments take people a bigger move to the future than the recent technologies do. From my point of view, I disagree with this argument because the recent or early technologies have an equal impact on ours lives.

There are a variety of ways that can explain why the early technologies help people more than recent technologies. The principal reason is that with the inventions such as electricity, phone, etc it makes our lives become more modern. For example, people can contact easily to each other when they have a phone or they can light up their room in the evening without candles by an electrical lamp. In addition, the early technologies help human discovery new things in the world such as new energy like gas, fuel etc or new chemical elements.

On the other hand, besides the benefit of the early technologies, the modern technologies also bring many advantages. Here the principal argument is that the present technologies not only base on early technologies but also take humans a fantastic move. An example here is that in 10 years ago, people could not call anyone if they did not have a telephone. Now people can call anyone whenever they want by a small mobile phone or they can share many things easily by the internet. A second positive effect is that the modern technologies can prevent many diseases that are impossible in the past such as cold, cancer, plague etc

It is difficult to escape the conclusion that the early and recent technologies have an equal effect on humans. However, some technologies have negative impact such as nuclear technology or process of manufacturing steel in the past etc but without them, people cannot take a big move to the modern life like present.

Essay: Tests and examinations

Topic: Test and examinations are a central feature of school systems in many countries. Do you think the educational benefits of testing outweigh any disadvantages?

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your all knowledge or experience.

Nowadays, assessments and exams are becoming a major feature of academic structure in several nations. There are many arguments around the world debating that the academic advantages of testing pre – dominate its disadvantages. In my opinion, I strongly agree with this argument. It will be proved by analyzing how examinations can help students enrich their knowledge as well as teachers improve their teaching methods

The main purpose of examination is to identify how well the students absorb from lessons hence teachers will adjust ways to teach each students. Tests may be stressful and cause a lot of pressure but it is the easiest method for the teachers to know that their teaching is successful or not. For example, students in one class might not study at same level, some students are at a lower level than the others so through the tests the teacher will know who they are and have more effective ways to teach them.

A very important aspect of testing is to encourage students to focus on self – study  and review their lessons. If the teachers just come and teach with no exams, students probably forget what they have learnt. Because the exams will cover most of knowledge which the teacher have taught so if the students  do not really study during the courses then they have to refresh their knowledge and revise rapidly their lesson in order to pass with flying colors.

From my point of view, I think the most important point of examinations is making students get together and help each other to pass the exam. The assessments not only assess the knowledge of one student but also test how students work together. Through the exams, students can improve their soft – skills such as team – work, presentation etc in addition  by working as a team, students can get on well with others. Probably we have had many discussions about the advantages and disadvantages of examinations but testing is still the most effective way assess the academic ability of students  until now. 

Writing task 1: The value of total and selected exports

The line graphs give the data about the worth of whole exports and selected exports which is fuel, food and manufactured goods in 6 years from 2000 to 2005 by one nation. The number of the whole exports fell dramatically from 300.000 to 250.000 between 2000 and 2002. But from 2002 to 2005 it increased sharply amd peaked at well over 400.000 in 2005. 

As can be seen, in 2000 the value of fuel export was the highest. It was about 45000 more than the double of manufactured goods export and the triple of food export. There was a dramatical decrease of the worth of fuel export from about 45000 to 20000 in 5 years between 2000 and 2005. the export of manufactured goods increased gradually from 2000 to 2002. Although it decreased slightly from well over 20000 to 20000 between 2002 and 2003 but it kept increasing to approximately 25000  2 years later.

The value of food export was the lowest among 3 selected exports. It was always well under 10000, it fluctuated around 5000 and the highest point of it was about 5000 in 2003.