English Refresher

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English Refresher · CEFR C1 · Unit 2

Health: Beyond the Basics

Talk about modern health with precision, cite evidence, and disagree diplomatically. Practice, check your answers instantly, and study the flashcards.

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1
Speaking

What Does "Healthy" Mean?

What to do: Work in pairs or small groups. Discuss the questions and try to use the cautious phrases below. There is no score — speak, listen, and qualify your opinions.
Audio 1Listen to an example
Listen to someone rethink what "healthy" means — notice the hedging — then share your own view.

Talk about it

  • How do you define "being healthy"? Where do physical, mental and social health overlap?
  • Has your idea of health changed over the years? What changed it — experience, evidence, or both?
  • Which health trends in your culture are genuinely useful, and which are overhyped?
Hedge and disagree diplomatically with these:
There's growing evidence that…It appears that…To some extent…While it may be true that…I'm not entirely convinced that…One counterpoint is…
Featured Reading

The Changing Face of Health

Read the full interactive essay and do the comprehension quiz before you debate.

Read it →
2
Reading

A Wider Idea of Health

What to do: Read this short extract from the unit essay. Then answer the questions and tap Check Answers. (Read the full article using the link above!)

Not long ago, to be "healthy" mostly meant not being ill. Today the word has stretched to cover mood, sleep, stress and even our social lives. We talk about treating the whole person — and about caring for health before problems appear, rather than only fixing them afterward.

Much of this is genuine progress, backed by solid research. But a vast wellness industry has grown up alongside it, and not all of its promises are equal. Some rest on careful science; others rest on remarkably thin evidence and clever marketing.

1. Our idea of health has widened from curing illness to managing overall ______ (mood, sleep, stress).
2. Caring for health before problems appear is called ______ care.
3. What does the writer caution about the wellness industry?
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Listening

Does Wellness Help?

What to do: Listen two times. Then complete the sentences and answer the questions. Notice how the speakers disagree politely.
Audio 2Priya and Sam discuss the wellness industry

Priya: I do think the wellness industry gets a bad rap. Even if half of it is marketing, it's got people thinking about sleep and stress for the first time.

Sam: While it may be true that it raises awareness, I'm not entirely convinced the products do much. A lot of them have very thin evidence behind them.

Priya: That's fair. Although, to be fair to them, not everything has to be a clinical trial. If a morning routine helps someone feel calmer, does it matter why?

Sam: To some extent, no. My worry is the cost. There's a risk we turn basic health into something you have to buy — supplements, apps, retreats.

Priya: I take your point. The things that actually move the needle — sleep, walking, friends — are mostly free.

Sam: Exactly. By and large I'd rather we spent less and slept more.

1. Priya says the industry gets people thinking about sleep and ______.
2. Sam is not convinced because many products have very thin ______.
3. Sam worries that basic health is becoming something you have to ______.
4. Which best describes Sam's view?
5. What do they finally agree on?
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Vocabulary

The Right Word

What to do: Complete each sentence with a term from the unit. Spelling counts. Tap Check Answers when you're done.
1. Treating the whole person — body, mind and lifestyle — is called ______ health.
2. Long-term exhaustion caused by chronic stress, often at work, is ______.
3. A lifestyle with very little physical movement is a ______ lifestyle.
4. The regions where people regularly live to 100 are known as the ______ ______ (two words).
5. The ability to cope with and recover from difficulty is mental ______.
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Register

Blunt or Diplomatic?

What to do: The same idea can sound blunt or diplomatic. Decide whether each statement is overstated or cautiously phrased. Tap a card to move it (first box, then second box, then back), then tap Check Answers.
Blunt / Overstated
Diplomatic / Hedged
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Structure

Build the Sentence

What to do: Tap the chunks in the correct order to build an advanced sentence (an evidence-hedge and a cleft). Tap a chunk in your answer to send it back. Then tap Check Answers.

1. An evidence-based claim:

2. A cleft sentence (for emphasis):

7
Writing

A Balanced Opinion Piece

What to do: Write 200–250 words on one prompt below. Take a clear position — but concede one strong opposing point and answer it. There is no automatic score; use the checklist.

Choose a prompt

  • "Are we responsible for our own health, or is the government?"
  • "Is mental health more important than physical health?"
  • "Is the wellness industry doing more harm than good?"
Model opening: "We are often told that health is a matter of personal responsibility, and there is certainly something to that. Yet the claim only takes us so far. When cheap food is engineered to be irresistible and gyms cost more than a weekly shop, it seems unfair to place the entire burden on the individual. The truth, I'd argue, lies somewhere in between."
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Vocabulary

Flashcards

What to do: Tap a card to reveal the meaning and an example. These are the key terms for this unit and the reading.
holistic healthnountap to reveal
treating the whole person: body, mind and lifestyle"Her clinic takes a holistic approach to health."
preventative carenountap to reveal
looking after health before illness develops"Screening is a form of preventative care."
a sedentary lifestylenountap to reveal
a way of living with very little physical movement"Desk jobs encourage a sedentary lifestyle."
burnoutnountap to reveal
deep exhaustion caused by long-term stress"She took a month off to recover from burnout."
mental resiliencenountap to reveal
the ability to cope with and recover from difficulty"Sport helped build his mental resilience."
the wellness industrynountap to reveal
the business of products and services sold to improve wellbeing"The wellness industry is worth billions."
overmedicalizationnountap to reveal
treating normal life as a medical problem to be fixed"Critics warn of the overmedicalization of sadness."
Blue Zonesnountap to reveal
regions where people live unusually long, healthy lives"Okinawa is a famous Blue Zone."
longevitynountap to reveal
long life; living for many years"Diet is strongly linked to longevity."
a chronic conditionnountap to reveal
a long-lasting illness (opposite of acute)"Diabetes is a chronic condition."

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