Listening

Warm Up

Helpful Words and Phrases

Listen and repeat.

  1. a caution
    • ex. The teacher gave a caution to the students about running in the school hallway.
  2. pierce
    • ex. The nurse pierced the patient’s skin to collect a few drops of his blood.
  3. authorize
    • ex. The government authorized the use of emergency funds to provide help to those affected by the storm.
  4. diabetes
    • ex. People with diabetes need to check their blood sugar levels regularly throughout the day.
  5. inaccurate
    • ex. The directions he gave were inaccurate, so I got lost.

Article

Read the article below and answer your tutor's questions.

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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warned that smartwatches and rings claiming to measure blood sugar levels could be dangerous for health. The caution applies to any brand of watch or ring that claims to measure blood sugar levels without piercing the skin. The FDA said it has not authorized those devices, and they should be avoided.

Those who have diabetes can’t control their blood sugar well. So, they usually check sugar levels by piercing their fingers or using sensors under the skin. Using the smartwatch and ring devices that are not authorized could result in inaccurate measurements. This could cause patients to be confused and take the wrong medicine, which leads to dangerous blood sugar levels or even death.

Dr. David Klonoff has studied diabetes technology for 25 years. He said that many companies are working on devices to measure blood sugar without piercing the skin. However, they are inaccurate or not secure enough to be authorized by the FDA. He added that the technology that allows smartwatches and rings to measure heart rates and blood oxygen is not good enough to measure blood sugar.

This material was based on an article by The Associated Press.

Discussion

Choose a topic and discuss the questions with your tutor.

Smartwatches and Rings

  • What do you think about smartwatches and rings that monitor health (ex. they’re not necessary, they’re useful)? Discuss.
  • The U.S. FDA warned about the dangers of using smartwatches and rings to measure blood sugar levels. Do you think that the FDA should ban this feature? Why or why not? Discuss.
  • According to the FDA, smartwatches and rings’ blood sugar monitors are inaccurate. What do you think current smartwatch or ring owners should do (ex. return the watch, not use the blood sugar level feature)? Discuss.

Authorized Products

  • Why do you think it is important that products are authorized by a government agency like the Food and Drug Administration (ex. to check their quality, to ensure their safety)? Discuss.
  • What do you do to make sure that the products you buy are safe and effective (ex. I read reviews, I buy from official stores)? Discuss.
  • Do you think that the government agency responsible for authorizing products in your country is doing a good job? Why or why not? Discuss.