2023年12月25日发(作者：)
LECTURE AUDIOSCRIPTS
UNIT 1 What’s in a Name?
TEACHER: Good morning, everybody. Good morning, Felipe, Monica,
Theo, and I can't remember your name.
STUDENT 1: Patricia.
TEACHER: Patricia, right, Patricia. Those are all beautiful names, and that's
our topic today-names. Names are a culture universal. This means everyone
uses names. A person's name can tell us a bit about a person's family. Today,
we’ll begin by looking at first names and how people choose names for their
children. And then we'll talk about family names, and look at the different
categories of family names. Although the scope of the lecture today is
English-language names, we can use the same approach, you know, to look at
names from any culture.
Let's take a brief look at first, or given names. There are several ways parents
choose the first name for their child.
The first way is by family history. Parents may choose a name because it is
passed from generation to generation; for example, the first born son might be
named after his father or grandfather. Although family names are also passed
to daughters, it is usually as a middle name. Adding "junior" or "the second"
for example, William Parker the seconds only done with boys', not with girls’
names.
The second way parents choose a name is after a family member or friend who
has died recently, or after someone "they admire, like a well-known leader or
a famous musician. Although most English first names mean something, for
example, "Richard" means powerful and “Ann" means grace, nowadays
meaning is not the main reason people select their baby's name.
The third way is to provide a "push" for the child. Parents want to choose a
name that sounds very "successful." A strong name might help them in the
business world, for example. Or they might choose a name that works for
either gender, like Taylor or Terry. So, given these three methods, what is the
most common way parents choose a name? Many parents choose a name
simply because they like it, or because it's fashionable or classic. Fashions in
names change just as they do in clothes. One hundred years ago, many names
came from the Bible names such as Daniel, and Anna, and Hannah and
Matthew. Then fifty years ago, Biblical names went out of fashion. Nowadays,
names from the Bible are becoming popular again.
Similarly, parents often choose classic names, names that were popular in
1900, 1950, and are still popular now. Classic names for boys include Thomas,
David, Robert, and Michael. And for girls: Anna, Elizabeth, Emily, and
Katherine, just to name a few. They're classic. They never go out of style.
Let's look at the origin of last names, also called family names or surnames.
Researchers have studied thousands of last names, and they've divided them
into four categories. The categories are: place names, patronymics, added
names, and occupational names. A recent survey showed that of the 7,000
most popular names in the United States today, 43 percent were place names,
32 percent were patronymics, 15 percent were occupational names, and 9
percent were added names.
The first category is place names. Place names usually identified where a
person lived or worked. Someone named John Hill lived near a hill, for
example, and the Rivers family lived near a river. If you hear the name Emma
Bridges, what image do you see? Do you see a family that lives near a bridge?
If you do, you get the idea.
The second category is patronymics. That's P-A-T-R-O-N-Y-M-I-C-S. A
patronymic is the father’s name, plus an ending like S-E-N or S-O-N. The
ending means that a child, a boy, is the son of his father. The names Robertson,
Petersen, and Wilson are patronymics. Robertson is son of Robert, Petersen is
son of Peter, and so on.
The third category is added names. Linguists sometimes call this category
"nicknames," but when most of us hear the word "nickname," we think of a
special name a friend or a parent might use. The word "nickname" is actually
an old English word that means an additional name, an added name. So I'll
use the term "added name." This category of last names is fun because the
names usually described a person. Reed, Baldwin, and Biggs are examples.
Reed was from "red" for red hair. Baldwin was someone who was bald,
someone who had little or no hair. And Biggs.
STUDENT 2: Someone big?
TEACHER: Yeah, someone big, right. Now, if we look around the room, we
could probably come up with some new last names, like, uh. Curly or Strong.
Now, the fourth category is occupational names. The origin of the family
name was the person's occupation. The most common examples of
occupational names still used today are Baker (someone who bakes bread).
Tailor (someone who sews clothes). Miller (someone who makes flour for
bread), and Smith. . . . Now, Smith is actually the most common name in the
western English-speaking world. The name comes from an Old English word,
smite, that's S-M-I-T-E, which means to hit or strike. In the old days, a smith
made metal things for daily life, like tools. Every town needed smiths. What's
interesting is that many languages have a family name that means Smith. In
Arabic it is Haddad, H-A-D-D-A-D. In Spanish it is Herrera, H-E-R-R-E-R-
A. In Italian it is Ferraro, F-E-R-R-A-R-O. And in German it is Schmidt,
spelled S-C-H-M-I-D-T. All these names mean smith.
Though names may tell us something about someone's family history, you
need to keep in mind that they may not tell us much at all about the present.
For example, there's usually not much connection between the origin of the
name and the person who has it now. Take the name Cook, for instance. A
person named Cook today probably doesn't cook for a living. Also, many
people change their names for various reasons. Lots of people who have
moved to the United States have changed their names to sound more American.
This happens less now than in the past, but people still do it. People also use
pen names or stage names to give themselves a professional advantage. For
example, the writer Samuel Clemens used the pen name Mark Twain, and
Thomas Mapother IV uses the stage name Tom Cruisey.
So, let's recap now. In today’s lesson, we looked at how parents choose
English first names. We also looked at some common origins of family names.
In the next class, we'll look at how names are given in Korea and in Japan.
This is covered in the next section of the book. That’s all for today.
Unit 2 English: A Global Language?
TEACHER: Today’s topic is English as a global language. I know many of
you speak English as a second language, right? How about you, Hiroshi? Is
English your first language?
STUDENT 1: No, my first language is Japanese. English is my second
language.
TEACHER: And how about you, Patricia?
STUDENT 2: English is my second language, too. My first language is
Spanish.
TEACHER: See, many of you use English as a second language, even as a
global language to communicate with other people who speak English as a
second language. Today, I want to give you two contrasting points of view on
whether or not English is a global language. The first is that English is
obviously a global language. People who support this point of view believe
English is the language people all over the world use to communicate, and
that it is gradually replacing other languages. The second point of view is that
English is not truly a global language because it is not the main language
spoken by people worldwide. Supporters of this view say that though many
people speak some English worldwide, English has not replaced other
languages. They acknowledge that people use English every day, for many
reasons, but this doesn't mean English is replacing other languages, nor does
it make English the main language spoken in the world.
First, let's examine the first view. First of all, English is the dominant language
of business, travel, and science. When people need a common language, they
often use English. Think about it. English is often used at tourist information
centers, in international hotels. If you use a taxi in Rome, and you can't speak
Italian, the taxi driver is more likely to use English than any other languages.
It is use at business meetings and international sports events. The European
Union uses English, along with French, at its meetings….ASEAN the Asian
trade group, uses English at its meetings. Can you think of other situations in
which English is used as common language?
STUDENT 2: How about this class? All of in the Philippines, Singapore, and
Indian.
TEACHER: Absolutely. Educational settings are a great example. Any
others?
STUDENT 2: How about a chatroom on sometimes go to chatrooms and
everyone is using English.
TEACHER: Excellent example. The Internet has created a lot of
communities and people often use English. In fact, most people who use the
Internet know English. This helps support the view that English is a global
language.
The second major reason that people believe English is a global language is
that it is the official language of more than seventy-five countries. This means
these countries use English in schools, banks, business, and government. Of
these seventy-five countries, English may be the only official language of the
country, like in England, or English may be used along with other official
languages, like in the Philippines, Singapore, and India. In countries like India,
where so many languages are spoken, you can see how using English as an
official language makes it easier for people to communicate.
The third reason to support the global argument is that every year about 1
billion people study English. Why? What are some of the reasons? Hiroshi?
How about you?
STUDENT 1: Well, now to study, and someday I want to be in international
business.
TEACHER: That's a solid reason. How about you, Oksana?
STUDENT 3: I'm not really sure. I just think it will help me in the future
somehow.
TEACHER: OK. There's a more general reason. The point is, people want
and need to learn English because it offers them opportunities.
To sum up, English is used every day by many people. People all over the
world come in contact with each other for many reasons. They need a
common language, a language to facilitate communication. Being proficient
in English gives someone an advantage in these situations.
OK. I have given you many examples of how English is used in a variety of
situations. Nevertheless, does this mean that English is a global language?
Let's look at why some people don't believe English has replaced other
languages. First, there are about three times as many people who speak
Chinese as their first language as those who speak English as a first language.
And in many countries where some people use English for work each day,
they don't use English anywhere else. Even in English-speaking countries,
there are millions of people who prefer to speak a language other than English
at home, with friends, or at work.
Second, I mentioned before that seventy-five countries have English as their
official language. This doesn't mean all, or even most of the people in these
countries can speak English. For example, in India, most sources agree that
only about 5 percent of the population speaks English. That's a small
percentage!
Third, how much English does a person need to know to be called an English
speaker? People may learn some English for specific situations, such as the
taxi driver I mentioned earlier. However, I think you would all agree with me
that a taxi driver who knows a few phrases like where are you going?" or
"What is the name of your hotel?" isn't really a proficient English speaker.
Another example is Airspeak, the English that is used by air traffic controllers
and pilots. A pilot for Japan Airlines or an air traffic controller in Paris needs
to know Airspeak. But they may learn only the English words they need for
these jobs, and therefore they can't be considered English speakers.
The point here is that people all over the world may use some English for
work or other situations. Nevertheless, this doesn't mean they are fluent in
English. They still use their first language for daily communication. English
is not their main language.
So, what does this all mean? I think it's safe to say that English will continue
to be the main language used in many international settings because, as I said
earlier, people all over the world need a common language. And, for now,
English is that language.
But, English won't replace other languages for most daily communication and
this, to me, is what a global language really is, one that replaces others for
most everyday communication. Some people are afraid of this. They worry
that as people use English more and more, their ability in their first language
will decline. I think people will use English along with other languages. We
are moving into a global culture, and as this continues, I think people from
non-English speaking countries will want to maintain their culture, including
their first language. They may still want to learn English, but I don't see them
giving up their own language for English. What do you think?
I'm going to stop there. I know that's a lot of information to digest. We'll
continue talking about some of the differences in the English words used in
various countries like Australia, Singapore, and the Philippines. That's all for
today. Come see me if you have any questions.
Unit 3 High Anxiety: Phobias
TEACHER: Good afternoon. Today we're going to turn to a new topic in
psychology and start looking at some specific psychological problems. There
are a variety of mental problems that can affect us in our daily lives-some are
not so serious, like a fear of cats or of insects, and others are more serious.
Now as psychologists, we try to study these different problems and find ways
to help people.
I want to start the discussion by talking about a fairly common kind of
psychological problem-a phobia, that's P-H-O-B-I-A. First, I'll explain what a
phobia is and then I'll talk about some theories on why people have phobias.
As you probably know, a phobia is a fear. So do any of you have phobias? Oh,
come on, you can tell me; I'm a psychologist. Yes, Monica?
STUDENT 1: I have a fear of swimming. I don't like to go near the ocean.
TEACHER: OK, that's not an unusual phobia. Anyone else? Ali?
STUDENT 2: I hate dogs. I mean, I just don't like them. When I see a big dog,
actually any dog, I just get nervous, so I avoid them.
TEACHER: OK, that's another common phobia. Thanks for sharing those
examples of phobias. A phobia is not a normal fear; it is an extreme fear―a
very strong fear. For example, my brother, who's a successful artist, had
compute r phobia. He didn't simply dislike using computers. He used to have
a very strong fear of using them.
Psychologists have come up with three characteristics of a phobia. People
display these three characteristics if they have a phobia, not just a normal fear.
Now first, a phobia is not a rational response. It's a very strong reaction, too
strong for the situation. For my brother, this meant he had a very strong
physical reaction if someone asked him to use a computer. He started shaking
violently and had trouble breathing. Once, he even started choking. Physical
reactions like this are common. Second, a phobia often lasts for a long time,
for months or even years. In my brother’s case, it lasted several years. Third,
the reaction is too strong for a person to control. For example, even if my
brother told himself not to be afraid at the computer, it didn't help. He still felt
very afraid. Usually, people avoid whatever it is they are so afraid of. So, in
my brother’s case, he avoided using a computer.
OK, so those are the three characteristics of phobias. It's an extreme, irrational
response, it's long-lasting, and it’s uncontrollable.
STUDENT 3: So uncontrollable means even if you try to control it, you can't?
TEACHER: Yes, it means you can't control it by trying to deny you feel the
phobia. There are ways to treat phobias, and we'll talk about those in a minute.
Yes?
STUDENT 4: What happened to your brother? Did he get over it?
TEACHER: Yes, he did. The main thing was that he decided that he wanted
to get over it, and he was treated by a psychologist. Now he uses computers
all the time.
OK, so let's spend a minute going over some classifications of phobias.
Phobias are classified by the thing or situation that the person fears. Greek or
Latin names are usually used to describe the fear. Here's an example: hypno,
H-Y-P-N-O, means sleep, so fear of sleep is hypnophobia. Cyno, C-Y-N-O,
means dog. So a fear of dogs is ... cynophobia, right? Here's another example.
Aerophobia. Listen to the first part, Aero. What's the fear? Aero as in airplane-
aerophobia is fear of flying.
Let's turn now to the causes of phobias. One theory is that a phobia is learned.
This means something happens that causes someone, or in a sense "teaches
someone" to free afraid. For example, Ali could have learned to be afraid of
dogs if he was attacked and injured by one as a child.
People can also learn to have phobias by watching how other people react. In
fact, doctors find that phobias tend to run in families. For example, let's
imagine that Ali’s mother has always been afraid of dogs. Whenever All and
his mother were together and saw a dog, his mother would get very scared,
very nervous. When Ali saw how his mother reacted, he would then gradually
become very scared, too. He would then have developed cynophobia from
watching his mother. So, you can see that there are two ways learning can be
involved in phobias. So, the first theory is that a phobia is learned. Learned
either by direct experience or by watching the reactions of others.
The second theory says that a phobia is only a sign of a deeper problem. This
means that the phobia isn't the whole problem. Let's take another example. I
once treated a teenager who was very afraid of the dark. He couldn't be in a
dark room by himself. He was terrified to go outside at night, and so on.
According to this theory, when he acted afraid of the dark, he was really
showing his fear of something else. In therapy, it was revealed that he was
afraid of his father. His father was very strict when he was young, and once
his father made him sit in a dark the room when he did something bad.
According to this theory, his fear of the dark was a sign of his deeper, real fear
of his father. Yes, question.
STUDENT 4: So what did you do? Did he have to talk with his father?
TEACHER: Well, no, we couldn't do that. But recognizing that he was really
afraid of his father, and not the dark was the key step in the treatment. Now
he's cured. No more fear of the dark.
OK, so let's think about these two theories, and about the main difference
between them. The first theory says that the phobia is the problem itself. Right?
And, the second theory says that the phobia is a sign of a deeper problem the
person has. Why is this difference important? It's mostly important in deciding
how to treat the person. According to the first theory, if a phobia is learned,
perhaps it can be unlearned. A psychologist who follows this theory will try
to teach someone to react differently, to behave differently when he or she
feels afraid. Changing the person’s behavior is the goal. On the other hand, a
psychologist who believes the second theory may start by trying to teach the
person to react differently, but the doctor is interested in more than that. The
doctor’s objective, or goal, is to help the patient reveal the deeper
psychological problem, because it will be easier to treat the phobia if the
deeper problem is identified and worked on as well.
I want you to think for a minute about the significance of having these two
theories, or any competing theories. What does it mean? It tells us that
psychologists, like any scientists, have to continue to do research, to learn,
and to test treatments we believe will be effective based on research.
Treatments improve the more we learn.
I’m going to stop there for today. In the next class, I want to talk about other
psychological problems. Read the next unit in your book before the next class.
That’s all for today.
Unit 4 TV: What We Watch
TEACHER: Good morning. Who watched TV last night? Ah, most of you.
OK, today we are going to talk about an important part of the media—TV.
Specifically, TV viewing and TV dramas. Now first, I'll give you some
background, then we'll discuss what makes this type of programming, dramas,
so popular worldwide.
OK. Let's get started. Most of you would agree that watching TV is part of
most people lives. Now statistics vary on how much TV people watch, but
research shows that quite a few Americans, on average, exceed six hours of
TV per day.
An English professor named Cecelia Tichi has studied TV for many years. In
her book, Electronic Hearth: Creating ' an American Television Culture, she
discusses how the TV has become the center of activity at home. We walk
into a room, turn on the TV, and suddenly the outside world becomes less
important. People use TV to tune out, or forget, about the outside world. We're
safe to relax and join the world of the TV shows. Do you ever feel this way
about TV? ... Yes, many of you are nodding. She also sees our culture as being
defined by TV Now, by this she e means that TV has a huge influence on our
attitudes, on what we like to eat, on what we like to wear, on what we like to
talk about. For example, popular TV shows are discussed at work, at school,
in coffee shops. Why, even children four or five years old do this with their
favorite shows. This shows that we live in a TV culture.
Improved technology has contributed further to our TV culture. Satellite
services, in particular, have expanded the TV programming in many parts of
the world. There are now hundreds of TV channels people can watch, and the
options continue to expand: game shows, sports, news, talk shows, comedies,
TV dramas, movies, ... Man, with cable and satellite there are a lot of choices.
Nielsen Media Research studies people’s TV viewing habits in the U.S. They
monitor which shows are popular brand with whom. For example, popular
shows have included the game show Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? And
the reality TV show Survivor. They were very, very popular and watched by
millions of people of all age groups.
Now, all of this is really background. What I want to focus on today is one
form of a popular TV show that is popular with many people of many age
groups. This is rat TV dramas, specifically TV dramas known as soap operas,
or, in Spanish, telenovelas.
Some of you might be familiar with telenovelas. Telenovelas and soap operas
in the U.S. are similar but have one big difference—the number of episodes
they have. Telenovelas and TV serials end after about 200 episodes. The story
eventually ends. Soap operas in the U.S., however, continue day after day for
many years and may never end. Well, for example. The Guiding Light has
been on^ for more than 12,000 episodes, and on it goes. Can you believe that?
More than 12,000 episodes! Soap operas started in the United States in 1959,
with the show The Guiding Light. These TV shows were called soap operas
because the main advertisers were companies that made soap.
Now, this type of programming is popular all over the world. Dozens of
countries make their own soap opera shows. Mexican soap operas have been
voted the most popular TV show of the year in countries such as Korea and
Russia. Japanese soap operas are sent to Belgium. U.S. soap operas are
watched worldwide. The Latin American soap opera, Betty La Fea, or Betty
The Ugly, was a huge success in the U.S. Brazilian telenovelas are the most
widely distributed television shows in the world and have been seen in more
than 100 countries. And there are many other examples.
What is it about these shows that makes them popular everywhere? And why
do people from very different cultures all enjoy watching the same soap opera?
Well, there are a couple of reasons.
One reason suggested by Robert C. Allen, who has done extensive research
on television viewing, is that many soap operas deal with universal themes
that people all over the world understand. Themes are topics ---for example,
family, love, personal struggle, money problems, marriage problems, health
problems, job problems. Viewers do not need to know the culture in order to
understand the family problems in the show.
Now according to Irna Phillips, one of the creators of The Guiding Light,
another reason is that people identify with the characters. They feel the
characters are just like them. To quote her from an interview, "they (the soap
operas) deal with life as we know it." Now by this she means the families in
soap operas deal with problems of everyday life. And so, as people watch
every day, day after day, a special bond or feeling develops between them and
the TV family. They get to know the characters and their problems. The TV
family's welfare becomes important. There is a sense of community, of
sharing, of family. All of these things contribute to character loyalty. If any of
you have watched a show regularly, you know what I mean. You watch it
because you identify with the characters.
Now, writers of TV shows understand that TV viewers want to have a group
of characters to know and care about. As Wendy Riche, former executive
producer of General Hospital put it, "the audience wants a personal human
connection and when they get it, they are devoted.” This means they become
very loyal to the TV characters they watch every day. To give an interesting
example from As the World Turns: Some years back, the writer wanted to
have the main character, Bob Hughes, get shot on a Friday. Well, that Friday
turned out to be Christmas Eve. The producers of the show told the writers.
“No, no, no… he can’t be shot on this Friday’s show. Do you know why?
STUDENT 1: Because it was too violent.
TEACHER: Well, no, not because it was too violent, but they didn’t want
him shot on the Friday before Christmas.
STUDENT 1: Why? I mean, why not?
TEACHER: Because the audience would worry all weekend about him. They
wouldn’t know if he was alive or dead, and they would not enjoy Christmas.
So the writers had to change the story, and have him shot after Christmas. I
mean, the viewers really identify with these characters as if they’re real people.
Writers for evening TV also try to create character loyalty, but not with a
continuing story. Instead, each week, the story begins and ends. However,
each week the same characters appear, and viewers watch because they know
the characters and they care about them, like friends. A great example of this
was the show Seinfield. There were four main characters Jerry, George,
Kramer, and Elaine. They each had their own problems their own personalities.
Viewers got to know them, and wanted to see what would happen to them.
When you think about it, don’t good writers usually do this? They develop
our interest in the characters so that we want to keep reading, or keep watching
TV.
The next time you watch a soap opera, thin about the themes that make these
shows so popular worldwide. Think about how as people watch each day, they
get to know the characters and become a part of that TVB community. OK,
that’s all for today. Uh, it’s time for you to go home and watch some TV!
Unit 5 Learning differently
TEACHER: Hello everyone. I think we can get started now. As we have
studied in this class, there are many different ways of learning, and there are
many different learning problems. Some people have problems with reading,
or math, or with expressing their ideas in words. Some people have memory
problems-for example they have difficulty remembering what they hear or
read. Other people have problems holding a pencil or pen so that they can
write. As educators, these are challenges that we need to understand, because
everyone deserves an education and it's our job to promote learning.
Today I'd like to talk about one common cause of learning problems-dyslexia.
The term “dyslexia” that s D-Y- S-L E-X-I-A, is from Greek. It means
difficulty with words and language. In the first part of my talk, I’ll briefly
explain what dyslexia is and give you some general background about it. Then,
in the second part I will present one doctor's explanation of why people with
dyslexia have learning difficulties.
OK what is dyslexia? Dyslexia means a difficulty with reading or writing.
Before about 1970, researchers thought dyslexia was a visual problem. A
problem seeing letters and words correctly. But this theory was never
confirmed to be true. Researchers have now concluded that the main problem
may be that dyslexics have trouble matching sounds with letters in words
because their brains work differently from other people’s. Let me explain that.
Every word is made up of sounds, right. The sound units are called
"phonemes." Let’s take the word "cat." Now, someone who is not dyslexic
will read the word "cat" and be able to break it into the sounds, the phonemes
Ca-A-Te. However, someone who has dyslexia has trouble breaking down the
word into sounds, and as a result has trouble reading the word.
There are other problems people with dyslexia may have, and not everyone
who is dyslexic has the same problems. That's why there is no definition of
dyslexia that is accepted by everyone. We do know, however that a dyslexic
person's brain works differently from other people’s. Here are a few examples
of students with dyslexia and their learning problems. Anna knows the answer
to a question, but says the wrong words. Thomas studies hard for a spelling
test. He can say how each word is spelled, but he cannot write the words
correctly on the test. Kurt tries to pay attention in class, but he has trouble
sitting still and listening. He can’t concentrate, and his teachers think he
doesn't care about school. Seiji has trouble with the order of things, such as
the steps in a math problem, his history lessons, or even his own daily schedule.
Susan has trouble following directions. She may confuse left and right . . . .
Yes, do you have a question?
STUDENT 1: I don’t understand about the boy who can’t sit still.
TEACHER: The boy who can’t concentrate in class?
STUDENT 1: Yes, I mean how is that dyslexia?
TEACHER: Well, typically, the child has trouble following spoken
directions or understanding the steps in a lesson and so he becomes very
nervous or upset and can’t concentrate. OK?
STUDENT 1: Oh, OK. So the dyslexia prevents him from concentrating
TEACHER: Right. These are some of the challenges for people with dyslexia.
And as I said earlier, no two people have identical problems. Of course, there
are other reasons why a student might not pay attention on class, or have
trouble reading. However, these are problems someone with dyslexia may
have because a dyslexic person’s brain works differently from other people’s.
Another question, yes?
STUDENT 2: How common is dyslexia?
TEACHER: It’s estimated that 10 percent of all school children are dyslexic.
STUDENT 2: Wow, that’s a lot, I heard that it only affects boys. That’s not
true, is it?
TEACHER: No. Research has confirmed that both genders can have dyslexia.
OK, so that gives you an idea of the problem but what causes dyslexia?
Researchers think that there may be a genetic basis for dyslexia, that the
problem is inherited from the mother or the father. This is based on the fact
that about 85 percent of children with dyslexia have either a mother or father
who is dyslexia.
What’s interesting―as well as challenging for us educators―is that these kids
generally score high on intelligence tests, but they usually can’t read, write,
or spell at the same level as their classmates. This can be a problem because
other people, even their teachers, often don’t believe that the kids are very
intelligent. In addition, dyslexics often feel like there’s something wrong with
them because they can’t learn the same way other kids at school can. They
often feel stressed and blame themselves, especially when other people say
they are lazy and not trying. Many of them try very hard to learn, but still have
trouble.
In this part of lecture, I’ll present the work of Dr. Harold Levinson, a
psychologist who has studied dyslexia for over twenty-five years.
To help us understand dyslexia, he tells us to think of our brains as TV sets,
and to think of the parts in our brains that receive information as computer
chips. Every day, these chips the parts in your brain, receive information, right
now this information enters the brain as signals of what we see or hear or
touch, and so on. Now, the job of these brain parts is to tune in the signals to
different channels in our brain. Your brain receives the signals just as your
TV set at home does, like it tunes in, say, Channel Five or Channel Six.
Now, if these computer chips aren’t working right, they can’t receive the
signals correctly. Nor can they tune in the correct channels. So the signals drift
around and become unclear, and as the signals drift, this causes problems. For
example, if a child’s brain cannot receive the signals on a page as she reads,
she has difficulty reading. If a child cannot tune in the signals hears in class,
he has difficulty understanding what the teacher tells him. If a signal drifts,
this can also control energy levels, our ability to concentrate, our ability to
distinguish what is important and unimportant. This is why some children
have difficulty sitting still in class.
The good news is that after many years of research, Dr. Levinson and others
have concluded that the brain can learn to fix the drifting. Children who
receive help often learn to deal with their individual problems, and do better
in school. Naturally, it’s best if the schools intervene and give help when the
children are very young. It’s also important that teachers, and you future
teachers, be flexible about how you teach, and consider the different learning
needs of students with dyslexia… in some special schools for dyslexic learner,
the teachers read to the students. They don’t require the students to read or
write to learn. Teachers present lessons in a variety of ways. Students can take
tests orally, other than in writing. And reading and writing are taught as
separate skill. This approach recognized that these students are very capable
of learning, but need to be taught in different way because they learn
differently. This is a very positive step.
So, today I’ve given you some general ideas about what dyslexia is, and what
educators are doing to help these students learn. OK. Well, that’s enough for
today. OK, well, talk more about this in the next class.
Unit 6 Immigration: Bound for the United
States
TEACHER: All right. Let’s get started. U.S immigration is our topic today.
I know many of you are immigrants, so you know something about this topic.
As you may know by my last name, I have a German background; my parents
immigrated to the U.S from Germany about fifty years ago….Yes, Question?
STUDENT 1: Does that mean you’re an immigrant?
TEACHER: Well, no. My parents are immigrants. They came to the States
from Germany. I'm a first generation the German-American because I was
born here.
First we’ll talk briefly about immigration, the history of immigration to the
U.S., and the story of diversity in the U.S.
To immigrate means to move from one country to another. It's a permanent
move. By contrast, if you go to live and work in France for two years, you
don’t immigrate there; you move there temporarily, because you plan to return
to your country. So to immigrate means to move to another country to live
there indefinitely. Immigration happens all over the world. Most people do it
to improve their economic or social situation. What I'll do now is give you a
brief chronology of U.S. immigration. Let's start with the colonial period, the
first wave of immigrants in the seventeenth century. Most immigrants were
from Western Europe. Although the Spaniards arrived in 1513, the first
permanent settlement in North America was one that the British started in
1607 in Jamestown, Virginia. People were not prohibited from immigrating
by the British; anyone could come. Life was difficult, and some people did
not survive, but people felt it was worth the risk to have a better life in the
colonies. The French, Spanish, and Dutch also came, but in smaller numbers,
I should also point out d that about 20 percent of the population at this time
was African American. However, most weren't immigrants; they were
brought from Africa as slaves. Today we’re limiting our discussion to
voluntary immigrants ----to people who choose to come to the U.S.
Now, by 1775, the U.S. population had grown to about 2. 5 million. The
country was growing fast. Some thought too fast. So in the 1790s, laws were
passed to control immigration for the first time. The Naturalization Act of
1798 required immigrants to live in the U.S. a certain number of years before
they became citizens.
The second big wave of immigration happened between 1840 and 1920.
During this wave, about 37 million people came to the U.S. The industrial
revolution had been in Europe, causing a big shift from farming to factory
jobs. Many left for the U.S., hoping to continue doing the farming jobs they
knew. About 80 percent of these second wave immigrants were from all over
Europe. During this second wave, Chinese workers also came to the U.S.,
mostly as contract workers. They arranged, or contracted, to work for an
American company before they left home. Most of them worked in the gold
mines of California, and later built railroads. Then laws were passed in the
1880s to keep most contract workers out.
Now let’s see, where are we? Ah, yes, uh, 1891. In 1891, the U S. Congress
created the INS, the Immigration and Naturalization Service, to control
immigration. Any of you who want to immigrate to the U.S. have heard of the
INS Up until 1891, each state had its own laws and could decide which
immigrants could enter. So no one really controlled the total number of people
allowed m each year. After 1891, the federal government made the laws
instead. A year later, in 1892, the INS opened Ellis Island in New York Harbor.
Ships would go past the Statue of Liberty, the symbol of a new life for many
people, and stop at Ellis Island. Have any of you seen Ellis Island? Or the
Statue of Liberty? You have, Stefan?
STUDENT 2: Yes, I have. The Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.
TEACHER: What did you think?
STUDENT 2: Very impressive. Interesting, too.
TEACHER: Yes, it is interesting now that Ellis Island has been made into a
museum. It's an important part of American history. Between 1892 and 1954,
when Ellis ' Island was closed, about 12 million immigrants entered 1 through
there, most from Europe. I'd encourage you all to go for a visit.
Let's go back for a minute. About 9 million people entered the U.S. between
1900 and 1910. As a result, the U.S government decided that it needed to limit
the number of immigrants. This led to a series of new laws. First, the
Immigration Act of 1917 was passed to restrict who could enter. Then in 1921,
the U.S. Congress passed a quota system. This meant they decided that a
certain number of people from each country could enter the U.S. each year.
At For example, 2 million from Germany could enter. Once le that number
had immigrated, no more were allowed until [0 the next year. That's how the
quota system worked. During this period, say up until the 1960s, the U.S.
was called a "melting pot." The attitude was that immigrants had to give up
their traditions and cultures in order to create a uniform society. People were
expected to forget about being Italian or Chinese. They were expected to learn
English and to adjust to American ways of doing things.
Now, let's look at the third wave, the period from 1965 to the present time. In
1965, the quota system was abolished. Instead, a limit of 290,000 was set on
the total number of people who could enter each year. During the 1970s and
1980s, about 80 percent of the immigrants were from Latin America and Asia,
and only 20 percent were from Europe and elsewhere. So if you compare the
second and third waves, you see that in the second wave hen it was mostly
Europeans, and in the third wave it was mostly Latin Americans and Asians.
Again, economic opportunity was the main reason people immigrated.
Each year, after 1965, many people wanted to immigrate to the U.S. many
more than the 290,000 limit. This led to the Immigration Act of 1990. The
Immigration Act of 1990 raised the yearly limit from 290,000 to 700,000.
However, from 1990 to the present the actual number has been closer to 1
million, one reason for this being that the U.S. needs workers for many of its
service jobs, such as in restaurants or hotels or in farming.
In recent years, many people in the U.S. have come to realize that the country's
greatest strength is the diversity of its people. So, the old melting pot ideal
has been replaced with the ideal of cultural diversity, with recognizing the
importance of Americans’ many different cultural backgrounds. You can see
this today in strong communities that are Korean-American, Japanese-
American, Italian-American, Mexican-American, and so on. Any question
about this? Susan?
STUDENT 3: I’m confused. I thought the melting pot was a good thing, that
people should mix together and form a strong society.
Teacher: Yes, I think you’re right---we do want to mix together and form a
strong society. But now the metaphor is that we want to have a mixed salad,
where each ingredient keeps its original flavor, too. Does that sound like a
good thing?
STUDENT 3: Yes, it makes sense.
Teacher: Well, let’s sum up. There were several waves of immigration into
the U.S. The earlier waves were mostly Europeans, while the later waves have
been mostly people from Latin America and Asia. The main reason has always
been economic; they are looking for better jobs and a better life than they had
in their home country. In the next class, I’m going to talk about current
immigration laws. We’ll start there next time. That’s all for today.
Unit 7 Who's Calling the Shots?
TEACHER: Good morning. Hope you had a good weekend. Today we're
going to start talking about styles of business management. Styles of
management vary from country to country, company to company, and, from
person to person. One approach to good management now considered
important worldwide is team building. Team building is only part of what
makes someone a good manager, but it underlies many good management
practices. When team building, the manager does things to help employees
work together effectively as a group, as a team.
This is based on the idea that the manager's job isn't simply to tell people what
to do, but to help solve problems and help people communicate so they work
well together. This approach emphasizes employee relations, and it benefits
the company. It hasn't always been this way. Not so many years ago there was
an attitude in American companies, of "What the manager says, goes."
Employees were expected to do what they were told. But we're seeing a new
paradigm because companies have realized that employees don't do their best
work when they're treated like this. This was a big change in American
management style, perhaps influenced by the Japanese model.
First, in order to build a team, a good business manager knows that different
people are good at different things and values the special skills that each
employee brings to the company. A good manager needs to find a way to let
the employees know that their particular skills are important to the company.
The employees are then more likely to do their best when they feel valued,
and value each other. A strong manager knows how to build a team of
employees who help each other do their best work.
So, what can a manager do to help employees feel they're valued, like part of
the team? Let's consider a situation at a company called the ABC company.
Let's say there's new manager in the office, Mrs. Gomez, and she's made some
changes. One day, an employee--Mrs. Parks--decides to approach Mrs.
Gomez about some problems she is having at work. Mrs. Parks has worked at
the company for more than ten years. The new changes make it difficult for
her to do her job well. She's stressed, and this is affecting her job performance.
So, Mrs. Gomez and Mrs. Parks talk. Mrs. Gomez listens. She knows she has
made some changes, and that the office isn't being run like it was before. But
she tells Mrs. Parks to try her best, and to give it more time. Oh, I see a
question, Anna?
STUDENT 1: I'm not clear. What kind of changes are you talking about?
TEACHER: Oh. Well, let's say one change is that, before, you gave a rough
draft of your report to the secretary, and she edited it and sent it out. Now, the
secretary doesn't1 do this for you. You have to do it yourself. She changed the
way the office was organized.
STUDENT 1: Oh, OK.
TEACHER: Later that night, Mrs. Gomez thinks about what Mrs. Parks said.
She thinks it's possible that other people in the office are having problems, too.
Mrs. Gomez knows that she needs a strong team to be a Successful manager.
She also needs a stable group of employees. She doesn't want people to leave.
She decides she needs to get an accurate idea of the employees' perspectives.
She decides to give the employees an opportunity to share their ideas. She
wants to show them she values their work and their experience at the company.
So, Mrs. Gomez makes a team-building plan. She begins by scheduling a
meeting for the next day to talk about the changes she has made, to give the
employees an opportunity to say what problems they're having and to ask
questions. At the end of the meeting, she gives the employees some questions
to answer in writing to make it easy for them to share their ideas. She tells
them she will use the answers they write and the ideas from the meeting to
decide on the next step in the office.
Let’s consider the kind or questions she gives them. She wants questions that
focus on the work itself, questions that would be easy for an employee to
answer honestly
Questions like:
A Is it clear to you what your responsibilities are?
B Do you know who to talk to if a task is unclear?
C Do your team members support you? If not, what specific things could
they do to help you do a better job?
D. What was done in the past that you think worked better?
These questions are about the work, about how the office is organized, and
about working together. They don't focus on the employee’s feelings about
the manager.
Mrs. Gomez reads their answers to the questions. She also checks her notes
from the meeting. She decides to modify the way she has reorganized the
office. Not big changes-just a few small ones. She realizes that some of the
old ways were better. So, she makes a few changes back to how the office was
organized before. She also comes up with a six month plan for improvement,
and tells the employees they will all review the plan together in six months.
What message is she communicating to the employees by these actions? Well
first, she's telling them she consider their ideas important; she values their
opinions. Second she is telling them she is in charge, but she values what they
say. Third, she's telling them that change is not necessarily good if there is no
good reason for it. In other words, she didn’t need to make so many big
changes when she started as manager. And, finally, she is telling them that she
is human, that she can admit her mistakes and that she is willing to do what
benefits the group. This puts her on the road to gaining their support, and to
being a successful manager.
Now, on to the third part of her plan. Mrs. Gomez plans a picnic at the park
near their office. They have lunch, play games, and talk. They laugh and joke
and relax. By the end of the day, they know each other better. Hope fully, this
will help them work together better, as well.
Let’s review the three parts or Mrs. Gomez’s team-building plan: she had a
meeting, she gave employees questions about the office organization, and she
planned a fun activity to help them get to know each other. We can see| that
her plan is based on the importance of solving problems, and on the belief that
communication is vital in order to succeed as a team. This is a key point: Her
plan is based on the idea of solving problems and employees sharing ideas.
Any questions? Felipe?
STUDENT 2: Well, I've studied some business management courses, and I
understand that it’s important to develop communication and build up team
players, but isn’t it just a waste of time to have these “fun” activities?
TEACHER: Well, a lot of managers do think it’s a waste of time, especially
in the short term. But, in the long run, it's definitely not a waste of time. In
fact, it's often a great way to save time in team building.
Let's stop here. Today we discussed team building and why it has become
important. In the next class, 1 want to talk about other group activities
managers can use to build team. We’ll start there next time. That's all for today.
Unit 8 Right and Wrong on the Net
TEACHER: Good morning. Did anyone hear the news about the teenager in
New York who hacked into a bank’s database and stole about 30,000 credit
card numbers over the weekend? Hacking is related to computer ethics ―
that’s our topic today.
Computer ethics deals with the proper use of information technology, such as
computers and the Internet. By proper use, I mean socially responsible use.
We’ll first talk about what ethical behavior is and how this applies to computer
use.
First, I want to make sure we all know what ethics is. Anyone? Yes, John?
STUDENT 1: It’s about right and wrong.
TEACHER: Yes; OK, Jennifer.
STUDENT 2: And it’s about being a good person, doing what’s right.
TEACHER: Yes, ethics includes both of these ideas. It deals with moral
judgment, with what is acceptable or unacceptable to do. Now we learn ideas
about what is right and wrong from our families, our friends, and from the
culture we live in. Because of differences in our backgrounds, we may not
always agree on what is right and wrong.
However, for our discussion today, I will define for you what I mean by an
ethical action. An ethical action is something someone does that benefits
someone and doesn't hurt anyone. So, for example, if you see a man drop some
money, and you pick the money up and give it to him, this is an ethical action.
On the other hand, if you pick up the money and don't give it back to the man,
this benefits you, but hurts the man. This is not an ethical action.
Now what about computers? What are the ethical boundaries for using
computers and the Internet? Most people agree that it is wrong to steal from a
store. Would they also say it's wrong to copy music files from the Internet?
Or, to take another example, most people agree that it is wrong to open an
envelope and read a letter to someone else. Would they also say it's wrong to
read someone else's e-mail?
In the past decade or so, many more people have started using computers and
the Internet, so these issues have become important. In 1992, the Computer
Ethics Institute was founded in the United States. This is a research, education,
and policy study group whose goal is to increase awareness of the ethical
issues that are likely to come up as technology develops.
One concept the Computer Ethics Institute has developed is the Ten
Commandments of Computer Ethics. These rules are important guidelines the
Institute thinks all computer users should follow. Now some of you may be
familiar with the Ten Commandments from the Bible, like, uh, "Thou shalt
not kill" or "Thou shalt honor thy father and thy mother." The Ten
Commandments of Computer Ethics have been written in the same style of
language used in the Ten Commandments from the Bible. For example, they
use the phrase "Thou shalt not." "Thou shalt not" means don't or you shouldn't.
Let's look at each commandment or rule. The first commandment says: Thou
shalt not use a computer to harm other people. Simple enough, right? Number
Two. Thou shalt not interfere with other peoples computer work. I interpret
this to mean don't use a computer in any way that will affect or change the
work someone else is doing. Don't move or edit someone else's files without
telling them. Number Three. Thou shalt not snoop in other people's files. To
snoop means to try to find out something without another person knowing it.
If you look at someone else's files on the computer or read their e-mail, you're
snooping. Respect other people’s privacy. Number Four. Thou shalt not use a
computer to steal. There are situations on the Internet in which you have to
decide if you are stealing or not, like downloading music files, as I mentioned
earlier.
Number Five. Thou shalt not use a computer to say things that are untrue. It
is up to you to be truthful in your website, in your e-business, and in your e-
mail.
Number Six. Thou shalt not use software for which you have not paid. In
other words, if the software is free on the Internet, it's okay to download and
use it. However, it is not okay to copy software from a friend, because you
didn't pay for it.
Number Seven. Thou shalt not use other people’s computer resources
without telling them, or without paying them. For example, you shouldn't
use someone else's computer, password, or Internet connection without
asking them first.
Number Eight. Thou shalt not appropriate someone else's ideas. Appropriate
is It means to take words someone else
wrote and say they're yours. Uh, for example, you have to write a report for
school. If you copy a term paper from the Internet and hand it in, you're
breaking the rule. Copying even a few sentences off the Internet and
presenting them as your own is breaking the rule.
Number Nine. The ninth commandment says: Thou shalt think about the
social consequences of the program you are writing. Now, this applies mostly
to computer programmers. Social consequences means how the program
you're writing might affect others in society. Could hackers possibly use your
program to illegally gain access to a computer system? Skillful hackers can
hack into banks and into credit card companies; they can alter accounts and
steal money. They can also create viruses that can cause billions of dollars of
damage worldwide.
Number Ten. The tenth commandment says: Thou shalt always use a
computer in ways that are respectful of others. For example, sending
unfriendly e-mail to someone or about someone or creating websites with
negative messages are examples of breaking this rule.
OK, the Computer Ethics Institute has sent these guidelines to many large
companies and to schools across the United States. However, there's no way
to enforce these rules. Nevertheless, they would like to see schools, in
particular, utilize these rules to help students develop a strong sense of
computer ethics. OK, any questions or comments at this point?
STUDENT 1: How are we supposed to remember all those rules?
TEACHER: Well, there are a lot of rules, but they all boil down to a couple
of principles: respect and fairness. Respect what belongs to others and use
resources fairly. Does that help?
STUDENT 1: Yeah, I guess so.
TEACHER: good. Let’s go back to ethics. Now increasingly, schools are
seeing that students need to be taught computer ethics as part of the school
curriculum. Some schools have come up with acceptable-use policies, or
rules about what is or isn’t OK for students to do regarding computer use.
This is how the Computer Ethics Institute would like to see schools utilizing
the rules. Generally, it’s considered wrong to steal someone else’s password
or to read someone else’s e-mail. It’s also considered unacceptable in college
classes for a student to down load a term paper off the Internet and pretend
that he or she wrote it. This is called “plagiarism,” and it’s a good example
of breaking rule number eight. Students are permitted to use the Internet for
research, but are instructed to write the information in their own words and
to explain where they got the information.
Now the ten rules are guidelines for us to follow. These rules help us to be
aware of the ethical uses of technology. Let’s stop here for today. Think about
these rules this week and we’ll talk about them. And read the next two
chapters for next week.
Unit 9 Which Way Will It Go?
TEACHER: The topic for today's class is land as a resource. Land, water,
trees, oil.., these are all resources, and as future environmental scientists, you
need to understand how to manage these resources. As the world population
increases, managing land resources will become a greater priority. Land is a
limited resource.
Today I'm going to divide the lecture into two parts. First we'll look at some
of the factors contributing to pressures on the land we have, and then I want
to turn to some of the ways people worldwide are trying to address land
problems and meet the needs of future generations. Think of it as first the bad
news, then the good news. Let me start by saying there is less good productive
land now than there was even ten years ago. By productive land I mean land
that is fertile, that we can use to grow food and raise animals. Each year more
and more land becomes degraded. We are losing productive land. Worldwide,
new dry areas are developing and expanding. This is happening on every
continent except Antarctica.
I don't mean existing deserts like the Sahara are getting bigger. I'm talking
about new dry areas, areas where land has been declining in quality. You can
see these areas in the map in your book. Why are these areas forming and
expanding? What do you think? Theresa?
STUDENT 1: It's the climate, isn't it? The earth is getting, you know, hotter
because of global warming, so water gets evaporated and the land dries out.
TEACHER: OK. Marcel, do you agree?
STUDENT 2: Well, yeah. It has to be the weather. What else could it be?
TEACHER: Well, different reasons have been given. Some people contribute
it to global warming or to climate changes. They say nature simply produces
dry regions, like the Sahara Desert, as well as wet regions, like the Amazon
Rainforest Well, let's think about this. Is it only the weather? Let's see if there
are other factors contributing to this trend. Is nature, or the weather, really the
problem? According to a large group of scientists, the weather isn't the main
factor. Instead, they say, people are the main factor. When they say people are
the main problem, they mean people's actions--how people use and manage
land. Poor land management, overpopulation, poor farming techniques, too
many animals, and so on, can all affect the land.
Look at the chart in your book. As you can see, researchers have identified
several ways human activities contribute to the problem. The first is
overgrazing by farm animals. They say about 35 percent of the loss of
productive land is due to overgrazing by farm animals. The second is
overcutting of trees, which leads to about 30 percent of the loss. And lastly,
28 percent of the loss of good land is from methods of farming. Overgrazing,
overcutting, and farming methods. Let's look at these one at a time.
The first is overgrazing. Good topsoil is lost or damaged because of
overgrazing by farm animals. Overgrazing means the animals eat too many of
the plants. There are several bad results of overgrazing. First, there aren't
enough plants left to hold the soil in place. Then, the topsoil is eroded by wind
and rain; they carry it away. Second, as the animals walk around, the soil is
compacted, and gets very hard. If the soil is too hard, rain- water isn't absorbed
into the soil, and this causes the soil to stay dry and warm. As the soil gets
drier, even fewer plants can grow. This, in turn, causes the animals to walk
around more and more, in order to find enough food to eat. And, this causes
the ground to get packed down even more, and get even drier, and so on. So,
you can see that overgrazing can create this cycle.
Second, overcutting of trees also contributes to the loss of good land. The
main problem is too many trees are cut and not replanted. For years we've
heard about how this is happening on a large scale in the Amazon Rain Forest
in Brazil. Trees, like land, are a resource we depend on. They're vital to the
whole environmental balance on earth. If trees are cut down and not replanted,
there is nothing to hold the good soil. Wind and water carry the good soil away
and it erodes quickly, leaving land that is dry and less productive. So,
overcutting is another reason why land quality is declining.
Third, farming methods are another big factor. In some places, traditional
methods that have been used for hundreds of years no longer work well. Why
do they no longer work well? Partly because the population is increasing,
and farmers aren't equipped to meet these new demands, and partly because
the soil is getting worn out. More people need to be fed from less land. As a
result, some farmers may use too much fertilizer on the limited land they have,
or not let the land rest from year to year, causing it to become less fertile.
Irrigation is a huge factor many of us don't think about. Irrigation water often
has salt in it, and when the salt builds up in the soil, the soil can no longer be
used for farming. Currently, about one third of the irrigated land in the world
has too much salt in it. Irrigation has taken a heavy toll on good land.
So, basically, how people use the land seems to be a bigger factor in the
decrease of productive land than weather. Of course, weather extremes, like
no rain or too much rain, can add to the problem. However, the weather is not
the main reason for the problem. Some of the extremes in the weather caused
by global warming can make the situation worse for people who live in these
dry areas. But the weather alone is not the main issue.
The decline of productive land is a worldwide problem. Currently, about one
third of the world's land area is considered unproductive because it is too dry
and damaged.
OK, so that's the bad news. Now let's turn to the good news. What are
countries doing to help preserve land as a resource? As experts learn more
about this worldwide problem, they have tried to find ways to address it. Right
now there are several organizations, the United Nations for one, that are
working to help people. They try to help countries or communities look at
their specific problems and figure out what possible changes they can make
to protect their land. They talk to people about their farming methods, their
animals, and how they use trees and other resources. Then they suggest
changes that might alleviate some of their problems. Farmers might try to
grow genetically engineered crops that don't hurt the soil as much, or plant
new trees, or raise fewer animals, or build new irrigation systems that leave
less salt in the soil. They look for local solutions that will work best for that
country. This includes looking at what has been done traditionally and
implementing modern farming methods in ways that respect the local culture.
So, let's review what we covered today. I mentioned that about one third of
the available land worldwide has become dry and less productive. The main
reason for land degradation is people's actions, including overgrazing by
animals, overcutting of trees, and farming methods. As scientists learn more,
we need to work to help countries make specific changes and for farmers to
become better equipped so that they can preserve the good land that is left.
Let me just add that if we look at the estimates of what the world population
will be fifty years from now-- about 9 billion people―it helps us see that
protecting the good land that's left needs to be a high priority. I'll stop there.
We'll continue with this next class. That's all for this afternoon.
Unit 10 It's in the DNA
TEACHER: Good morning. Today we'll talk about an important topic in
biology--DNA and DNA testing. Can anybody tell us what DNA stands for?
STUDENT 1: de-oxyribonucleic acid
TEACHER: Right. It's the molecule that carries genetic information in all
living cells. Now first, we'll look at what DNA is and when it was discovered.
Then, we'll look at DNA testing and several applications, or uses of testing.
This is an exciting topic for biologists because the more we learn about DNA,
the more we see how science may change our lives--from healthcare to our
relationships. OK, what does DNA look like?
STUDENT 1: It looks like two strings, kind of wrapping around each other.
TEACHER: Yes, exactly. There's a simple drawing of one in your book. As
you can see, a molecule of DNA consists of two strands of chemical
compounds arranged in a twisted pattern. Inside the human cell are
chromosomes. The DNA is organized in twenty-three pairs of chromosomes
in the cell. Genes are arranged on the chromosomes and these carry
fundamental genetic information like hair color, eye color, or characteristics
that aren't as visible, such as intelligence, and a lot more. Scientists have been
studying DNA for a long time. First, in 1860, Gregor Mendel made two
important discoveries: tiny particles he called genes, and, that genes carry
information from cell to cell. Now this was really the beginning. Then, in 1953,
J. D. Watson and Francis Crick discovered and described the DNA structure.
Their work was so important that they received the Nobel Prize in 1962. For
the first time, scientists could understand exactly how DNA tells the cells what
to do. This generated more DNA research, and by the end of the twentieth
century, scientists made other important discoveries. Probably the most
important work was the Human Genome Project. The goal of the Human
Genome Project was to complete the first reading of the human genome, the
complete set of human DNA. Uh, this was a huge job, but after ten long years
in June, 2000, the head of the Project announced that they had identified the
complete set of human genes. Uh, this was a huge deal. Most people saw this
as the beginning of a whole new era in DNA research. Scientists could read
all of the genetic messages in the human body! This is, of course, a very brief
history of the study of DNA.
All right, let's consider DNA testing. One important use of DNA testing is
testing identity, which is also called DNA fingerprinting. Here's how a DNA
fingerprint is done. Scientists take a small sample of someone's hair or skin,
which contain DNA. Next, they treat the sample with chemicals and make a
film, like a small photograph. On this film there is a visible pattern of black
bars. This pattern of black bars is unique for each person. So, a DNA sample
from your hair identifies you, it's, it's like your fingerprint; it identifies you
and you only. I see a question. Miguel? STUDENT 2: Does the
DNA from hair or skin or blood all look the same?
TEACHER: No, not exactly. The DNA from your hair will look like hair
DNA but it will be uniquely your DNA pattern. It's sort of like all noses look
like noses, right? But your nose looks like your nose only.
Now I want to look at two applications, or uses, of DNA testing. First, how it
can be used by doctors, and second, how it can be used by the police. Within
health- care, one important use is to identify potential for health problems.
Researchers have found some genes linked to specific diseases. For example.
Huntington's disease is linked to a defect in chromosome 4, and Alzheimer's
disease is linked to a defect in chromosome 19. A genetic link means that
doctors know that if someone has defects in these genes, they're more likely
to get these health problems; their potential is increased. Notice, I didn't say
"Researchers have found that some gene defects cause specific diseases."
There is simply a link.
After doctors perform DNA testing, they can then decide the best way to use
the information. For example, they may give medication to a patient to prevent
a disease from ever starting. Genetic testing can also be used to decide which
medicine to give someone. This is called targeted medicine. To me, this is very
exciting and promising. There are tiny differences in DNA from person to
person. These differences can affect which patients will be helped by a drug,
and who may be harmed by it. This is, uh, a tremendous advantage. It saves
lives and money.
Now, let's look at how DNA testing is used by police. The police can use DNA
fingerprints to identify and trace criminals. All they need is a small amount,
or trace, of blood or hair from the crime scene. If the DNA samples from the
crime scene and the suspect match, the results, at least in the United States,
can be used as evidence in court. So, DNA testing can be used to help put
someone in prison. In much the same way, DNA testing can be used to help
innocent people in prison. People in prison can now try to use DNA testing
for crimes that happened, say, ten years ago. If their DNA fingerprint doesn't
match the DNA fingerprint from the crime scene, this can help them get a new
trial and perhaps get them out of prison.
As you can see, there are benefits to DNA testing. However, there are also
some concerns that this type of information might be used against us in the
future.
Now let's consider how DNA testing could be used against you. What if a
company you wanted to work for asked you to take a DNA test? And what if
your DNA test showed that you had a gene defect linked to a certain type of
cancer? Would the company decide not to hire you? People also worry about
health insurance. They're afraid they might not be able to get health insurance
if their DNA test shows they're at a higher risk for certain diseases. As a result,
in the United States, some laws have been passed to protect the privacy of
medical records.
Now DNA testing has other possibilities that we won't discuss today. But in
any case, many people think about the negative uses of testing--the fear that
it will be used against people or to create "perfect" babies. Others think about
police being able to trace criminals and possible advances in healthcare. But,
another way to think about it is that it tells us more about who we are, and
that's the goal of biology--to understand nature. I guess I'll stop there for today.
In the next class, l want to talk in more depth about uses of DNA testing by
doctors. OK, we'll start there next time. That's, uh, that's all for today.
Unit 11 Staying Healthy
TEACHER: Good afternoon. Have you heard in the news that there is a new
outbreak of Ebola in Central Africa? This outbreak is an example of what
we're going to talk about today.
There has been plenty in the news about medical problems around the world.
There are new strains of malaria, West Nile virus, ongoing news about AIDS.
It seems the incidences of many contagious diseases are increasing, even with
the great progress being made in healthcare. So there are many challenges for
doctors and healthcare workers. As future public health workers, it's important
for you to have a realistic view of these challenges, and also to develop a sense
of optimism in meeting them. Why are diseases spreading more rapidly? Well,
we are traveling overseas more than ever before. As more and more people
travel, infectious diseases are transmitted more often and more quickly. How
many of you traveled overseas in the past six months?... A lot of you. Where
did you go?
STUDENT 1: To Taiwan.
TEACHER: How about you?
STUDENT 2: I went to Turkey.
TEACHER: And you?
STUDENT 3: Brazil.
TEACHER: So you see, just among us, we've probably been around the
world recently! Along with these infectious diseases, there has been an
increase in the number of people with allergies and breathing problems. Some
believe this is due to pollution. Are any of you allergic to anything? … Yes,
see a lot of you are. I know I am.
To understand these problems, it helps to understand what our immune system
is and why the world we live in makes our immune system work very hard.
Let me explain briefly what the immune system is. The immune system is the
system in our bodies that fights diseases. The job of the immune system is to
defend the body against things that may harm us, that may make us sick. For
example, when someone sneezes on us on a crowded train . . . Oh, I hate when
that happens! How healthy we are depends on how well we can fight and
destroy the "bad guys," the germs or microorganisms that can hurt us. To have
immunity means to be able to fight them off. It's very important to have a
strong immune system if we want to stay healthy.
Here's a key point. We develop immunity to what is around us, to what we are
exposed to. So if you live in Tokyo, you develop immunity to microorganisms
in Tokyo, if you live in Paris, you develop immunity to what is dangerous in
Paris, and so on. Adapting to the environment takes time. This is called
adaptive immunity. Adaptive immunity means people who are exposed to the
causes of a disease develop the ability to fight the disease. So, for example, a
girl gets a disease, say chicken pox. That girl develops immunity to chicken
pox, and she won't get chicken pox again.
Now, how about someone from the U.S. taking a boat trip on the Amazon
River, or someone from Taiwan traveling to Africa? These people are in new
places, places that have bacteria and viruses that cause diseases. But the
person's immune system hasn't adapted to fight those diseases, so the person
might get sick. Then if that person returns home from a trip and is sick, he or
she might be contagious. But the people back home won't have the ability to
fight the disease either, their immune systems won't know how. This is how
infectious diseases can be transmitted to other people. To resist a disease,
someone must have immunity. That's very important.
We can have immunity by developing it, like the little girl with chicken pox,
or by being immunized. One way to get immunized is to get an immunization
shot, for example, a shot for cholera. People often get shots before they travel
to build up their immunity. This does help, but in any case, our immune
systems have to work harder and harder when we come into contact with new
microorganisms.
In recent years, we have learned more about a variety of immune system
problems. Probably the most well- known is AIDS, or acquired immune
deficiency syndrome, caused by HIV, human immunodeficiency virus. Most
of us know the terms AIDS and HIV, but let's look at what the letters stand for.
The I-D in AIDS stands for immune deficiency. "Deficient" means lacking, to
not have enough of something. So people with AIDS lack immunity. They
can't fight infections or diseases.
Now, back to allergies. A lot of people don't think of allergies as being an
immune problem, but they are. In fact, allergies are the most prevalent
immune problem we have today. An allergy is a reaction to something that
shouldn't normally affect people. Allergic reactions are really an action of the
immune system. As I said earlier, the immune system's job is to protect you
from things that are dangerous to your health, things like the germs on the
subway or bus. When you have an allergic reaction, it's a signal that the
immune system is working too hard. Another way to think about it is that the
immune system makes a mistake. The mistake is that it fights to protect you
against something that is not dangerous to you, like cats, flowers, or grass.
Allergic reactions like sneezing, red itchy eyes, or difficulty breathing can
make people uncomfortable, but are common and generally not too serious.
However, some people can develop a much more serious reaction that affects
the whole body. This is called an anaphylactic reaction A-N-A-P-H-Y-L-A-C-
T-I-C. This can be very dangerous. In fact, someone can die if no medicine is
given to stop the reaction.
We treat allergies the same way that we try to prevent infectious diseases. We
try to build up the immune sys- tem by introducing small amounts of the
allergen to the body. This makes us less sensitive to the allergen and teaches
our bodies not to react so strongly.
Well, let's conclude this here. We all have some immunity challenges. These
challenges won't go away anytime soon because we are going to continue to
travel, and so on. But, we can take some control of the situation by being
aware that the various diseases, allergies, and environmental illnesses are
linked at some level; they all have to do with our immune system. Then we
can take some positive steps. We can try to live a healthy lifestyle by eating
well, exercising, controlling stress, and being happy. Yes, some research
shows that happy people are healthier. And, of course, by being aware of the
risks we face when we travel in countries that are very different from our own.
Are there any questions?... Cynthia.
STUDENT 1: So when you have an allergy to something, like cat hair, you're
saying that you can cure it by becoming healthier?
TEACHER: Yes, it helps to be in good health. That will reduce the symptoms.
STUDENT 1: Then can you avoid getting some disease like cholera or AIDS
by staying healthy and having a strong immune system?
TEACHER: Well, perhaps, but some microorganisms are so strong that they
can attack even very healthy immune systems So, our immune systems
protect us. We can develop immunity to diseases by being exposed to them,
by adapting, or by getting immunized, usually by shots. Allergies are the most
common immune system problem. In an allergic reaction, the immune system
is working to fight something that doesn't really cause us harm. And finally, a
healthy lifestyle can help us build up our immunity. We'll stop here. Please
read the next unit for next time.
Unit 12 Prepare, Prepare
TEACHER: Good morning, everybody. Did any of you hear about the
earthquake in California yesterday? You did? Well, fortunately, no one was
seriously hurt. Today, I want to talk about what can be done in these types of
situations. In the urban planning professions, we need to know the scope of
urban problems and make plans--in advance--for dealing with them.
We'll start by talking about the difference between natural hazards and natural
disasters. I'm going to give you some ideas about planning, about preparing
for a natural hazard.
OK, first some background. Let's look at what I mean by natural hazards.
Natural hazards are things that happen in nature that can be dangerous to us--
like earthquakes, typhoons, hurricanes, tsunamis, fires, mudslides, volcanic
eruptions, avalanches, floods, and tornadoes . . . many natural hazards. A
hazard, then, is something that can be dangerous.
Now, I want to make a distinction between a natural hazard and a natural
disaster. As I just said, with a natural hazard there is the potential for a lot of
damage. In contrast, a natural disaster means terrible things do happen and
normal life is interrupted. People are killed; there is a lot of destruction.
Disasters are what we hear about on the news.
You know as well as I do that we can't stop earthquakes or hurricanes. So, I
want to focus on ways we can limit the impact, how we can prepare to
significantly reduce deaths, injuries, and damage when they occur. Preparing
is vital. What a country does to prepare is based on the natural hazards that
occur in that country.
Now let's consider planning. It's not easy to initiate an emergency response
plan. There are many things to consider. At a minimum, it takes scientific
information, money, and cooperation between scientists and the government
of a country. Scientists and governments need to share information. This isn't
always easy to do--for a number of reasons.
First, a country may not be able to use scientific information because it doesn't
have the money. In a perfect world, governments would have all the money
that they need, but in the real world they don't, so governments have to set
priorities for spending. Governments, especially in developing countries,
often have to choose between taking care of problems they have now, like
needing new roads and schools, and spending money to plan for problems
they might have if a natural disaster strikes. A great example is building
materials. Scientists know that building materials are very important in
minimizing the destruction caused by natural disasters. Some governments are
aware that these materials will save lives, but they do not have the money to
use them.
Second, governments have to decide how and when to use information from
scientists. Scientists can't say definitely, 100 percent, that a storm will happen,
or exactly when it will happen. Their information is not precise. So, a
government has to decide what to do if the scientific data tell them something
is likely to happen. It can wait and do nothing, or it can tell people to prepare. . .
Now let's suppose the government tells people to leave their homes. So they
do, and it costs a lot of time and money for people to leave. What happens if
there is no earthquake, or only a very small earthquake? Will people be willing
to leave the next time the government tells them to?
Before I talk more about planning, I'm going to tell you about two volcanic
eruptions. Think about how planning, or lack thereof, was a factor in both. In
November1985, the volcano Nevado del Ruiz erupted in Colombia. For one
year before this, the volcano had been making noises. Scientists knew that the
volcano might erupt, but they could not say when it would happen. The
volcano kept making noises, but the people living nearby didn't leave.
Scientists had made maps of the most dangerous areas and given these maps
to the government. The government, however, wasn't able to use the
information before Nevado del Ruiz erupted. When the volcano erupted, it
melted snow and ice at the top of the volcano and suddenly a lot of water
rushed down the sides of the volcano, causing huge mudflows. This is when
disaster struck: The mudflows moved quickly through several towns. More
than 25,000 people were killed in a very short time. They weren't prepared.
This was a major disaster.
The second example is the volcano that erupted in the late 1990s on the island
of Montserrat in the Caribbean. It had been inactive for over a hundred years,
but in 1995 it started making noises. Scientists watched the volcano very
closely, and told the government what was going on. The government told the
people who lived nearby that they had to move. So, the people were evacuated.
From 1995 on, the volcano continued to be active. After five years, however,
only about nineteen people had been killed. A major disaster was avoided.
Now let's consider these two examples. From the information we have, we
know that one country was better prepared than the other. We don't know why.
There could be many reasons. It's complicated, and I don't want to sound too
critical here, but we can see that Montserrat's plan made a huge difference:
Only nineteen people died there, while twenty-five thousand people died in
Colombia.
OK. Let's turn now to initiating an emergency response plan. What basic
things do you think any country needs in a plan? What's the first thing? Yes,
Mien.
STUDENT 1: Knowing what's going to happen.
TEACHER: Well, yes, but, uh, as we discussed, we can't know with 100
percent certainty what's going to happen. The first stage is really made up of
two parts: gathering information (doing research), and planning how to pro-
vide for people's basic needs for food, water, and so on. First, scientists need
to gather information from all over the world about the type of hazards that
occur in their country. Then they can use the information from their research
to try to predict what will happen in the future, and plan accordingly. For
example, Japan uses this type of information about earthquakes when it makes
new buildings, roads, and so on. This is difficult because the research cannot
give them precise information.
In the second stage, the government must be prepared to provide for people's
basic needs if there is a natural disaster. They need to do a minimum of two
things. They need to organize enough emergency supplies, such as food,
bottled water, medicine, and so on, and they need to communicate to the
people beforehand about where these supplies are located People need to
know where to go. The second stage also covers exactly what everyone needs
do immediately after a natural disaster occurs--police, emergency rescue
workers, citizens, et cetera--and where they should go, how to get there, and
so on. This enables people to help themselves. So, the second stage involves
providing information and supplies to people.
The third stage of an emergency response plan is to recover. This means
planning for what to do in the days and weeks following the disaster, and how
the government will enable people to return to normal life after the damage is
done. It may take years to rebuild after, say, an earthquake. The plan should
include who, when, and how. For example, who will rebuild houses and roads,
when it will be done, and how it will be paid for.
This is only a brief introduction to making a plan. We can't stop natural
disasters; they're going to happen. But we can limit the damage they cause. In
the next class, we're going to discuss what countries are doing to build safer
buildings in earthquake areas. We'll talk about the materials being used. If you
have any questions, come see me.
