Eating alone is less healthy than eating with other people, new research warns.
Read the article:
and decide whether the statements are True or False.
1. The article presents evidence that Americans have become less likely to spend their free time in the company of others.
2. In 1975, 42% of Americans said they hosted friends or family at home at least once a month.
3. More than 25% of Americans eat most of their meals alone.
4. The participants who ate with a friend experienced a smaller rise in blood sugar.
5. The researchers believe that being around other people doesn’t affect the way our bodies respond to food, cold and stress.
6. The author argues that eating alone is always unhealthy.
7. One reason people may prefer eating alone is that it is less convenient and requires more planning.
8. The article suggests that socialising may have both psychological and physical benefits.
Key: 1T; 2T; 3T; 4T; 5F; 6F; 7F; 8T
Glossary
- to bum someone out – to make someone feel sad or disappointed
- startling – very surprising or shocking
- to sift through – to carefully examine a large amount of information to find something useful or important
- stark – very clear and noticeable, often in an unpleasant or worrying way
- toll – the negative effect or damage caused by something
- pancreas – an organ in your body that helps control blood sugar and digest food
- taxing – requiring a lot of effort, energy or concentration; difficult or tiring
- to munch – to eat something, especially noisily or casually
- spike – a very high level, usually before a fall
- to scarf (down) – to eat something very quickly
- to abound – to exist in large numbers; to be very common
- mediocre – average or ordinary; not particularly good
Practice makes perfect
Fill in the blanks in the video excerpt with the words in bold below.
lean hold back pin drop core avoid
solitude reach out chit-chat shallow
There’s a fundamental paradox right at the 1. ……. of human life. On the one hand, decades of research has shown that we are highly social creatures who are made happier and healthier by 2. ……….ing …… and connecting with other people in the moments, the days, the weeks, the months, and the years of our lives. And yet, on the other hand, just look around a little bit.
It’s not clear that all of us have gotten this memo. Every day, there are opportunities, big and small, to reach out and connect with other people that we choose not to take. We 3. ………. talking to strangers.
We 4. …….. back and type to each other rather than 5. …….. ing in and talking to each other. Once talking, we stick to 6. …….. talk, to small talk, rather than going deeper. We feel grateful but don’t express it, want to reach out to offer support to someone in need, but 7. ……… .
We’d like to be open and honest in our relationships, but all too often keep our true selves to ourselves. If being socially connected is so darn good for us, then why do we so often seem to be so darn unsocial? This paradox hit me like a freight train one morning while I was on an actual train commuting into my office at the University of Chicago where I work as a professor of behavioural science. That morning on the train began like every other I’d been on for years beforehand, all filing onto the train, everybody in a desperate search for their own little acreage of 8. ………. right along the window.
I think we’d have sat outside the train if that was possible. Heaven forbid you’d sit next to somebody and start to 9. …….. . Of course, you creep, or worse yet, somebody would come and sit down next to you, surely some kind of weirdo.
But then there we all were, highly social creatures made happier and healthier by connecting with other people, now sitting hip to hip with another perfectly reasonable human being. And what did we do for the next 30 to 45 minutes with each other? We chose to ignore each other. You could have heard a 10. ……….. that morning. (…)
In order to check/watch the whole video, go to:
Key: 1. core; 2. reaching out; 3. avoid; 4. lean; 5. leaning; 6. hallow; 7. hold back; 8. solitude; 9. chit-chat; 10. pin drop
Discuss
- According to the article, the percentage of Americans who host friends or family at least once a month has fallen dramatically. Why do you think people entertain guests at home less often nowadays?
- When was the last time you invited someone over for dinner? How did it go?
- Do you enjoy eating alone, or do you prefer having company? Why?
- What do you enjoy most about sharing a meal with someone?
- Do you think eating with colleagues can improve workplace relationships? Why?
- Do you find it easy to initiate contact with other people, or do you usually wait for them to make the first move?
- If you wanted to help a friend who was feeling socially isolated, what would you suggest?
Watch and Revise!
Why Eating Alone Might Be Hurting You!
https://www.cloud.worldwideschool.pl/index.php/s/XtDiocRZ4jq6oRk
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