Topic For The Number Thirteen (Dec.26.2015)

Happy Christmas ~~ 리더 알렉스입니다.모두들 크리스마스 잘 보내고 있나요? ^^ 오늘 즐겁게 보내고 내일 보도록 해요. Small Talk 1.How many end of year party do you have? 2.What do you usually do at the party? 3.Do you tend to drink too much at the end of every year? 4.What were your new resolutions of this year? Do you remember?   Topic 1. Travelling to and from work is work, says EU  The European Union has ruled that workers with no fixed office should be paid for travelling to and from their first and last appointments of their day. This could have a huge impact on the payroll expenses of companies across Europe. The European Court of Justice said that the journeys of workers who do not have a fixed place of work, and who travel between their home and their customers’ premises, are to be paid work. This means potentially higher salaries for care workers, sales staff, plumbers, nannies and other company employees who work from home. The court said it was to protect the health and safety of workers and ensure they did not work longer than 48 hours per week. The ruling means that thousands of companies across Europe could be forced to change their business arrangements. Many will have to rearrange the working schedules of employees to ensure that their first and last appointments are near their homes. A British employment lawyer, Chris Tutton, told the BBC that: "Unless [bosses] adjust working hours or ask employees to opt out of the 48-hour working week, employees could quickly exceed the number of hours they are legally allowed to work. Bosses could therefore soon find that they are operating illegally and be at risk of facing costly claims against them." The ruling does not affect people's daily commute to their normal, fixed place of work. Question 1. What do you think of the 48-hour limit on the working week? 2. What things do you dislike about working? 3. Should all workers get paid for travelling? 4. What do you think companies feel about this new ruling? 5. How does this apply to the health and safety of workers? 6.Do you like your current job? 7.What kind of things do you want to get from your company as a welfare?   Topic2. The effect on health of not having a child A new report says that women who do not have children may die earlier than those who do. Researchers from Aarhus University in Denmark looked at over 21,000 couples between 1994 and 2005. They all tried to have children, without success. The women all went to special clinics for IVF treatment – a technique where doctors fertilize the woman's egg in a laboratory. The researchers said that women who could not have children were four times likelier than mothers to die early. Some doctors have said the report might cause childless women to worry about dying early. The truth is there is a very small risk of an early death. Just 316 women died during the 11-year study. Very few of those died earlier than average. One critic of the report said the study was very misleading. Dr Ingrid Collins, a psychologist, told the BBC: "This is a very specific situation of people who are trying to have children. The study's findings cannot be used to [talk about] the whole general population." She added: "People having IVF tend to be desperate for a child. If they are unsuccessful, they may be depressed. It may be this [depression] rather than the childlessness that [causes an earlier death]." Another psychologist, Dr Helen Nightingale, agreed, saying: "Being childless without a doubt reduces your fight for life….The support of a family, the focus on your children and grandchildren, and the desire to watch how they turn out drives your [will] to survive." Questions 1.Have you ever thought about the effect on health of not having a child? 2.Do you worry about dying early? 3.How many children is it best to have? 4.Why do some people not want to have children? 5.How expensive is raising children? 6.Would you like your children to be like you?