Inside listening and speaking 4

Develop listening and speaking skills and acquire the Academic Word List. Inside Listening and Speaking is a fivelevel academic listening and speaking course that develops students skills and teaches key academic vocabulary from the Academic Word List. The Inside Series prepares students to communicate effectively in academic contexts, while acquiring key academic vocabulary from the Academic Word List. Each unit features texts and tasks from academic content areas, explicit skills instruction relevant to academic study, and targeted words from the Academic Word List. Key Features Explicit skills instruction prepares students for academic listening and speaking. Authentic videos from a variety of academic contexts engage and motivate students

Unit 1 Your Body Fights Back

PHYSIOLOGY

LISTENING SKILL: Analogies and Metaphors

Listen1 (Audio)

ILS_L4_U1_Listen1

M1: The world’s first space jump took place today, and it was a great success

From 24 miles above Earth's surface, Felix Baumgartner jumped out of a small aircraft attached to a balloon Ten minutes later, he landed safely on the ground with his parachute His incredible jump, which was from an altitude three times higher than most planes fly, was a new world record It provided heart-stopping images that were seen around the world

Baumgartner’s eventful jump took a considerable amount of preparation and work

In fact, doctors worked for seven years, studying ways to protect his body and keep him safe At altitudes so far above the Earth, the temperature is around minus 122 degrees Fahrenheit Being exposed to such cold temperatures can be a problem because the heart and liver produce most of the heat your body needs to work properly But as the body’s temperature decreases, the heart and liver also produce less heat So, these extremely low temperatures can trigger problems related to a person’s heart rate and brain functions

To protect Baumgartner from exposure to the cold, a team of experts convened to design a special suit for a space jump First, the team designed a temperature-

control system that was capable of creating its own heat, so Baumgartner’s body wouldn’t have to work so hard to produce heat

The next challenge was to deal with air pressure At 24 miles above Earth, the suit would lose air pressure if it had a hole or any small problem The loss of air pressure would be dangerous for Baumgartner So, the suit was designed to protect him against extremely low air pressure To give you an analogy, Baumgartner’s suit worked much like an airplane It maintained an atmosphere that supports life by controlling airflow and air pressure and providing protection from the cold

Baumgartner’s speed was the next problem to deal with At the beginning of the jump, he would be falling at 536 miles per hour In other words, he would be a supersonic jet, moving faster than the speed of sound Extreme shaking and

vibration from these high speeds could cause damage to his heart, lungs, and brain This created another considerable challenge for the team designing the suit Unlike conventional space suits designed mainly for sitting or moving slowly,

In preparation for the jump, a flood of doctors arrived at the jump site to study Baumgartner Doctors and scientists placed equipment on Baumgartner as if he were a machine being sent on a long mission into space He had cameras attached to his helmet He had packs placed on his back He even wore a monitor that

transmitted data about his heart rate and blood pressure to the doctors on the ground The doctors watched and checked everything until Baumgartner landed safely on the ground As Baumgartner landed, the team that had designed his suit erupted with joy, cheering and hugging one another His suit worked like a well-oiled machine, protecting his body and helping him become the first human being to move faster than the speed of sound with just his body

Having stood on top of the world and survived, Baumgartner has given scientists new information about how the body reacts under extreme conditions NASA, for example, is planning to redesign its suits to better protect its astronauts And, the information collected from the jump is also helping scientists develop ways of

ensuring the safety of potential space tourists and travelers to space

SPEAKING SKILL: Introducing a Presentation

Listen2 (Audio)

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F1: Good afternoon It is very nice to be here today My name is Dr Linda Carrol, and

I’m from the school health clinic I’m going to discuss how we can prevent the flu virus, also known as influenza

So, why don’t we get started? Let me ask you this: How many of you have had the flu virus? Okay, I see almost everyone raising their hands

Now the flu virus migrates quickly from one person to the next, and it can keep you

in bed for days So, it’s important to know how we can prevent the flu

So, first, I’m going to discuss what the flu is Then I’m going to show you how our bodies fight it Finally, I’m going to explain how we can prevent the flu

What is the flu virus? It’s a disease that causes pain, weakness, fever, sore throat, and other problems with the body It is often transmitted by coughing or direct contact Additionally, the flu is seasonal Where we live, it usually occurs during the fall and winter months

If you get the flu, your body creates memory cells called antibodies These

antibodies remember how to fight the flu virus However, antibodies can only

viruses spread around the world So, even though you’re immune to old types of flu, you may not be immune to a new flu virus

Thankfully, a healthy immune system can usually dispose of most flu viruses in a few days But this is not always true Every year, around five hundred thousand people die from the flu On our campus last year, we saw two thousand cases of flu Some students even missed a whole week of class That’s definitely a bad thing, right?

When you’re vaccinated for the flu, the vaccination induces the creation of new antibodies These antibodies fight the flu virus Because the vaccination creates new antibodies, it helps your body fight new kinds of flu viruses, too So your body will

be fighting viruses all the time, and you won't even know it

Another important part of prevention is herd immunity This is when most of the people in an area are immune to a virus Herd immunity stops the disease from spreading and makes it less likely that a virus will be transmitted

Herd immunity is one reason why vaccines are so important Vaccines create herd immunity, and herd immunity means that people will stay healthier and that

students can be in class!

As a researcher and health practitioner, I’ve found that millions of people around the world have been helped and even saved by vaccinations That’s why I encourage all of you to get vaccinated In fact, I recommend that you encourage your family members to get a flu shot, too It certainly can’t hurt Also, new government

legislation has really improved our health care infrastructure in recent years We have our university health clinic, for example There are also quite a few local health clinics that provide flu vaccinations And money is no excuse anymore; these

vaccinations are often offered for free, especially for students Now there are no laws enforcing mandatory vaccinations, which is why I strongly urge all of you to get your flu vaccinations so that you’re healthy and able to attend all of your classes this semester

Thank you very much for giving me the opportunity to speak with you today Does anybody have any questions?

End of Unit Task (Video)

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Reporter: Rowan O'Brien is three years old He should be at school, but he's feeling

unwell

He's got the flu

Inside him, his body is about to engage in all-out war with one of the most infectious viruses on the planet

Flu viruses start by attacking the tissue at the back of your throat But, strangely enough, it's not only the virus that will make you feel ill—it's also your own immune system

Your body's first response to infection is fever The flu virus thrives at your normal body temperature of 37 degrees Celsius So you raise your temperature by a few degrees It's just enough to slow the infection down

Meanwhile, an army of phagocytes floods the infection site They have come to feast

on their enemies But, instead of destroying the viruses, the fighters are themselves infected and forced to self-destruct

As their bodies pile up, they form the basis of your snot Rowan's symptoms are getting worse It's a sign the battle inside him is heating up His body has launched a second wave of attack The "killer Ts," they hone in on the cells that have been

infected by the virus They administer the "kiss of death," destroying the viruses inside But this approach has its costs The killer Ts are causing heavy collateral damage

Rowan is feeling the effects He's got a really sore throat

Despite everything, the virus remains undefeated Now your immune system tries a completely different approach Instead of trying to destroy the virus head-on, it releases a cloud of Y-shaped antibodies They are specifically produced to destroy this strain of virus They coat the viruses, making them stick together Now they are easily swept up

Rowan starts to feel better With his energy restored, he can go back to doing what three-year-old boys do best

Unit 2 Wait for It!

PSYCHOLOGY

LISTENING SKILL: Outlining Lecture Notes

Watch (Video)

ILS_L4_U2_Watch

Dr Morari Subedi: Okay, I hope all of you had a nice weekend Your assignment

was to read 40 pages in your textbooks before today’s lecture I’m going to review two studies on incentives and decision-making that are mentioned in the reading

The first study that we’re going to look at is the famous Stanford University

Marshmallow Experiment Psychologist Walter Mischel conducted this study in the 1970s, and it really gave us a lot of insight into how people react to incentives when they’re making decisions

So in this experiment, Dr Mischel studied a group of children who were all aged four

to six He offered them the following deal They were each offered their choice of a treat This was either a marshmallow, a pretzel, or a cookie They could eat one piece of the treat they chose now or wait for 15 minutes and, consequently, get three pieces So the children had a strong incentive to wait

And here’s what happened During the experiment, a few children ate the treat immediately But some of the children turned their backs or covered their eyes with their hands, trying to inhibit their desire to eat the treat Some children even kicked the table where the treat was After about three minutes, the patience of about half

of the children completely eroded, and they ate the one treat For the other children, the incentive—the three treats—was sufficient enough to keep them waiting for the full 15 minutes

Now this study showed us two things

First, many of the kids who waited for the three treats were older This is partly because the frontal lobe of the brain is less developed in younger children That’s the part of the brain that makes short-term decisions and considers the

consequences of different choices As a result, it was harder for the younger children

to consider the long-term consequences of their actions However, as we get older, the frontal lobe inhibits our desire for immediate enjoyment and helps us make long-term decisions

The second thing the study showed is really interesting Age is not the only factor Years after the original tests, Dr Mischel found that there were distinct differences between the individuals who had waited and those who hadn’t waited when they were children For example, the individuals who had waited had higher test scores

in school and were, in general, more successful in life as adults The individuals who had eaten the one treat right away reported having behavioral problems in school later and weren’t as successful

So later, Dr Mischel did a brain scan on the research subjects, who were now adults

He found distinct differences in brain activity between the two groups Among many

of those who as children had waited for the three treats, the frontal lobe of the adult brain was more active But among those who had not waited, the frontal lobe was less active in the adult So, it appears that the ability to consider possible

consequences also depends, in part, on the individual person

Similar studies have been implemented all over the world with similar results In

2003, the BBC and Open University got together in order to implement their own Marshmallow Experiment Let’s take a look

Woman: Let's see Oh, look at the sweets!

Child 1: Oh, yea!

Narrator: Not only do immature frontal lobes mean children can't control their

behavior, they also make resisting temptation difficult

To put this to the test, we secretly filmed 20 primary school children as they faced the ultimate childhood challenge We told them that if they don't eat their favorite sweet for five minutes, they'll be given three more sweets later

Man: You can choose You can either eat your sweet now or daddy has to go out

for a few minutes If you wait until I come back, then you can have three sweets Does that make sense?

Child 2: Three sweets

Man: Then you can have three So, you can choose, all right?

Child 2: I'm not going to eat it now because I want three

Man: Do you think so? Okay, I'll see you in a minute

Narrator: Little Jacqueline thinks she's on her own, but what she and the other

children don't know is that our hidden cameras are still watching

The temptation is almost unbearable

Our experiment confirmed the results of previous tests

Even though the kids knew they would get more sweets later, two-thirds of the children couldn't resist the single sweet in front of them now

It's all because their brain isn't mature enough to control their impulses It'll be another few years before their frontal lobes develop further and all of them can do what Jacqueline has done: resisted temptation

SPEAKING SKILL: Stating, Rephrasing, and Illustrating

Listen (Audio)

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F1: Welcome back to The Morning Show Today we have a special guest in the

studio: motivational speaker and author Kris Ryan We’re going to be talking about self-improvement and how you can accomplish the goals that you set for yourself Kris, why is self-improvement difficult for so many people?

M1: Well, self-improvement sounds great to most of us However, self-improvement

often means undertaking some new task or project in order to achieve a goal In other words, the goal is accompanied by physical or mental work, and sometimes both So, for instance, you want to get in better shape, but that might require daily exercise or changing how or what you eat Whether it is financial, emotional, or physical self-improvement, it can be difficult to do the hard work required to

accomplish your goals And that’s one of the prime reasons why people often fail to reach their goals

F1: Right So, what can we do then?

M1: Well, you can begin by establishing a new paradigm for accomplishing your

goals The model that I recommend is Dr B J Fogg’s Tiny Habits program The Tiny Habits paradigm makes self-improvement possible in four simple steps

F1: Okay, I see that in your book you’ve summarized the tiny steps What is step

one?

M1: Okay Well, tiny step number one is to make small changes Another way to say

this is: Don’t set huge, long-term goals Instead, try for small successes For example, rather than deciding to lose 18 pounds in a month, which would be a considerable

undertaking, commit to eating less food tonight for dinner and doing some exercise tomorrow morning before work

Tiny step number two is to make new tasks, plans, or behaviors easier to do What I

mean by that is plan properly so you have no justification for not doing what you

wanted to do Let’s say that you want to go running every morning, but you don’t feel very motivated at 7 a.m Make it easier by setting out your running shoes, socks, and clothes before you go to bed at night Have a water bottle and MP3 player ready

to go, too

F1: That’s funny I can’t tell you how many times I didn’t go jogging in the morning

because I couldn’t find my running pants Okay, so make small changes and make the smaller tasks easier to accomplish What about the other two steps then?

M1: The third tiny step is to focus on creating new, positive behaviors To put it

differently, don’t place all of your emphasis on the old, unwanted habits So, to give you a specific example, instead of letting yourself get stressed about how you watch too much TV, change the circumstances that normally lead you to watch TV by planning a productive, fun activity for yourself

F1: That’s something that I might have to do for my kids

M1: Yeah I know what you mean

F1: What’s our final step?

M1: The last one is the easiest for some people and the hardest for others Step

number four is to congratulate yourself on each small achievement Tell yourself,

“Good for me,” or “I did a good job today.” Praise often accompanies positive change Noticing your small successes and giving yourself credit will help you to continue moving forward with your goals

And, so, those are the steps that can help you accomplish your goals Even though the steps are not exactly discrete from one another, it’s still important that you follow all of them as you work toward reaching a goal

F1: Okay, Kris Thank you so much for sharing the Tiny Habits ideas with us And

please come back and see us again

M1: You bet

F1: Coming up next, we’ll be discussing how to choose a new laptop that matches

Unit 3 Film Know-How

FILM STUDIES

LISTENING SKILL: Recording Definitions

Listen1 (Audio)

ILS_L4_U3_Listen1

Liam: Hello I’m Liam Rivers, and you’re listening to my podcast, Behind the Scenes!

Today I’ve come to a film studio to learn about some of the different jobs on the set

of a film I’m here with director Stephanie Aguila Hi, Stephanie

Stephanie: Hello

Liam: Thanks for meeting with me today What are you working on at the moment?

Stephanie: Well, we’re shooting an adventure story about a man who advocates for

the protection of historical sites He’s studying one newly discovered historical site when he comes across something quite mysterious … and that’s where the fun really starts

Liam: Sounds exciting Now we all know the director of any film is very important

For those at home, can you tell us what the director actually does?

Stephanie: That’s a good question A film director might be defined as someone

who interprets a story and then makes that story into a film by directing the

cameras, the actors, and the special effects The director is responsible for the total vision of the film

Liam: What about the budget, schedules, hiring of actors? Is that you, too?

Stephanie: That’s more of the producer’s job, but I do work with all of that So, a lot

of the time, the jobs we both do run parallel to one another In the end, though, my opinion on things like the budget is subordinate to the demands of the producer

Liam: Got it! Thanks for explaining Now, let’s take a look at the technical side of

making a film

Wow, I’ve never seen so much high-tech equipment before Excuse me, what are you working on?

Effects Artist: I’m creating some of the sounds for the film Right now, I’m placing

some animal noises over the video that the director just shot

Liam: Fascinating And, what is your job title?

Effects Artist: I’m a visual-effects artist

Liam: What does that job involve?

Effects Artist: Well, visual-effects artist refers to a person who creates the digital

effects for a movie, like the colors, snow, rain, wind, smoke, water, even the

explosions I create all of those things when I’m working on a film

Liam: So, how much freedom do you have in the design process?

Effects Artist: Some As a visual-effects artist, you have a lot of freedom to be

creative, but, at the same time, you can’t let your own bias or opinions affect the filmmaking process Normally, the director gives you an explicit description of what she wants, and you really have to follow that description

Liam: So you’re free to create, but, in the end, your work is subordinate to the needs

of the director?

Effects Artist: Yep, in the end, it’s the director’s decision

Liam: Thank you Next, we're going back to the set

Liam: Now we’re back on the set

Excuse me, I just saw you leap off that building over there Can I infer that you’re a stunt person?

Stunt Person: Yes, I think that would be a correct inference

Liam: Tell us about the work a stunt person does on the set

Stunt Person: Sure The stunt person can be characterized as the one who does the

dangerous work on the set of a film We take the place of the actors when action scenes are dangerous or require doing something that is physically demanding

Liam: Now, do you ever worry about getting hurt? You know, when you’re jumping

off of buildings or filming an action sequence?

Stunt Person: Absolutely But there’s this sort of implicit understanding between

you and the film crew that everyone is going to work hard to make sure the stunts are safe But I’ve had broken bones and sprained ankles over the years You know, if

I hurt an arm or a leg the first time we’re shooting a scene, there could still be seven

or eight more takes You see it just one time, but I have to live it seven or eight times It’s not always easy Well, please excuse me, I have to get back to this scene

Liam: Of course Thanks for your time

Hello What is your role in this film?

Extra: I’m an extra I’ll be sitting in a restaurant I think my face will be shown for

maybe … about three seconds

Liam: When you say "extra," what does that mean?

Extra: Actually, the proper term is background actor It basically signifies anyone

involved in the film that doesn’t have a singing, dancing, or speaking role It’s harder than you might think You’ve got to be here all day long, often just standing around And you have to be careful not to break any of the set rules, either, which means you’re doing a lot of standing and waiting, and being quiet I usually make about 40 dollars for the whole day

Liam: Well, good luck to you And thank you for talking with us

Extra: Sure, no problem

Liam: Okay, well, that’s all for tonight Next time, we’ll talk about progress on the

film This is Liam Rivers for the Behind the Scenes! podcast Good night, everyone

SPEAKING SKILL: Facilitating a Group Discussion

Listen2 (Audio)

ILS_L4_U3_Listen2

Vincent: Hey, guys, what’s going on?

Maya: Nothing much

Vincent: So, we get to make our own documentary Pretty exciting

Liz: I think it’s a tough assignment, albeit a short one The final film only has to be

ten minutes long

Maya: Yeah, that’ll make it simpler And I like that we’re free to choose any topic we

want Should we brainstorm some ideas?

Liz: Yeah, let’s get started I was thinking we could do a documentary on the urban

gardens plan that the city recently started I’ve been reading about it, and the city government has actually provided a very liberal amount of funds for the gardens Also, new garden projects are already being developed downtown They look pretty cool

Maya: What do you mean exactly? How would we be able to do a documentary on

the urban garden projects?

Liz: Well, we could show how local residents are participating in the government’s

plan Interview them and ask what they think about it We could shoot some video of the projects I mentioned downtown to show people exactly what’s happening

Vincent: That would be interesting You know, the plan is controversial because the

city government has had to levy some pretty high taxes to pay for it So, we could get different viewpoints on the issue Maybe we could explore some of the ideological differences between residents in the city based on their opinions of the urban

gardens plan What are your thoughts, Maya?

Maya: It’s a great plan But perhaps we could discuss another possible topic and

come back to it after we’ve considered some other ideas

Vincent: Okay, why don’t we move on

Maya: All right One of the ideas I had was to go to the university and do a

documentary about the international students there I was once an international student myself I know international students have different perspectives and ideas

Vincent: That might be good Liz, what’s your feeling on it?

Liz: That sounds good But could you be more specific about what we would do for

the actual documentary, Maya?

Maya: Well, first we’d have to get permission from the university to film on campus,

of course I wouldn’t want to violate any of the school’s privacy rules or anything like that Then we’d try to find about three international students to interview and get their perspectives on studying here You know, what do they think about the culture here, what do they like about it and what do they find that’s different, and what’s been interesting and challenging for them I think a film like that could have

really profound implications for how we view the international student experience here

Liz: Hmm That could be a really fascinating topic I think people would like to know

how international students view their experiences in a new place Is there anything else we should cover before finishing?

Vincent: We have two solid ideas Why don’t we give them some more thought and

make a final decision at our next meeting?

Maya: Sounds good Let’s set a time and day to meet later this week

Unit 4 Sound Response

MUSIC

LISTENING SKILL: Cause-and-Effect Relationships

Listen (Audio)

ILS_L4_U4_Listen

Malcolm: Welcome I’m Malcolm Brown and this is Key Notes Today, I’m joined by

musician and sound specialist Sergio Sandoval He is director of the Sound Healing Center located here in New York Could you tell us about what you do at the Sound Healing Center?

Sergio: Sure We do a lot at the Sound Healing Center, but, in short, we use music to

help people So, for instance, we help people to develop social and professional skills with music We also help people adjust to stress from work There are even music therapy classes for children who are having trouble at school Since we serve so many different purposes, we have a really wide range of programs that are oriented toward improving people’s lives with music

Malcolm: Great But how do you actually use music to help people?

Sergio: You know that energy you feel when you hear an upbeat, happy sound? We

use music to locate and utilize that energy Recent medical research done by the federal government has shown that this process improves blood circulation, heart rate, and other bodily functions Our ability to successfully perform tasks at work or

to be effective in social situations can be at least partly attributed to a

well-functioning body It’s amazing what power sound can hold

Malcolm: Besides listening to music, what else do you do at the center?

Sergio: Well, in some of our classes, we use group singing, songwriting, and

traditional instruments to meet people’s needs

Malcolm: Sounds like fun Now, I want to switch topics for a minute We’ve been

talking about the positive aspects of sound, but what about some of the negative aspects of sound? What about noise pollution? Does that pose a threat to our health?

Sergio: Well, New York is a big city Like in any big city, there is always movement of

people and machines, causing noise day and night Consequently, this frequent noise can sometimes affect a person’s health

Malcolm: How so?

Sergio: I’ll explain Decibels measure how loud something is For example, humans

speak at about 65 decibels But, let’s say you live adjacent to a busy city street The normal level of noise on a city street is around 85 decibels, which is the highest sound a person can hear without having a negative effect on his or her health But if you’re adjacent to an airport, the sound from planes coming and going is much louder than 85 decibels, which can result in stress and other health problems

So for people in these circumstances, we use soft, soothing music to relieve their stress It’s funny because we actually use sound to treat problems related to sound

Malcolm: Right And how about at home? I have three kids, and it’s always pretty

noisy Are my kids posing a threat to my health?

Sergio: Probably not But in many homes you have music, television, videos games, and all of those machines around the house As a result, families produce a lot of noise I think it’s good for people to unplug every evening And by unplug, I mean do

something away from electronic equipment You should try to eliminate the stress

that is often caused by noise from machines Turn off the TVs and the games, and enjoy the quiet In a sense, silence is a valuable commodity in today’s world You have to make sure that each day you give yourself some of it

Malcolm: That does sound nice For our listeners interested in taking a class with

you, what do they need to know?

Sergio: Orientation for new classes starts on the first Monday of each month You

don’t have to make an appointment Just come right in We’re located downtown, adjacent to City Hall The first week is free, so if you don’t feel that you’re benefitting from the class, you don’t pay anything We also currently have a financial grant from the federal government, so the cost of our courses is quite low

Malcolm: That sounds excellent Okay, everyone, be sure to check out the Sound

F1: Hi, everyone My name is Samantha Yang, and my research project is about

perfect pitch Perfect pitch is the ability to identify a specific musical note without the help of a reference tone In other words, if someone plays just one note on the piano in the next room, a person with perfect pitch can instantly recognize the note being played I’m going to explain some reasons why certain people have perfect pitch

Perfect pitch is actually a rare phenomenon Some people believe it’s a natural skill that people are born with Others think it’s a skill that can be learned via practice

and hard work However, the Psychological Bulletin recently did an empirical study

to answer that question The Psychological Bulletin found that adults cannot learn

perfect pitch But it’s a little different for children

In some cases, perfect pitch is related to the age at which music training begins In

an article published in the American Journal of Human Genetics, Baharloo studied

600 music students in the U.S and Europe His study revealed that 40 percent of those students with perfect pitch began studying music before the age of four, but a small number, only three percent, began when they were nine or older Another point cited in the same study was that sex doesn’t make a difference; the same percentages of perfect pitch were reported for both males and females

Interestingly, many of the people with perfect pitch have family members who also have perfect pitch

Now let’s look at a 2006 study by Diana Deutsch, which appeared in the Journal of the Acoustical Society of America Her study compared Chinese and American

students The statistics cited in her study showed that 75 percent of the speaking students who pursued music studies before age four had perfect pitch, but only 14 percent of the American students did

Chinese-And among those who didn’t study music until they were nine years old, 42 percent

of the Chinese speakers had perfect pitch, and none of the Americans did! Zero!

According to Deutsch, perfect pitch is more common among speakers of tonal

languages such as Mandarin and Vietnamese This is true for people who are not musically inclined, too

According to the Journal of the Acoustic Society of America, perfect pitch is related to

the language that you learned as a baby In tonal languages, such as Mandarin and Vietnamese, people express meaning via pitch, or how high or low a sound is So, for

example, the word ma means "mother," ma is "hemp," while ma is "horse," and ma is

"blame." Deutch’s 2006 experiments demonstrated through the use of empirical evidence that tonal-language speakers do not vary their pitch However, in spoken English, pitch changes My parents are actually originally from China and I can speak Mandarin, but, unfortunately, I don’t have perfect pitch

According to Eric Lenneberg’s “critical period” theory, our brain makes pathways based on the language sounds that we hear when we’re very young So it’s extremely difficult to learn different sounds later in life That’s why if you learn another

language after the age of 11 or 12, it’s difficult to have a perfect accent Musical pitch and language pitch are related, which is why speakers of tonal languages are much more likely to develop perfect pitch

Besides age and native language, it seems that genes are also a factor Geneticists at the University of California in San Francisco are pursuing research on this issue right now, and so far, they’ve found that some people are more likely to simply be born with perfect pitch than others

Okay, that’s what I found in my research Here are my citations in case you’re

interested in details of these studies, and you can find more information on my blog listed at the bottom of the page Does anyone have any questions?

End of Unit Task (Audio)

ILS_L4_U4_End

Announcer: In 1977, NASA launched two Voyager spaceships In a 2013 update on

the Voyagers, the Journal of Space Science reported that there was a golden record of

Earth sounds on board the spacecraft The record included greetings in 59 different

languages Other Earth sounds on the Voyagers’ golden record, according to NASA

spokesperson Patience Nambwalu, included drums from Senegal, a Navajo Indian chant, and bagpipes from Azerbaijan In addition, there were sounds of volcanoes, wind, rain, thunder, speech, traffic, sawing wood, herding sheep, footsteps, a

heartbeat, and laughter

The two spacecraft were designed to travel past the planets Jupiter and Saturn and take close-up photographs of them, and then continue into distant space beyond our

survive for a billion years, because scientists hoped that someday an alien

civilization might find them

It’s been almost 40 years since the two Voyager spacecraft were launched Jethro Silver of Space Center Daily reports that as of June 2013, the Voyagers had already

passed Jupiter, Saturn, and Neptune, and they were about 19 billion kilometers

away from Earth That’s billion with a b They’re now at the edge of the solar system,

and they’re still sending back data In fact, sometime between July and September of

2013, they probably left the main solar system! There’s a computer that shows the spaceship’s distance from Earth, which you can check for updates on the Web site

“voyager dot jay pee ell dot nasa dot gov.”

Unit 5 Changing Your Brain

NEUROSCIENCE

LISTENING SKILL: Listening for Signal Phrases

Listen (Audio)

ILS_L4_U5_Listen

Susan: Hello, everyone, and welcome to Health Watch I’m your host, Susan Yamada

Today we have a very special guest, neuroscientist Dr Jason Jobin He’s going to talk about how we can control and even change the world’s most complex structure: the human brain

So, Dr Jobin, how do our brains change?

Dr Jobin: Well, it works like this When you have a new experience or engage in

different modes of thinking, your brain creates new channels, or paths So, to

illustrate this, when you learn something new while reading a book, your brain changes

Susan: So, our brains are always changing then

Dr Jobin: That’s right However, when you repeat an activity or a thought, the

brain’s connections become stronger over time Scientists have traced everyday habits and activities to the creation of very strong channels in the brain for not only good habits, but also unhealthy ones

Susan: Then what about older people that may have had the same habits for years?

Can their brains still change after they’ve repeated habits and ways of thinking for many years?

Dr Jobin: You know, in the past, the predominant view among neuroscientists was

that once a person became an adult, the brain stopped developing, whereas today neuroscientists know the brain can change at any age With that said, it’s crucial to understand that it’s harder to change if a person has had the same habits for a long time, because the neural channels in the brain are going to be stronger and harder

to change

Susan: So, what can we do about those old, unhealthy habits that are so hard to

change? How can we do a better job of controlling the brain if we want to?

Dr Jobin: Well, to begin with, you have to consider how you think When you have a

negative thought, you have to identify it and turn it into a positive one Then you can start building new, positive channels and paths in your brain It’s important to

remember that it will take time, but positive thinking does work

Additionally, stress is an important factor Stress damages the brain, so you should try to decrease stress whenever you can For instance, by exercising at the gym, meeting friends, or even laughing during a movie, we can decrease stress and

improve how the brain functions

As a final point, you need to get enough sleep New research shows that new brain cells and pathways are often created when a person sleeps Because of this, sleep is important for developing positive habits and ending bad ones, too

Susan: So, positive thinking, less stress, and the right amount of sleep can help us

change bad habits and develop new, healthy habits What about repairing actual damage to the brain? Can the brain repair itself?

Dr Jobin: I’m glad you mentioned this, because we’re learning a lot of really

exciting stuff Studies have shown that a damaged brain can repair itself, to some degree One way is to activate neurons in the brain – neurons, that’s what we call nerve cells Neurons constitute about ten percent of the brain, and they help repair damaged areas Neuroscientists think that someday we may be able to cure diseases that frequently affect people in old age, such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s, by repairing parts of the brain damaged by those diseases We may be able to help a lot

of people

Susan: That’s incredible Well, we're actually out of time Thank you so much for

being here today and sharing your work with us

Dr Jobin: My pleasure Thanks for having me

Susan: Okay Up next, we have a panel of health experts here to discuss the benefits

of super foods

SPEAKING SKILL: Expressing and Responding to an Opinion

Watch (Video)

ILS_L4_U5_Watch

Sam: Hey, Lin Hi, Blake Have you been waiting long?

Lin: No, we just got here How’re you doing, Sam?

Sam: Not bad Have you started looking at the essay questions yet?

Blake: Yeah There are just two, but they’re pretty complex The first question is

“How would you define intelligence?” It seems like Dr Joshi is trying to invoke some

of the different definitions of intelligence that we studied in class

Lin: Well, as far as I’m concerned, intelligence is the ability to learn and solve

problems quickly

Sam: Hmm Yeah, I understand what you mean, but I think intelligence has to be

much more than that If we say that it’s just the ability to learn fast, then I think we’re distorting what intelligence is From my point of view, there are several

different types of intelligence, like artistic, musical, or emotional intelligences

Lin: I’m not entirely sure I agree with that Art seems more like a talent to me,

something in a different category than intelligence Nonetheless, I see what you mean Intelligence does include more than just the ability to learn What do you think, Blake?

Blake: I’m still trying to determine what I think about it There do seem to be some

underlying factors that we need to consider For example, musicians or artists seem

to have a radically different kind of intelligence than, say, mathematicians or

scientists

Sam: I think you’re exactly right, which is why I think that to answer the question,

we need to discriminate between those different abilities that make someone

intelligent I made some notes: There’s problem-solving, communication,

knowledge, creativity, and also memory

Blake: Good point The next question is related to the first one: “What is the best

way to measure intelligence?” I haven’t really made up my mind on this one What