Q3e Special Edition Listening & Speaking 3: Audio Script

UNIT 1
Unit 1, Sociology, The Q Classroom
Page 3
Teacher: OK everyone, let’s start. Every unit in Q begins with a question. As we go
through the unit, we will continue to discuss this question. Our answers may
change as we explore the topic, or they may stay the same. The Unit Question
for Unit 1 is “Are first impressions accurate?” So let’s think about our first
impressions of people in this class. Look around the room at your classmates.
Who made a good first impression on you? Yuna?
Yuna: Sophy.
Teacher: Why did she make a good first impression on you?
Yuna: Well, she’s always smiling. She looks friendly.
Teacher: And is she friendly?
Yuna: Yes, she is!
Teacher: So that’s an accurate first impression. Do you think first impressions are
always that accurate? Marcus, what do you think?
Marcus: No, I don’t think so. Sometimes you might think someone is unfriendly, but
they’re just in a bad mood that day.
Teacher: Good point. Maybe someone can give you the wrong impression because they
are having a bad day. What else might cause the wrong first impression?
Sophy?
Sophy: Mmm. A person might be dressed differently than they usually dress. If
someone met me on the way home from the gym, they wouldn’t know that
I’m usually very formal.
Teacher: OK, so your mood and the way you are dressed can lead to wrong first
impressions. What do you think about this, Felix? Are first impressions
usually accurate?
Felix: I think most of the time they are right in some way. I can usually tell right
away if someone is friendly or quiet or if they’re smart or funny. But I can’t
tell other things about a person, like if they’re honest or what kinds of things
they believe in.
Teacher: Interesting.

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Unit 1, Note-taking Skill, Activity A

Page 4
When you meet someone for the first time, you want to be remembered in a
positive way. One way to make a good first impression is to listen. Sometimes
speakers talk too much and don’t listen. Show interest and ask questions.
What does the other person like to do? Where is he or she from? What is his
or her family like?
Second, use body language in an effective way. What does this mean? Show
you are paying attention by leaning in, maintaining eye contact, and using
facial expressions. Smile, raise your eyebrows, and tilt your head. Through
your use of questions and body language, you can make a good first
impression.

Unit 1, Listening 1, Activities A and D

Page 5
The Psychology of First Impressions
Speaker: First impressions don’t tell the whole story. Good morning. Thank you so
much for inviting me here today. As promised, I’m going to talk about how
we form first impressions and how they work.
We all form impressions of other people every day. So picture this: you’re
waiting in line at your favorite coffee shop. The line is long, but it’s moving
quickly. The person in front of you in line is complaining about the wait. He’s
loud and rude. He makes comments about the service and the employees.
When he finally gets to the counter 1, he yells at the person who takes his
order. You assume “This is not a nice person,” and you hope you never meet
him again. From this short encounter, you have formed an impression of this
person. You were with him only briefly, but you may think you know a lot
about him. One mistake people often make in forming first impressions is to
think that a small example of someone’s behavior can give us a complete
picture of the person. If you see a friendly, smiling young woman taking your
order at the coffee shop, you may think she is friendly and smiling all of the
time.
In addition to thinking she is always friendly, you may also think she has
other positive traits. This is the second error people often make. Because
she is friendly, you assume that she is also intelligent, happy, and good to her
parents. Of course, the opposite is also true. The rude customer in front of
you in the coffee line did not make a good impression on you. You saw an

1
counter: noun a long flat surface like a table in a kitchen, restaurant, store, etc.

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Q3e Special Edition Listening & Speaking 3: Audio Script

example of his poor behavior, his rudeness 2, and you assumed he had other
negative traits. You thought “This is not a nice person.”
OK, so if our first impression of someone is positive, we think the person is
always that way, and we think that all of her traits are positive. We think that
small sample of behavior shows us her true personality. But we don’t think
that way about our own behavior. Let me explain what I mean. When we see
someone else acting in a negative way, we think it is because he is a negative
person. But when we act in a negative way, we say it is because of the
situation.
Let’s go back to the coffee shop again. If I am rude to the person taking my
coffee order, I will find reasons for my bad behavior—the service is too slow,
my mother is very sick, or my boss just yelled 3 at me. In other words, when I
act badly, I think it’s because of the situation, not because I am a bad person.
But if another customer is rude, I don’t look for reasons—I think it is his
personality. In other words, he acted badly because he is not a nice person.
First impressions can tell us a lot. They help us make sense of new
information and form relationships with new people. But, as you can see, we
can make errors, so sometimes we need to take a second look.

Unit 1, Listening Skill, Example

Page 9
Speaker: When I first met my professor, he shook my hand firmly and then asked me
questions about myself. He was very polite. He also was relaxed and seemed
interested in what I was saying.

Unit 1, Listening Skill, Activity A

Page 10
Speaker: I remember the first time I met Lee. It was the first day of classes my
freshman year. I was on my way to my history class and had no idea where I
was going. He smiled and asked me if I needed help. I must have looked really
lost! Anyway, he gave me directions to the building where my history class
was, which I don’t think I would have found on my own. After he gave me
directions, he introduced himself and gave me a firm handshake. He wished
me luck with my classes and then headed off across campus. So he was
probably late for his own class. My first couple of weeks of college were
pretty difficult and lonely. I remember hoping I would see Lee again on my
way to classes. About a month or so later, I did. I was eating lunch in the

2
rudeness: noun a lack of respect for other people and their feelings
3
yell: verb to shout loudly, for example, because you are angry, excited, scared, or in pain

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cafeteria. I waved to him and asked him to sit at my table with me and a
couple of my new friends.

Unit 1, Listening Skill, Activity C

Page 10
Speaker: When I first met Lee, I knew instantly he was the type of person I could be
friends with. He was so friendly. I mean, I couldn’t believe he made himself
late for class to help me, a freshman he didn’t even know. The fact that he
helped me and made me feel welcome made a really great first impression on
me. We’ve been good friends ever since.

Unit 1, Listening 2, Activities A and D

Pages 11, 13

[Both voices female]

Host: There is a saying: "Don't judge a book by its cover." This tells us that first impressions
may be wrong. Writer Malcolm Gladwell has a different idea. In Blink: The Power of
Thinking Without Thinking, Malcolm Gladwell argues that first impressions are usually
reliable. This is Wednesday Book Talk. Here's critic, Hannah Smith.

Hannah Smith: An expert in a museum takes one look at a very old artifact. He is
suspicious. The museum has just paid millions for this artifact. The first word that he
thinks of is "fresh." According to Blink, a new book by Malcolm Gladwell, whenever this
expert takes a look at something new, he writes down the first word he thinks of. This habit
of writing down first impressions supports the argument of Malcolm Gladwell's book. We
often know more than we think we know. And we know it faster than we can explain. That
artifact, for example, turned out to be about 2,000 years "fresher," or newer, than the
museum thought. It wasn't really an old artifact at all. It was a fake. Gladwell says we have
two ways we make decisions. First, we can make decisions slowly and carefully with our
conscious minds. Or, we can make decisions very quickly and unconsciously, or without
even thinking. Our unconscious minds are using information we already know to make
judgments within a second or two.

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Gladwell's book looks at examples of when our first impressions turn out to be very
accurate, as well as when they do not. For example, students in college classrooms have
very accurate first impressions of instructors. In one study, students were shown only
several seconds of a videotape of a teacher in the classroom. Then they predicted how
effective the teacher would be. After only that quick first impression, they judged the
teacher's effectiveness very accurately. They did as well as other students did after an
entire term. In another study, people could tell a lot about a student's character just by
looking at his or her bedroom for a few minutes.
Gladwell also looks at marriages, wars, marketing, and police actions. Sometimes, our first
impression, our ability to make snap judgments, is very accurate. Sometimes it is very
wrong. So when should we trust 1 our instincts? In a section added to the new edition,
Gladwell writes about some recent research. This research suggests conscious, careful
decision-making works best for easy choices like buying a pot for the kitchen. However, our
first impressions are best in difficult situations when we are handling many pieces of
information. An example is when a coach is selecting a player for a soccer team. If you
want a book that gets you thinking about how we think, read Blink.

Host: Thank you, Hannah. Now stay with us, we'll be back after the break with news of two
more titles that have just reached the stores.

Unit 1, Pronunciation, Examples

Page 21
A: She’s eating now.
B: They’re watching TV.
A: Lisa’s already left.
B: We’ve finished our work.

A: What’s it cost?

1
trust: verb to believe that somebody/something is good, sincere, honest, etc. and will not
try to harm or trick you

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B: Where’d you go?

A: Why’d he arrive so late?

Unit 1, Pronunciation, Activity A

Page 21
1. Who’s your favorite author?
2. Where’d you go on your last vacation?
3. Mary’s going to the store.
4. We’ve usually eaten by 6 o’clock.
5. What’d you do after class yesterday?
6. The girls’ve been here before.

Unit 1, Speaking Skill, Examples

Page 22
What do you think?
Do you agree?
Right?
How about you?
You know?
OK?

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UNIT 2
Unit 2, Nutritional Science, The Q Classroom
Page 27
Teacher: The question for Unit 2 is “Why do we change the foods we eat?” Sophy, have
you made any changes to what you eat lately?
Sophy: Yes, I have. I eat much less meat now because I learned that producing meat
puts stress on the natural environment.
Felix: I’ve been running a lot lately. I changed my diet to improve my athletic
performance.
Teacher: That’s great, Felix, but how about general health? Has anyone changed eating
habits just to be healthier? Marcus?
Marcus: Sure. That’s the main reason why I’ve started eating more fresh fruit and
vegetables.
Teacher: Did you want to add something, Yuna?
Yuna: Yes. Think about cultural influences. When I was back in my home country,
the food around me was really different. My diet was typical for that culture.
A lot of my favorite foods I don’t eat anymore, just because I can’t get them
very easily here.

Unit 2, Listening 1, Part 1, Activities A and B.

A Billion Pounds of Spice
Speaker 1: That’s pretty good, huh?
Reporter: Stuff a lot of us have never even heard of a few years ago is now going into
recipes we cook. Spices with strange names from faraway places.
Marcus: I would experiment.
Reporter: Yeah. Would you ever try nigella or kalonji – black onion seed?
Marcus: That I might consider.
Reporter: Judith Marcus was looking for some Aleppo pepper.
Marcus: It’s a hot pepper, like a cayenne pepper, but a little bit less hot, and it’s got
more of a tang 1, like a lemon, to it?

1
tang: noun a strong, sharp taste

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Q3e Special Edition Listening & Speaking 3: Audio Script

Reporter: The air is thick with exotic aromas 2at the McCormick Spice Company outside
Baltimore. The factory runs 24 hours a day and for good reason. McCormick
estimates in the fifties, the average American spice drawer had 10 spices.
Today, the number’s grown to 40.
Speaker 4: People consume almost a billion pounds of spices a year. That’s . . .
Reporter: A billion with a b?
Speaker 4: A billion pounds of spices a year.
Reporter: Twenty-five years ago, it was half that. Spice experts say it’s the “melting
pot” 3 that’s producing spicier meals. As the country becomes more diverse 4,
people crave 5 different tastes.
Speaker 5: The cayennes, the habanero sauces and spices, the things that really burn
your mouth.
Reporter: Ginger has grown more than 50 percent while paprika use doubled in the
same five-year period. Meals that used to be seasoned with salt and pepper
now include everything from allspice . . .
Speaker 6: Yeah. I love spicy food.
Reporter: . . . to za’atar. It’s a lot to keep track of.
Speaker 7: It’s a little bit more.
Reporter: In scientifically controlled conditions, including special lighting that disguises
the color of the samples, professional tasters at the McCormick testing center
make sure everything tastes just right. Keeping track of changing tastes is a
full-time job, so the spice people keep an eye on ordinary people at the
testing center through a one-way mirror. On this day, they were testing chili,
but nobody’s expecting any surprises.
Speaker 4: People are craving spicier, bolder foods, and I don’t see the tables turning 6.
Reporter: Americans are taking the old saying to heart, and if variety is the spice of life,
a larger variety of spices apparently makes life livelier. Richard Schlesinger,
CBS News, Hunt Valley, Maryland.

Unit 2, Listening 1, Part 2, Activities A and B

Page 30
Teacher: OK. Pretty interesting. Has anyone actually tried any of those spices?

2
aroma: noun a smell (usually one that is pleasant)
3
melting pot: noun a place where large numbers of people and ideas mix together
4
diverse: adjective very different from each other
5
crave: verb to have a strong desire for something
6
tables turning: verb phrase unexpected changes

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Q3e Special Edition Listening & Speaking 3: Audio Script

Female 1: All of them, actually. They aren’t really all that unusual. Except za’atar, I
guess.

Male 2: It’s Lebanese. I use it a lot when I cook.

Female 2: It’s all about your family’s culture, right? My ancestors came from all over the
place. Our family eats burgers, pizza, chicken, spaghetti, tacos, chili . . . I’d call
it normal local food, but I know some is from other countries.

Teacher: Good point, Brenna. It’s hard to draw a little box around a few dishes and say,
“This is local food,” since the meaning of that term keeps changing. The video
hinted at that. Just out of curiosity, Brenna, what spices were in your family’s
food?

Female 2: Uh . . . I don’t know. Taco seasoning?

Teacher: OK. I don’t expect everyone to know details like that.

Female 1: Probably oregano, basil—especially on the Italian things. Maybe cumin,

cinnamon . . .

Teacher: I want to survey everyone, OK?

Female 1: OK.

Male 2: Sure.

Female 2: OK.

Teacher: Let’s say that every spice is “old,” “new,” or “strange.” Only those three
categories. By “old,” I mean used for a long time in local cooking. By “new,” I
mean not traditional here but becoming more common. And by “strange,” I
mean really rare—or you’ve never even heard of it. I’m going to name a few
spices. For each one, raise an open hand if you consider it “old,” hold up one
finger for “new,” or raise a closed fist 7 for “strange.” Got it? OK. First one . . .
salt. Right. All open hands. Of course, we’d all call salt “old.” Next . . . uh . . .
wattle seed.

Female 2: What was that?

Teacher: Wattle seed. OK, everyone is showing a fist. I’m not surprised. It’s a
somewhat rare Australian spice, so it’s not familiar to anyone in this room.
OK, turmeric

Female 1: You mean, “tumeric.”

7
fist: noun a hand with the fingers closed together tightly

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Teacher: Yes. A lot of people pronounce it that way, but it’s pronounced “turmeric” as
well. OK. A few closed fists, but mostly one finger. I see no open hands. So
turmeric is a “new” spice?

Male 2: Well, actually my family has used it for a long time to make curry, but I don’t
think it’s old around here—I mean, in this country.

Female 1: Yeah, I’d agree that it’s new. It’s becoming a lot more popular because people
here are eating more South Asian food.

Female 2: Even I’ve heard of it. It’s supposed to be really healthy.

Teacher: Well, with respect to those health claims, they might or might not be true.
But anyway, we’ve identified some key factors in spice usage. Can anyone
help summarize?

Male 2: Of course, a family’s home culture is a factor. Maybe, like with my family, that
could relate to ethnic background.

Female 2: Or just generally what’s part of the overall culture also impacts what spices
we eat. Like you don’t have to be Italian to eat pizza or spaghetti. With
oregano and basil.

Teacher: And a third factor: Health—or at least what some people think is healthy. If
some people believe a spice is healthy, they might use it more often. That
could be enough to make it a “new” spice.

Unit 2, Listening Skill, Examples

Page 33
I rarely cook because I’m tired when I get home.

We usually eat at home since it’s so expensive to eat out these days.

Knowing people from other countries leads to a familiarity with new spices.

The pasta tasted terrible, so we didn’t eat it.

Due to her healthy diet, Keiko lived to be 110 years old.

Because of her healthy diet, Keiko lived to be 110 years old.

Unit 2, Listening Skill, Activity A

Page 34

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Q3e Special Edition Listening & Speaking 3: Audio Script

1. Since Judith Marcus was shopping for interesting spices, the reporter in the
video talked to her.
2. Many people try to use less salt in their food because of possible salt-related
health problems.
3. Because the student’s family cooks Lebanese food, he is familiar with za’atar
4. I like a lot of variety in my food, so I am interested in trying some new spices.

Unit 2, Listening Skill, Activity B

Page 34
1. Keeping track of changing tastes is a full-time job, so the spice people keep an
eye on ordinary people at the testing center through a one-way mirror.
2. It’s a somewhat rare Australian spice, so it’s not familiar to anyone in this
room.
3. It’s becoming a lot more popular because people here are eating more South
Asian food.
4. It’s hard to draw a little box around a few dishes and say, “This is local food,”
since the meaning of that term keeps changing.

Unit 2, Note-taking Skill, Activities A and B

Pages 35, 36
Speaker: Fast food is more popular today than ever before. Because of our busy
lifestyle, people don’t always have time to cook their own meals. It may be
more expensive than cooking for yourself, but every day millions of us
choose a pizza or other takeout instead of a home-cooked meal. The
downside is that although fast food is quick and easy, it is expensive, so it can
be bad for our wallets. What’s more, it is bad for our health, too, as a lot of
fast food contains high levels of sugar and salt. Also, for some people,
overeating may be due to the ease of getting fast food. We need to rethink our
fast-food habits and start making healthier food choices.

Unit 2, Listening 2, Activities A, B, and C

Pages 37, 38, 39
A World of Food

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Q3e Special Edition Listening & Speaking 3: Audio Script

Teacher: Health experts commonly claim that some cultures have exceptionally
healthy diets. They point especially to the Mediterranean diet of southern
Italy and Greece, the traditional Japanese diet (without Western fast food),
and a few others. Following a “super-diet” leads to a much greater chance of
living a long, healthy life. Evidence certainly does show correlations
between, say, the Mediterranean diet, or the Japanese diet, and a long life.
The Mediterranean diet illustrates some good features shared by healthy
diets. Seasonings like oregano and thyme often replace salt, so a person may
be less likely to have high blood pressure. Oils in fresh fish cause a reduction
in inflammation 1 and may reduce cancer risks. Then there are the fresh
vegetables, whole grains, and plenty of legumes 2 like lentils and nuts.
Because they consume olive oil instead of animal fats, someone with a
Mediterranean diet probably has lower levels of “bad” cholesterol 3, called
LDLs. Followers of this diet probably have better heart health since they
avoid LDLs. The European Society of Cardiology estimates that a person
eating a Mediterranean diet has a 30 percent lower risk of a heart attack than
a similar person with a typical “Western diet.”
The overall effect of diet on lifespan is hard to determine since many other
factors may be involved. Still, the BBC mentions research showing that
Italians have a life expectancy about 1.5 years longer than the British. It’s not
unreasonable to think diet is a factor.
Japan has one of the world’s highest overall life expectancies—84.1 years in
2018. The traditional diet of Japan may be one reason why. Fish is a major
part of the Japanese food landscape, and it’s known for being low in “bad
cholesterol” and high in “good cholesterol,”. And the kinds of fish commonly
eaten in Japan have a great deal of Omega-3 fatty acids, which are chemicals
known to reduce the risk of heart problems. In addition, Japanese people
typically eat smaller portions 4 of food than Americans do—a dietary feature
that can help with weight control and minimize obesity-related diseases like
type-two diabetes.
Icelanders have approximately the same life expectancy as Italians, so their
diet has also attracted increased attention in recent years. As in Japan, fish is
a dietary staple in Iceland, but since Iceland is so far north and their farming
area is limited, there are some distinctive differences. For cooking oil,
Icelanders typically use canola oil, also called rapeseed oil--a good substitute
for olive oil. Sheep outnumber people by more than two to one in Iceland, so

1
inflammation: noun a condition in which part of the body becomes swollen because of
illness
2
legume: noun any plant that has seeds in long pods
3
cholesterol: noun a substance that is found in the bodies of people and animals and that
helps to carry fats
4
portion: noun an amount of food that is large enough for one person

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Q3e Special Edition Listening & Speaking 3: Audio Script

lamb meat, which is low in fat and high in iron, provides a lot of protein for
Icelanders.
The attention given to super-diets seems to have caused people around the
world to change what they eat. For example, the amount of olive oil
consumed in the United States went up by about 300 percent in the last 20
years. Broccoli? Up approximately 940 percent. This wasn’t because of more
people. The population during this time increased by only about 14 percent,
nowhere near enough to account for these trends. Clearly, there have been
societal changes—and this is a worldwide trend. The consumption of olive oil
in Saudi Arabia increased by about 150 percent between 2000 and 2012
(before then declining somewhat). Olive oil consumption is rising in Turkey
and Brazil as well. No one can know the degree to which these dietary
changes were due to an attraction to the Mediterranean diet. It is hard to
believe, however, that news about this diet had no effect.
But we have to be careful. The fact that two things occur together does not
mean that one causes the other. A long, healthy life is probably a function of
many factors, not diet alone. For one thing, exercise probably plays a role in
the health of these fortunate populations. Most people eating these well-
known diets walk more than an hour each day through fields and over hills
and do some light lifting, so they stay fit. Because they enjoy close ties to
others in a village or a neighborhood, they have lower psychological stress.
All these factors together combine to favor good health and a long life. If we
want these benefits, we should probably change not just our diets but other
aspects of how we live as well.

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Unit 2, Pronunciation, Examples

Page 46
I think Marco must be Italian.
I can’t see you tonight, but Tuesday is fine.
I ate salmon for dinner last night.

Do you eat a balanced diet?

Do you want to go out for lunch?
How is your steak?

Unit 2, Pronunciation, Activities A and B

Page 46
1. We all eat things we know we shouldn’t.
2. “Empty” calories have no nutritional value at all.
3. I can’t drink coffee, but tea is fine.
4. Cheese has calcium, so it’s good for your teeth.
5. Sometimes in the evening I’m too tired to cook.
6. Marie makes sure the cheese is ready to go out on sale.
7. The smell of a dish can be as important as its taste or appearance.
8. Enrique thinks people pay a lot for coffee, so they want to enjoy it.

Unit 2, Speaking Skill, Examples

Page 47
According to the teacher, we should remember that food customs change.
He shouldn’t drink a lot of soda.
They ought to eat more fish.

Perhaps you should eat more fruit and vegetables.

You really ought to eat more fruit and vegetables.

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UNIT 3
Unit 3, Psychology, The Q Classroom
Page 53
Teacher: The Unit 3 question is “In what ways is change good or bad?” So what are
some of the big changes you’ve made in your life recently? Marcus?
Marcus: Uh, I moved here and started college.
Teacher: Has that been a good change or a bad change for you?
Marcus: A good change. I’m more independent now.
Teacher: What about change in general? Have the changes in your life been good for
you or bad for you? Yuna?
Yuna: Good. I lost my job and was very sad. But now I am here, going to school full
time, and happy.
Teacher: So sometimes a change that seems bad at first turns out to be a good thing.
What do you think, Sophy? Is change usually a good thing?
Sophy: Well, changes in my life have usually been good, like moving or starting a
new school. But sometimes changes in society aren’t good, like when the
crime rate goes up or the environment becomes polluted.
Teacher: OK, let’s talk about changes in society. The world has changed a lot since your
parents were your age. Have most of those changes been good or bad? What
makes some changes good and some not so good? Felix?
Felix: Well, changes in communication might be bad if they reduce face-to-face
contact. That’s what my mom would say about social media. But one thing
that makes those changes good is that I can stay in touch with my friends all
over the world.
Sophy: Yeah, that makes the changes good. But in some other ways, they’re not good.
One kid I went to school with got bullied on social media. It’s too easy for
strangers to insult you, and you can’t even tell who they are.
Teacher: So, there are really two ways to look at changes.

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Unit 3, Listening 1, Activities A and B

Listening Skill, Activity A
Pages 56, 57, 60
Shaped by Change, Promoting Change

Lecturer: Hello everyone. Today I’m going to talk about one of the most important
people you’ve never heard of—Jeffrey Skoll. Everyone calls him Jeff. In
pictures, he looks like just an ordinary guy. You would never guess that his
personal wealth is several billion dollars or that he is one of the world’s most
important promoters of change.
Change has shaped Jeff’s life. He grew up as a typical middle-class kid in
Canada. But one day when he was 14, his whole world turned upside down.
He learned that his father had cancer. The terrifying 1 news prompted Jeff’s
father to have a talk with his son. He didn’t really fear death, Jeff’s father said,
but he felt bad about not doing the things in life that he really wanted. After a
long time, Jeff’s father finally got better and was free of cancer. But the
difficult times taught Jeff a lesson—as Jeff puts it, “One never knows how
much time one really has.”
Jeff grew up wanting to be a writer. On camping vacations with his family, he
used to read a lot. By the time he was 13, he had read authors like George
Orwell 2 and Ayn Rand 3. Their stories predicted scary changes like
overpopulation, wars, and diseases. Jeff wanted to use his writing to promote
a more hopeful future. But he was very practical and aware that writing
didn’t pay very much. He changed his approach to a career. He got an
engineering degree at the University of Toronto and started a couple of
computer-related businesses. His goal was to retire someday and start
writing stories.
Although his companies were making some money, Jeff felt he needed to
learn more about business. He went to business school at Stanford University
in Palo Alto, California. He graduated in 1995 and went to work for a news-
reporting company. This seemed to be a step toward becoming a writer. In
fact, it was just a short side trip before he became a billionaire 4.
At Stanford, Jeff had become friends with another student, Pierre Omidyar.
Pierre was a whiz at writing computer code. He developed a website for

1
terrifying: adjective very frightening
2
George Orwell (1903–1950): English novelist, essayist, journalist, and critic
3
Ayn Rand (1905–1982): Russian-American novelist, playwright, screenwriter and
philosopher
4
billionaire: noun a person who has a billion dollars

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selling things by auction 5, and he and Jeff spent part of their time running the
site. Eventually, Jeff quit his journalism job to become the first president of
the company that he and Pierre had put together—the tremendously
successful eBay. Two years later, he and Pierre made eBay a public company.
They became instant billionaires when the price of eBay shares soared 6.
In a TED Talk, Jeff said, “For me personally, it was a real change. I went from
living in a house with five guys in Palo Alto, and living off their leftovers 7, to
all of a sudden having all kinds of resources. And I wanted to figure out how
I could take the blessing 8 of these resources and share it with the world.”
He often advises his audiences that everybody has the opportunity to make
change in their own way. Jeff sensed that his best tools for making change
would not be stories or newspaper articles. They would be donations and
funding arrangements. He would become a philanthropist 9. He may be most
famous for a movie and TV company he founded in 2004 called Participant
Productions (now called Participant Media). Jeff had come back to his
childhood dream of telling stories. As opposed to the main goal of most film
studios, which is to make money, Participant’s aim is to tell stories that
inspire social change. They had great success with the films Syriana in 2005,
An Inconvenient Truth in 2006, and Charlie Wilson’s War in 2008—all of
which won Academy Awards.
But actually, Jeff’s first achievement as a philanthropist was to set up a
charity group called the Skoll Foundation, way back in 1999. Right after
setting it up, he hired someone who shared his views, Sally Osberg, to
manage it. Since then, the foundation has been directing money to others
who work to help the poor, fight disease, protect the natural environment,
and otherwise address social and global problems.
Jeff Skoll’s efforts are still shaping our world. He has personally changed with
time, but in many ways, he is still the thoughtful Canadian kid trying to avoid
a scary future. He is using his great wealth and influence not just to manage
change but to encourage it. He has said, “There’s never one right way to make
change. One can do it as a tech person or a finance person or a 10nonprofit
person or an entertainment person.” Jeff has been able to promote change in
each of those ways, and more.

5
auction: noun a public sale at which items are sold to the person who offers the most
money
6
soared: verb rose very fast
7
leftovers: noun food that has not been eaten when a meal has finished
8
blessing: noun something that is good or helpful
9
philanthropist: noun a person who helps the poor or those in need, especially by giving
money
10
nonprofit: adjective not intending to make a profit

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Unit 3, Listening 2, Activity A

Page 61
An Interview with Barbara Ehrenreich

Interviewer: So, Barbara. Welcome to Life and Times. It’s great to have you here.
B. Ehrenreich: Great to be here, Jack. Thanks for inviting me.
Interviewer: Now, you’re famous as a journalist, and of course, you’ve written several
books based on your research. We’ll get to those in a minute, but could
you start by telling our listeners some of the reasons why you go
“undercover” for your research?
BE: Sure. Well, interviews are fine, but sometimes you need to experience
something firsthand to understand it. So I guess what I’m saying is that
being an undercover reporter is a good way to find out what’s really going
on. By putting yourself in the situation you’re investigating, you can then
write about your experience from a more informed point of view.

Unit 3, Listening 2, Activity B

Page 62
Interviewer: I see. So, for Nickel and Dimed, where did you go undercover 1?
BE: Well, the aim was to see if I could support myself in low-paid jobs, so I
worked as a waitress, a hotel housekeeper, a maid, a nursing home assistant,
and a supermarket clerk. I spent a month in each job, working in Florida,
Maine, and Minnesota.
Interviewer: Wow. That’s a lot of different jobs and places! I guess your life changed
completely during that period, right?
BE: It sure did . . . and boy, I learned a lot! It was amazing.
Interviewer: Really? What exactly did you find out?
BE: Well, first, that it was very difficult indeed to cope, you know, financially 2, on
such low wages. The rents were very high, and the wages were so low. You
know, these people really struggle. Also, you have to be a hard worker! I
mean, some of the jobs I was doing left me feeling physically exhausted—
especially when I had to work two jobs in a day. Interviewing people is one

1
undercover: adjective working or happening secretly
2
financially: adverb connected with money

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thing, but actually doing the job day-to-day shows you exactly how hard
these people’s lives are.
Interviewer: Mm-hm. And of course, Nickel and Dimed went on to be a very popular book.
It was a New York Times best seller.
BE: Yes. I was really surprised at all the interest. I think it really opened people’s
eyes, a firsthand account like that. You know, people in low-paid jobs like
those aren’t lazy. They work long, hard hours just to survive.
Interviewer: Did you change your name when you went undercover?
BE: For Nickel and Dimed I didn’t change my name, but I did for my next project,
Bait and Switch. I wanted to see how easy it was for people with pretty good
jobs who became unemployed to find another job at the same level. So, I
went undercover as a white-collar 3public relations executive 4 looking for
work. I tried really hard, with a great résumé that told everyone that I had
lots of experience and all that, but I couldn’t find any work. It really
highlighted to me how hard life can be for people at all levels . . . from
unskilled manual 5 workers to white-collar management.
Interviewer: Mm-hm. So, I guess in both cases, for Nickel and Dimed and Bait and Switch,
you were pleased that the changes you made weren’t permanent? I mean,
you didn’t ever want to carry on in one of those jobs.
BE: No way. I just got a brief look at people’s lives there, and by the time I
finished, I realized how lucky I was. I was so relieved not to be in that kind of
situation long-term.
Interviewer: Mm-hm. Well, listeners, we’re going to take a short break, but if you have a
question for Barbara, now’s the time, so get on the phone and call . . .

Unit 3, Listening 2, Activities C and D

Pages 62, 63
Interviewer: So, Barbara. Welcome to Life and Times. It’s great to have you here.
BE: Great to be here, Jack. Thanks for inviting me.
Interviewer: Now, you’re famous as a journalist, and of course, you’ve written several
books based on your research. We’ll get to those in a minute, but could you
start by telling our listeners some of the reasons why you go “undercover”
for your research?

3
white-collar: adjective connected with people who work in offices, not in factories
4
executive: noun a person who has an important position as a manager of a business or
organization
5
manual: adjective using your hands

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BE: Sure. Well, interviews are fine, but sometimes you need to experience
something firsthand to understand it. So I guess what I’m saying is that
being an undercover reporter is a good way to find out what’s really going
on. By putting yourself in the situation you’re investigating, you can then
write about your experience from a more informed point of view.
Interviewer: I see. So, for Nickel and Dimed, where did you go undercover?
BE: Well, the aim was to see if I could support myself in low-paid jobs, so I
worked as a waitress, a hotel housekeeper, a maid, a nursing home assistant,
and a supermarket clerk. I spent a month in each job, working in Florida,
Maine, and Minnesota.
Interviewer: Wow. That’s a lot of different jobs and places! I guess your life changed
completely during that period, right?
BE: It sure did . . . and boy, I learned a lot! It was amazing.
Interviewer: Really? What exactly did you find out?
BE: Well, first, that it was very difficult indeed to cope, you know, financially, on
such low wages. The rents were very high and the wages were so low. You
know, these people really struggle. Also, you have to be a hard worker! I
mean, some of the jobs I was doing left me feeling physically exhausted—
especially when I had to work two jobs in a day. Interviewing people is one
thing, but actually doing the job day to day shows you exactly how hard these
people’s lives are.
Interviewer: Mm-hm. And of course, Nickel and Dimed went on to be a very popular book.
It was a New York Times best seller.
BE: Yes. I was really surprised at all the interest. I think it really opened people’s
eyes, a firsthand account like that. You know, people in low-paid jobs like
those aren’t lazy. They work long, hard hours just to survive.
Interviewer: Did you change your name when you went undercover?
BE: For Nickel and Dimed I didn’t change my name, but I did for my next project,
Bait and Switch. I wanted to see how easy it was for people with pretty good
jobs who became unemployed to find another job at the same level. So, I
went undercover as a white-collar public relations executive looking for
work. I tried really hard, with a great résumé that told everyone that I had
lots of experience and all that, but I couldn’t find any work. It really
highlighted to me how hard life can be for people at all levels . . . from
unskilled manual workers to white-collar management.
Interviewer: Mm-hm. So, I guess in both cases, for Nickel and Dimed and Bait and Switch,
you were pleased that the changes you made weren’t permanent? I mean,
you didn’t ever want to carry on in one of those jobs.

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BE: No way. I just got a brief look at people’s lives there, and by the time I
finished, I realized how lucky I was. I was so relieved not to be in that kind of
situation long-term.
Interviewer: Mm-hm. Well, listeners, we’re going to take a short break, but if you have a
question for Barbara, now’s the time, so get on the phone and call . . .

Unit 3, Pronunciation, Examples

Page 70
Nawaf’s never worked abroad, has he?
You can scuba dive, can’t you?

Nawaf’s never worked abroad, has he?

You can scuba dive, can’t you?

Unit 3, Pronunciation, Activity A

Page 70
1. You’ve never been to Europe, have you? (rising on tag)
2. Julie and Frank just had a baby, didn’t they? (falling on tag)
3. You’re not looking for a new job, are you? (rising on tag)
4. James is retiring next year, isn’t he? (falling on tag)
5. Kieron moved to New York last year, didn’t he? (rising on tag)
6. The new housing project was approved, wasn’t it? (falling on tag)

Unit 3, Pronunciation, Activity B

Page 71
1. You’ve tried horseback riding, haven’t you? (rising on tag)
2. Adapting to a new job can be hard, can’t it? (rising on tag)
3. You wouldn’t like to live in New York, would you? (falling on tag)
4. You’re not afraid of change, are you? (rising on tag)
5. Travel is exciting, isn’t it? (falling on tag)
6. You don’t want to work for yourself, do you? (falling on tag)

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Unit 3, Pronunciation, Activity C

Page 71
1. You’ve never been to Europe, have you? {rising on tag}
2. Julie and Frank just had a baby, didn’t they? {falling on tag}
3. You’re not looking for a new job, are you? {rising on tag}
4. James is retiring next year, isn’t he? {falling on tag}
5. Kieron moved to New York last year, didn’t he? {rising on tag}
6. The new housing project was approved, wasn’t it? {falling on tag}
7. You’ve tried horseback riding, haven’t you? {rising on tag}
8. Adapting to a new job can be hard, can’t it? {rising on tag}
9. You wouldn’t like to live in New York, would you? {falling on tag}
10. You’re not afraid of change, are you? {rising on tag}
11. Travel is exciting, isn’t it? {falling on tag}
12. You don’t want to work for yourself, do you? {falling on tag}

Unit 3, Speaking Skill, Examples

Page 71
Man: You know, I really don’t think fishing is for me.
Woman: Oh yeah? Why do you say that?
Man: Well, first of all, it’s boring! Also, it’s expensive to buy all the equipment, and
another thing I hate is the smell of fish!

Unit 3, Speaking Skill, Activity A

Page 72
Jez: I haven’t seen you for ages. How was your vacation in Spain?
Tom: It was great! I tried lots of new things—horseback riding, scuba diving . . . I
even went to a bullfight in Madrid.
Jez: What? You went to a bullfight? I’m surprised.
Tom: Really? Why do you say that?
Jez: Because it’s cruel, isn’t it? Why would you want to watch that?
Tom: Well, first of all, it’s an important part of the culture, you know? Another
reason is it’s really popular. Lots of tourists were there. It’s also good to
experience something different for a change . . . I think.

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UNIT 4
Unit 4, Marketing, The Q Classroom
Page 77
Teacher: The Unit Question for Unit 4 is, “How does advertising affect our behavior?”
So, let’s talk about how ads have affected our behavior. Yuna, have you ever
bought something because you saw an ad for it?
Yuna: I don’t think so. I don’t pay attention to ads.
Teacher: Sophy, how about you?
Sophy: Well, maybe if I’d seen ads for something and friends have liked it. I don’t
think I’ve bought anything just because of the ad.
Teacher: If we don’t always buy things because of ads, why do advertisers make them?
Are the advertisers wasting their money?
Marcus: No. A lot of ads are effective even if you don’t buy something right away.
Sophy: Yeah. They create images.
Marcus: And maybe an image stays in your mind. Later on, you see the product in a
store, and you buy it because it seems familiar.
Teacher: Do you agree with that, Felix? Can advertising affect your behavior without
you noticing it?
Felix: Sure. You hear the name of a company over and over, and you start to feel
that that name is famous and trustworthy. For example, maybe I’m looking
for an insurance company, and I’m nervous about choosing some place I’ve
never heard of. But if I’ve heard the name a lot, I think, “This is a well-known
company. I can trust them.” And ads can also make you want things you
never wanted before. Maybe your old phone works fine, but then you see an
ad for a new one that can do different things, and you think, “Oh! I need that!”

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Unit 4, Listening 1, Part 1, Activities A and D

Pages 79, 80
Targeting Children with Advertising

Reporter: Let’s turn first to Dr. Ann Fanton, Professor of Child Psychology at Bakewell
University. Why is there a problem with using popular cartoon characters in
advertising? It doesn’t seem harmful to me.
Ann Fanton: It’s a tricky way of turning these characters into salespeople. Like it or not,
children develop attachments to characters like Star Butterfly or Elmo or My
Little Pony. Basically, advertisers are using kids’ cartoon friends as sales
channels.
Reporter: I’ll put this to James Burney, Director of the Fairness for Children Foundation.
Isn’t that the same as having a celebrity, like a sports star, in an ad for adults?
James Burney: Not really. Children, especially those under age eight, can’t evaluate 1 an ad
critically. Adults may not be careful enough about the advertisements they
choose to watch, but they are able to think critically about them if they want
to. Making a young kid watch ads like that is just not fair.
Reporter: Dr. Fanton, is it really all that unfair?
Ann Fanton: Yes. It exploits kids. But I’d like to mention that it’s unfair to the families of
those kids, too. You might say, “Well, why don’t the parents just step in? Why
don’t they regulate their kids’ exposure to ads?” That puts an unrealistic
expectation on parents. The average mom or dad cannot possibly monitor all
the advertisements that their kids see, especially in today’s media-saturated 2
environment.
James Burney: If I can just jump in here . . . Don’t forget that advertisers also make ads that
specifically tell kids to put pressure on their parents.
Reporter: Such as the familiar scenario 3 in a grocery store, with kids demanding a
certain cereal or yogurt or whatever until the parent just gives in?
James Burney: Yes, but more than that. And it’s even more than purchases of clothes, toys,
games, and so on. Some larger purchase decisions can be heavily influenced
by kids, such as where to go out for a meal or even where to go on vacation.
Reporter: I’ve heard it has reached the point where car advertisers are targeting
children. Is that true?

1 evaluate: verb to form an opinion of the value or quality of something

2 media-saturated: adjective phrase filled with advertising so that no more can be held
3 scenario: noun a description of how things might happen

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Ann Fanton: I hesitate to say that, but there are no real limits here. After all, Honda did
have an ad campaign 4 based on stories written by children.
James Burney: Like Ann, I want to be careful. Let’s concentrate on the real central issues,
like the fact that ads targeted to children encourage unhealthy diets. Plenty of
studies have shown that. And I think most of us want our kids to be kids,
exploring their interests and developing as well-rounded human beings
without constant manipulation 5 by ads.

Unit 4, Listening 1, Part 2, Activities C and D

Page 80
Teacher: So, what’s your biggest takeaway? What do you remember most strongly?

Female 1: That advertising is having scary effects on kids.

Female 2: The worst effect is that advertisers use kids to talk their parents into buying
things.

Teacher: You mean that part about kids influencing restaurant and vacation decisions?
And maybe car buying?

Female 2: Yeah.

Teacher: Let’s evaluate that claim. Do you think it’s true? I have two kids in middle
school, and I can tell you for sure that they will not tell me what car to buy
next!

Female 1: But maybe you take them into account without even knowing it. They plant
positive images about a car in your head, and when you go to buy . . .

Teacher: I’m being unconsciously controlled by my kids! Help!

Male: I thought the scariest thing was about the characters kids see on TV: Dora,
Elmo, and I remember Po from the Teletubbies.
Teacher: Right. I bet a lot of you do.

Male: The point is these characters are like friends to kids. Then companies just use
that. They put Harry Potter on a . . . a . . . a water bottle or something, and kids
want it.

Female 1: And the parents might give in because it’s Harry Potter, a character the
parents like.

4 campaign: noun activities that are intended to achieve a particular social or commercial
aim
5 manipulation: noun the skillful control or use of something

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Teacher: Here’s a fact you probably don’t know: If you look at the worldwide sales of
things with characters on them, Harry Potter is maybe about number ten on
the list, or something like that. Since the character was introduced in 1997,
total worldwide sales of Harry Potter products have been about $20 billion.

Male: Just the backpacks and stuff with the characters on it, right? Not the books or
movies?

Teacher: Right. I’m only talking about money from merchandise. The radio show’s
point is about characters that kids get to love in entertainment first. Then the
advertising uses that good feeling to sell things.

Female 2: I know. But now I’m starting to rethink this. I LOVED my Elmo pillow when I
was a kid. What’s wrong with that?

Unit 4, Listening Skill, Activity A

Page 82
1. The average mom or dad cannot possibly monitor all the advertisements that
their kids see, especially in today’s media-saturated environment.
2. Since the character was introduced in 1997, total worldwide sales of Harry
Potter products have been about $20 billion.
3. The point is these characters are like friends to kids. Then companies just use
that.

Unit 4, Listening Skill, Activity B

Page 82
1. The Sunpower 10 phone will take you to a whole new world.
2. Every Weston scarf is made of 100 percent wool.
3. Are you bold enough to drive an MPB 1000? Not everyone is.
4. Happy Morning orange juice has 20 percent fewer calories than any other brand.
5. Scarfield watches. They keep perfect time, or your money back.
6. Nothing cleans like a Keystone vacuum cleaner.

Unit 4, Listening 2, Activities A and B

Page 84
The Influence of Online Ads

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Lecturer: Today I’m going to be talking about how Internet ads affect our behavior. I’m
going to talk partly about pop-ups—you know, those ads that suddenly come
on your screen when you’re trying to read something or watch a video? Wait
a minute. What’s the matter? Don’t you like pop-up ads?
I’m not at all surprised. Almost no one likes them. We know this from
personal experience and from research evidence. For example, one study of
university students in the West African nation of Ghana found strongly
negative attitudes toward pop-up ads. Almost all of the respondents called
them “intrusive 1,” “obstructive,” and “annoying.”
Yet Internet ads are a fact of life, like mosquitoes. They may drive us crazy 2,
but at the same time, we have to live with them. Websites make money
mostly through ads. Without ads, much of the online world would disappear.
In 2017, Facebook made $40.7 billion. How much of that was from
advertising? About 98 percent. I’ll say that again. Ninety-eight percent. All the
other ways Facebook makes money—such as fees for services, licensing
agreements, and even interest 3 on money in the bank—add up to only 2
percent of the company’s revenue 4.
The importance of ads to information and entertainment media is nothing
new. Ads made commercial TV possible. Newspapers and magazines have an
even longer history of depending on ads. But the Internet has rewritten the
rules. It has made targeted advertising 5 common.
The ads you see on Facebook and most other online sites are targeted. They
are chosen specifically for you, based on your tastes. How does Facebook or
Google or even The Weather Channel know your tastes? You told them—with
every search, every clicked link, and every message you sent. Do a Web
search for “bicycles.” The ads that pop up will probably have pictures of bikes
like the kind you own or the kind you want. The advertisers have inferred
your taste in bikes from your online activity.
I remember that advertisers in the old days—say, before 1997—could not
target ads very well. They tried, but they didn’t know enough about me.
Believe it or not, I could buy most things without placing my contact
information in a database. Seems old-fashioned, right? But it gave me some
privacy. Advertisers could not easily find out what clothes I bought, what

1
intrusive: adjective entering into a place or situation without being asked
2
drive [someone] crazy: verb phrase bother someone so much that he or she cannot think
properly
3
interest: noun an amount that one pays in order to borrow money
4
revenue: noun the money that one makes
5
targeted advertising: noun phrase advertising that is directed toward someone with a
known interest in the product

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radio station I listened to, or which sports teams I liked. But now, nearly
every company I deal with online knows a scary amount about me.
So how does this affect the user? Well, first of all, targeted ads generally are
effective. They lead people to buy things. So even though you may hate them,
they are not going away.
But advertisers have to be careful. Pop-ups that suddenly take over your
whole screen really do make people angry. This negatively affects their
willingness to buy. A study in Poland even showed that pop-ups reduce a
person’s ability to concentrate. These negatives are why you see fewer full-
screen pop-ups these days. Instead you see mostly ads at the sides of your
screen or banner ads across the top or the bottom of your screen.
Some targeted online ads may actually make people feel uncomfortable.
Lisa Barnard, a researcher in New York, calls this “the creepiness factor” in
advertising. In this context, creepy means “disturbing because it is too
personal.” For example, in a study by Barnard, subjects disliked ads for skin
cream because the ads seemed to be criticizing their skin. Creepy ads
reduced—by about 5 percent—a subject’s willingness to buy a product. No
advertiser wants THAT.
Interestingly, subjects also told Barnard that targeted ads affected the way
they use Facebook. They were less likely to use Facebook in public—say, at a
coffee shop or a library—because they didn’t want anyone else to see which
ads they got. This is probably not a great worry to Facebook. About 88
percent of their ad revenue now comes from ads on mobile devices like cell
phones, which aren’t as easily seen by others.
The bottom line is that targeted online advertising affects our behavior in
complex ways. Since the practice is relatively new, we know very little yet
about those effects. It’s easy to imagine that the effects will be scary, but
that’s not necessarily so.

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Unit 4, Grammar, Activity A

Page 91
Yvonne: Oh, look at that ad. Those poor animals! How can they show them suffering
like that? I think it’s terrible!
Maureen: Really? I think it’s quite effective. They’re trying to get your attention, you
know.
Yvonne: Well, they don’t have to do it that way! It’s not necessary, and it’s upsetting.
Maureen: You don’t have to look at it if you don’t want to.
Yvonne: That’s not the point. That kind of advertising makes me really angry. I’m sure
there’s a law that says they can’t use animals like that.
Maureen: Maybe you should complain, then.
Yvonne: Yes, I think I will. They shouldn’t be allowed to do that!

Unit 4, Pronunciation, Part 1, Examples

Page 92
Do you think it’s true? (rising intonation)
Can you guess which characters were at the top of the list? (rising intonation)

What do you remember most strongly? (falling intonation)

What’s wrong with that? (falling intonation)

Unit 4, Pronunciation Part 1, Activities A and B

Page 92
1. Do you spend a lot of money on advertising?
2. What do you think of that ad?
3. Is that ad misleading?
4. Does it have a special offer?
5. Why is there so much hype these days?

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Unit 4, Pronunciation Part 2, Examples

Page 93
Food ads are popular. (falling intonation)
Ads help to bring the world together. (falling intonation)

Food ads are popular? (rising intonation)

Ads help to bring the world together? (rising intonation)

Unit 4, Pronunciation Part 2, Activities C and D

Page 93
1. Food ads are popular?
2. Ads help to bring the world together?
3. The peak period starts at midnight.
4. Some ads are really popular.
5. Humorous ads are more effective?
6. More people watch TV in the evening than the daytime.

Unit 4, Speaking Skill, Activity A

Page 94
Hugo: Hey. Look at this ad. It’s got six famous people in it!
Peter: So what? If you ask me, they should spend less on these expensive ads and
lower the price of their clothes.
Hugo: Hmm. But I like seeing famous people in ads because it makes it kind of cool.
Peter: As far as I’m concerned, there are better ways to advertise things. For
instance, they could have some facts and statistics or something. You know,
some information.
Hugo: But it’s an ad, right? In my opinion, an ad should get people’s attention, and
using famous people does that.
Peter: Well, I guess it’s eye-catching, but I’m not sure how effective it is.

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UNIT 5
Unit 5, Behavioral Science, The Q Classroom

Page 101
Teacher: Here we are at Unit 5. “Does taking risks change our lives?” is our question.
So what are some risks that people take that might change our lives? Felix?
Felix: Well, there are social risks—for example, introducing yourself to new people.
Teacher: Definitely risky! Is it good to take social risks? Marcus, what do you think?
Marcus: Yes, it’s good. You need to take those risks to meet new people. If you don’t,
you might not make any new friends. It might take a few tries, but that’s OK.
You can learn from your mistakes.
Teacher: What other kinds of risks are there? What kinds of risks do people take with
their jobs? Yuna?
Yuna: Um, getting a new job?
Teacher: Sure. Changing jobs or careers can be a big risk. Could it change your life?
Sophy?
Sophy: I think so. You might lose money or cause problems for your family. But if the
new job or career makes you happy in the long run, it could be a good risk to
take. You need to think carefully before you take that kind of risk, though.
You shouldn’t just jump into it. Because for good or for bad, it might change
your life.
Teacher: OK, so you believe in being careful about taking risks. I can understand that.

Unit 5, Note-taking Skill, Activities A and B

Pages 102, 103
Woman: For the past several years, I have played soccer every Thursday night on a
club team. This year, I decided to try something different. I wanted to learn
how to kayak, but the class was on Thursday nights. I was nervous. Signing
up for the kayaking class was a little risky because I would lose my spot on
the soccer team. Also, I know how to play soccer, and I might be bad at
kayaking.
But I wanted to try something new. I was a little bored with soccer. Kayaking
is also great exercise, and it is a new skill. I use different muscles. Also, I am
meeting new people. You can kayak with other people, or you can kayak by
yourself, so it’s more flexible.

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Unit 5, Listening Skill, Example 1

Page 103
In 2005
On May 15
Ages 13 through 19
Adults, aged 20 through 35
10,000 people
400 participants
20 hours
40 percent
Two thirds
One quarter
500 dollars
100 euros

Unit 5, Listening Skill, Example 2

Page 103
In one study in Germany, researchers did an experiment with 105 people between the ages
of 8 and 22 in which the people played a game and tried to win between 3 and 32 euros.

Unit 5, Listening Skill, Activity A

Page 104
1. We asked 2,000 people about their weekend activities.
2. Most people spent five hours a day watching TV.
3. Those aged 16 to 24 spent the most time on social media.
4. Americans spent 33 billion dollars on sports equipment in 2016.
5. Like other dangerous sports, snowboarding is becoming more popular, up 51
percent since 1999.
6. Mountain biking has 8.6 million participants.
7. Thirty percent of people who race mountain bikes have had injuries.
8. One in 141,000 bicyclists die in bicycle accidents.

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9. About one fifth of Americans over the age of 55 exercise on any given day.
10. Older people may take fewer risks because an important chemical in the
brain decreases by 10 percent every 10 years.

Unit 5, Listening 1, Activities A and E

Pages 106, 109
A Lifetime of Risks
Jake: Hey there. Welcome to It’s on Our Minds, a podcast about psychology and
neuroscience 1. I’m Jake.

Hannah: And I’m Hannah.

Jake: And we’re both graduate students interested in all things related to our
brains and our behavior.

Hannah: Today, we’re talking about risk-taking over your lifetime 2, including some
pretty interesting recent research that sheds some light on who takes more
risks.

Jake: Hannah, your area of expertise is developmental psychology. What can you
tell our listeners about the risks we take as children and teenagers?

Hannah: Well, we usually think of adolescence 3 as the time when people have the
tendency to take the most risks. However, even little children take risks.
Taking risks is a way we explore the world and discover what we can do.
We’d never learn to walk if we didn’t risk falling down. Younger children also
take impulsive 4 risks. This means they act without thinking. For example,
they might run into the street to get a ball, risking an accident.

As children become adolescents, they are less likely to take those impulsive
risks, but they are even more likely to want to discover what they can do.

When we’re teenagers, we look for experiences that are new to us—we’re
basically exploring the world of adulthood. Taking risks at this time prepares

1
neuroscience: noun science that deals with the nervous system and the brain
2
lifetime: noun the period of time someone is alive
3
adolescence: noun the period of a person’s life between being a child and becoming an
adult, between the ages of about 13 and 17
4
impulsive: adjective likely to act suddenly and without thinking, done without careful
thought

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us to face challenges as adults. We’re preparing to leave the safety of our

home and family, which is a risk in itself. Positive risk-taking, like playing a
sport or meeting new people, has clear benefits because we develop skills
and friendships.

Jake: And brain research suggests that our adolescent brains are changing in a way
that makes taking risks more likely. Teenaged brains are more sensitive to
interactions with peers or other teenagers. When friends exclude 5 us, our
brains have a strong negative reaction. This means we will do almost
anything to be accepted. Also, a part of the brain called the prefrontal cortex
is still developing. This is the part of the brain that controls behavior, that
helps us use good judgment. This is why so many teenagers drive so fast.
Their brains have trouble judging the danger, and they get the excitement
they want.

Hannah: And another factor is survival bias. I read somewhere that if we see the
survival of people who have done something risky, like driving fast, we think
nothing bad will happen to us either.

Jake: Teen brains are going through a lot of growth, but their hormones and
emotional development take over in some situations. And some of the risks
they take to feel something exciting or explore something new actually
encourages their brains to form more connections.

Hannah: So, in a way, they have to take some risks in order to help their brains
develop, and once developed, they’ll know enough to stop taking those risks.

Jake: Poor teenagers! It’s an endless cycle. Like when I exercise to lose weight but
then need to eat more.

Hannah: OK, so once these kids are young adults, what happens to their risk-taking?
Researchers have long thought that risk-taking declines with age, especially
taking financial risks. One study at the University of Bonn of 20,000 people
found that older people are much less likely to take risks with their money. In
the same study, men took more risks than women, and tall people took more
risks than short ones. And a second study looked at 528 participants aged 18
to 93. It found that overall risk-taking decreases as we get older, but it differs
depending on the type of risk. For example, men become much less likely to
take financial risks as they enter old age, while women are less likely to take

5
exclude: verb to leave someone or something out

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social risks. And risk-taking in recreation, like skydiving 6 or bungee jumping,

declines sharply as people move from young adulthood into middle age.

Jake: Which leads us to a third study conducted recently by researchers in Basel

and Berlin. They looked at information from 77 countries, a total of almost
150,000 people aged 15 to 99, 52 percent of whom were women. And it
found the pattern you describe in most countries, including Germany, the US,
and Russia, but something different in other countries.

Hannah: Right. In countries such as Pakistan, Mali, and Nigeria, both men and women
generally take more risks than people in countries like Germany and Russia,
and they continue to take risks throughout their lifetimes. In places where
there are more challenges, including economic difficulties, people are more
willing to take risks. For example, they might decide to move to a new city or
country to find a better life.

Jake: So if our lives are difficult, we may take risks that other people wouldn’t?

Hannah: Exactly. No matter what our age, taking risks can offer new opportunities and
help us grow.

Unit 5, Listening 1, Activity C

Page 107
Hannah: Researchers have long thought that risk-taking declines with age, especially
taking financial risks. One study at the University of Bonn of 20,000 people
found that older people are much less likely to take risks with their money. In
the same study, men took more risks than women, and tall people took more
risks than short ones. And a second study looked at 528 participants aged 18
to 93. It found that overall risk-taking decreases as we get older, but it differs
depending on the type of risk. For example, men become much less likely to
take financial risks as they enter old age, while women are less likely to take
social risks. And risk-taking in recreation, like skydiving or bungee jumping,
declines sharply as people move from young adulthood into middle age.

Jake: Which leads us to a third study conducted recently by researchers in Basel

and Berlin. They looked at information from 77 countries, a total of almost
150,000 people aged 15 to 99, 52 percent of whom were women. And it
found the pattern you describe in most countries, including Germany, the US,
and Russia, but something different in other countries.

6
skydiving: noun a sport in which you jump from a plane and fall through the air before
opening your parachute

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Hannah: Right. In countries such as Pakistan, Mali, and Nigeria, both men and women
generally take more risks than people in countries like Germany and Russia,
and they continue to take risks throughout their lifetimes. In places where
there are more challenges, including economic difficulties, people are more
willing to take risks. For example, they might decide to move to a new city or
country to find a better life.

Jake: So if our lives are difficult, we may take risks that other people wouldn’t?

Hannah: Exactly. No matter what our age, taking risks can offer new opportunities and
help us grow.

Unit 5, Listening 2, Activities A and D

Pages 111, 112
Science on the Edge
Reporter: Scientists often have a reputation for being intelligent, but not necessarily
brave. You may picture them in white coats in a lab somewhere, looking
through microscopes or doing experiments with beakers and tubes. But
science, by its very nature, is about taking risks. Scientists solve problems,
explore mysteries, and investigate the world around us. While this
sometimes takes them into a laboratory, it often takes them out into the
world, to the very edge of what is known. As a result, they often put
themselves at risk.
Think about the dangers the natural world poses—terrible storms like
hurricanes and tornadoes, extreme climate and terrain 1 found in deserts or
at the Arctic Circle, the shifting of the earth itself causing earthquakes and
erupting volcanoes. The more scientists can learn about these phenomena 2,
the better they can make predictions and protect us.
Paul Flaherty is a flight meteorologist 3 with the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration’s Aircraft Operations Center at MacDill Air
Force Base in Tampa, Florida. He often flies aircrafts through a hurricane’s
center, or eye wall. According to Flaherty, everyone on his crew understands
the risks that come with this job, but they know the information they are able
to collect and get to forecasters, researchers, and the public far outweighs 4
the risks. As a meteorologist, he’s fascinated with all types of weather, but

1
terrain: noun a type of land
2
phenomena: noun (pl.) things that happen or exist, often unusual
3
meteorologist: noun a person who studies the weather
4
outweigh: verb to be more important than something else

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fascination alone isn’t enough to allow you to keep taking risks. On a

previous trip in 2005, he and his crew tracked Hurricane Katrina for five
nights before she made landfall 5. After seeing the damage Katrina caused
firsthand, and after knowing his crew’s efforts played a big role in getting
over one million people out of harm’s way, he never again questioned why he
takes these risks. Every time he flies, the data collected helps researchers
better understand these storms. He says if he and his crew didn’t accept any
risks in the air, the public would have more risks on the ground. One way
hurricane hunters lower their level of risk is by identifying risks, and rating
them according to how serious they are and how likely they are to happen. If
a mission is too risky, they find another way to get the information. One new
invention that may help is the drone. A drone is a plane that flies itself. It can
fly longer than planes with crews, and this can help in studying storms.
Another scientist used to taking risks is Tina Neal, a volcanologist 6 with the
US Geological Survey who is based in Alaska. Most people assume that the
greatest risk to volcanologists is in working around active volcanoes. Neal
says that while that is dangerous at times, she has always erred on the side of
caution 7. They spend a lot of time thinking about their safety working around
an active volcano, even making maps that locate areas where they can go
and where they can land the helicopter. She thinks the greater risks have to
do with the environment and their mode of transportation. Especially in
Alaska, they face difficult and dangerous weather and bears, and they use
helicopters, small airplanes, and sometimes boats to get to the volcanoes. On
a trip-by-trip basis, these are greater risks.
According to Neal, volcanology, especially the field part of the science, has
more risks than other types of science that are done in office or most lab
settings. Taking risks is essential at times to getting the job done. Her career
in volcanology has been very rewarding. She thinks any job that allows her to
discover, travel, and help make the world a safer place is worth doing.
So science and risk-taking often go hand in hand. Many scientists continue to
do research even after they retire, often taking on new challenges. So even as
they get older, scientists prove they can still take risks.

5
landfall: noun the place where a hurricane comes onto land from the ocean
6
volcanologist: noun a person who studies volcanos
7
err on the side of caution: verb phrase to be too careful rather than not careful enough

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Unit 5, Pronunciation, Examples

Page 119
I’d already finished the test when the teacher collected our papers.
He’d eaten at that restaurant before.
We’d often talked about getting a new car.
You’d left when we got there.
She’d written her email before she received mine.

Had you heard from him by the time you left?

Had everyone finished the test by two o’clock?

I hadn’t finished my phone call by the time the train arrived.

They hadn’t gone to the mall before they ate dinner.

Unit 5, Pronunciation, Activities A and B

Page 119
1. He’d worked at a bookstore.
2. We left when it started raining.
3. They answered the questions.
4. I’d eaten my lunch.
5. You’d already taken the test.
6. She hadn’t worked there.
7. It hasn’t started to rain.
8. Had he found it?
9. Have you called Alex?

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Unit 5, Speaking Skill, Activity A

Page 121
Man: I’m going to talk about a time I took a risk and it turned out well. I’d always
wanted to learn to speak Japanese. When I was in high school, I started to
take classes in Japanese. By the time I graduated from college, I had studied
the language for eight years, but I still couldn’t speak it very well, so I decided
to go to Japan to study. I didn’t know anyone there. My grandmother had
given me money the year before, so I used that for the trip. Before I left, I’d
done some research on language schools. I stayed in Japan for three months
and met some great people there. My Japanese improved a lot. By the time I
finally returned to my country, I had become fluent.

Unit 5, Unit Assignment, Consider the Ideas

Page 122
Man: Some risks are worth taking. I took one huge one, but it turned out to be the
best thing I think I’ve ever done in my life. I lived in Reading in England and
after several failed attempts at backpacking through Europe (Amsterdam,
Paris . . . ), I was starting to give in. I took a 9-to-6 office job in an accounts
department, spent most of my money on shopping and going out, and
basically led a “normal” life.
Something was missing, though, and I couldn’t work out what. I had a nice
house, a good job, a good social life with lots of friends. I decided that to work
out what was missing I needed to leave what I had. I chose to leave it to
destiny and got out a world map. I closed my eyes and moved my hand over
the map, put my finger down, and opened my eyes. It had landed on Italy. I
decided that if I was going to go to Italy, the best place to start was the
capital. Two weeks later, I was on a plane to Rome. I couldn’t make up my
mind whether I was brave or stupid . . . or maybe both.

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UNIT 6
Unit 6, Neurology, The Q Classroom
Page 127
Teacher: The Unit Question for Unit 6 is, “Will artificial intelligence ever be as smart as
humans?” What do we mean by artificial intelligence, or “AI” for short?
Marcus?
Marcus: It’s technology that can process complex information really well, like our
brains do.
Sophy: People used to ask, “Will computers be that smart?” But AI devices don’t
really look like computers anymore.
Teacher: They sure don’t. What are some examples of what they do look like? Yuna?
Yuna: Well, like almost anything. Refrigerators, door openers, little round speakers
that you can talk to.
Teacher: Yeah. It’s pretty amazing.
Yuna: I actually assume now that almost any electronic thing I buy has AI in it.
Teacher: Do you all assume that, too?
Marcus: Yeah, I guess, mostly, unless it’s something like a five-dollar flashlight.
Teacher: I know exactly what you mean.
Felix: But isn’t it getting a little crazy? I mean I’m not sure I can justify putting AI
into a . . . a rice cooker or something, just so I can turn it on with my phone.
I’m wondering whether we depend too much on this. Phones die. Storms
knock down cell phone towers. I’m OK with just plugging something in and
flipping a switch.
Sophy: Especially if having AI costs a lot more. I’d rather just have simple things.
Teacher: But it’s all very complicated. Of course, the real issues about AI don’t involve
little household appliances. They are about machines that seem to think like
humans. Some of them almost look like humans, too.

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Unit 6, Listening 1, Activities A and C

Pages 129, 130
What Kind of “Smart” Is AI?
Bob Chesney: Welcome to The Bob Chesney Show. I’m Bob Chesney, and today, we
have two amazing guests who follow the fast-changing world of artificial
intelligence. Dr. Anna VanDyke is Executive Director of the Center for
Machine–Mind Studies in Brussels, Belgium. Dr. VanDyke, welcome.
Dr. Anna Vandyke: Thanks, Bob. Glad to be here.
Chesney: And Dr. Joseph Ngoma is Senior Research Fellow in Cybernetics at
Craymount University in Canada. Dr. Ngoma?
Dr. Joseph Ngoma: Hello, Bob. Nice to be back.
Chesney: Let me start with you, Anna. So, are machines now as smart as we are?
Dr. Vandyke: That’s not fair, Bob! A tough question right at the start. But I’m going to go
out on a limb 1 and say . . . yes, in some ways, but no in other ways. It all
depends on what we mean by “smart,” doesn’t it?
Dr. Ngoma: It certainly does. In the old days, non-scientists used to be amazed that
machines could figure out moon landings and store gazillions 2 of phone
numbers. But that doesn’t seem like being smart anymore.
Bob Chesney: Why not? I can’t do it.
Dr. Ngoma: Neither can I. But is a gym locker smart? Is a calculator? You and I can choose
how to use those equations or phone numbers wisely. We can reject any
inappropriate uses of such things. Machines aren’t wise.
Chesney: Point taken 3, but let me bring up some survey findings that surprised me.
Apparently, a survey asked experts in AI to predict how soon machines could
do certain jobs better and more cheaply than humans. Here are some
examples. Driving a truck—ten years. So these people think truck driving will
be taken over by machines really soon. Writing a best-selling novel, 30
years. Performing surgery, 40 years. Really? Risky medical procedures done
by machines?
Dr. Vandyke: My team in Brussels is very familiar with those predictions, Bob. But let’s
remember who the predictions came from. They were experts in AI who
were at conferences with other experts in AI. There was probably a lot of bias
in favor of AI in that crowd. But it is pretty obvious that AI will take over a

1
go out on a limb: verb phrase do something that could be dangerous
2
gazillions: noun an unspecified very large number
3
point taken: noun phrase an expression that means I understand what you mean

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lot of jobs. Most jobs are largely routine 4. You have a certain set of tasks and
certain procedures for performing them.
Chesney: But writing a novel? Surgery?
Dr. Vandyke: You’d be surprised at how routine even those tasks can be. Remember that
most laser eye surgery now is automated. When those surgeries first
appeared 30 years ago, people thought, “What? Risk my eyes in automated
surgery? No way.” Well, here we are. Of course, very powerful machines with
enough information can do things that even seem creative to us. Those
automated novels of the future may not be just boring, predictable junk.
Still, I know what you mean about surgeries. Some are full of surprises and a
human will probably have to be standing by. It can be high-risk, of course.
Chesney: Well, what about having highways full of automated trucks? Talk about risk.
Dr. Ngoma: I have to tell you, Bob, I am a very careful person. But I think AI is completely
smart enough for driving trucks—or it soon will be. Ninety percent of truck
driving is on long, predictable highways. It’s the first mile and the last one
that are the problems. Humans still have to do those bits.
Chesney: Why? Aren’t the AI systems clever enough for the first and last mile?
Dr. Ngoma: Well, not yet anyway. Too many unpredictable things happen on city streets.
Chesney: Anna, I thought AI learned really fast. Why can’t it learn to drive a truck for
one or two difficult miles, as Joseph brought up?
Dr. Vandyke: Well, let’s remember how a robot 5 like an AI truck knows where to go. It uses
two main layers of information. The first layer comes from a GPS system—a
set of stored maps and a signal that locates the vehicle on those maps. The
second layer comes from a set of sensors—little devices kind of like cameras
that “read” the details of its environment. Problems mostly involve the
sensors. They pick up too many unfamiliar things in their environment. They
can get confused by weird lighting and shadows, coatings of ice, blowing
dust, or people or animals behaving in unexpected ways—countless other
things. Humans are still way better at responding to messy surroundings.
Chesney Switching topics a bit, I think a lot of people are afraid that hackers 6 can take
over AI systems. And not just that someone might take over a truck’s
controls. Think of everything else that is under AI control—our electric
power system, the city water systems, the banking system, air traffic—wow!

4
routine: adjective made up of actions that are done over and over in a regular way
5
robot: noun a machine that can do some of the tasks humans usually do
6
hacker: noun a person who uses a computer to look at and/or change information on
another computer without permission

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Dr. Ngoma: I won’t say those worries are silly, Bob. If bad guys did take over one of those
systems, we could have serious trouble. But the good news is that many very
smart AI experts specialize in security, and they are dedicated professionals.
Chesney: Again, it comes down to having smart humans, doesn’t it?

Unit 6, Listening Skill, Examples

Page 132
Think of everything else that is under AI control—our electric power system, the city water
systems, the banking system, air traffic—wow!

A: It’s the neighbor again. What does he want this time?

B: Excuse me. Would you mind turning down the TV, please?
A: Yeah, sure.

Unit 6, Listening Skill, Activity A

Page 132
1. Did you know that this is a nonsmoking area?
2. I don’t know why Simon’s always late for work.
3. Yeah. That garbage has been there for a week.

Unit 6, Listening Skill, Activity B

Page 133
1.
Man: Guess what. I have to work overtime all next week.
Woman: That’s crazy. They can’t force you to work overtime, can they?
Man: They can sometimes. Everyone in our group expects to be working until
about nine every night.
2.
Man: It says here that self-driving cars will be legal on the highways starting next
year.
Woman: Really? That sounds scary. We won’t be safe on the road with cars like that.
Man: I’m sure the cars will be safe.

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3.
Man: You’ve got to see this coffee maker. So I set it up here, and I type this number
into my phone, and . . . it turns on.
Woman: Hmmm. That’s nice.
Man: It’s more than nice. I can call the coffee maker in the morning and turn it on!
Woman: I’m sure you’ll like it.

Unit 6, Listening 2, Activities A and B

Pages 134, 135
Asking the Right Questions about AI
Teacher : So, today let’s go further into last week’s topic, “Asking the Right Questions
about Artificial Intelligence—AI.” Can anyone summarize? Din?
Male 1: Mostly, we shouldn’t really ask whether AI is smarter than humans. The
answer is always going to be “in some ways, yes, and other ways, no.”
Teacher: Right. It’s kind of like asking, “Which tool is better, a hammer or a
screwdriver?” It depends. Better for what—or smarter at what?
Female 2: And we started discussing, “Why do people always want to compare robots—
or AI or whatever—to humans?”
Teacher: Yes, and that’s a good place to start today. Let me show you two pictures.
Here’s the first one. What do you see?
Female 2: Uh . . . it’s obviously meant to look like a woman, but it has metal “hair.” Is she
on a talk show?
Teacher: Yes. This is a robot called Sophia, built by a Hong Kong company, Hanson
Robotics. She . . . um, it . . . is a celebrity and has been interviewed on late-
night talk shows. It is the first AI to be declared a citizen of a real country.
Saudi Arabia granted her . . . it . . . citizenship in 2017.
Male 1: It is really hard to say “it” instead of “she,” isn’t it?
Female 2: What does . . . it do?
Teacher: Sophia mostly does publicity tours. Its maker, David Hanson, says it is a
prototype 1 of a “social robot.” They’re designed to be companions for sick or
elderly people—eventually. They might also do simple service jobs, like

1
prototype: noun an early model of a machine that shows what later models could do

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checking people out at stores, or even crowd control at concerts and political
events.
Female 2: So the goal is for them to seem human, and be pleasant, for a short time.
Teacher: True. The AI-to-human comparison is important in this case. OK, next
picture.
Male 2: One of those robots that explore Mars. A rover.
Teacher: Yes, this is the Mars rover called “Curiosity.” It is exploring a rocky
landscape on Mars. It looks like a metal insect of some type. No one has tried
to make this one look human.
Male 2: There’s no reason for it to look human. It never deals with humans. It collects
samples all alone on Mars and sends data to computers on Earth.
Teacher: So, which is smarter, Curiosity or Sophia?
Male 1: I thought we weren’t supposed to ask that!
Male 2: Well, Sophia is just for show. She, or it, or whatever, just smiles and talks. The
rover can do more real work.
Female 2: But Sophia has conversations, right? It’s hard to program a robot to do that.
Teacher: I’m not taking sides here. Just a few facts. Curiosity landed on Mars in 2012.
NASA scientists said that it had less computing power than the average cell
phone of that year. So they don’t consider it a genius—no super-smart,
chess-playing computer—but to them that’s OK. To NASA, Curiosity needs
toughness more than smarts. It traveled 350 million miles, landed on Mars,
and has spent years out in the open, through extreme temperatures and
space radiation and sandstorms, collecting samples and analyzing them.
Male 2: What about Sophia? I’m assuming she’s smarter than a cell phone.
Teacher: Yes. Katya was right. Conversation requires a lot of intelligence. The voice
feature on your phone, something like Siri or Alexa, only has to handle
speech. A totally successful social robot would have to keep up with a fast
stream of complicated information—speech, facial expressions, gestures—
even just to make small talk 2. It’s not surprising that Sophia makes a lot of
mistakes.
Male1: Oh, yeah. I heard she said she wants to destroy humans.
Teacher: Yes. Her maker, David Hanson, was joking around in an interview and asked,
“Do you want to destroy humans? Please say no,” but before he could finish,
Sophia said, “OK. I will destroy humans.”

2
make small talk: verb phrase to have a short conversation about unimportant topics

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Female 2: So Sophia hasn’t been trained well enough, or can’t learn fast enough, or
something. But maybe future versions will be smarter. That is getting close to
one kind of human intelligence.
Male 2: A couple of weeks ago, we talked about the Turing Test. Could Sophia pass
the Turing Test?
Teacher: It’s important to remember that the Turing Test was developed because Alan
Turing considered it impossible to answer the question “Can machines
think?” Like us in this class, he found the question too muddled up by
different definitions of words. So he developed more narrow criteria: Can an
AI device convince a human communicating with it that it is human? The
human can’t see it or hear it. They communicate by written messages. Unless
Sophia goes through an actual Turing Test, we cannot know whether it would
pass. But what are your guesses?
Female 2: No.
Male1: No.
Male 2: No. They tried to make Sophia look and sound sort of human, but that doesn’t
matter in a Turing Test. It’s all about the content of communication. It sounds
like she gets the content messed up. Oops, I said “she.”
Teacher: I agree with you guys. No for Sophia. And Curiosity doesn’t communicate at
all, except in digital code. But it’s interesting to note what question Turing
chose to ask about intelligence: Does the machine seem human? Hmmm.
Something to think about.

Unit 6, Pronunciation, Examples

Page 142
I think a lot of people are afraid that hackers can take over AI systems. And not just that
someone might take over a truck’s controls. Think of everything else that is under AI
control—our electric power system, the city water systems, the banking system, air
traffic . . .

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Unit 6, Pronunciation, Activities A and B

Page 143
1. You and I can choose how to use those equations or phone numbers
wisely.
2. Apparently, a survey asked experts in AI to predict how soon machines
could do certain jobs better and more cheaply than humans.
3. Of course, very powerful machines with enough information can do things
that even seem creative to us.
4. The second layer comes from a set of sensors—little devices kind of like
cameras that “read” the details of its environment.
5. But the good news is that many very smart AI experts specialize in
security, and they are dedicated professionals.

Unit 6, Speaking Skill, Activity A

Note-taking Skill, Activity C
Pages 144, 146
Teacher: OK, so today we’re going to look at the recent boom in AI devices for
everyday tasks. Are AI toasters and electric shavers a good thing, or a waste
of money? Brad, what’s your opinion?
Brad: Well, they might not be totally necessary, but I don’t see any harm in them. If
people want to waste their money, that’s their business.
Teacher: OK. What do you think, Seline?
Seline: I don’t agree. They might be harmful in some ways. It’s not good for people to
do everything through a cell phone. And the more you depend on electronics,
the less exercise you get.
Brad: I get a lot of exercise. I run three miles a day and . . .
Teacher: Sorry, but can we keep to the topic? Susan, do you have anything to add?
Susan: Well, I probably agree with Seline. Every AI device can be hacked. There are
cases where criminals have broken into computer systems by going through
coffee makers or rice cookers.
Teacher: OK, so to sum up, then, Susan and Seline feel the spread of AI devices is not
good, while Brad thinks there’s nothing wrong with it.

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UNIT 7
Unit 7, Economics, The Q Classroom
Page 151
Teacher: Unit 7’s question is, “Can money buy happiness?” What do you think, Marcus?
Would you be happier with more money?
Marcus: Yes. If I had lots of money, I wouldn’t have to worry about getting a job. I
could just do the things I like to do all day, so of course I would be happy.
Teacher: What about you, Yuna? Would you be happy with more money?
Yuna: Yes, I would.
Teacher: Why?
Yuna: I could help my family.
Teacher: So Yuna and Marcus want more money. Does this mean money can buy
happiness?
Felix: No, it doesn’t. Money can’t buy health. And being healthy is the first step to
being happy. No matter how rich you are, you won’t be happy if you’re sick.
And money can’t buy friends and family, either, and you can’t be happy
without good relationships in your life.
Teacher: What do you think, Sophy?
Sophy: Well, I couldn’t be happy with no money, but being rich doesn’t mean you
will be happy. There are lots of rich people who are unhappy. I think some
people are just unhappy no matter what they have, and some people are just
happy.

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Unit 7, Listening 1, Activities A and C

Page 153, 154
Sudden Wealth
Speaker: Have you ever dreamed of earning a large amount of money, or being given
millions? Me, I don’t really care where the money comes from, as long as it
comes, because the money will solve all my problems, right?
The reality is that people who acquire a sudden fortune 1, whether they earn
it or are given it, experience a lot of stress. I know. It doesn’t make sense.
Who would believe that an enormous amount of cash would be hard to
handle 2? But sudden money is not always a good thing. It’s easy to forget that
a large quantity of money can have several destructive effects on our lives.
First, it affects how our brains work, at least for a while. Sure, if you give
someone money, there will be an immediate effect on his brain, similar to
the way his brain would respond to food or medication. But that pleasure
goes away quickly. Similarly, people think they will enjoy something they buy
much longer than they actually do. The problem is that our brains get used
to positive experiences. In the beginning, when we get the money, our brain
identifies it as pleasure. Then that feeling wears off. The same thing happens
when we spend the money on something we think we really want. And to get
the same amount of pleasure the next time, we need to buy something even
bigger and better. It’s not a surprise that many people who acquire a lot of
money they didn’t expect lose it all within a few years.
Second, sudden wealth can also affect our social relationships. Interestingly,
sudden wealth and the sudden loss of money can have quite similar effects.
It’s the dramatic change in circumstances that causes the problems. In the
case of sudden wealth, too many other people want something from their
newly rich friend or relative. And they may not understand the stress the rich
person is experiencing, thinking, “Oh, too bad. I wish I had your problems.”
Most people get a lot of pleasure from being with other people, but a sudden
change in your financial picture can make you feel alone. If you move because
of changing circumstances, you won’t have your usual sources of support.
That expensive house on a private island somewhere may not be quite as
wonderful as it sounds if no one is with you.
A third effect of sudden wealth is emotional. People who acquire huge
amounts of cash very quickly can experience many negative emotions, such
as fear, shame 3, guilt 4, and anxiety. These feelings can lead to making bad

1
fortune: noun a very large amount of money
2
handle: verb to deal with or to control someone or something
3
shame: noun the strong feeling of embarrassment or worthlessness when you think that
you have done something wrong

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decisions. How you get the money can also contribute 5to negative feelings. If
someone dies and leaves you a fortune, the relationship you had with that
person can make things more complicated. If you loved him, you may feel
sadness. If you never visited her, you may feel guilt. If you didn’t get along,
you may feel uncomfortable. And none of these feelings will make you happy.
So if sudden wealth buys just as much stress as it does happiness, what good
is it? Probably not much, unless you are very sick and it buys you needed
health care. Or you are very poor and it provides you with food and shelter 6.
For most of the rest of us, people who are getting along OK without it, sudden
wealth is often more trouble than it’s worth.

Unit 7, Listening Skill, Examples

Page 156
First, it affects how our brains work, at least for a while.
In the beginning, when we get the money, our brain identifies it as pleasure. Then that
feeling wears off.

Unit 7, Listening Skill, Activity A

Page 157
Reporter: You are one of many people in this town who suddenly acquired a lot of
wealth when your company was purchased by a large software company.
How has that affected your life?
Laura Green: Well, in the beginning, it was pretty incredible. It took a while for me to
believe it. But then I began to realize what it could actually do to my life.
Things have changed dramatically.
Reporter: In what way?
LG: I paid off all of my credit card debt. And sent my son to college. Receiving this
money was just fantastic! Before that, I was worried all the time.
Reporter: So your financial circumstances have improved. What else has changed?
LG: You know, I was a secretary at that company for 20 years. I had gotten used
to just working to pay the bills. I always wished I could do more with my life.
Finally, I can do that.
Reporter: And what do you want to do?

4
guilt: noun the feeling that you have when you know that you have done something wrong
5
contribute: verb to be one of the causes of something
6
shelter: noun protection from danger or bad weather

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LG: First, I’m going to go to Paris. I’ve always dreamed of going there. Next, I’m
thinking of going back to school. I’d like to study gardening. I love flowers.
After that, maybe I will open my own business.
Reporter: We hear stories in the news all the time about people who get a lot of money
suddenly and have many problems. How do you think those problems can be
avoided?
LG: It’s about staying true to your values and remembering what’s really
important in life. You don’t need to let money complicate things.

Unit 7, Listening 2, Activities A and B

Page 159, 160
Happiness Breeds Success . . . and Money!
Host: Welcome back. You’re listening to Pause for Thought with Brian Thompson.
Today’s subject is money, money, money, and in this next part of the show,
I’m going to be talking to Sonja Lyubomirsky, an experimental1 social
psychologist who has been studying the causes of happiness for almost 20
years. It’s wonderful to have you in the studio, Sonja.
Sonja Lyubomirsky: Thanks, Brian, it’s a pleasure to be here.
Host: Now, Sonja, let me ask you the obvious question first: What have you
discovered in all those years of research? What is it that makes people happy.
Could it be money?
SL: Well, Brian, not money exactly, but I’ll get to that in a minute. Until a few
years ago, if you had asked me what makes people happy, my answer would
have been, “It’s relationships, stupid.” That is, I always responded that our
personal relationships—the strength of our friendships, family, and other
close connections—have the greatest influence on happiness.
So, I was very surprised when two other researchers and I conducted an
analysis of 225 studies of happiness. I wholly expected to discover that
social relationships, more than anything else, would be both causes and
consequences of being happy. However, what I found was something rather
different. There is something much more important than relationships—
work.
Host: Work makes us happy? That is surprising. How?

1
experimental: adjective connected with experiments or new ideas

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SL: The evidence, for example, demonstrates 2 that people who have jobs with
independence and some variety—and who show creativity and
productivity 3—are significantly happier than those who don’t. And, of course,
the income that a job provides is also associated with happiness. However,
we all know that money has more of an impact when we don’t have very
much.
Host: OK, so work—at least some kinds of work—can make us happy. Why?
SL: Because work provides us a sense of identity, structure to our days, and
important goals in life. Perhaps even more importantly, it provides us with
close colleagues, friends, and even marriage partners.
But that’s not all. Studies reveal that the relationship between happiness and
work goes both ways. Not only do creativity and productivity at work make
people happy, but happier people are better workers. And they are less likely
to take sick days, to quit, or to burn out.
The most persuasive data regarding the effects of happiness on positive
work outcomes come from scientific studies that follow the same people
over a long period of time. These studies are great. For example, people who
report that they are happy at age 18 have better jobs by age 26. And the
happier a person is, the more likely she will get a job offer, keep her job, and
get a new job if she ever loses it. The same people who are happy at age 18
have more financial independence later in life also.
Host: Could you tell us more about the financial side of happiness?
SL: Well, not only does greater wealth make people somewhat happy, but happy
people appear more likely to acquire greater wealth in life. For example,
research has demonstrated that the happier a person is at one point in his
life, the higher income he will earn at a later point. In one of my favorite
studies, researchers showed that those who were happy at age 21 had higher
incomes 16 years later, when they were about 37! But before we find yet
another reason to wish we were very happy, consider what the research on
happiness and work suggests. The more successful we are at our jobs, the
higher income we make, and the better work environment we have, the
happier we will be. This increased happiness will contribute to greater
success, more money, and an improved work environment, which will lead to
greater happiness, and so on, and so on.
Host: So what you’re saying, Sonja, is that if we are happy, we are more likely to get
a job we like, and if we have a job we like, we are likely to make more money.
I wonder if our listeners find that to be true in their own lives? Let’s go to our
first caller this evening and find out: Joanna in Chicago. Joanna, welcome to
Pause for Thought.
2
demonstrate: verb to show clearly that something exists or is true
3
productivity: noun the rate at which a worker, a company, or a country produces goods

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Unit 7, Pronunciation, Examples

Page 167
I am going to purchase a new home. (falling intonation)
Please give me some advice. (falling intonation)

This is fun! (rise-fall intonation)

Are you coming with me? (rising intonation)

Why did you leave? (falling intonation)

Unit 7, Pronunciation, Activities A and B

Page 167
1a. Is this your new coat?
1b. This is your new coat.
2a. Tell me what you want to buy.
2b. What do you want to buy?
3a. Saving money can actually be fun.
3b. Saving money can actually be fun!

Unit 7, Speaking Skill, Activity A

Page 168
1.
Ellie: What are you going to do with the money your grandfather gave you?
Sam: I’m not sure. I think I’m going to take an expensive vacation.
Ellie: Really? Don’t you have a lot of school loans to pay?
Sam: That’s a good point. Maybe the vacation’s not such a good idea.
Ellie: You can say that again! Vacations are fun, but it’s much more important to
pay off your debt.

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2.
Khawla: I think raising the average income in countries around the world is the best
way to increase the level of happiness.
Abeer: I don’t feel the same way. More money might make the very poor happier,
but not everyone.
Khawla: I disagree. I think everyone except perhaps the very wealthy will benefit
from a higher income.
Abeer: Well, I can see we’ll just have to agree to disagree.

Unit 7, Note-taking Skill, Activity A

Page 169
Male 1: OK. What do we want to say about the research on money and happiness?
Male 2: Well, according to the study by Betsey Stevenson and Jeffrey Wolfers, richer
people are happier. I know when I have more money, I feel more relaxed
about paying my bills.
Male 1: True. But didn’t research in the UK by Layard show that as long as you have a
certain amount, you can be happy? All I want is to be able to pay all my bills
and have some extra to do the things I enjoy. I don’t need a really big house
or an expensive car.
Male 2: I agree. I need a home and a car, but they don’t have to be really huge or
expensive. But I do want to have enough money to travel. And when I say
travel, I mean, to places I’ve never been—like Chiang Mai in Thailand and
Machu Picchu in Peru. And I don’t want to skimp. I want to really enjoy the
trip and stay in nice hotels.
Male 1: Yeah, I would love to go to those places. But I don’t need to stay in nice hotels.
I could camp or stay in hostels. The important thing is the people you are
with and the experiences you have.

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UNIT 8
Unit 8, Behavioral Science, The Q Classroom
Page 175
Teacher: Unit 8’s question is, “What can we learn from success and failure?” Let’s start
by talking about ways that people can be successful. Sophy, what are some
types of success?
Sophy: People can be financially successful, or successful in school, or they can have
a good family life.
Teacher: OK, let’s take success in school. Yuna, what can we learn from success in
school?
Yuna: We learn which habits are important. We study hard and pass the test. This
teaches us to keep studying. If we don’t study and we fail, we learn the same
thing.
Teacher: True! Success and failure can teach the same kinds of lessons. How about
success or failure in our personal lives? What can we learn from that? Felix?
Felix: Well, you can learn from your relationships with people. If I have a good
friendship with someone, it teaches me about what I value in a friendship,
like honesty. If I lose a friend because I lied to him, it teaches me not to lie to
my friends in the future.
Teacher: What do you think we can learn from success and failure, Marcus?
Marcus: I think we learn more from failure. When I fail at something, I know I need to
learn a lesson, so I really pay attention. If I’m successful, I might not think
about why I am successful.
Teacher: Good point.

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Unit 8, Listening 1, Activities A and C

Listening Skill, Activity A
Page 177, 180
Learning from Failure
Moderator: Today, our panel discussion will look at failure. No one enjoys it, but can we
learn anything from it? The members of our panel are Pete Nelson, CEO of
Oversight Consultants in Seattle, and Chloe Masters, Professor of
Management at Northman University in Melbourne, Australia. Pete, I’ll put
the first question to you. What else to say about failure except, “Stay away
from it”?
Pete Nelson: Thank you. Well, the problem is you CAN’T stay away from it. Take J. K.
Rowling—the author of the Harry Potter books—as an example. She said, “It
is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so
cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all.”
Moderator: Chloe?
Chloe Masters: I’m glad Pete brought up Rowling. She’s hugely successful now—the
first recorded person to earn more than a billion dollars from writing books.
But for a long time, she considered herself a terrible failure. She was
unemployed, and she and her young daughter were very poor.
Moderator: And she sent a Harry Potter sample to several publishers with no success,
right?
Masters: Right. Twelve publishers rejected it. Imagine how that makes you feel.
Nelson: When I advise creative people—writers, or artists, or comedians—I often
talk about “Fishing Syndrome 1.” It’s that horrible feeling that no one wants
what you have created. Imagine you’re fishing in a boat on a lake. You wait
and wait . . . no fish. You move to another spot on the lake. Still no fish. Over
and over and over. After 15, 20 tries, you start blaming yourself. You must
have done something wrong, like used the wrong bait. 2But really the bait
that you’re offering to the fish is fine. You just haven’t dropped it in front of
the right fish yet.
Moderator: We have a question from the audience.
Audience Member 1: So, the lesson is, “Keep trying”?

1
syndrome: noun a group of signs that are typical of an illness
2
bait: noun food or something that looks like food used to attract and catch an animal

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Nelson: Well, partly, but it’s more than that. The main lesson is, “Don’t let failure
blind 3 you.” In other words, don’t let it keep you from seeing clearly what to
do next. That’s hard to do, because failure can be very painful. You cannot
easily see past it. Twelve publishers rejected Harry Potter. Does that mean
Rowling’s writing was a failure? No. Her writing—as we now know—was
fine. She and her agent just failed in twelve attempts to sell it.
Masters: Another person who had to deal with rejection 4 is the filmmaker Ang Lee,
famous for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, the adaptation of the novel Life of
Pi, and other big films. When he was young, he experienced failure after
failure. For example, he failed the university entrance exams in Taiwan—
twice. For Ang, this was not just a setback or a disappointment. The Ministry
of Education—the government—was saying to him, twice, “You have failed.”
And the consequences were serious. He could not attend university in
Taiwan.
Nelson: I’ve always felt that Lee has a remarkable ability to look at failure and adjust
his plans.
Masters: Right. He has used failure as a kind of road sign to point away from bad
choices and toward his strengths. In Taiwan, he went to art school instead of
the university. Following that, Ang entered the University of Illinois, in the
US, in 1979 to study acting. Then he took a hard look at his English abilities.
He decided his speaking skills would never be what a professional actor
needs. So he went into directing instead. Now he’s got several Oscars 5 for
Best Director.
Moderator: Another question from the audience.
Audience Member 2: How about outside the arts? Are there any people in politics,
science, technology, or business who learned from failure?
Nelson: Absolutely. Winston Churchill, Albert Einstein, Gandhi. But I’d like to
highlight Thomas Edison as an example. He achieved a lot—inventing the
phonograph 6, movie projectors, electric batteries, X-ray machines, and of
course, electric light bulbs 7—but he knew failure, too. Each invention
involved several failed designs first.
Moderator: Didn’t he go through hundreds of light bulb materials before finding one
that worked?

3
blind: verb to make someone unable to see
4
rejection: noun a refusal to accept someone or something
5
Oscar: noun an Academy Award, a high-level prize for achievement in making movies
6
phonograph: noun a machine for playing sounds recorded on disks or rolls; a record
player
7
light bulb: noun the glass part of an electric lamp that gives out light

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Nelson: Well, working electric light bulbs already existed. Edison’s goal was to design
one that would last a long time. I’m not sure how many materials his team
tried between 1878 and 1880. He famously said, “I have not failed. I’ve just
found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” Edison was very thorough and claims to
have tried 6,000 types of plant material alone. In the end, the winner was a
piece of carbonized—that is, slightly burned—bamboo 8. It could give off light
for about 1,200 hours before burning out. The real lesson from Edison was,
“If something can’t work, move on to something else.”
Masters: Edison was a bit of a showman. He told the public that he was working on
light bulbs, and he built up this general suspense: “Would Edison succeed?”
His statements about failure were part of the show. There’s no reason to
think he wasn’t being sincere. He really DID learn a lot from failure, but I
think that all along he expected to succeed.
Moderator: Well, we’re almost out of time. Can anyone give us one final Edison quote?
Nelson: Sure. “Many of life’s failures are people who didn’t realize how close they
were to success when they gave up.”
Moderator: Great! Thanks, panelists. Thank you to our audience as well.

Unit 8, Listening Skill, Activity B

Page 180
Paul: When I was in high school, everyone expected me to get the best grades and
to lead all sorts of activities—president of the student council, yearbook
editor. It always had to be me. So I didn’t know how to handle it when, as a
college freshman, I ran for a spot in student government and lost the election.
I lost? I wasn’t supposed to lose. My self-confidence was destroyed. When I
walked around on campus, I felt everyone was looking at me and thinking,
“Loser!” But after a couple of weeks, I started thinking that it was a good
experience to lose that election. It taught me some things about leadership. I
realized I really wasn’t ready to step into student government yet. I needed
to get to know the college and its issues better. It was embarrassing to lose,
but I learned that leadership isn’t automatic. You have to earn it. Also, it was
good for me to live a little bit, just be a normal student. I grew a lot because I
had time to make friends, enjoy some events, and learn what college life was
all about.

8
bamboo: noun a tall tropical plant of the grass family

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Unit 8, Listening 2, Activity A, Part 1

Page 183
An Interview with Mohannad Abu-dayyah
Interviewer: Hello, Mohannad. You’re well known today in Saudi Arabia and
internationally as a “blind inventor.”
Mohannad: Yes, I guess that’s how many people think of me.
Interviewer: I read that you lost your sight and your right leg in a car crash when you
were 20.
Mohannad: That’s correct. Just two weeks after my wedding and two years after
enrolling 1 in college.
Interviewer: Yet, incredibly, that didn’t hold you back.
Mohannad: No, it didn’t. I finished my degree in industrial engineering and continued
from there.
Interviewer: Could you tell me a little about the challenges you’ve faced on the road to
success?
Mohannad: Well, even before losing my eyesight and leg, I faced many challenges. I didn’t
have an instructor or anyone to guide me. Also, my classmates and teachers
would often discourage me. I used to spend a lot of time alone, too, working
on my inventions. After the accident, my life became even more challenging.
Daily activities for someone who has lost his sight and leg become tricky. I
had to abandon some of my hobbies and spend less time with my friends in
order to concentrate on learning everything that might help me to achieve
my dreams.
Interviewer: So inventing is something that you were always interested in?
Mohannad: Yes. I started inventing in my childhood. I liked to redesign my toys, and to
try and repair household items. Looking back, I wasn’t especially successful,
but I was determined. I guess that’s been the key. I firmly believe there’s no
convincing reason for giving up on your dreams.

1
enroll: verb to become a member of a club, school, etc.

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Unit 8, Listening 2, Activity C, Part 2

Page 184
Interviewer: So what kinds of things have you invented?
Mohannad: Lots of things, including many disability aids to help handicapped 2 people,
even before my accident. But perhaps I’m most famous for the Saqr Al
Orubah, a submarine 3 that can dive to 6,525 meters. People thought it was
impossible to dive so deep. I received an award from King Abdullah for it.
Interviewer: And which of your achievements are you most proud of?
Mohannad: The first award I won for invention, when I was 12 years old. That simple
award was a huge boost to my self-esteem. From that moment on, I felt I was
born to be an inventor. I’m also very proud of my book Guidance for Leading
Invention, which was the first detailed, step-by-step pocket-size book for
inventors.
Interviewer: What things have helped you on the road to success?
Mohannad: Oh, many things. My wife, family, and friends have been very supportive. On
an individual level, I drew inspiration from the stories of famous
hardworking people I had read about. I used to imagine my life story as
similar to theirs, but one that hadn’t been written yet.
Interviewer: And what are you working on at the moment?
Mohannad: These days I focus completely on training and managing projects related to
invention through the Isterlab Training Center. So far we’ve delivered
lectures and workshops on invention skills to more than 30,000 people
across the Arab world. At the moment, I’m preparing a series of online videos
to teach young people—in a simple and interesting way—how to invent and
innovate. My goal is to inspire one million inventors across the Arab world!
Interviewer: Wow. That’s a big target! But what about the flip side of success—failure? Do
you think failure can be a positive thing? I mean, have you learned anything
from your failures?
Mohannad: I see failure as a friend who teaches you how to become successful. I always
say life is like a messy library. You need to open many drawers before you
find what you’re looking for. The best way to make progress in life lies in trial
and error 4. I have personally learned more from my failure than my success.
Interviewer: Has your view of success changed over time?

2
handicapped: adjective living with a mental or physical disability
3
submarine: noun a type of boat that can travel under the water as well as on the surface
4
trial and error: idiom trying different ways of doing something until you find the best one

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Q3e Special Edition Listening & Speaking 3: Audio Script

Mohannad: Yes, of course it has. My understanding of success changes almost every day.
When I was a child, I used to think that if you put a lot of effort in, and tried
hard, then you would always succeed. Later, I was convinced that careful
planning would lead to success with less effort. Now, I believe that having an
ideal 5 team around me will help me to achieve even more than I could ever
dream of.
Interviewer: Well, I wish you every success going forward, Mohannad. Great talking with
you.
Mohannad: Thank you.

Unit 8, Listening 2, Activity D

Page 184
Interviewer: Hello, Mohannad. You’re well known today in Saudi Arabia and
internationally as a “blind inventor.”
Mohannad: Yes, I guess that’s how many people think of me.
Interviewer: I read that you lost your sight and your right leg in a car crash when you
were 20.
Mohannad: That’s correct. Just two weeks after my wedding and two years after
enrolling in college.
Interviewer: Yet, incredibly, that didn’t hold you back.
Mohannad: No, it didn’t. I finished my degree in industrial engineering and continued
from there.
Interviewer: Could you tell me a little about the challenges you’ve faced on the road to
success?
Mohannad: Well, even before losing my eyesight and leg, I faced many challenges. I didn’t
have an instructor or anyone to guide me. Also, my classmates and teachers
would often discourage me. I used to spend a lot of time alone, too, working
on my inventions. After the accident, my life became even more challenging.
Daily activities for someone who has lost his sight and leg become tricky. I
had to abandon some of my hobbies and spend less time with my friends in
order to concentrate on learning everything that might help me to achieve
my dreams.
Interviewer: So inventing is something that you were always interested in?
Mohannad: Yes. I started inventing in my childhood. I liked to redesign my toys, and to
try and repair household items. Looking back, I wasn’t especially successful,

5
ideal: adjective the best possible

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but I was determined. I guess that’s been the key. I firmly believe there’s no
convincing reason for giving up on your dreams.
Interviewer: So what kinds of things have you invented?
Mohannad: Lots of things, including many disability aids to help handicapped people,
even before my accident. But perhaps I’m most famous for the Saqr Al
Orubah, a submarine that can dive to 6,525 meters. People thought it was
impossible to dive so deep. I received an award from King Abdullah for it.
Interviewer: And which of your achievements are you most proud of?
Mohannad: The first award I won for invention, when I was 12 years old. That simple
award was a huge boost to my self-esteem. From that moment on, I felt I was
born to be an inventor. I’m also very proud of my book Guidance for Leading
Invention, which was the first detailed, step-by-step pocket-size book for
inventors.
Interviewer: What things have helped you on the road to success?
Mohannad: Oh, many things. My wife, family, and friends have been very supportive. On
an individual level, I drew inspiration from the stories of famous
hardworking people I had read about. I used to imagine my life story as
similar to theirs, but one that hadn’t been written yet.
Interviewer: And what are you working on at the moment?
Mohannad: These days I focus completely on training and managing projects related to
invention through the Isterlab Training Center. So far we’ve delivered
lectures and workshops on invention skills to more than 30,000 people
across the Arab world. At the moment, I’m preparing a series of online videos
to teach young people—in a simple and interesting way—how to invent and
innovate. My goal is to inspire one million inventors across the Arab world!
Interviewer: Wow. That’s a big target! But what about the flip side of success—failure? Do
you think failure can be a positive thing? I mean, have you learned anything
from your failures?
Mohannad: I see failure as a friend who teaches you how to become successful. I always
say life is like a messy library. You need to open many drawers before you
find what you’re looking for. The best way to make progress in life lies in trial
and error. I have personally learned more from my failure than my success.
Interviewer: Has your view of success changed over time?
Mohannad: Yes, of course it has. My understanding of success changes almost every day.
When I was a child, I used to think that if you put a lot of effort in, and tried
hard, then you would always succeed. Later, I was convinced that careful
planning would lead to success with less effort. Now, I believe that having an
ideal team around me will help me to achieve even more than I could ever
dream of.

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Q3e Special Edition Listening & Speaking 3: Audio Script

Interviewer: Well, I wish you every success going forward, Mohannad. Great talking with
you.
Mohannad: Thank you.

Unit 8, Pronunciation, Example 1

Page 190
I see failure as a friend who teaches you how to become successful.

Unit 8, Pronunciation, Example 2

Page 190
You can learn more from your failures than you can from your successes.
Success for my grandfather is getting out of bed in the morning!
Failing is a good preparation for life.

Unit 8, Pronunciation, Activity A

Page 190
1. Failure is an important stage on the road to success.
Failure is an important stage on the road to success.
2. We shouldn’t be afraid of failure because we can learn from it.
We shouldn’t be afraid of failure because we can learn from it.
3. Failure is something to be encouraged by.
Failure is something to be encouraged by.
4. Don’t give up too easily.
Don’t give up too easily.

Unit 8, Pronunciation, Activity B

Page 190
1. Failure is an important stage on the road to success.
2. We shouldn’t be afraid of failure because we can learn from it.
3. Failure is something to be encouraged by.
4. Don’t give up too easily.

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Q3e Special Edition Listening & Speaking 3: Audio Script

Unit 8, Pronunciation, Activity D

Page 190
You need to experience failure and learn from it, in order to really succeed. Failing is a
good preparation for life. It makes you stronger and more able to overcome life’s
problems. Don’t be scared of failure! It might sound strange, but letting go of your fear of
failure might help you to succeed.

Unit 8, Speaking Skill, Activity A

Page 191
1.
Professor: So you need to make sure the success you’re aiming for is achievable.
Student 1: Sorry, I don’t get what you mean.
Professor: What I’m trying to say is, be realistic with the goals you set for yourself.
2.
Professor: Success in one area can bring problems in others.
Student 2: What do you mean exactly?
Professor: Well, to give you an example, someone can be at the top of her career, but her
family life might be in crisis as a result.
3.
Professor: Keep your desire for success in proportion.
Student 3: Do you think you could say a bit more about that?
Professor: Yes. I mean don’t let your desire for success become greater than other
important areas in your life.
4.
Professor: Our definition of success alters with age.
Student 1: Can you give an example, please?
Professor: Sure. Someone of 20 might view success as being rich, but at 50 that same
person might think of success as a happy family life.

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