One Minute English for High-Beginners - Level A2

Ahmed / Egype flag of Egypt

What is the key to happiness?

Lesson Activities

My name is Ahmed. I come from Egypt, and my question is, what is the key to happiness?

Which I think is a difficult question to answer, but despite me being an ignorant 24-year-old, I will do my best to answer it.

I think first of all, we should, instead of making all this effort to be happy, which happens to be what society generally is talking about nowadays, I think we should focus on being thankful for what we have.

I think if you have people in your life that you care about and then they care about you and they're healthy when you wake up every morning, I think that's something that you should absolutely not take for granted. You should be very, very thankful for that.

So I would say try to be more thankful in general. For something a bit more practical, I would say oftentimes when I'm concerned about something, some event, it's because there's something that has an outcome that I can't control in the future, and I want a specific outcome to be the outcome that actually happens.

And what I would say is we should try to do our best. Look at what we can do to influence the outcome, do our best to influence it, and that should be our goal. I think that is the key to happiness.

Answer the following questions about the interview.

How to Practice Vocabulary

  • Review the vocabulary.
  • Complete the blanks below with correct words.
  • Check your answers. Correct any wrong answers!

ignorant

Meaning: Lacking knowledge or understanding about something.

Examples:

  1. I was ignorant about cooking until I took a class.
  2. He admitted that he was ignorant about the topic but wanted to learn.

making all this effort

Meaning: Trying very hard to do something.

Examples:

  1. She is making all this effort to learn French before her trip.
  2. We are making all this effort to improve the project, but no one appreciates it.

focus on

Meaning: To give attention to something.

Examples:

  1. Instead of worrying, focus on what you can control.
  2. She tries to focus on her studies instead of social media.

take for granted

Meaning: To not appreciate something because it is always there.

Examples:

  1. Many people take for granted the love and support of their families.
  2. We often take for granted having clean water and electricity.

practical

Meaning: Useful, realistic, or related to real-life situations.

Examples:

  1. She gave me practical advice on how to save money.
  2. Learning how to cook is a practical skill everyone should have.

outcome

Meaning: The result of something happening.

Examples:

  1. The outcome of the test will decide if I pass the course.
  2. We can’t control the outcome, but we can do our best.

in general

Meaning: Usually; considering everything.

Examples:

  1. In general, I try to eat healthy food.
  2. In general, life is easier when you stay positive.

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