Урок - дискуссия "Пандемия: стоит ли носить маски?"

F ACE MASKS

PRE-READING

1. WARM-UP QUESTIONS.

1. Why do health-care workers wear face masks?

2. Why do everyday citizens sometimes need masks?

3. Do you have a face mask? If yes, when and where do you wear it? Do you prefer single use or reusable masks? If no, why not?

1. VOCABULARY PREVIEW.

READING.

The new normal.

1. To you need to pick up some essentials at the grocery store? Don’t forget to your face mask! Before the COVID-19 pandemic, shoppers had to remember to bring their reusable shopping bags. Now they have to remember a face mask. Face masks help reduce the spread of disease in places where social distancing is difficult, such as grocery store.

2. The main purpose of wearing a face mask during a public health crisis is to help protect others from getting sick from you. Without a face mask, you could pass an infectious disease to another person by simply sneezing or coughing. Even if you don’t feel sick, you might be carrying the coronavirus. In fact, some establishments have even made face masks mandatory in order to protect the staff and patrons.

3. At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, health experts asked everyday citizens not to purchase face masks. After all, there was a shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE) for health specialists and first responders. Later, health experts said it was a good idea for non-essential workers to wear face-masks in public places. In some hard-hit places like New York City, wearing a face mask became a civic duty.

4. Even though most people understand the necessity of face masks, many people don’t wear one. Unlike hats or scarves, face masks don’t look or feel good. Face masks also make it difficult to do everyday things like talk and eat. And, let’s face it – face masks even feel a bit scary when you aren’t used to wearing or seeing them in your own city or place of work. They also force us to face the reality that the world is experiencing troubling times.

5. Face masks are becoming so common, however, that they are starting to lose their stigma, even in countries where face masks were previously rare. In fact, these days, people are more uncomfortable getting caught without mask than with one. Have face masks become the new normal?

USAGE NOTE

TO FACE

The verb “to face” means to realize or accept that something is bad but true.

• Face it! The kids are not going back to school this semester.

• It’s time to face the facts. The cruise we booked for next year is going to be canceled.

• I can’t face the gardening store. It’s so crowded and some people aren’t wearing a mask.

COMPREHENSION

OPEN-ENDED QUESTIONS

1. How has grocery shopping changes since pandemic?

2. What is the main reason for an everyday citizen to wear a mask in public during a pandemic?

3. Why should you wear a face mask even if you don’t feel sick?

4. What was there a shortage of at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic?

5. What is paragraph 4 mainly about?

6. According to the reading, why are face masks beginning to lose their stigma?

GRAMMAR PRACTICE

REVIEW

CONDITIONALS

Translate from Russian into English.

1. Если вам необходимо купить продукты в магазине, не забудьте надеть маску.

2. Если вы будете носить маску, вы уменьшите распространение заболевания.

3. Если бы вчера в магазине она соблюдала социальную дистанцию, то она бы не заболела.

4. Если бы маски не были обязательны, их бы никто не носил.

5. Если бы в начале пандемии люди скупили все маски, сейчас бы был дефицит.

6. Если мы будем носить маски всегда, мы привыкнем, и эта ситуация не будет казаться столь неприятной.

DISCUSSION

1. Should world leaders wear face masks? Why should or shouldn’t they?

2. Should children wear face masks to school until a COVID-19 vaccine is available?

3. Would you dine in a restaurant where face masks are mandatory?

4. Will masks become fashionable?

5. What do you like least about face masks?