Recently, a survey conducted by UK store Poundland, uncovered the fact that many young people, under 35, don’t have key life skills. For example, a third of young adults, don’t know how to change a lightbulb.
A quarter, admitted that they would have to ask, to know how to boil an egg. They said it’s tricky to get it right, as ‘you can’t see if it’s cooked, or not, inside the shell’. Some, even tried cooking a boiled egg in a microwave, with explosive consequences. Another 13%, tried to boil an egg, in a kettle.
Today, we are going to talk about what are the best and worst countries in the world for end-of-life care. It’s a bit of a morbid subject talking about death. Unless we die in an accident, have a heart attack or massive stroke, we will all face the moment at some point in our lives. Perhaps we should think about where we might want to pop off?
End-of-life care is important. Many of us will die long before we get to this point. Those of us that don’t might be looked after by our children or grandchildren - assuming we have some that is. We might get home help and social help. When these aren’t enough we end up in care homes. These can be state run or privately run. The latter cost an arm-and-a-leg, whichever country you live in.
The Times Higher Education Magazine recently published its annual list of the world’s top 800 universities. This year it includes 70 countries. The California Institute of Technology continues to be the number one university in the world. It has maintained this position for five years running.
The US remains the world leader when it comes to top universities. It has six of the top ten universities, down from seven last year. These include Stanford University (No 3), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (No 5), Harvard University (No 6) and Princeton University (No 7).
There are many fine universities in the world today to study at. Each has its own history and reputation. In this lesson we will be looking at the top ten universities across the world in 2013. We will also be comparing the 2012/2013 rankings that were published recently. The results prove a good debating topic.
To begin with let’s look at the top ten university rankings in the world today (2013). Coming in at number one is the California Institute of Technology. Joint second goes to Stanford University in the USA and Oxford University in the UK. Number four is Harvard University followed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
Category: Education / Universities / Study
Today we will look at the top 50 things British people like best about Britain. Topping the top 50 list at number one is the tasty bacon butty (or bacon sandwich) filled with lots of ketchup. A traditional roast dinner took second place while a nice cup of tea made number three. Certainly, a good hot cuppa helps wash down a hot bacon butty.
A total of 60,000 Brits took part in the T-Mobile survey, which shows Britain is a nation of food lovers. Having said that British history comes in at number four followed by the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation), Big Ben in sixth and Buckingham Palace in seventh position.
Brits like their rolling hills which makes eighth spot. Next we’re back to food with fish and chips and Yorkshire Pudding coming in ninth and tenth respectively.
Category: Survey / Britain / Marketing
Ladies, if you are looking for Mr Perfect forget it. He doesn’t exist! That’s according to a recent survey of 2,000 women who ranked their partner as only 69% perfect! Whilst many men have positive attributes it seems the majority are deeply flawed. Included in the list of 20 common shortfalls are failing to make an effort with their partner’s friends, criticising their driving and the inability to multi-task.
Other male failings include watching too much sport, leaving the toilet door open and poor personal grooming. Nikki McReynolds, marketing director for Remington, which commissioned the survey, said, “It seems women are quite realistic on what they look for from their partner. While they might happily overlook a few common flaws, there are certain behaviours that men just won’t get away with.”
Category: Survey / Men / Women
You have just got off to sleep when suddenly your partner decides to tuck the duvet around them and roll away from you. This ‘tuck and roll’, as it’s called, is one of a number of irritating bedtime habits that have been revealed in a recent survey of British couples - according to Britain’s Daily Telegraph newspaper.
Another is the ‘midnight shuffle’ where one sleeper moves away from the other and is slowly followed across the bed by their partner. Eventually, the creeper forces the other to hang on precipitously off the edge of the bed until they are woken up and crossly sent back from where they came. Nearly a fifth (19%) of respondents aged 25-50 complained about the problem.
The survey of 1,000 people by Debenhams, the British department store, revealed some other interesting habits, for example, snoring, talking and fidgeting and the grinding of teeth. Surprisingly flatulence under the covers only accounts for one per cent of complaints!
Category: Survey / Britain / Bedtime Habits
Modern women today see balancing their work and home lives as their biggest challenge in today’s world. They also see Nelson Mandela and Margaret Thatcher as their greatest role models. Almost two out of five women now see themselves as feminists. Nearly three out of four women would rather have a man, than a woman, as their boss.
Nearly half of women (46%) think a couple should live together before they marry. This figure rises to more than three quarters (77%) among women aged 18-24, but falls to nearly one in four (27%) among women aged 55 and over.
These figures come from research compiled for Stella magazine by YouGov, a research agency, which interviewed more than 1,000 women of all ages and backgrounds on everything from family values to their eating habits, and from their views on plastic surgery to those on sex and shopping.
Health and weight are clearly major issues for the modern woman. Four in five (80%) say losing their health is their greatest concern, followed by putting on weight (52%) and losing their job (24%).
Category: Lifestyle / Survey / Women
The most commonly misspelled words in English were recently published. A survey of 3,500 Britons by the market research company www.OnePoll.com discovered that ‘Separate’ is the most commonly misspelt word in the English language. The eight-letter word came top due to regular placing of an ‘e’ where the first ‘a’ sits. Second in the list was ‘definitely’, which often falls victim to a string of mistakes including mixing up the second ‘i’ with an ‘a’.
Another common error is dropping the final ‘e’. ‘Manoeuvre’, which is problematic due to the unusual combination of ‘oe’ and ‘u’, came third and ‘embarrass’, in which an ‘r’ or an ‘s’ often falls by the wayside, was fourth. ‘Occurrence’ emerged as the fifth most commonly misspelled word due to confusion over the double ‘c’ and double ‘r’. Words just outside the top 20 include ‘calendar’, ‘pigeon’ and ‘changeable’.
Category: English Language / Survey / Spelling
Just what are life’s greatest pleasures? Is it popping bubble wrap or maybe watching a DVD? Perhaps it’s even your mum’s cooking or waking up in a room with an amazing view? Of course, there are many ideas and what may be good for one may be different for others.
So just what are the little thrills we all enjoy? Batchelors Cup-a-Soup in Britain has compiled a top 50 list of suggestions sent in by 3,000 people. The top three suggestions were cuddling up with a partner in bed; finding a forgotten tenner in your pocket; and topping the list was a good night’s sleep. Insomniacs everywhere will agree!
Many Brits like to laugh at things that have happened in the past. They also like catching up with old friends, as well as making someone smile. I am sure that anyone would agree there is nothing like sleeping in newly laundered laundry or even having a lie-in. The list suggests the moments we love are unsurprisingly the ones we share with others, such as catching up with old friends, girlie nights in, or looking through old photo albums.
Category: Living / Survey / Life’s Greatest Pleasures
