1 Meghan Pierce is a 16-year-old senior whose excellent memory has helped her achieve top grades in high school. But asked which of last year’s lessons she is forgetting this summer, she joked, “Everything.”
2 It’s not the summer sun causing the lapses. Pierce says she’s having the most trouble remembering Spanish and history facts, and brain experts say the problem is infrequency of use. Memory lapses, once chiefly the worry of the elderly, have emerged as a source of anxiety among folks of all ages in this era of information overload.
3 “My mom will tell me to do a chore, and I’ll walk upstairs to get the vacuum cleaner, and I’ll have to walk back downstairs to ask her what I was supposed to do,” said Pierce. “There are just so many things on our minds.”
4 Researchers say memory can indeed be improved, but the keys to achieving it are simpler than you might think - lots of practice and better organization. Not to mention focus, something that was reinforced to renowned cellist Yo- Yo Ma after he left his $2.5 million, 266-year-old cello in a New York taxi in 1999. (It was recovered.)
5 Misplace keys? Keep them in the same place every day. Forget names? Use word associations. Knowing that someone’s name is “Baker” means less than
remembering that someone is a baker. Fearful of forgetting an important date? Tell your brain it is relevant and mentally repeat it, again and again.
6 That doesn’t mean that it is easy to improve memory - studies by manufacturers of herbs that claim to do so have been challenged by
many leading scientists - or that learning how to better retain certain information makes someone inherently smarter.
7 New research is showing that memories can be diminished by stress and even by physical trauma. Young soccer players who take a lot of headshots report some mild memory problems.
8 Besides, experts say, forgetting some things is normal. “We function so well as human beings because in fact we forget things at a very efficient rate,” said neuroscientist James F. Olds. “If we flawlessly remember everything about every aspect of every day, we would have tremendous difficulty given the
fact that our brains are limited . . . Forgetting is as important biologically as memory.”
9 And forgetting long division over the summer doesn’t count because the information isn’t really “lost.” The foundation has probably been retained in the brain, and it can be easily retrieved with review in the fall, experts said.
10 What students generally lose over the summer are isolated facts not associated with images and not embedded in a larger framework, said Ira B. Black, at the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Jersey. “In a sense, then, you have to care to remember,” he said.
11 It is also easier to forget information that is new and different, said psychology professor Alan S. Brown. “If you have been studying English grammar all year, it is less likely to be forgotten than the Spanish which you first started taking in the spring semester.”
12 Fifteen-year-old Fyndsey Wilson agreed. “All the stuff they teach in one day I forget. We learned World War II over three weeks, and I remember that.”
It is important to identify main ideas and the examples used to support them. For example, studies by manufacturers of herbs that claim to do so have been challenged by
Adapted from The Washington Post.
many leading scientists (par. 6) is evidence that it is not easy to improve memory.
Mark each statement true (7) or false ( F).
1. Only the elderly worry about memory loss.
2. Even good students forget things.
3. Students normally forget things over long school vacations.
4. The amount of time students study doesn’t affect their memory of a subject.
5. Learning to remember information better will make you smarter.
Scan the text to check your answers. Then read the whole text.
A
What do these words refer to?
1. her (par. 1, line 1) Meghan Pierce
2. it (par. 4, line 3)
3. It (par. 4, line 10)
4. it (par. 5, line 8)
5. it (par. 9, line 6)
6. that (par. 12, line 5)
B
1 .
2 .
3.
4.
5.
overload
: too much of something (par. 2) : ways; methods (par. 4)
: famous (par. 4)
: found (par. 4)
: without mistakes (par. 8)
M, 1. Reasons for memory lapses infrequency of use, . new and different information, Isolated facts
2. Comments from students_
3. Reasons for memory loss
_ 4. Results of a lack of focus_
_ 5. Tips for improving memory in general ___
_ 6. Tips for remembering specific things ..
Answer these questions.
1. What are (or were) the easiest subjects for you to remember at school?
2. What techniques do you use to help you remember things more effectively?
3. Have you studied something recently that you have already forgotten?
If so, how long did you study it?
63
WRAP-UP
Vocabulary expansion
Read the sentences. Then write the phrase in italics under the correct heading below.
1. I remember the day I got married as if it were yesterday.
2. Jesse’s always been absent-minded. When he was a child, he couldn’t find his shoes; now he never knows where his glasses or his keys are.
3. If I look at my notes right before an exam, it helps refresh my memory.
4.1 can never remember anybody’s birthday; I have a memory like a sieve.
5. Ann has forgotten her umbrella again. She is really scatter-brained.
6. Give me a second. The answer is on the tip of my tongue.
7. No matter how much I rack my brain , I can’t remember where I bought the CD.
8. Look at this picture; maybe it will jog your memory.
9. The name rings a bell, but I don’t really remember him.
10.1 can tell the police exactly what happened. The accident is fresh in my mind.
Remember something well | Make someone remember something | Try hard to remember something | Remember something vaguely | Have a bad memory |
remember. . . as if it were yesterday |
B
1. Do you know anyone who has a memory like a sieve?
2. Are any of your friends scatter-brained?
3. Have you ever had an absent-minded teacher?
4. Can you remember any event from your past as if it were yesterday?
5. What do you do before an exam to refresh your memory?
6. Look at the pictures on page 1 of Unit 1. Do they jog your memory of the unit?
IWIemory and you
How good is your memory? Look at the phrases in part A for 30 seconds. Try to remember as many as you can about the picture. Then close your book and write down as many phrases as you can remember. Compare answers with your classmates. Who has the best memory?
Unit 8 • Memory
PREVIEW
/
quid £***- r
/L 4
What do our possessions say about us?
This newspaper article describes the results of a study linking possessions to personality.
1. What do a person's possessions reveal about his or her personality?
2. Have you ever looked through someone's CD or book collection?
3. What personality traits do you like? What traits do you dislike?
Read this book excerpt to learn how people’s temperament and personality affect their behavior.
1. Do you have a predisposition to be happy or sad?
2. Do you think people change as they get older?
3. Why do you think people react differently to the same situation?
How much can you tell about people from their handwriting?
Read this magazine article and find out.
1. What does your handwriting Look like?
2. Do you know anyone who has very unusual handwriting?
3. Does your handwriting change when you write in a different Language? If so, how?
Find out the meanings of the words in the box. Then circle the words that describe you.
aggressive
boisterous
conscientious
extroverted
inhibited
intellectual
optimistic
outgoing
restless
self-assured
self-centered
sullen
unconventional
undependable
withdrawn
65
Unit 9 • Personality
READING 1
1 On top of my computer sits a desiccated piranha with a mouthful of razor-sharp teeth. Why is that fish there? To remind me of that wonderful trip to Venezuela? To signal I’m not to be messed with? Maybe it’s there because I’m a creative, unconventional individual who refuses to be stifled by the corporate office culture. Or maybe it’s because that’s what I want people to think.
2 If one little dried-out fish can potentially carry that much information, just think how much could be gleaned from a roomful of possessions. And we are constantly trying to glean. Who hasn’t nosed furtively through a CD collection or bookshelf at someone’s home to get some measure of our host’s personality? “It’s a basic human need to want to know what people are like, for all kinds of reasons: Can we trust them? Are they a potential mate?” says Samuel Gosling, assistant professor of psychology. “So, when we’re in places where information is rich, we make use of it.”
3 Not everything we deduce will be accurate, of course. People may display misleading messages. Someone who’s ruthlessly ambitious might adorn his or her office with inspirational posters applauding teamwork. A conservative college kid may flaunt CDs of hip rock stars to appear cool.
4 What’s more, observers may guess erroneously from what they see. The fact that I have a two- foot-high in-tray doesn’t mean I’m scatterbrained and undependable. And who knows what my co-worker with the welcoming basket of candy and smiley-face pencil is thinking?
Adapted from The Los Angeles Times.
m
a | jT |
—1~ | |
*~f- | |
5 To find out what people deduce from someone’s “social environment” - and whether those deductions are accurate - Gosling enrolled 83 students and 94 office workers in a study. All agreed to have their bedrooms (in the students’ case) or offices assessed by observers.
6 Participants were told not to alter anything. And even if they did rush around picking up sweaty socks, “there’s a big difference between a tidied room and one that’s deeply tidy,” Gosling says. “There’s only so much you can do in a short time to alphabetize the books and CDs, color-code the stationery, sharpen all your pencils and line them up - things that deeply tidy people do.”
8 To test the results, Gosling and colleagues compared raters’ assessments to ones done by occupants and friends. Raters gleaned a lot in just a few minutes. Gosling says. They weren’t great at assessing agreeableness and extroversion, but they were surprisingly adept at scoring someone’s dependability and openness to new experiences.
9 Gosling notes that some employers prohibit the personalization of office spaces. Might this damage morale? “The fact that wherever I go I see these expressions of individuality leaking out makes me think it probably isn’t a good thing to do.” He plans to explore this by having pairs of students decorate each other’s living quarters.
7 Each assessor then scored the
occupant on a scale of one to seven
for five broad personality traits:
’ openness to new experiences
• agreeableness
• extroversion
• emotional stability (how calm, relaxed, and self-assured someone is)
• conscientiousness or dependability (whether someone shows up for meetings and pays parking tickets on time)
10 “What, for instance, would happen if I made you trade your piranha for an angel?” he says. “You’d probably find it very distressing.” As, very likely, would anyone who befriended me based on that angel.
Words in parentheses sometimes define a word in the text. For example, the writer explains dependability (par. 7) as whether someone shows up for meetings and pays parking tickets on time.
Thinking about
personal
experience
What personality traits can you assess by looking at people's possessions? Check (✓) your answers.
_ 1. openness to new experiences
2. agreeableness
_3. extroversion
4. dependability
Scanning
Scan the text to check your prediction. Then read the whole text.
Recognizing similarity in meaning
Match each word or phrase with a word
b 1. desiccated (par. 1)
2. glean (par. 2, 4)
_ 3. adorn (par. 3)
A. flaunt (par. 3)
5. assess (par. 5, 8)
6. living quarters (par. 9)
a. display (par. 3)
b. dried-out (par. 2)
c. home (par. 2)
d. find out (par. 5)
e. score (par. 7, 8)
f. decorate (par. 9)
Restating and
making
inferences
B
/
1. The writer of the text once took a trip to Venezuela.
2. Ambitious people are not usually interested in teamwork.
3. In Gosling’s study students assessed the personality traits of office workers.
4. Participants were not supposed to change the appearance of their rooms.
5. The assessors were better at scoring some personality traits than others.
6. The assessors quickly made decisions about personality traits.
7. People should be allowed to display personal possessions at work.
8. If people see an angel in somebody’s office, they might think the person
is nice.
Relating reading to personal experience
Answer these questions.
1. What kind of possessions do you have? What do you think they say about you?
2. How do you decorate your room or office? What do you think this conveys to others?
3. Do you judge people based on their possessions? Why or why not?
67
Unit 9 • Personality
1 Why do I need everything to be completely shipshape: 1 Why am I always getting into battles with my boss and my children? Why is my sister so restless while I’m quite happy to sit home and read? What’s wrong with me, or is there something wrong with her? Why am I always so happy while my wife is often sad, even when we re both on vacation? My brother is a much harder worker than I am; how can I match him? Most of us ask ourselves these questions at least occasionally; others concentrate on them almost constantly and spend lots of time and money to come up with answers.
2 Parents know better, and know that their children are born with very definite dispositions. “He was always a quiet little boy,” they’ll say, or “She was always climbing trees and looking for excitement.” Our singularity isn’t completely fixed on day one oi birth, but we all have an inherent temperament — to be sociable and outgoing or shy and withdrawn.
Modern psychologists use the word temperament to refer to a person’s predisposition to respond to specific events in a specific way. Temperament refers to the style rather than to the content of behavior. We might say that it is the “how" ol behavior, not the “what."
4 Personality, on the other hand, is the full-blown complex set of reactions that distinguish an individual. We would need to list hundreds ot particulars in order to describe a person we know well: slow to anger; tough when provoked; generally calm; reads the sports pages; generous; athletic.
5 Temperament is more general, more basic than the whole complex personality. It concerns whether one does everything slowly or quickly, whether one seeks excitement or sits alone, whether one is highly expressive or inhibited, joyous or sullen. One can be a musician who plays slowly or quickly, with small hand movements or sweeping ones; one can be aggressive in the stock market with a quiet temperament or a boisterous one; one can be a dutiful mother whether one is excitable or calm.
Each of us has implicit theories ol individuality. We use them not only to type other people (“Joe is an honest person.") but to predict (“Morgan is generous, so I'll ask her if I can borrow a ten.”). Belief in the importance of traits and types rests on the assumption that knowing a person’s characteristics will tell us something about how that person will behave. Trying to predict how anyone will act, however, is a bit like trying to predict the weather in some random month from now in a random place at a random time.
We tend to see how a person behaves and then attribute that behavior to a basic personality trait. Most ol us assume that these traits consistently influence others’ behavior. We think that someone who is honest never lies to friends, does not cheat, and doesn’t steal. But we are so often wrong. Some psychologists question whether people really are consistent enough across situations to make knowledge of traits useful in predicting behavior. This very complexity, however, is probably what keeps most of us interested in each other, as we puzzle over how to piece together an accurate picture of another person.
Adapted from Roots of the Self.
Read the first paragraph on the opposite page. Then check (✓) what you think the text will be about.
1. ways the writer can improve himself
_2. personality problems that some people have
3. effects of personality on behavior
Scan the text to check your predictions. Then read the whole text.
Where does the text probably come from? Check (✓) the correct answer.
1. a book about the science of human behavior
2. a book about people with personality disorders
3. a parent’s guide to improving family relationships
B
d
1. shipshape (par. 1)
2. inherent (par. 2)
3. particulars (par. 4)
4. implicit (par. 6)
5. random (par. 6)
6. attribute to (par. 7)
a. details
b. chance
c. present at birth
d. organized
e. view as the result
f. not expressed
5 a. This paragraph compares temperament with personality.
b. This paragraph suggests why people are interested in personality traits.
c. This paragraph shows how parents describe their children.
d. This paragraph discusses how people try to predict behavior.
e. This paragraph illustrates differences between people.
f. This paragraph defines personality.
g. This paragraph defines temperament.
Answer these questions.
1. How is your temperament similar to that of your family members? How is it different?
2. How is your temperament different from your personality?
3. How would you describe your teacher’s personality?
Unit 9 • Personality
69
READING 3
1 As you’re gathering love letters from your admirers this Valentine’s Day, wouldn’t it be nice to know if that special sweetie is Mr. or Ms. Right? While it’s not scientific, Graphology - also called handwriting analysis - can provide useful clues about your amour’s personality. “In this country, handwriting analysis is considered akin to astrology - something not taken very seriously - but it probably tells us more about a human being than any psychological test,” says Ted Widmer, director of the International School of Handwriting Sciences. He provides basic hints for deciphering that love note.
who leave little space between lines need to get involved: “They tend to be big ‘joiners,’ and may get bogged down in the details of a situation,” says Widmer. By contrast, writers who leave more space between lines are usually more independent and better at grasping the “big picture.”
6 Besides space, graphologists also consider the zones writing is divided into: the upper (tall letters), middle (round letters), and lower (letters that extend downward). The balance among these three is very revealing. Here’s what to look for:
2 Ideally, handwriting analysis should be performed on an unlined page of original writing, not a photocopy or fax. When studying a sample, the first characteristic a graphologist considers is the writer’s use of space: “There are universal concepts people in all societies and cultures have regarding the use of space,” notes Widmer.
3 Left and right margins
The right symbolizes the future and the left represents the past - even in cultures that use the Arabic or Hebrew alphabets and whose writing moves from right to left. In graphology, leaving a narrow right margin suggests a risktaking person who is unafraid of the future, whereas leaving a narrow left margin implies someone very tied to the past, even fearful of moving on.
4 Writing that moves uphill or downhill
“The symbolism of this is revealed in everyday language,” says Widmer. “If you’re feeling good, you’re ‘up,’ and if you’re feeling bad, you’re ‘down.’ Handwriting reflects this.” Thus, writing that tends to slope upward from left to right indicates an optimistic attitude, whereas handwriting drifting downward is often a sign of tiredness, sadness, or possibly depression.
5 Space between words and lines
This represents the distance the writer places between him - or herself - and others. Thus, people who leave relatively little space between words require others’ company - “They’re needier, and possibly insecure,” notes Widmer - while those who leave more space may be hard to get close to. Similarly, people
Adapted from Successful Meetings.
1 The upper zone symbolizes one’s mental and spiritual life; thus, someone whose handwriting features very tall letters tends to be an intellectual, “thinking” type. The middle zone, meanwhile, represents the everyday and how the person sees him or herself in relation to others. “People with a very large middle zone - rounded letters with little difference in height - are relatively self-centered and immature,” says Widmer. “You often see this trait in teenagers’ handwriting.” Finally, the lower zone stands for one’s physical side; athletes and other physical types often write with pronounced lower zones.
8 Widmer cautions that while these are generally accepted concepts of graphology, no single characteristic in writing is significant by itself. “It’s not correct to say that crossing your T a certain way means something,” he notes. “You have to look at handwriting in context.”
Thinking about
personal
experience
Look at the handwriting samples on the opposite page. What can you predict about each writer's personality? Write three characteristics for each sample.
A.
B.
C.
Scanning
Scan the text for words describing the writers of the above samples. Then read the whole text.
Guessing meaning from context
Find the words in italics in the reading. Then
e 1. deciphering (par. 1)
2. tied to (par. 3)
3. needier (par. 5)
4. get bogged down (par. 5)
5. grasp (par. 5)
6. revealing (par. 6)
7. pronounced (par. 7)
a. making something known
b. hold in your hand
c. very noticeable
d. connected to
e. making sense of
f. wanting more from others
g. be unable to make progress
Understanding
details
B
A 1. Who probably does not like things to change?
2. Who probably has few close friends?
3. Who probably doesn’t like to spend time alone?
4. Who is probably a member of many organizations?
5. Who probably doesn’t worry about details?
6. Who probably does silly things for his or her age?
Relating reading to personal experience
Answer these questions.
1. Would you pay for a professional handwriting analysis? Why or why not?
2. Do you think employers should use graphology to make hiring decisions?
Why or why not?
3. Look at something you’ve written recently. According to the text, what does your handwriting say about your personality? Do you agree? Why or why not?
Unit 9 • Personality
WRAP-UP
Complete the crossword puzzle with words from the unit. (The words appear in the Preview.
The numbers in parentheses after the clues below show the reading in which the word appears.)
Across | Down | ||
t: | not pessimistic (3) | 2. | thinking; academic (3) |
3. | selfish (3) | 4. | very careful about work (1) |
8. | preferring to be alone (2) | 5. | very shy and afraid (2) |
11. | noisy and energetic (2) | 6. | ambitious, determined, and forceful (2) |
12. | cant be depended on (1) | 7. | not like most people (1) |
14. | friendly and not shy (2) | 9. | unable to keep still; impatient (2) |
15. | angry and unhappy (2) | 10. | confident (1) |
13. | gets excited easily (2) |
Look at the woman in the picture on page 66. Answer the questions. Then compare answers with your classmates.
1. How open to new experience is she?
2. How agreeable is she?
3. How extroverted is she?
72
Unit 9 • Personality
PREVIEW
Vocabulary
Find out the meanings
I'm just another kid from Brooklyn
What is it like to be a celebrity? Find out what director Woody Allen says in this newspaper interview.
1. What movies has Woody Allen directed? Which have you seen?
2. What are the advantages of being a celebrity?
3. What are the disadvantages?
This magazine article describes a law to stop photographers who follow California’s celebrities.
1. Would you ever take a picture of a celebrity? Why or why not?
2. What publications feature photos of celebrities?
3. When do celebrities like being photographed? When do they dislike it?
In this magazine article, read the surprising results of a study on how celebrities influence the lives of their fans.
1. Have you ever collected posters or pictures of celebrities? If so, which ones?
2. Have you ever joined a fan club or visited a celebrity's website?
If so, whose?
3. Which celebrities do you admire? Have you ever tried to imitate them?
of the words in italics. Then answer the questions.
1. What celebrity’s autograph would you like to have?
2. Which stars do celebrity hounds like to follow?
3. Who is a current icon in the music world?
4. Who is a popular teen idoli
5. Which celebrities don’t like to be in the public eye ?
6. Which celebrities have been in the limelight a lot recently?
7. Which celebrity is known for leading a very quiet life offstage ?
Unit 10 • Celebrity
READING 1
1 Woody Alien is wearing a new hat as he steps from a rainy November afternoon into the Manhattan Film Center, where he edits all his new movies. Fle’s dressed in autumnal colors, wools and corduroys and soft-soled Manhattan walking shoes, a pleasant smile lighting his eyes behind the trademark glasses.
2 Celebrity is the second film you’ve made about America’s fixation with fame and notoriety. (The first was Stardust Memories.) Why revisit the same theme?
“Because I have been living a life involved with celebrity for many years, it’s one of the things I do know about and can write about with some authority.”
3 “Anyone can become a celebrity. And I have felt frustrated by my own celebrity. To me, and some other celebrities, there is a downside because we place a great value on privacy. Other celebrities have no problem with the limelight offstage, and love it. But I would be a complainer if I didn’t admit the perks outweigh the downside. For me, it’s no fun being in the public eye all the time but, being a New Yorker, I also get good tickets to the Knick games, seats for tough- to-get Broadway shows, restaurant reservations, and doctors on weekends. These are the positive things about being a celebrity, and they outweigh the annoyance of giving up your privacy.”
“It seems to be. When I did Stardust Memories years ago, the same guy in the movie who wanted
my autograph and adored me ended up shooting me. About a month after my movie came out, John Lennon was shot in the same situation. Fans go crazy over celebrities. They adore them irrationally and love to see them get hurt. They really like that public flagellation of the celebrities they adore, but they still love the celebrity involved. It’s a complex phenomenon, and the United States really lives in the cult of celebrity because they live in an opulent country and a lot of time and money for leisure. They have a thriving theater, television industry, film business, music, and painting. And sports is so enormous - as big as film, music, and theater put together. So the cult of celebrity is enormous here.”
“When I did my jazz tour there, I felt like a rock star. In every country on the tour they surrounded my hotel. It was an unreal experience. I don’t
live like that. I get up, exercise, walk the streets of Manhattan relatively unbothered, shop, and go to ball games, the theater, and restaurants. Perhaps in Europe, because I’m not over there that frequently, it’s a big deal, and they express their demonstrative affection. And, hey, it’s a big help for me in my movies, because if I didn’t have that foreign support, my films wouldn’t survive.”
6 Have the perks of your celebrity ever been outweighed by the downside?
“I feel I’m a celebrity for better or worse. If I want the Knicks tickets and the good table at the restaurant, when a piece of gossip comes up, I’m willing to take it. I can’t whine.”
Adapted from Daily News.
Look at the questions from the interview with
with a part of his answers on the right.
1. Why revisit the same theme?
2. Is the public’s obsession with celebrity greater than in the past?
3. When in Europe, did you feel hunted by celebrity hounds?
4. Have the perks of your celebrity ever been outweighed by the downside?
Skim the text to check your predictions. Then
a. In every country on the tour they
surrounded my hotel.
b. It’s one of the things I do know about and can write about. . .
c. If I want... the good table at the restaurant, I’m willing to take it.
d. Fans go crazy over celebrities. They adore them irrationally.
read the whole text.
After you read
Find the words in italics in the
h 1. fixation (par. 2)
2. notoriety (par. 2)
3. authority (par. 2)
4. downside (par. 3)
5. outweigh (par. 3)
6. flagellation (par. 4) _ 7. opulent (par. 4)
8. whine (par. 6)
a. disadvantage
b. showing great wealth
c. complain
d. the state of being famous for something bad
e. criticism as a punishment
f. expert knowledge
g. be more important than
h. act of always thinking about something
B
1. I love being in the limelight. There’s nothing I don’t love about it.
2. It’s not fun when people want to know everything about my private life.
3. I never ask for special favors because I’m famous.
4. Being famous has its good and bad sides.
1. Is it right for celebrities to use their fame to get special treatment? Why or why not?
2. Do you think the perks of celebrity outweigh the downside? Why or why not?
3. Would you like to be a celebrity? Why or why not?
75
Unit 10 ■ Celebrity
READING 2