Dexway English Magazine: A2 – Edition 7
Allergies
We are told by doctors that allergies are hereditary. So if your parents, grandparents or other family members have an allergy… you might get it too. Some people have allergies as children and then they disappear. Others do not experience any symptoms of an allergy until they are adults. This can be because of the environment, illness, aging or maybe even hormone changes.
What is an allergy? It is the body´s way of fighting something it sees as a virus. It overreacts and we get itchy eyes, a cough, we sneeze, get a headache and sometimes fatigue. There are many types like for example seasonal, year-round, food, medication and skin allergies.
Seasonal allergies are caused by things outside, like pollen. People usually have symptoms in the Spring and Autumn. Year-round allergies like dust, animal fur and dander or mould can be very troubling. How can we help treat our allergies? For dust it is caused by tiny dust mites (little insects), wash linens in hot water, put plastic covers on mattresses and pillows, use blinds instead of curtains and don´t have carpet in your house. For animal fur and dander, some people get hypoallergenic dogs and vacuum and sweep up often. For mold, bathrooms are humid, they should have a window or a vent, use a dehumidifier and clean your air conditioner every year.
Carrot Cake
Ingredients
- 4 eggs
- 200ml/7 fl oz of sunflower oil
- 250g/9oz of carrot, grated
- 100g/3 ½oz raisins (Optional)
- 100g/3½ walnut pieces (Optional)
- Zest of one orange
- 200g/70z self rising flour
- 1 tablespoon bicarbonate of soda
- ¼ table spoon fine salt
- 200g/7oz light muscovado sugar
Method
- Preheat the over to 180C/350F. Grease cake tine, 20cm/8in round.
- Break the eggs into a bowl and lightly whisk.
- Add the vegetable oil and whisk again
- Add the grated carrot, raisings, nut pieces and orange zest.
- In another bowl mix the sifted flour, bicarbonate of soda and salt. Add sugar as well.
- add the carrot mix to the dry ingredients and mix very well.
- Put the cake batter into the tine and put on the middle shelf of the oven for 1-1 ¼ hours, or until the cake has risen and is golden brown.
Pets
A kitten and puppy go to live in the same house, after many years of living together visitors are often surprised to find that the puppy (now a dog) does not chase the kitten (now a cat). The own-ers laugh and tell visitors that the cat thinks it is a dog and the dog thinks it is a cat. The visitors leave thinking how wonderful this situation is.
Having a pet at home brings many benefits; according to research pet owners are less likely to suf-fer from depression, live longer, have lower blood pressure, and less risk of heart attack with lower levels of cholesterol. People over the age of 65 visit the doctor 30 (thirty) percent less than non-pet owners. Playing with a cat gets those happy chemicals like serotonin and dopamine into the blood stream. Dog walking can be relaxing and even watching a goldfish can make stress disappear.
But there are also arguments against pets.
-They are dirty. Cats are the cleanest animals and dogs can have a bath.
-They bring hair into the house. True, but they do need regular grooming. This can be “us time”, time to spend brushing your cat or washing your dog.
-The food costs too much. This one, have no answer for you. To keep your dog or cat in tip-top shape you do need to buy good quality food and bottled drinking water. You would do the same for your brother, sister, son or daughter, so why not for your dog or cat?
The best reason I heard not to have a pet was that they bring in dead things from outside. Yes, they can cats are hunters, they enjoy catching prey. At least you will never have problems with rodents, birds or snakes!
If you need more benefits, research tells us that children who grow up with a pet become better people; more well-rounded and adjusted to society. Thinking of getting a pet
Panic Buying
Panic buying can be defined as the sudden rush to buy everything; this is normally done before a crisis or potential disaster. Panic buying functions on the basis that each country has a limited supply of the most basic things such as petrol and food.
You may have experienced panic buying or seen it on TV. The UK had firsthand experience of panic buying In 2012 (two thousand and twelve) when the petrol delivery service went on strike, within two days the petrol was gone, there were queues for miles and miles as police cars, ambulances and fire engines tried to get enough petrol to do their jobs.
Panic buying has started a new and interesting idea, we call them “preppers”. They are the people that stockpile food and other supplies just in case a zombie apocalypse starts or the weather changes the transport network or society finally collapses around us. So maybe the next time you go shopping, it might be a good idea to drop a few more cans of beans or packets of pasta into your trolley, as you we never really know what is going to start a panic buying episode.
City forests
Seattle, Washington, in the United States, has developed a 0.0283 km2 called “the Beacon Food Forest” and it is located 4 km from downtown Seattle!
The unique thing is they grow vegetables and fruit and anyone can eat it!
The land is owned by Seattle Public Utilities and it is the largest food forest on public land in the US. The city also gave a donation of $100,000 (one hundred thousand dollars).
They wanted to provide affordable healthy food to the area and to start an urban farming community.
The forest will have a teaching space, community gardening plots, a place to barbecue and recreational areas.
A permaculture approach was used to plant the forest. This means they design settlements and agricultural systems that copy natural ecologies.
They want to care for the earth, the people and everyone shares. It is based on volunteers from the community to help plant and grow all the vegetation.
Barbecue weather
”April showers bring May flowers” is a common saying in England used to celebrate the month of May. For many people May is spring. Even though, spring officially starts about the third week in March. It is about renewal.
Flowers begin to wake and creeps through the ground, buds grow on trees and the sun shines. How fantastic it is to feel the sun on our faces after a long cold winter!
April and May are two months when our wardrobes become a little confused. It is often warm during the day, so we wear shorts, but cold at night, so we wear long trousers when we go out in the evenings.
Our winter jackets are still out; somehow we do not really give them up till summer starts.
But May is also famous for another reason, barbecues. Charcoal smoke, raw chicken and burnt burgers are the hallmarks of a great British barbecue.
The supermarkets and DIY shops know this and both go crazy for barbecue season which lasts all the way to September, providing the weather stays nice.
