Insight by Les Éditions CEC

www.cecplus.com

EDITION

JANE PETRING

INSIGHT ENGLISH SKILLS FOR ACADEMIC AND PROFESSIONAL PURPOSES

www.cecplus.com

EDITION

JANE PETRING

INSIGHT ENGLISH SKILLS FOR ACADEMIC AND PROFESSIONAL PURPOSES

9001, boul. Louis-H.-La Fontaine, Anjou (Québec) Canada H1J 2C5 Téléphone : 514-351-6010 • Télécopieur : 514-351-3534

TA BLE O F CONTENTS MODULE 1

MODULE 2

MEDIA MESSAGES AND THE ART OF PERSUASION . . . . . . . . . . . 2

GLOBAL MATTERS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

PART 1

1.1 | Warm-up: Class Survey. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 1.2 | Reading: The Digitally Embedded Ad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 1.3 | Video: Product Placement Goes Digital. . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 1.4 | Listening: Advertising in Video Games. . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 1.5 | Grammar-Based Writing: Simple Present and Present Continuous. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 1.6 | Speaking: Experience the Digital World. . . . . . . . . . . . 11 1.7 | Reading: Where Are the Books?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 1.8 | Writing: Persuasive Essay: Time to Regulate? . . . . . . . 16 1.9 | Speaking: Ad Analysis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 1.10 | Words to Know . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

1.1 | Warm-up: How Long Do Your Tech Tools Last?. . . . . . . 49 1.2 | Reading: Biomimicry—Natural Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 1.3 | Speaking: Inspired and Inspiring Innovations. . . . . . . . 55 1.4 | G rammar-Based Writing: Comparative and Superlative Forms. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 1.5 | Video: Sustainability—A Lesson from Tanzania. . . . . . 56 1.6 | Reading: Why Men Without Cars Are Sexy. . . . . . . . . . . 58 1.7 | Video: Car Sharing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 1.8 | Writing: Cars, Your Environment and You. . . . . . . . . . . . 64 1.9 | Words to Know. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

PART 2

NORTHERN EXPOSURE

THE IMPACT OF DIGITAL INTEGRATION

MEDIA LITERACY, STATISTICS AND FILTER BUBBLES 2.1 | Warm-up: Numerical Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 2.2 | Reading: Comparing Newspaper Articles. . . . . . . . . . . . 21 2.3 | Speaking: There’s More Than One Kind of Literacy. . . 23 2.4 | Reading: Who’s Following Me?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 2.5 | Speaking: Who Are the Real Digital Natives?. . . . . . . . . 29 2.6 | Video: The Corporation—The Nag Factor. . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 2.7 | Listening: Watch Your Step When Shopping. . . . . . . . . 32 2.8 | Writing: How You See It. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 2.9 | Words to Know. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

PART 3

A WEB OF INFORMATION 3.1 | Warm-up: Info on the Whole Wide Web. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 3.2 | Reading: Wikipedia Gaining Respect in Places of Higher Learning. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 3.3 | Video: How to Edit a Wikipedia Article. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 3.4 | Grammar-Based Writing: Verb Replacement Practice. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 3.5 | Listening: Wikipedia and the Gender Gap. . . . . . . . . . . 42 3.6 | Speaking: Topics and Gender. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 3.7 | Writing: How to Do Effective Online Research . . . . . . . 43 3.8 | Words to Know. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 End-of-Module Projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

IV INSIGHT

TABLE OF CONTENTS

EARTHLY CONCERNS

PART 2

2.1 | Warm-up: The Northwest Passage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 2.2 | Video: Our Changing Arctic. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 2.3 | Speaking: The Pros and Cons of the Seal Hunt. . . . . . 71 2.4 | Writing: Taking Sides. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 2.5 | Reading: A Photographer’s Obsession: The Arctic. . . 75 2.6 | Grammar-Based Writing: Future Forms. . . . . . . . . . . . 80 2.7 | Video: Rap in the Far North. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80 2.8 | Listening: The Future of Inuktitut. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82 2.9 | Writing: Take a Stand. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82 2.10 | Words to Know . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

PART 3

DEVELOPING ISSUES 3.1 | Warm-up: Putting Scents in Order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85 3.2 | Reading: From War to Good Scents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85 3.3 | V ideo: Dragon’s Den: Barbara Stegemann (The Seven Virtues) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89 3.4 | Speaking: Pitch Your Idea to the Dragons . . . . . . . . . . 90 3.5 | Listening: Tour d’Afrique . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 3.6 | R eading: A Bitter Taste of Chocolate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93 3.7 | Grammar-Based Writing: Past Perfect. . . . . . . . . . . . . 96 3.8 | L istening: Bitter Chocolate: An Interview with Carol Off. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96 3.9 | Writing: Process Analysis Essay. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98 3.10 | Words to Know . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101 End-of-Module Projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103

MODULE 3

MODULE 4

MAKING YOUR FUTURE WORK . . . 104

PRONUNCIATION AND LANGUAGE ELEMENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

146

1 PRONUNCIATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

146

1.1 | The –ed Ending in Verbs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.2 | Pronunciation –s or –es. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.3 | W hen to Pronounce ch as k, sh or ch. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.4 | W ords that Begin with a Vowel vs h. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.5 | P ronunciation of h and Unstressed Function Words. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.6 | S ilent Consonants. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.7 | D eliberate Pausing: Content Words, Function Words and Rhythm. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.8 | W ord Stress for Multi-Syllable Words. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.9 | S tress in Pronouncing Numbers, Measurements and Total Amounts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

146 147 148 149

2 LANGUAGE ELEMENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

152

2.1 | Telephone Numbers and Addresses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.2 | Telling Time. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.3 | Dates. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.4 | The Alphabet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.5 | Telephone Talk. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

152 153 153 155 155

3 UNDERSTANDING NEW LANGUAGE . . .

157

3.1 | Searching for Context Clues. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.2 | Recognizing Cognates. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.3 | False Cognates. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.4 | Using Word and Sentence Analysis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

157 158 159 160

PART 1

WHAT’S YOUR THING? 1.1 | Warm-up: What Do You Call a Person Who … ? . . . . . 1.2 | Reading: What Do You Do?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.3 | R eading: No Bones About It: Kathy Reich’s Advice on Starting a Career . . . . . . . . . . . 1.4 | L istening: Geof Isherwood, Marvel Comics Illustrator. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.5 | Video: Applying for the Best Job in the World. . . . . . . 1.6 | Reading: Can You Use Real-World Tools?. . . . . . . . . . . . 1.7 | Writing: Work Expectations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.8 | Words to Know. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

105 106 108 112 112 113 116 116

PART 2

WHAT’S OUT THERE? 2.1 | Warm-up: Ready to Roll. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.2 | Writing: Describing Your Experience. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.3 | Grammar-Based Writing: Present Perfect . . . . . . . . 2.4 | S peaking: Active Verbs and Descriptive Adjectives. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.5 | Writing: Your Resumé . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.6 | Writing: Your Cover Letter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.7 | Reading: Employment Trends. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.8 | Listening: Upcylcing Waste into Wealth. . . . . . . . . . . 2.9 | Video: Censorship Controversy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.10 | Speaking: Managing Situations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.11 | Writing: Put Your Knowledge to Work. . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.12 | Words to Know . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

119 120 121 122 123 124 125 127 128 129 131 131

PART 3

PROJECTING AND PROTECTING YOURSELF 3.1 | Warm-up: Interpreting Body Language. . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.2 | Reading: Start with Your Online Reputation . . . . . . . . 3.3 | L istening: Steve Jobs: Computer Science Is a Liberal Art. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.4 | Video: Wanting to Make It Big. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.5 | Reading: Putting the Next Foot Forward. . . . . . . . . . . . 3.6 | W riting: A Trip Report or Mentor Interview Report. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.7 | Words to Know. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

133 135

149 150 150 151 152

4 E LEMENTS OF WRITING

IN THE WORKPLACE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163

4.1 | A Request for Information. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163 4.2 | A Message to Complain About a Product or Service. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164

5 P REPARING ORAL PRESENTATIONS

AND RESEARCH PAPERS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165

136 137 138

6 DOCUMENTING SOURCES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

141 144

Photo Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167 Text Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168

166

TABLE OF CONTENTS INSIGHT V

Scope and Sequence Themes

MODULE 1

Main Topics

Grammar-based Writing: Simple Present vs. Present Continuous Persuasive Essay

PART 2

Numerical Messages There’s More than One Kind of Literacy Who Are the Real Digital Natives?

Comparing Newspaper Articles (326 words) – two articles Who’s Following Me? (673 words)

The Corporation—The Nag Factor (Video) Watch Your Step When Shopping (Audio)

Opinion Essay

Info on the Whole Wide Web Topics and Gender

Wikipedia Gaining Respect in Places of Higher Learning (1,006 words)

How to Edit a Wikipedia Article (Video) Wikipedia and the Gender Gap (Audio)

Grammar-based Writing: Past Forms

PART 3 A WEB OF INFORMATION

PART 1

How Long Do Your Tech Biomimicry— Natural Design Tools Last? (651 words) Inspired and Inspiring Why Men Without Cars Are Sexy Innovations (792 words)

Sustainability—A Lesson from Tanzania (Video) Car Sharing (Video)

Grammar-Based Writing: Comparative and Superlative Forms Descriptive Essay

PART 2

The Northwest Passage The Pros and Cons of the Seal Hunt

The Hunt Must Go On (564 words) Why the West Should Care about the Seal Hunt (550 words) A Photographer’s Obsession: The Arctic (1,304 words) Don’t Call Me Eskimo (393 words)

Our Changing Arctic (Video) Rap in the Far North (Video) The Future of Inuktitut (Video)

Grammar-Based Writing: Future Forms Argumentative Essay Persuasive Essay

Putting Scents in Order Pitch Your Idea to the Dragons

From War to Good Scents (644 words) A Bitter Taste of Chocolate (995 words)

Dragon’s Den: Barbara Stegemann (Video) Tour d’Afrique (Audio) Bitter Chocolate: Interview with Carol Off (Audio)

Grammar-Based Writing: Past Perfect Process Analysis Essay

What Do You Call a Person Who … ? Reflections on Reich’s Speech Video Resumé Technology and Trade Skills

What Do You Do? (671 words) – four articles No Bones About It: Kathy Reich’s Advice on Starting a Career (1,514 words) Can You Use Real-World Tools? (772 words)

Geoff Isherwood, Marvel Comics Illustrator (Audio) Applying for the Best Job in the World (Video)

Descriptive Essay Work Expectations

Your Best Job Retell: Office Ninja (357 words) Role-play: Job I Want My Facebook (395 words) Interview Vocabulary Managing Situations

Upcycling Pioneer (Audio) Censorship Controversy (Video)

Writing a Resumé (or CV) and a Cover Letter Grammar-Based Writing: Present Perfect

Interpreting Body Language Online Reputations

Steve Jobs: Computer Trip Report Science Is a Liberal Mentor Interview Art (Audio) Report Wanting to Make It Big - Canadian Singer (Video)

EARTHLY CONCERNS

NORTHERN EXPOSURE

PART 3 DEVELOPING ISSUES

MAKING YOUR FUTURE WORK

PART 1 WHAT’S YOUR THING?

PART 2 WHAT’S OUT THERE?

PART 3 PROJECTING AND PROTECTING YOURSELF

VI INSIGHT

Writing

The Digitially Embedded Ad Product Placement (818 words) Goes Digital (Video) Where Are the Books? (856 words) Advertising in Video Games (Audio)

MEDIA LITERACY, STATISTICS AND FILTER BUBBLES

MODULE 3

Listening/Viewing

Media Habits Experience the Digital World Ad Analysis

THE ARTOF PERSUASION

GLOBAL MATTERS

Reading

PART 1

THE IMPACT MEDIA OF DIGITAL MESSAGES AND INTEGRATION

MODULE 2

Speaking

SCOPE AND SEQUENCE

Start with Your Online Reputation (649 words) Putting the Next Foot Forward (895 words)

Language Insights and Projects Themes

Vocabulary

Comprehension

Pronunciation

Grammar

MODULE 1

PART 1

MEDIA MESSAGES AND THE ARTOF PERSUASION

Recognizing Nonverbal Cues Identify Patterns in Rhythm

Pronouncing the –ed Ending Rhythm in English

Simple Present and Present Continuous

PART 2

Recognizing Visual Cues

Deliberate Pausing

When to Use Continuous Tenses Parallel Structure

Focused Listening for Specific Elements

Pronunciation When to Use Is or Has of -s and -es Sounds instead of Are or Have

PART 1

Using Visual Clues Recognizing Native and Non-native Speakers of English

The [t∫] “ch” Sound

PART 2

Listening for Specific Details

Words Beginning With Modal and Conditional Vowels or h Sounds Forms Making Connections Prepositions Between Words (Liaison)

Anticipating Answers to Questions Listening for Specific Details

Silent Letters

When to Use Past Perfect or Past Perfect Continuous

Understanding the British r

Word Stress: Multisyllabic Words with “sh” Endings

Pronouns and Possessive Adjectives

Making Predictions

Word Stress: Common Simple Present or Workplace Terms Simple Past vs (Active Verbs Present Perfect and Descriptive Adjectives)

Idiomatic Expressions Words to Know

The Meaning of Literacy Using Word Analysis Words to Know

PART 3 Phrasal Verbs Words to Know

MODULE 2 GLOBAL MATTERS

Recognizing Cognates Expressions Use of Context and a Dictionary Words to Know Expressions and Phrases Words to Know

PART 3 Useful Expressions Words with Different Meanings Words to Know

MODULE 3 MAKING YOUR FUTURE WORK

PART 1 Phrasal Verbs Words to Know

PART 2 Active Verbs and Descriptive Adjectives Words to Know

PART 3

Scanning a Text Identifying False Cognates Listening for Specific Details Words to Know

MODULE 4 PRONUNCIATION AND LANGUAGE ELEMENTS

Stress in Nouns and Verbs

Question Formation Participial Adjectives with –ing or –ed Endings

Projects Write or Edit a Wikipedia Entry of Your Choice Create an E-zine Build a Web Portal of Reliable Sites

Debate a Controversial Issue Issues Around the World Present a Process Analysis

Trip Report or Mentor Interview Job Fair Teach Something

Modal Auxiliaires

Pronunciation Language Elements Understanding New Language Elements of Writing in the Workplace Preparing Oral Presentations Documenting Sources

LANGUAGE INSIGHTS AND PROJECTS INSIGHT VII

HOW TO USE INSIGHT 2 nd EDITION BOOK STRUCTURE: Modules and Parts You will be exploring three themebased Modules, with each theme divided into three related topics, or three Parts. The final Module, Module 4, offers new pronunciation activities, specific learning strategies and additional reference material.

MODULES 1 TO 3: Skills in Each Part Speaking Warm-ups consisting of quizzes, surveys and other oral activities prepare students for each new topic of a Part. More elaborate Speaking includes debates, statistical and visual analyses, and many other innovative activities.

Reading, Watching and Listening You will read, watch and listen to a variety of texts that come from professional sources and are always related to the theme. All are rich in content. Low-frequency terms are defined in the margins or word lists; high-frequency terms are found in various text-based activities, including in a review of Words to Know at the end.

Writing The challenge of having students write a text is facilitated with the use of short Grammar-Based Writing tasks, authentic student models and crossreferences to the Writing Guidelines Unit of the Insight Grammar book.

VIII INSIGHT

HOW TO USE INSIGHT 2nd EDITION

MODULES 1 TO 3: Language Insights and End-of-Module Projects With each text, you will find useful Pronunciation, Grammar, Comprehension and Vocabulary Insights inserted into the margins. These margin inserts also provide practical cross-references and essential learning strategies. Pronunciation Insight Highlighted or underlined words in the texts provide examples of pronunciation patterns. Cross-references online activities to and Module 4 are shown.

Vocabulary Insight Along with vocabulary strategies found with each reading, viewing and listening text, you will find additional activities for vocabulary-building in this margin insert.

Grammar Insight Highlighted or underlined words in the texts provide examples of the grammar point. You will also find cross-references to the grammar online activities. book and

Comprehension Insight Useful strategies help you listen to authentic texts and take notice of both verbal and non-verbal cues in oral communication.

End-of-Module Projects To complete each three-part Module, you will have the opportunity to consolidate your learning in a fun and interactive project.

MODULE 4: Pronunciation and Language Elements This 2nd Edition includes new pronunciation activities to help students improve not only their comprehension of English but also their ability to communicate clearly with native speakers. As well, this section provides a variety of vocabulary strategies, sample workplace correspondence and other essential language-learning tips.

HOW TO USE INSIGHT 2nd EDITION

INSIGHT IX

MODULE

Every day we receive messages through newspapers, magazines, books, TV, radio, the internet, billboards, ďŹ lms, games and so many other forms of media. Understanding the messages and how they are used to persuade us involves more than just knowing what the words mean.

PART

M E D I A MESSAGES AND THE A R T O F PERSUASION

The Impact of Digital Integration

Media Literacy, Statistics and Filter Bubbles

A Web of Information

PART

EARTHLY THE IMPACT CONCERNS OF DIGITAL INTEGRATION

If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe.

The most important thing in communication is to hear what isn’t being said.

WARM-UP

– Peter Drucker, management guru

1.1 Class Survey Fill out the following survey individually and then form small groups to compare your answers.

1 What type of program are you studying in? a] technical

name of program:

b] pre-university name of program:

2 How did you find out about the program you are studying in? a] open house at the college b] through friends or family c] high-school counsellor

d] advertisement (where?)

e] other

3 How do you get your news? a] TV b] radio c] internet d] newspaper or magazines

e] Facebook / social media f] friends g] other

THE IMPACT OF DIGITAL INTEGRATION

PART 1 3

4 On average, how much time per week do you spend doing the following: Less than an hour

1 to 5 hours

5 to 10 hours

Over 10 hours

watching shows and movies on TV listening to the radio watching films and videos online downloading and listening to music playing video games texting/talking on a cellphone exchanging photos and messages via social media (Facebook, etc.) searching for information on the internet reading books and news articles electronically reading books, magazines, newspapers (in print)

5 Do you use digital devices (computers, smartphones, tablets, etc.) mainly for work/study or for entertainment? a]

mainly work b]

about half and half c]

mainly entertainment

6 How do you use social media? (Check all that apply.) a] to keep up-to-date with local friends (people I see frequently) b] to keep up-to-date with friends who live far away and who I don’t know well c] to participate in and arrange events d] to shop for, seek advice on and get opinions about products e] to further my career (find out about jobs, post my CV, provide employment information) f] other: g] I don’t use social media (e.g. Facebook, Twitter, etc.)

7 In general, what characteristics of a professional job are most important for you? Write “1” next to the three most important factors, “2” for the three characteristics that are quite important, and “3” for the three characteristics that are least important for you. a] access to social media (e.g. Facebook) during work hours b] a high salary (at least

per year)

c] paid vacation time (at least

weeks per year)

d] good health-care and retirement benefits e] opportunities to travel f] interesting and challenging work g] teamwork with interesting people h] up-to-date technology i] ideal location ( 4 MODULE 1

MEDIA MESSAGES AND THE ART OF PERSUASION

Analysis Form small groups to compare your answers from the survey. Then, answer the following questions.

1 How did the members of your group find out about the programs you are 2 3 4 5 6

studying in? Did advertising play a significant role? What news sources does your group tend to use and to trust the most? How often do you do research in the library with print material? What media sources does your group usually use for entertainment or to be informed? How important is social media for the members of your group and how is it used? What characteristics of a professional job are most important for your group? How much does technology play a part in the decision to work for an organization?

1.2 The Digitally Embedded Ad

READING

Do you notice when an actor in a TV show drinks a specific beverage or drives a specific car? Product placement—integrating branded products into a TV show or movie—has been around since the earliest days of cinema and broadcasting. The digital age, however, is taking this practice to a whole new level.

Pre-Reading Questions 1 Does the integration of branded products into a show (e.g. a can of Coke, a Dell computer, a Ford car, etc.) distract you from the flow of the story? 2 Do you prefer to have commercial breaks for advertising or ads that are embedded directly into the program?

THE IMPACT OF DIGITAL INTEGRATION

PART 1 5

PRONUNCIATION INSIGHT

Pronouncing the -ed Ending The green highlighted words in the text all end in -ed. How are they pronounced? For information and practice, see Module 4, Section 1.1, at the back of the book, and go online to the website.

syndicated: TV or radio programs sold for broadcast rerun: repeat showing of a recorded TV show sitcom: situation comedy—a TV series startled: surprised flick: (informal) movie scoop: (informal) the latest news 6 MODULE 1

wring out of: extract something with difficulty feat: accomplishment CEO: chief executive officer (director-general) ticker: electronic device that displays stock (market) prices, etc. scalable: ability to be scaled or measured

Baharav calls SeamBI an “advertising

HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER: WHY ARE ADS FOR NEW MOVIES IN OLD RERUNS? by Tanner Stransky , Journalist, Entertainment Weekly (818 words)

25 technology innovator” and says that what

If you’ve watched syndicated reruns of the sitcom How I Met Your Mother lately, you might have been startled to see advertisements for very current 5 movies such as Bad Teacher and Zookeeper in episodes that originally aired as early as 2006, long before those flicks were made. So … what exactly is going on with this phenomenon? EW [Enter10 tainment Weekly] investigated, and here’s the scoop.

Turns out that 20th [Century Fox] Television—the studio distributor behind Mother—has been selling promo15 tional spots in syndicated episodes to wring even more money out of the sitcom’s already rich syndication deals. Specifically, the feat is accomplished by a partnership with a company, SeamBI, 20 which stands for Seamless Brand Integration and is responsible for digitally altering old episodes with new products and brands. The company’s CEO Roy

MEDIA MESSAGES AND THE ART OF PERSUASION

they do—in essence, monetizing aging television shows by adding new brands and product placement into old episodes—is the future. “What we do is we 30 insert, very efficiently, brands into content in a natural way and in a way that is valuable to advertisers,” Baharav says. “So we find the balance between not compromising the integrity of the 35 content and, on the other end, bring a lot of value to the advertiser.” In a coffee shop scene with Marshall (Jason Segel), the plasma TV screen was inserted and functions much like one 40 you might typically see in a coffee shop or, for instance, a bar. “In most cases, we insert new things,” explains Baharav. “Not only have we created it, but we created it with a reason that it was there. 45 This is something that the producers insist on—that there is a reason why the device is there. It’s not only a plasma TV. If you look at it, it has a ticker on the side with the NASDAQ status and the 50 Dodgers score, and so on. Basically, it’s just like when you go to a coffee shop, it’s what you might find.” In another scene, the Bad Teacher poster with Ted (Josh Radnor) and Barney (Neil Patrick 55 Harris) was added to a lamppost that was already in the scene. SeamBI started about five years ago after Baharav saw the pressure that DVR penetration was putting on the 30-second 60 commercial. It took more than two years to fully develop the technology, and the first time it went on the air in what Baharav calls a “scalable” way was in September 2009, in syndicated episodes 65 of My Name is Earl, which is another 20th Century Fox Television property. The company worked their magic on all 96 episodes of My Name is Earl that were produced; each episode has two or three 70 opportunities to insert advertising, depending on what’s going on in the storyline. SeamBI has also worked new brands and advertisements into shows like Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader? 75 The really interesting thing about the technology is that the advertising can be

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changed for different markets (the Bad Teacher advertisements, for example, were specific to the New York metropolitan area) and can also be changed to a new advertisement in subsequent re-airings. What that means is that the show can continue to make even more money for the syndicator. “We looked for a way to basically find a hybrid between a commercial and product placement,” Baharav says. “It’s in the content, but it can change in a very efficient way, so that you can monetize the content throughout the life cycle.” Baharav believes that the My Name is Earl and How I Met Your Mother integrations are only the beginning for his technology. He says that changing the brands of cars featured in episodes of television is in the future. “It’s very sophisticated, but it’s possible and I believe that in the future we’ll see it just like with the billboards.” Other examples of what can be switched out for new advertisers in reruns include cell

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phones, hotels and beverages. “This is going to increase the value even further.” Fans may bellyache about this practice because it could be seen as messing with the integrity of what the show was originally. But Baharav says that they try to stem that from happen ing by making the integrations seem natural. “Everything is designed in such a way that it’s going to feel natural,” he says. “We’re not going to risk any integrity of the content.” What’s the future of this kind of thing? Will we see more of it? Of course, Baharav hopes that this is just the beginning—and he says that SeamBI is targeting broadcast and cable networks for the technology, beyond just syndicated reruns. “Definitely I see this as something that is going to be a part of the future, as we see the pressure on the commercials keep increasing,” he says. “I think this is going to be a very popular alternative.”

bellyache: (informal) complain messing with: (informal) modifying stem from happening: prevent

Comprehension 1 How is it possible for a movie ad released in 2015 to appear in a rerun of a show that was produced in 2010?

2 Roy Baharav claims that SeamBI preserves the integrity of the show with their integrated ads. Explain what he means.

3 What items were added to make the integrated ads seem natural?

4 Name two advantages of digitally integrated ads for the advertiser.

5 What are some of the things that can be changed for new advertisers?

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Discussion Form small groups to compare your answers from the comprehension questions. Then, discuss the following questions.

1 How do you feel about digitally altered TV programs? 2 What dangers do you think might arise if digital integration continues to advance? 3 What are the advantages for the viewers of digital integration? 4 Do you think the government should create regulations to limit the scope of digital alterations? If so, what would you limit? 5 Subliminal messages are directed to your unconscious mind. Subliminal advertising is illegal in Canada and the U.S. At what point do you think advertisers have crossed the line between legitimate ads and subliminal ads?

VIDEO

1.3 Product Placement Goes Digital Vocabulary: Idiomatic Expressions Match the expression in Column A with the appropriate description in Column B, and then fill in the blanks in the following paragraph with an appropriate verb. Be sure to use the correct form: add –s or –ing as needed. A

1 it turns out that

A to seem wrong

2 to come out with

B to include something different

3 to bring value to

C to figure out

4 to look off

D to leave or avoid

5 to make sense of

E to make desirable

6 to get away from

F to produce

7 to add a twist to

G what we learned is that

Nowadays, advertisers are

away from commercial

breaks that interrupt TV programs when they a new product. Instead, they

out with value to their products

by making deals to have them built into the actual storyline. Since viewers are distracted if something

off or unnatural, script writers

must be sure their customers can Digital technology has It

sense of the story. a twist to this practice.

out that products can be digitally inserted so

that a character in a 2005 TV show can be holding a 2010 iPad.

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Comprehension Watch the video, in which journalist Taylor Orci looks at the new trend of digitally integrated product placement. Then answer the following questions.

COMPREHENSION

1 Why does Orci say she’s not paid to hold this Coke bottle?

Recognizing Nonverbal Cues

2 How is digital integration different from traditional product placement?

INSIGHT Notice the facial expressions and body language the journalist, Taylor Orci, uses to attract the attention of her viewers. How do these nonverbal cues help to communicate her message?

3 According to Roy Baharav, the CEO of SeamBI, what are two ways that products can be integrated into a show?

4 What aspect of digital integration makes Baharav feel like they are doing a good job?

5 In your own words, explain what computer neuroscientist Moran Cerf says about the signal flag that the human brain sends out.

6 Why were people upset about a new version of a 1928 Charlie Chaplin movie?

7 Does Roy Baharav think that digital integration is immoral? Explain.

8 Explain the irony of Taylor Orci’s final remarks, “I mean, isn’t everyone trying to avoid advertising? That’s why you’re on the internet. Right?”

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LISTENING

1.4 Advertising in Video Games Listen to Jian Ghomeshi, the host of a CBC radio broadcast called “Q.” In this segment, he is interviewing Jesse Wente, a CBC film critic and active video-game player.

PRONUNCIATION INSIGHT

Rhythm in English Jesse Wente speaks very quickly, but with a lot of enthusiasm. Listen to the recording twice: the first time, understand as much as possible to answer the comprehension questions. The second time, pay attention to the rhythm of his voice. Try to imitate the “music” of his voice using nonsense syllables. (da da da da DA da …)

Comprehension 1 What are two examples of product placement that show this form of advertising is not something new?

2 Why has commerce always been more closely associated with video games than with cinema?

3 Wente talks about several games during the interview. As you listen, complete the table below by writing down the name of each game, the product that the game advertises and either the type of game that it is or a brief description of the game. Product

Game

Type of game / Description

bartender serving beer sports game Project Gotham Racing

driving game Subway

online shooter game

4 How is in-game video advertising fundamentally different from advertising in movies or on TV?

5 According to one study, how often do the majority of gamers interact with advertising when they are playing a game?

6 What effect will rating games have on the industry of in-game advertising? 7 What is one big advantage of the internet for advertising in online games?

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8 How big (in dollars) was the gaming industry predicted to be by 2011 and why does the gaming community accept so much advertising in games?

Discussion After listening to this interview, discuss how you feel about the impact of the digital products in the media and in our public spaces, such as TV programs, radio programs, billboards, novels, documentary movies, action movies, newspaper articles, magazine articles, websites, clothing, school supplies, lunch boxes, textbooks, libraries, schools, sports facilities, and so on. Can you think of other places where you have seen product placement? How did you react when you noticed the product?

1.5 Grammar-Based Writing

WRITING

Think about a TV program that you enjoy watching. Write a 100-word paragraph using the simple present in which you describe the characters and the types of activities they do every week. Now imagine a specific scene with a lot of activity and a lot of product integration. Describe the different characters’ actions using the present continuous. Example: (simple present) Mad Men takes place in the 1960s in New York City. The protagonist is Don Draper, who is the creative director at the fictional advertising agency Sterling Cooper. The series shows the people in his life and depicts the social values and changes taking place at this time in the U.S. (present continuous) In one scene, five men are sitting around a table and listening to Don Draper talk about technology and nostalgia. He is standing up and showing slides. The men to his left and right are smoking cigarettes and plumes of smoke are wafting through the air. A female secretary is sitting off to the side taking notes ...

1.6 Experience the Digital World

SPEAKING

1 For many years, the website BrandChannel has tracked product placement in films that reach #1 in U.S. box-office sales and then given awards in a number of different categories. Go online to find the most recent awards in the “Brandcameo” tab. If you have seen any of the films, do you remember the product placement? Did it interfere at all with the story? If you do not remember the products, does that mean the product placement was successful or unsuccessful? Discuss your reactions in small groups.

2 Think of a film or TV show that everyone in your group has seen. Brainstorm products that could logically be integrated into the program. Make a storyboard of how you would modify specific scenes and share your revised story with the class. Or, work with a partner or in small groups to write a short scenario that includes certain brands. Include products that relate to your field of study. © 2012, Les Éditions CEC inc. • Reproduction prohibited

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3 Take a tour of your college or community library. What useful resource material can you find in a library that is impossible to find online? Make a list of the advantages and disadvantages of library services vs. online research material.

READING

1.7 Where Are the Books? Nicholas Carr is the author of several books and many articles about technology, business and culture. Every year, an organization called Edge invites leading scientists, philosophers, technologists and entrepreneurs to respond to a thought-provoking question. The article you are about to read is Nicholas Carr’s response to the question, How Is the Internet Changing the Way You Think?

Pre-Reading Think about what you read and when. Highlight or underline all of the types of reading you do on a regular basis. Digital

Print letters, notes, reminders, billboards, signs, packaging, newspapers, magazines, flyers, manuals, textbooks, novels, comic books

email and text messages, social-media updates, tweets, billboards, forums, blogs, news articles, online ads, electronic how-to manuals and textbooks, e-books, e-zines

other:

How do you feel when you read print or digital texts? Here are some possible descriptive words to consider: well-informed, tired, distracted, sociable, focused, isolated, engaged, obsessed, superficial, involved, cooperative, uncooperative, playful, creative, dynamic, productive, unproductive, lazy, excited, sharp-minded, over-stimulated, under-stimulated, intimidated, relaxed, calm, stressed, sleepy, etc. Feelings while reading print texts:

Feelings while reading digital texts:

How does the medium change the way you read and think?

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Vocabulary Read the excerpt from the text below and select the correct meaning for each word according to the context. I’ve made scores of visits to libraries over the last couple of years. Every time, I’ve seen a greater number of people peering into computer screens than thumbing through pages … “When I look at books, I see an outdated technology,” Tracy told a reporter from the Boston Globe. His charges would seem to agree. A sixteen-year-old student at the school took the disappearance of the library books in stride … I now do the bulk of my reading and researching online. score: a] total number points made b] exam result c] group of 20 to peer:

a] someone the same age or social class b] to look closely c] to appear briefly

to thumb through: a] to flip through printed material b] to hitch a ride c] to make something dirty by handling it too much

INTRODUCTION TO THE BOOKLESS LIBRARY by Nicholas Carr , Technology Expert (856 words)

As the school year began last September, Cushing Academy, an elite Massachusetts prep school that has been around since Civil War days, announced that it was emptying its library of books. In place of the thousands of volumes that had once crowded the building’s shelves, the school was installing, it said, “state-ofthe-art computers with high-definition screens for research and reading,” as well as “monitors that provide students with real-time interactive data and news feeds from around the world.” Cushing’s bookless library would become, boasted headmaster James Tracy, “a model for the twenty-firstcentury school.” The story gained little traction in the press—it came and went as quickly as a tweet—but to me it felt like a cultural milestone. A library without books would have seemed unthinkable just

charge: a] price or fee b] power in a battery c] someone being taken care of bulk: a] majority b] fibre in food c] loose items rather than commercially packaged

twenty years ago; today the news seems almost overdue. I’ve made scores of visits to libraries over the last couple of years. Every time, I’ve seen a greater number of people peering into computer screens than thumbing through pages. The primary role played by libraries today seems to have already shifted from providing access to printed works to providing access to the Internet. There is every reason to believe that the trend will only accelerate. “When I look at books, I see an outdated technology,” Tracy told a reporter from the Boston Globe. His charges would seem to agree. A sixteenyear-old student at the school took the disappearance of the library books in stride. “When you hear the word ‘library,’ you think of books,” she said. “But very few students actually read them.” What makes it easy for an education institution like Cushing to jettison its books is the assumption that the words in books are the same whether they’re printed on paper or formed of pixels on a screen. A word is a word is a word. “If I look outside my window and I see my student reading Chaucer under a tree,” said Tracy, giving voice to this common

prep school: a private secondary school that prepares students for university boast: brag; make a very proud statement tweet: very short message on Twitter overdue: late; after the scheduled time

take something in stride: accept something without getting upset jettison: discard or abandon something Chaucer: English poet of the Middle Ages (lived between 1343 and 1400)

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utterly: completely myriad: many scatter: disperse shield: protect welter: jumble, chaos cursory: quick or superficial glance: quick look rapids: swiftly moving water (used as a metaphor)

decay: deterioration chip away: gradually destroy or reduce shallower: less deep hence: therefore span: reach across proclivity: natural tendency

14 MODULE 1

view, “it is utterly immaterial to me whether they’re doing so by way of a Kindle or by way of a paperback.” The medium, in other words, doesn’t matter. But Tracy is wrong. The medium does matter. It matters greatly. The experience of reading words on a networked computer, whether it’s a PC, an iPhone, or a Kindle, is very different from the experience of reading those same words in a book. As a technology, a book focuses our attention, isolates us from the myriad distractions that fill our everyday lives. A networked computer does precisely the opposite. It is designed to scatter our attention. It doesn’t shield us from environmental distractions; it adds to them. The words on a computer screen exist in a welter of contending stimuli. The human brain, science tells us, adapts readily to its environment. The adaptation occurs at a deep biological level, in the way our nerve cells or neurons connect. The technologies we think with, including the media we use to gather, store, and share information, are critical elements of our intellectual environment, and they play important roles in shaping our modes of thought. That fact not only has been proved in the laboratory but also is evident from even a cursory glance at the course of intellectual history. It may be immaterial to Tracy whether a student reads from a book or a screen, but it is not immaterial to that student’s mind. My own reading and thinking habits have shifted dramatically since I first logged on to the Web fifteen years ago or so. I now do the bulk of my reading and researching online. And my brain has changed as a result. Even as I’ve

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become more adept at navigating the rapids of the Net, I have experienced a steady decay in my ability to sustain my attention. As I explained in the Atlantic in 2008, “What the Net seems to be doing is chipping away my capacity for concentration and contemplation. My mind now expects to take in information the way the Net distributes it: in a swiftly moving stream of particles.”* Knowing that the depth of our thought is tied directly to the intensity of our attentiveness, it’s hard not to conclude that as we adapt to the intellectual environment of the Net our thinking becomes shallower. There are as many human brains as there are human beings. I expect, therefore, that reactions to the Net’s influence, and hence to this year’s Edge question, will span many points of view. Some people will find in the busy interactivity of the networked screen an intellectual environment ideally suited to their mental proclivities. Others will see catastrophic erosion in the ability of human beings to engage in calmer, more meditative modes of thought. A great many likely will be somewhere between the extremes, thankful for the Net’s riches but worried about its long-term effects on the depth of individual intellect and collective culture. My own experience leads me to believe that what we stand to lose will be at least as great as what we stand to gain. I feel sorry for the kids at Cushing Academy. *“Is Google Making Us Stupid?” Atlantic, July-August 2008. (Nicholas Carr is also the author of The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains)

Comprehension Determine whether the following statements are True (T), False (F) according to the text, or Not Mentioned (NM). Defend your answers with an explanation or quotes from the text.

Cushing Academy has existed since the mid-1800s.

News that the Academy’s library was going to get rid of all of its books created a public debate.

The students at the Academy apparently agree with their headmaster, James Tracy, that books represent an outdated technology.

Tracy believes that reading a book electronically is the same as reading it in print.

Digital technology can make reading Chaucer a more dynamic experience.

The author believes that books are distracting because the pages must be turned.

Networked computers are designed to help readers focus on one main idea.

According to Carr, digital technology is changing the way our brains process information.

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The author believes that the internet is causing people to have deeper thoughts.

The author spends many more hours a day reading today than he did before the days of the internet.

The author acknowledges that the way different people interpret the information they are getting from the internet can vary.

The author is afraid of technology and would like to see it banned from schools.

Discussion 1 How would you react if you learned that your college or university had decided to replace all of its books with a networked computer system?

2 One of the advantages of networked digital resources is that information can be updated easily, but this also makes them vulnerable to hackers and/ or people who are seeking political or commercial control. How can an educational institution guarantee that the knowledge that is available electronically will be as reliable and truthful as possible?

3 What dangers can you imagine arising in a world that relies completely on electronic devices? Consider issues related to electrical/battery power, manipulation of data, neurological changes in human beings, revisionist history, control of information, the environmental impact of electronic waste, etc.

WRITING

1.8 Persuasive Essay: Time to Regulate? Write a 350-word essay on whether you think the government should establish regulations for digital integration on TV, in schools and other public spaces. If you would like to have regulations, be very precise in explaining what should be regulated. If you do not want regulations, explain carefully why not. Is it because you support this form of advertising? Your essay should include: a title a short introduction with an attention-getting opener and a clear thesis statement two or three body paragraphs that include a topic sentence and the details to support your point of view a conclusion that wraps up your point and leaves your reader with something to think about.

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Model: Persuasive Essay Social Networking: The Digital Demon Technology and progress are often considered to be the elements that move humans forward. However, nearly every major technological innovation has had its dark side. We did not foresee that Enrico Fermi’s discovery of nuclear fission would lead to nuclear bombs or that Erik Rotheim’s aerosol would diminish the ozone layer. Similarly, the early days of the internet did not predict the potential for corporations to get rich from our personal information or our natural resources. Our generation needs to be aware that corporate-run social-networking sites are having a dangerous effect on social interactions and threatening the environment. Social-networking sites exist to make money from our private life, even if it looks like these sites are about connecting and having fun. As cute as it may seem to share pictures of baby kittens, the services offered by social networks were not designed to promote lovable cats. Sites like Facebook have a carefully designed business plan and their features are designed to maximize profits by encouraging us to be constantly connected. These connections become addictive so that we forget the satisfaction of private reflection or the joy of actually talking to a friend. When our phones beep or we see our friends online, there’s no reason to go outside or be alone, and the site owners can gather more data about our private lives.

Attention-getting opener

Thesis statement: states the opinion and main arguments First body paragraph: includes a topic sentence and details to support it

Many people think that using a social network instead of paper minimizes pollution. What they fail to understand is that the information we post needs servers to keep it active. Servers are computers that operate continuously to ensure our information is always accessible. The more information there is, the greater the need for servers. Half a billion users making 60 million daily updates consume a lot of electricity.

Second body paragraph: includes a topic sentence and details to support it

Social networking has provided our generation with tremendous opportunities that no previous generation has ever experienced. However, these opportunities come with a responsibility to think carefully about what we want from communication— from our friends and from our planet. We need to be cautious of the so-called free sites and always keep in mind the real cost of progress and technology.

Conclusion: wraps up the main points and leaves the reader with something to think about

Adapted from an essay by Marc Leclerc (student at Collège Édouard-Montpetit)

1.9 Ad Analysis

SPEAKING

Search online for a few commercials to watch and then choose one that you will analyze. (Your teacher might suggest specific ads for you.) Remember that an advertiser’s job is to get you interested in a product, and hopefully, persuade you to buy it. Some advertisements are very successful at creating interest and leaving an impression. Your analysis should be in paragraphs and include answers to questions such as these:

1 Does the ad tell a story? If it does, what is its basic structure or sequence of events? 2 Is there a narrator (a voice of someone you do not see)? If so, how would you describe the narrator: Male or female? Young or old? Authoritative, playful or matter-of-fact? 3 What is the tone of the ad? Is it humorous, playful, serious, informative or something else?

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4 Does the ad use technical devices? What role does music play, if any? Are characters shown by using close-ups or long shots (pictures taken from a distance)? Is lighting used in any special way? Are there unusual camera angles? Are printed words used? 5 Who is the target audience and what is the message? Is the intention to convince you to buy a product, inform you so that you take action, or something else? 6 Does the commercial succeed in delivering its message? Do you feel inspired to act?

1.10 Words to Know For each word or expression in the charts below, check if you know and can use it (when you speak or write), if you understand it (when you read or listen) or if you really don’t know it at all. To verify the meaning of words, check the glossary on the website or in a good dictionary. Write down these new words, and their definitions, on the lines provided. How I Met Your Mother: The Digitally Embedded Ad (pages 6-7) Word or Expression

Know & can use it

Understand Don’t it somewhat know it

Word or Expression

1 syndicated line 1

10 to wring out of line 16

2 rerun line 1

11 feat line 18

3 startled line 3

12 to alter line 22

4 current line 4

13 brand line 23

5 to air line 6

14 in essence line 26

6 flick (informal) line 7

15 on the air line 62

7 phenomenon line 9

16 to mess with line 106

8 scoop line 11

17 integrity line 106

9 to turn out line 12

18 to stem sthg from happening line 108

Know & can use it

Understand Don’t it somewhat know it

Words to know, and their definitions:

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The Bookless Library (pages 13-14) Word or Expression

Know & can use it

Understand Don’t it somewhat know it

Word or Expression

1 to boast line 15

10 to shield line 69

2 overdue line 24

11 cursory line 85

3 scores line 24

12 to glance line 85

4 to peer line 27

13 bulk line 93

5 to thumb through line 28

14 rapids line 97

6 to take sthg in stride line 39

15 to decay line 98

7 utterly line 53

16 to chip away line 101

8 myriad line 65

17 shallow line 111

9 to scatter line 68

18 to span line 116

Know & can use it

Understand Don’t it somewhat know it

Words to know, and their definitions:

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PART

MEDIA LITERACY, STATISTICS AND FILTER BUBBLES You should know who has your personal data, what data they have, and how it is used.

WARM-UP

– Eli Pariser, internet activist

2.1 Numerical Messages Work in small groups. Take turns reading each of the following quotations about statistics, and then explain in your own words what the author is implying.

1 Be able to analyze statistics, which can be used to support or undercut any argument. –Marilyn vos Savant

2 The average human has one breast and one testicle. –Des MacHale 3 Statistics: The only science that enables different experts using the same figures to draw different conclusions. –Evan Esar

4 In ancient times they had no statistics so they had to fall back on lies. –Stephen Leacock

5 Individual statistics, plate time and everything tend to come, but the most enjoyment I get out of baseball is actually winning. –Chili Davis

6 Statistics are no substitute for judgment. –Henry Clay 7 One death is a tragedy; a million is a statistic. –Joseph Stalin

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2.2 Comparing Newspaper Articles

READING

Pre-Reading Questions Have you ever thought about how numbers can be used to colour shades of meaning? In this example, who won the race? Yuri and Pedro decided to race each other. The media reported that Yuri came in second and Pedro came in second to last. How were numbers used to mislead readers? How does this relate to the quotations you read? Work with a partner to compare the two excerpts from newspaper articles about a survey conducted by the Office de la langue française. One student should read Article A and the other, Article B. When you have finished, discuss the questions following the texts with your partner.

Article A TOO MUCH ENGLISH DOWNTOWN by Jan Ravensbergen, Journalist, The Montréal Gazette (164 words)

Article B USE OF FRENCH GETS THUMBS-UP The Toronto Star and The Canadian Press (162 Words)

English is still too prominent in downtown Montréal, particuQuébec’s language watchdogs gave a passing grade today [in larly at small restaurants and convenience stores, provincial 2007] to businesses in downtown Montréal, an English enclave Culture and Communications Minister Line Beauchamp accused of traditionally ignoring French. declared yesterday [in 2007]. There have been long-standing complaints about the use of 5 Roughly 30 per cent of commercial signs at 2,471 small- and 5 English downtown, where tourists flock to the city’s renowned medium-sized retail businesses surveyed downtown last fall by shopping district and the cobblestone streets of Old Montréal. Québec’s language watchdogs didn’t give French sufficient So the provincial Office de la langue française carried out a dominance, she said. French must become more clearly domi language sting of sorts last fall, checking up on 2,500 stores. nant on outside signs as well as inside these small businesses, Line Beauchamp, the provincial minister responsible for 10 she added, “to conserve the French face of Montréal and its 10 language laws, said that four out of five businesses greeted the downtown.” undercover language cops in French first. Ninety per cent Beauchamp, who is responsible for the French Language offered service entirely in French and 70 per cent of commercial Charter, said she’s ordered an information and advertising signs in downtown Montréal conformed with Québec language campaign launched last fall by the Office québécois de la langue laws. 15 française to continue. She also asked each consumer, in their 15 Beauchamp said the results show progress has been made in daily life “... to promote the common language of Québec society.” guarding the mother tongue but she said the province must Customers were greeted using French first at 83 per cent of remain vigilant. “We must continue with the vigilance required the retailers surveyed. French was the language of service about to protect the French language,’’ Beauchamp said at a news 90 per cent of the time, [said Gerald Paquette at the Office.] conference in Québec City.

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Questions 1 Do the two articles quote the same statistics? Explain your answer with examples.

2 What do the headlines tell you about the articles?

3 Article A comes from a Montréal newspaper and Article B comes from a Toronto newspaper. What influence could this have on the way an article is presented?

4 Who is quoted in each article? How are the quotes used to support information?

5 What conclusions can you draw from comparing these two articles?

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2.3 There’s More Than One Kind of Literacy

SPEAKING

Take a look at the pages in this book. Is there colour? Are there images? How is the text arranged? Are there columns? How are the margins used? What kind of fonts (typesets) are used? All of these decisions had to be made in designing your book. Every day, we receive hundreds of messages that were designed by somebody somewhere and for some specific reason. Since you woke up this morning, you have probably seen, read or heard messages on your smartphone, on a cereal box, in the subway, on billboards, on TV, on the radio, online and in so many other places. To be a good media consumer, you need to understand how and why those messages were constructed—and to consider what information was left out. For every media message you come across, you can develop your media literacy skills by being aware of the following:

1 Someone (or some people) created the message and made decisions about 2 3 4 5 6

how to present it and what to include or leave out. The message wants us to believe or do something. Even non-fiction books and documentaries are designed to persuade us to believe something. Media messages are controlled through editing, sequencing, placement, timing, lighting, camera angles, soundtrack and other devices, and these will influence the way the message is interpreted. Different people will experience the same media message differently, so the meaning of the message can depend on the audience. The words used in the message may have a literal meaning, but images, symbols, music and relationships may be used to send an unstated or hidden message. All media are owned by institutions or individuals. Most media messages are intended to bring power and/or wealth to someone.

VOCABULARY INSIGHT

The Meaning of Literacy The word literacy means the ability to read and write but has also evolved to mean an understanding of something: computer literacy refers to an understanding of computers; digital literacy means an understanding of electronic devices; and media literacy, an understanding of the messages we receive via magazines, music, social networking, websites, video games, posters and so on.

Research Search for some ads on the internet and/or in print media and ask the following questions for each one. Then share your answers with a partner or other class members to see how similar or different your interpretations were.

1 2 3 4 5

Who created the message? Whose story is being told? Who was the message intended for? Who is the target audience? What values, lifestyles and points of view are represented in the message? What is the overt meaning of the message—what is it telling me literally? What is the hidden meaning of the message—is there an embedded message? 6 What techniques are used to persuade or inform me? 7 What is the goal of the message? 8 What part of the message or story was not told? Why?

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Practice Work with a partner to add a caption (short text) to a few of the following pictures. Determine the goal of your message and who your target audience is. Exchange your photos with another group to see if they can guess your intended audience and goal.

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MEDIA MESSAGES AND THE ART OF PERSUASION

2.4 Who’s Following Me?

READING

As a college student, Eli Pariser launched a website calling for a nonmilitary response to terrorism, shortly after the September 11 attacks. The website was signed by 192 countries and merged with MoveOn, where Pariser became the executive director. In 2007, he cofounded Avaaz, and in 2012, he launched and became the CEO of Upworthy, a site that hosts meaningful content on the web, allowing it to go viral. Discuss the Pre-Reading Questions before reading the excerpt, and match the Vocabulary words and expressions with the appropriate descriptions.

Pre-Reading Questions 1 How can you apply what you learned about media literacy to the internet? 2 How have sites that you use regularly (such as Facebook, Hotmail, Yahoo, etc.) changed over the last five years?

Vocabulary As you read the text, match the words in the first column with the definitions in the second. 1 around the corner

A to be friendly with someone

2 to flatten

B to become fixed or definite

3 to usher in

C big show, publicity event

4 broad base

D to bring in, launch

5 everyday

E close by

6 unease

F common, ordinary

7 to crystallize

G discomfort

8 to befriend

H husband or wife

9 fanfare

I to make all parts have the same height

10 spouse

J widespread, generalized

AN EXCERPT FROM THE FILTER BUBBLE: WHAT THE INTERNET IS HIDING FROM YOU by Eli Pariser, Internet Activist (673 words)

10 the power to act on it. The California

futurists and techno-optimists in those pages spoke with a clear-eyed certainty: an inevitable, irresistible revolution was just around the corner, one that would 15 flatten society, unseat the elites, and usher in a kind of freewheeling global When I was growing up in rural Maine utopia. For a time, it seemed that the in the 1990s, a new Wired [magazine] Internet was going to entirely redemocarrived at our farmhouse every month, ratize society. Bloggers and citizen full of stories about AOL, and Apple and 20 journalists would single-handedly 5 how hackers and technologists were rebuild the public media. Politicians changing the world. To my preteen self, would be able to run only with a broad it seemed clear that the Internet was base of support from small, everyday going to democratize the world, condonors. Local governments would necting us with better information and © 2012, Les Éditions CEC inc. • Reproduction prohibited

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understand how Facebook was deciding 55 what to show me and what to hide. As it

25 become more transparent and account-

GRAMMAR INSIGHT

When to Use Continuous Tenses When do we use the continuous (progressive) tenses? Look at the grey highlighted words in the reading and explain why the continuous form was used. For more practice, see Units 1 and 2 in the Insight Grammar book and the website.

26 MODULE 1

able to their citizens. And yet the era of civic connection I dreamed about hasn’t come. Democracy requires citizens to see things from one another’s point of view, but instead we’re more and more enclosed in our own bubbles. Democracy requires a reliance on shared facts; instead we’re being offered parallel but separate universes. My sense of unease crystallized when I noticed that my conservative friends had disappeared from my Facebook page. Politically, I lean to the left, but I like to hear what conservatives are thinking, and I’ve gone out of my way to befriend a few and add them as Facebook connections. I wanted to see what links they’d post, read their comments, and learn a bit from them. But their links never turned up in my Top News feed. Facebook was apparently doing the math and noticing that I was still clicking my progressive friends’ links more than my conservative friends’—and links to the latest Lady Gaga videos more than either. So no conservative links for me. I started doing some research, trying to

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turned out, Facebook wasn’t alone. With little notice or fanfare, the digital world is fundamentally changing. What was once an anonymous medium where anyone could be anyone—where, in the words of the famous New Yorker cartoon, nobody knows you’re a dog—is now a tool for soliciting and analyzing our personal data. According to one Wall Street Journal study, the top fifty Internet sites, from CNN to Yahoo to MSN, install an average of 64 dataladen cookies [computer files that contain information about the user] and personal tracking beacons [embedded image that works with cookies to track web usage] each. Search for a word like “depression” on Dictionary.com, and the site installs up to 223 tracking cookies and beacons on your computer so that other Web sites can target you with antidepressants. Share an article about cooking on ABC News, and you may be chased around the Web by ads for Teflon-coated pots. Open—even for an instant—a page listing signs that your spouse may be cheating and prepare to be haunted with DNA paternity-test ads. The new Internet doesn’t just know you’re a dog: it knows your breed and wants to sell you a bowl of premium kibble [pet food]. The race to know as much as possible about you has become the central battle of the era for Internet giants like Google, Facebook, Apple, and Microsoft. As Chris Palmer of the Electronic Frontier Foundation explained to me, “You’re getting a free service, and the cost is information about you. And Google and Facebook translate that pretty directly into money.” While Gmail and Facebook may be helpful, free tools, they are also extremely effective and voracious extraction engines into which we pour the most intimate details of our lives. Your smooth new iPhone knows exactly where you go, whom you call, what you read; with its built-in microphone, gyroscope, and GPS, it can tell whether you’re walking or in a car or at a party.

Vocabulary Using Word Analysis Frequently you can determine the meaning of an unfamiliar word by analyzing its parts. For example, if you know that the suffix pre- means before and the word teen means someone who is between 13 and 19 years old, then you can guess that a preteen is someone who is not yet 13 years old.

For more information on analyzing words, see Understanding New Language in Module 4.

Use word analysis to determine the meaning of the following words and expressions, shown in bold in the reading article.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

farmhouse: techno-optimist: to unseat: freewheeling: to redemocratize: single-handedly: data-laden [laden = weighted down] Teflon-coated:

Comprehension Answer questions 1 to 3, and then choose the best answers for 4 to 6.

1 Who is the author of this article and what is his background?

2 What is the main idea of this article?

3 How has the author’s perception of the internet changed?

4 In the 1990s, the author believed that: a] The internet would reduce the difference between the rich and the poor b] Citizens would be better informed because everyday people could write articles in blogs c] Widespread use of the internet would force politicians to be more honest d] All of the above.

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5 The author realized that the way he received information through the internet had changed when: a] Links to his conservative friends had disappeared b] Hackers were being hired by the government c] Links to the articles his progressive friends wrote turned out to be spam d] Lady Gaga’s videos became very popular.

6 The author used the example of the New Yorker cartoon to show that: a] Internet-users don’t have to be human b] The breed of dog you choose tells companies something about your spending habits c] Watching ABC News on the internet can improve your cooking skills d] Today’s big internet companies can collect intimate details about you.

Parallel Structure This type of structure means that two or more words or phrases are presented in the same grammatical form to provide coherence. Read the sentence below, paying special attention to the underlined words. Determine whether the word pairs (triplets) are adjectives, nouns or verbs and then guess the meaning of the underlined words from the context. The California futurists and techno-optimists in those pages spoke with a clear-eyed certainty: an inevitable, irresistible revolution was just around the corner, one that would flatten society, unseat the elites, and usher in a kind of freewheeling global utopia.

1 futurists, techno-optimists: 2 inevitable, irresistible: 3 flatten, unseat, usher: 4 Find other examples of parallel structure in the text.

Discussion 1 What elements do you think are important for a democratic society? 2 Would you rather pay for internet sites than have them track your personal data? 3 What do you think are the advantages and disadvantages of tracking cookies and collecting personal data?

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2.5 Who Are the Real Digital Natives?

SPEAKING

Although few students in today’s colleges and universities haven’t heard of social media or the latest gadget, a sample survey in any classroom can reveal surprising statistics about who is really tech-savvy. Deﬁnition digital native: someone who has grown up using technology from a very young age and is adept at using and adapting to electronic devices. In contrast, a “digital immigrant” grew up before the Digital Age and has had to learn to adapt to the use of technology, in a similar way that immigrants adapt to their adopted culture

1 The following is a chart showing the results of a survey given to two groups of students. The first column shows the results of students studying in technical programs such as Pure and Applied Sciences, Nursing or Aviation, and the second column shows the results of students studying in Arts programs such as Social Sciences, Arts and Letters, Music and so on. The numbers in parentheses show the number of students who responded. a) How do you feel about technology?

Technical Students

I love it. I accept it. I only use it when I have to. I hate technology.

34.6% (9) 61.5% (16) 3.9% (2) 0% (0)

Arts Students 30.8% (8) 61.5% (16) 7.7% (2) 0% (0)

b] What kinds of things do you use computers and other electronic devices for? Doing my homework Sending email messages Texting friends Searching for online information Watching videos Sharing information on sites like Facebook Creating websites, blogs, etc.

96.2% (25) 84.6% (22) 76.9 % (20) 96.2% (25) 88.5% (23) 65.4% (17) 7.7% (2)

88.5% (23) 96.2% (25) 69.2% (18) 88.5% (23) 76.9% (20) 76.9% (20) 7.7% (2)

c] Do you use a computer mainly for work or entertainment? Mainly work About half and half Mainly entertainment

2.1% (1) 65.4% (16) 32.5% (17)

3.8% (2) 69.2% (18) 27% (7)

d] What is your experience with the following? I don’t know what these are. blogs podcasts audio recordings online videos Facebook or similar

15.4% 18.4% 0% 0% 0%

0 32 0 0 0

I know what these are, but never use them. 61.5% 65.4% 7.7% 7.7% 7.7%

57.7 52 3.8 15.4 3.8

I read, watch or listen to these. 19.2% 19.2% 65.4% 15.4% 15.4%

23.1 8 80.8 11.5 19.2

I occasionally post on these. 3.9% 2.1% 15.4% 61.5% 19.2%

19.2 2.6 7.7 46.2 23.1

I’m an expert creator. 0% 0% 11.5% 15.4% 57.7%

MEDIA LITERACY, STATISTICS AND FILTER BUBBLES

5.1 0 7.7 26.9 53.9

PART 2 29

2 Work in small groups. Half the class will use these statistics to argue that Technical Students are the real Digital Natives. The other half of the class will use these statistics to prove that Arts students are the real Digital Natives. Write a short report and then present it to the class. When all of the reports have been presented, determine which group had the most compelling arguments and why.

VIDEO

2.6 The Corporation—The Nag Factor Pre-Viewing Questions The word nag means to persistently and annoyingly ask someone to do something. The video clip you will watch is from a 2004 documentary called The Corporation. You will see how nagging was used as a strategy to increase profits. Before you watch the video, discuss these questions.

1 Do you remember whether you nagged your parents to buy you a toy, go to a movie or theme park or go to a fast-food restaurant, when you were little? 2 How did your parents respond to your nagging? Were you successful in getting what you wanted? 3 What do you think influenced you to nag?

Vocabulary Read through these definitions before watching the video.

COMPREHENSION INSIGHT

Recognizing Visual Cues As you watch the video, observe how images, pie charts and speakers are arranged and timed. How do they contribute to your understanding of the topic? How do they contribute to persuading you?

subsidiary: a company that is owned by another company yesteryear: in the past BB gun: a small air gun smart bomb: a bomb with a sensor system to guide it to the target pervasive: everywhere to cope: deal with vulnerabilities: weaknesses to be honed: perfected enhanced: intensified

Comprehension 1 Who owns the copyright to the song “Happy Birthday”? 2 How does Susan Linn, professor of psychology at Harvard University, compare past marketing with what’s being done today?

3 What were parents asked to record about their children?

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4 How was the information that parents recorded used?

5 What proportion of purchases/visits would not have occurred without nagging?

6 Besides fast food (e.g., Chuckie Cheese), what other purchases/visits were made due to nagging?

7 How does Professor Linn feel about toy companies developing ageappropriate toys?

8 Why do toy companies hire child psychologists?

9 How much does the toy industry pay to advertise to children?

10 How does Lucy Hughes, vice-president of Initiative Media, know she has done her job?

Discussion Now that you have seen the video, go back to the Pre-Viewing Questions and re-examine your answers. Would you change any of them?

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LISTENING

2.7 Watch Your Step When Shopping Vocabulary dairy case: the section of a store with milk, yogourt, cream, cheese products aisle: a passageway between displays (pronounced the same as I’ll or isle) counter-clockwise: opposite to the direction of a clock (to the left) to grab someone’s attention: make someone notice quickly slotting fee: money paid for a particular position skid: a low platform on which goods are loaded

PRONUNCIATION INSIGHT

Deliberate Pausing Notice how the speaker, Terry O’Reilly, paces his voice with deliberate pauses between clauses and phrases to help listeners follow what he is saying. For information and practice, see Module 4, Section 1.7, at the back of the book, and go online to the website.

Pre-Listening Questions 1 When you go shopping, do you prepare a list (on paper or in your head) of the items you plan to buy? If so, do you usually stick to the list or do you like to make unplanned purchases? What usually prompts you to make unplanned purchases?

2 How would you describe the path you take when you go grocery shopping?

• Do you usually go clockwise or counter-clockwise? • Do you go up and down the aisles or do you tend to walk around the perimeter? • Do you look mainly at items that are at eye level or do you look at items on the top and bottom shelves as well?

Comprehension 1 What is the main idea of this recording? (Circle the correct answer.) a] Vendors pay a premium to display their products in the best place possible. b] Everyone must pass by the checkout, so retailers entice you to make impulse purchases. c] Retailers try to influence shopping behaviour through product placement and store design. d] Studies show grocery shoppers don’t weave up and down the aisles.

2 Explain why milk is usually at the back of a grocery store and perfume is usually at the front of a department store.

3 What are the four strategies regarding the “end caps”?

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4 How much do U.S. food manufacturers pay grocery stores for the placement of new products?

5 What is a good trick to know, to save money? 6 Give two reasons why the products placed near the checkout are so profitable for retailers.

Discussion 1 What are some good strategies to use to save money when you go shopping? 2 Think of the grocery store where you shop the most often. What percentage of the products is “junk food”? Where are these items placed? Where are healthy foods placed? 3 How does store design impact the growing problem of obesity?

2.8 How You See It

WRITING

Write a 350-word essay on one of the topics below. Your essay must include:

• an introduction with an attention-getting opener and a clear thesis statement • two or three body paragraphs that include topic sentences and supporting details • a conclusion that wraps up the main points and leaves the reader with some-

For more information on writing persuasively, see “Persuasive Essay” in Unit 12 of the Insight Grammar book.

thing to think about.

1 Mark Prensky, the person who coined the terms “Digital Natives” and “Digital Immigrants” back in 2001, recently wrote that current advances in technology should be concerned with “Digital Wisdom” or how to use technology wisely. Discuss the impact technology has on your field of study and/or your personal life: Does it save time or create addictive behaviour? Does it improve or impair your memory? Does it enhance or inhibit ability?

2 Find an article that uses statistics to defend a point of view. Use the same statistics, but argue the opposite point of view. Include supporting details that give the statistics a different interpretation or “spin.”

3 Imagine the store, shopping area or city of your dreams. What would your principal goal for this centre be—to make money, to improve social interactions, to provide a healthy atmosphere, to encourage creative thinking, or something else? Determine the principal goal of your building(s) or city and then describe how you would arrange products, artwork, plants, etc. to achieve that goal.

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2.9 Words to Know For each word or expression in the charts below, check if you know and can use it (when you speak or write), if you understand it (when you read or listen) or if you really don’t know it at all. To verify the meaning of words, check the glossary on the website or in a good dictionary. Write down these new words, and their definitions, on the lines provided. Comparing Newspaper Articles (page 21) : A) Too Much English ... & B) Use of French ... Word or Expression

Know & Understand it Don’t Word or Expression can use it somewhat know it

Know & can use it

1 prominent A line 1

10 long-standing B line 4

2 convenience stores A line 2

11 complaints B line 4

3 roughly A line 5

12 to flock B line 5

4 retail businesses A line 6

13 renowned B line 5

5 to survey A line 6

14 cobblestone B line 6

6 watchdog A line 7

15 to carry out B line 7

7 to launch A line 14

16 to check up on B line 8

8 consumer A line 15

17 undercover B line 11

9 to greet A line 17

18 conference B line 19

Understand Don’t it somewhat know it

Words to know, and their definitions:

The Filter Bubble (pages 25-26) Word or Expression

Know & can use it

Understand Don’t it somewhat know it

Word or Expression

1 clear-eyed line 12

10 to crystallize line 35

2 around the corner line 14

11 to lean to line 38

3 to flatten line 15

12 to go out of [my] way line 40

4 to usher in line 16

13 to befriend line 41

5 single-handedly line 20

14 to do the math line 47

6 broad base line 22

15 fanfare line 57

7 era line 26

16 to solicit line 63

8 reliance line 32

17 spouse line 82

9 unease line 35

18 haunted line 83

Know & can use it

Understand Don’t it somewhat know it

Words to know, and their definitions:

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MEDIA MESSAGES AND THE ART OF PERSUASION

PART

A WEB OF INFORMATION I was brought up to believe that the only thing worth doing was to add to the sum of accurate information in the world.

WARM-UP

–Margaret Mead, anthropologist

3.1 Info on the Whole Wide Web Work in small groups to find the answers to the following questions. How much do you know about the internet?

1 What does www mean? a] d]

world wise web b] whole world web

word wise web c]

world wide web

2 Who is credited with inventing the web? a]

Steve Jobs b]

Larry Page c]

Bill Gates d]

Tim Berners-Lee

3 What was the first product sold on eBay? a] d]

Sesame Street doll b] used typewriter

broken laser pointer

video of E.T.

4 When was the world’s first email message sent? a]

1964

1971 c]

1975 d]

1978

5 What does http stand for? a] c]

hypertext transfer protocol b] hyperlink text tool program d]

help to train people hyper typed text program

6 What does MP3 stand for? a] c]

multi-platform production program b] moving picture, level 3 (MPEG 3) d]

multiple photo picture playlist music player, version 3

A WEB OF INFORMATION

PART 3 35

7 How many articles were there in the English version of Wikipedia in 2012? a] nearly a million b] nearly two million c] nearly four million d] nearly a billion 8 When was YouTube created? a] 2004 b] 2005 c] 2006 d]

2007

9 Who was the creator of Facebook? a] Steve Jobs b] Shawn Fanning c] d] Mark Zuckerberg

Larry Page

10 How long can a Twitter post be? a]

25 words b]

50 words c]

140 characters d]

two lines

11 When did Queen Elizabeth II send the first royal email? a]

1974 b]

1976 c]

1980 d]

1984

12 How many people are paid employees of Wikipedia? a]

50–100 b]

100–500 c]

500–20,000 d]

over 50,000

13 When was the first iPad released? a]

2008 b]

2009 c]

2010 d]

2011

14 Who founded Wikipedia? a] b] c] d]

Jimmy Wales and Larry Sanger Dustin Moskovitz and Eduardo Saverin Jack Dorsey and Noah Glass Evan Williams and Meg Hourihan

15 What does IMHO mean in online communication? a] c]

internet media hoax online b] in the middle of the hole in the ozone it might help out d] in my humble opinion

16 What does URL stand for? a] c]

unique reference link b] uniform resource locator upright load d] united rotor lead

17 What Google search was the most common in 2011? a]

Craigslist b]

Facebook c]

Amazon d]

YouTube

18 Which of these countries had the most cellphone users in 2011? a] 36 MODULE 1

MEDIA MESSAGES AND THE ART OF PERSUASION

Pakistan b]

Japan c]

Russia d]

Brazil

3.2 Wikipedia Gaining Respect in Places

of Higher Learning

READING

Pre-Reading Discussion Here is a chart of different types of resources that could be used when conducting research. Consider the sources you use for research papers and then discuss the questions below. Print and people

Multimedia & online archives

Online sources

newspapers magazines and journals books people (specialists)

original films, documentaries CDs, recordings radio programs, podcasts online videos (YouTube, etc.)

websites weblogs wikis (Wikipedia, etc.) Facebook, Twitter, etc.

other

• Which of these sources do you find the most efficient? • Which do you believe are the most reliable or accurate? • What factors do you consider, to decide what you will use? • Do you use Wikipedia or similar sites to find information? • When you find the information you were looking for, do you assume it is true, or do you look for other sources for confirmation? • Have you had teachers who would not allow Wikipedia references? What was their reason?

Vocabulary Phrasal verbs are verbs that consist of more than one word. Most of the time, a one-word synonym can be found that has the same or a similar meaning. As you read the text, match the words in the first column with the definitions in the second. 1 to break down

A to consult

2 to get on board

B to create

3 to leave behind

C to distribute

4 to hand out

D to handle

5 to set off

E to join

6 to turn to

F to participate

7 to come up with

G to start

8 to deal with

H to transfer

9 to take part in

I to weaken

A WEB OF INFORMATION

PART 3 37

Now, put an X in each blank where the word(s) in parentheses could go to make a correct statement.

Whenever you use an internet source for your research, you must cite it, just as you would for a book or journal. See page 166 in the Language and Strategy section for instructions on how to make correct citations.

1 (barriers) The volunteers tried to break

down

between the rich and

the poor.

2 (a lot of students) Herman hoped to get

board

to support his

cause.

3 (a legacy) The students felt that this opportunity would allow them to leave behind

4 5 6 7

(pamphlets) George volunteered to hand (an alarm) The politician’s remark set (her friends) Georgina turned

off

out

that made people upset.

when she needed some advice.

(a plan) The committee tried to come ball rolling.

with

that would get the

8 (busy students) They discovered the challenge of getting people involved when dealing

. 9 (the demonstration) Finally, over 1000 participants took

INSIGHT

-s and –es Sounds How do you pronounce forms that end in –s or –es? Practice saying the words that are highlighted in grey.

38 MODULE 1

It was about six years ago that University of B.C. professor Jon BeasleyMurray first noticed his students citing Wikipedia in their essays. If they were going to use Wikipedia for his class on Latin American literature, he thought, they might as well improve some of the shoddy articles on the subject. So, for the past five years, students in his class have edited or contributed articles to Wikipedia as part of a class assignment. “It was a chance to break down some of the barriers between the university and society,” Beasley-Murray said. Wikipedia is described as a “free, web-based, collaborative, multilingual encyclopedia project supported by the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation.” It was launched in 2001 and takes the first part of its name from the Hawaiian word “wiki,” for fast, and is the name of a server program that allows anyone to edit the website’s content through their own browser.

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part

25 FIVE CLASSES IN CANADA

WIKIPEDIA MAKES PUSH TO BECOME STAPLE OF CLASSROOM LESSONS by Jordan Press, Journalist Postmedia News (1006 words)

PRONUNCIATION

shoddy: poorly made likely: probably

with

By the end of this year [2011], Wikipedia hopes to have convinced enough professors worldwide that approximately 10,000 students will be contributing to the site. There are five classes contributing in Canada, but there are likely others doing it without being part of the Global Education Program. The program’s ambassadors tour campuses, hoping to get more professors on board with the idea that their students should write Wikipedia articles rather than papers that may simply be filed away once they’re marked. “One of the incentives for students is they’re leaving something behind,” said Jonathan Obar, who oversees the Canadian program. “The material is staying online and making a difference.” Wikipedia’s goal of having opensourced learning in higher education is mirrored by similar pushes at the secondary and elementary school levels. The Toronto District School Board, for instance, lists Wikipedia as a primary source in a research guide it hands out to students, while Wikipedia will expand its college program to a high school in Virginia next year.

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More often now, Wikipedia is something that’s being used in the classroom, rather than avoided. “It is a valid source for a lot of generalized public information,” said Lisa Dempster, a teacher-librarian at Riverdale Collegiate in Toronto. Reliable is not a word that traditionally has been associated with Wikipedia, but that’s changing. The change began in 2005 when the prestigious science journal Nature compared Wikipedia to Encyclopaedia Britannica and found Wikipedia to be almost as accurate as Britannica, a finding that set off a war of words between the two institutions. The evidence mounted this year [2011], when Brigham Young University in Utah found that Wikipedia was a reliable place to learn about U.S. politicians. The school’s study found few inaccuracies in the biographical and voting details of gubernatorial candidates. And, in September of this year [2011], a study published in the Journal of Oncology Practice found that cancer information on Wikipedia was as accurate as information on peer-reviewed, patientoriented websites. A desire to solve those accuracy issues and to help students learn has led Wikipedia to turn to students to contribute to articles to improve the information available worldwide. The Global Education Program is the result of nearly two years of work by a cross-disciplinary committee of policy experts that reviewed thousands of entries and found ways to correct inaccuracies. Professors post course information to Wikipedia so that anyone can see what lessons are being taught and students use Wikipedia to collaborate in online groups. TOP 10 SITE Beasley-Murray said his year-over-year use of Wikipedia in assignments has been helpful in his teaching. Students work all semester on their Wikipedia articles—so no late-night cramming before an essay is due—and have to learn to collaborate with their classmates and Wikipedia’s editors. “This is a Top 10 site on the Internet. The types of things the students were doing in class had real-world impact, real world effects,” he said. Educators who use Wikipedia also say that bringing it into the classroom helps students become more critical researchers

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who better identify what is true online. “You’re constantly teaching that evaluative technique,” Dempster said. “We’re trying to avoid truthiness, and it still always comes down to who wrote it and why.” BeasleyMurray said his students may arrive at the start of a semester blindly trusting Wikipedia, but they don’t leave that way. “They read it a lot more intelligently. In part, that means a lot more critically, but they’re able to distinguish between good articles and bad articles, and they’re able to see how you should use Wikipedia, which is a first place of resort, not the last.” Jennifer Branch-Mueller, a professor at the University of Alberta who works on developing Web 2.0 lesson plans, says the problem with Wikipedia in the classroom isn’t the website itself or the information therein, but the fact that lesson plans haven’t adapted to the times. She says teachers continue to use the same old lesson plans instead of coming up with assignments that require students to do anything beyond the memorization and repetition of facts, she said. NEXT GENERATION Then there is the next generation of teachers that has grown up with the website. BranchMueller said she finds those individuals are also leery about employing the website at school. “I’m seeing quite a resistance to using technology in the classroom. Students who have succeeded in a traditional class … don’t see a problem.” She said the student teachers she deals with, for the most part, don’t want to use Wikipedia in the classroom and struggle to find creative ways to use it and other online resources in the classroom. “It seems to be a hard sell,” BranchMueller said. “Some students are not quite there yet.” Wikipedia hopes otherwise. It plans to be on campuses such as York University in Toronto in the coming months to have professors and students take part in its free program. “Students are really interested in social media and professors are really interested in finding new ways . . . to teach students,” Obar said. “As technology evolves, our tools for teaching students need to evolve as well.”

war of words: debate gubernatorial: relating to the position of governor peer-reviewed: studied by people who have an equal position cram: (informal) study intensively truthiness: word coined by satirist Stephen Colbert to describe politicians who rely on emotional feelings rather than evidence blindly: without questioning or doing research leery: suspicious struggle: make a great effort hard sell: difficult to convince people otherwise: differently

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PART 3 39

Comprehension 1 What was Dr. Beasley-Murray’s general opinion of Wikipedia articles on Latin American literature six years ago?

2 What was his solution to the problem he had with Wikipedia? 3 When did Wikipedia first start and where did its name come from?

4 What is the Global Education Program?

5 How and why has the perception of Wikipedia changed since 2005?

6 What benefits does Beasley-Murray find from participating in the Global Education Program?

7 Why do some teachers seem to avoid using Wikipedia?

8 What is Wikimedia’s response to this?

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MEDIA MESSAGES AND THE ART OF PERSUASION

3.3 How to Edit a Wikipedia Article

VIDEO

Do you know how to edit text in Wikipedia? What would be the advantages of learning how to edit texts online?

Comprehension Read the questions below and then watch the video once without stopping. Answer the questions as accurately as possible. Then watch the video a second time to check your answers and fill in anything you missed. Deﬁnition IP address: Internet Protocol address, a numerical label that is assigned to every device in a computer network that uses the Internet Protocol for communication

1 What are the advantages of creating an account with Wikipedia?

2 What do you do if you get stuck or are not sure how to proceed? 3 What does it mean if strange punctuation marks suddenly appear in the text you are writing?

4 What kinds of sources are generally considered to be reliable and which are not?

5 How long can the explanation of your edit be? 6 How do you compare your changes with the new version? 7 Is there a way to know every time someone changes the article you edited, without going to the article every day?

8 What percentage of Wikipedia users actually make edits?

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PART 3 41

WRITING

3.4 Grammar-Based Writing Find an article in Wikipedia about a famous person in your field of study. Copy and paste a section that includes at least 10 verbs in the past. Underline these verbs and then replace them with more descriptive verbs that have the same meaning. Is your new version an improvement? If it is, consider editing the Wikipedia version.

LISTENING COMPREHENSION INSIGHT

Focused Listening for Specific Elements Read the questions below before you listen to the segment and then listen to it twice. The first time, concentrate on finding the answers to the questions. The second time you listen, pay attention to the rhythm of the speakers: notice when they tend to pause and when they speak more quickly.

3.5 Wikipedia and the Gender Gap A group of researchers recently published a paper titled “WP: Clubhouse?” about the gender gap in the number of men and women who edit Wikipedia articles. Listen to this interview with Spark’s Nora Young and then answer the questions.

Comprehension 1 What is ironic about the team of researchers for this study?

2 What are the two main research questions the researchers set out to answer?

3 What percentage of new editors in 2009 were female and by how much did men outnumber women?

4 Name some technologies where the gender gap has decreased or reversed. 5 How does the gender gap affect the content of Wikipedia? 6 What is the danger of this imbalance?

7 What is Wikipedia doing to fix this problem?

8 Explain why this project is working.

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MEDIA MESSAGES AND THE ART OF PERSUASION

3.6 Topics and Gender

SPEAKING

1 Working in small groups, make two lists of topics that could be considered male- and female-centred. Consider: People: historical figures, politicians, actors, artists, authors, etc. Activities: sports, crafts, games, hobbies Subjects: fields of study, current topics Popular culture: TV shows, YouTube celebrities, fictional characters Fictional characters: from novels, comic books, cinema and TV 2 Once you have a good list, search for your topics in the English version of Wikipedia to see if your female-centred topics were under-represented compared to the male-centred topics. 3 Now check the same topics in other versions of Wikipedia (other languages). Were the results similar? Were there any surprises? 4 Report your findings to the class.

3.7 How to Do Effective Online Research

WRITING

Using Wikipedia When using Wikipedia to look up articles, there are several ways you can check the information to assess its reliability.

1 Has it been flagged with warnings regarding objectivity, sources or quality standards? These warnings, where they exist, are clearly posted at the top of the article. 2 Click on “Talk” at the upper-right-hand corner of the article and you can read whatever issues the contributors have been discussing regarding the article. 3 Click on “View History” to find links for earlier versions of the article. This also provides links to information about the contributor. 4 It can be interesting and useful to compare the English article with an article on the same topic in another language. On the left sidebar, you will find a list of languages.

Whenever you use an internet source for your research, you must cite it, just as you would for a book or journal. See Documenting Sources in Module 4 on how to make correct citations

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PART 3 43

GRAMMAR INSIGHT

When to Use Is or Has Instead of Are or Have Why do all of the points below begin with is or has instead of are or have?

44 MODULE 1

Selecting Appropriate Websites When conducting research, you want to be sure that the sources you find are reliable. Asking yourself the same questions a journalist asks in researching a news story will help you evaluate the online sites you find: who, what, when, why, where and how?

Be Careful with a Site That … … is not a well-established name or organization. Be sure that the expertise of the owner/creator matches the subject you are researching. … is difficult to navigate. Poorly-designed sites are usually a good marker of how little time was spent in making the site accessible, efficient and above all, professional. … has no clearly shown and traceable author, owner or administrator. If there is no Contact Us page or other means of communicating with either the owner or the administrator of the site, chances are the site is questionable. Any sites with anonymous authors should be avoided. … has grammatical and spelling errors. These errors are a good indication that the site is not from a reliable source. … has file extensions in their web addresses that include .com, .net and .ca/.fr/.au, etc. Commercial sites might not have reliable information because they are concerned about the amount of traffic on their site, not the quality of the information. Some country file extensions also have commercial purposes. … has not been updated recently (in the past year) or has links that no longer work. In most sites, scroll down to the bottom of the page to find when the site was last updated. Be wary if no date is provided. … has a lot of ads. While many good websites have ads because the creator cannot afford to maintain the website without them, it is still a good idea to be aware of the ads and see if they have an influence on the content. … has false, misleading or exaggerated information. There are many “hoax” sites on the Internet that were created simply to mislead users—sometimes with a humorous intent and sometimes to be malicious. Some of these sites have been designed to look very professional. … seems to contradict everything you have learned. Front organizations are groups or organizations that are set up and controlled by another organization such as organized crime groups, religious or political groups or corporations, to name a few. Front organizations appear to be independent while secretly being funded by the hidden organization.

MEDIA MESSAGES AND THE ART OF PERSUASION

Use a Site That … … provides appropriate contact information. The owner or creator of the website is clearly stated, and reputable background information is included. The location of the owner/creator should be appropriate for your research. … has file extensions that are government-related or non-profit. .gov (U.S.), .gc (Canada): published by a government, so statistics and surveys should be reliable .mil: published by a U.S. military organization, should be reliable .edu: published by colleges and universities, are generally very reliable .org: mostly published by non-profit organizations, but they can be swayed by less reliable special-interest groups If the owner/creator of the site is a reputable source, the file extension is reliable, the website is well-designed and the information seems to be well-researched, the site is probably reliable. It is absolutely necessary to develop a critical eye so that you are not easily duped by a hoax or a secret organization—or you may find yourself investing in something as miraculous as dehydrated water. Note that social media is also very useful for gathering information, but like any source, the information you find should be double-checked with reliable sources.

3.8 Words to Know For each word or expression in the charts below, check if you know and can use it (when you speak or write), if you understand it (when you read or listen) or if you really don’t know it at all. To verify the meaning of words, check the glossary on the website or in a good dictionary. Write down these new words, and their definitions, on the lines provided. Wikipedia Makes Push … (pages 38-39) Word or Expression

Know & can use it

Understand Don’t it somewhat know it

Word or Expression

1 to break down line 12

10 to turn to line 84

2 barriers line 13

11 to cram line 105

3 likely line 32

12 blindly line 117

4 to get on board line 37

13 to come up with line 133

5 incentive line 41

14 leery line 141

6 to leave sthg behind line 42

15 to struggle line 148

7 to hand out line 52

16 otherwise line 154

8 to set off line 68

17 to take part in line 157

9 peer-reviewed line 80

18 to evolve line 162

Know & can use it

Understand Don’t it somewhat know it

Words to know, and their definitions:

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PART 3 45

How to Do Effective Online Research (pages 43-45) Word or Expression

Know & can use it

Understand Don’t it somewhat know it

Word or Expression

1 reliability page 43

9 wary page 44

2 to flag page 43

10 to mislead page 44

3 sidebar page 43

11 front organizations page 44

4 to match page 44

12 reputable page 45

5 poorly page 44

13 to sway page 45

6 traceable page 44

14 to dupe page 45

7 to update page 44

15 hoax page 45

8 to scroll page 44

16 to double-check page 45

Know & can use it

Understand Don’t it somewhat know it

Words to know, and their definitions:

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MEDIA MESSAGES AND THE ART OF PERSUASION

MODULE

M ED I A M ESSAGES A ND THE A R T OF PERSUASION PROJECT

Create a Class Magazine

A number of websites exist that allow users to create their own online magazines by including published online articles or

PROJECT

Brainstorm topics in your field of study and then check to see if they exist or need improvement in the English version of Wikipedia.

Write or Edit an Article for Wikipedia

PROJECT

End-of-Module Projects

Select a topic that needs improvement or is missing. Research the topic using books, magazines, newspaper articles

and other sources. Follow the guidelines in the video, How to Edit a Wikipedia Article (page 41) to edit or upload your article.

writing original articles. Write an article about how to do a specific procedure related to your field of study or describe a product that is

used in your field of study. Include photographs and/or videos if possible. Compile the articles into an online class magazine.

Create a Website Portal of Reliable Sites

Search the web for reliable sites that are related to your field of study. Create a website portal or wiki that would help other students in your field find helpful resources. Follow these steps: Purpose: As the creator of a portal to other websites, think about the kinds of service you want to provide. Content: Research online the most reputable sites in your field. Try using keywords such as “trade

publications,”“updates,”“library sources,”“research” or “research and development” and the name of your field of study. Find sites that focus on industry news or updates about your field. Another avenue is to find an organization that regulates and keeps updates about this industry or field of study. Create a list of the sites you determine to be reliable and helpful.

Design: Free templates for designing your site are everywhere. Proceed with caution, however. Whenever you download from a design site, or any site for that matter, viruses can get into your computer. Make sure the downloadable software you want is available on CNET.com. This company reviews websites, and they often offer free downloads they recommend, virus free.

END-OF-MODULE PROJECTS

MODULE 1 47

INSIGHT 2

EDITION

ENGLISH SKILLS FOR ACADEMIC AND PROFESSIONAL PURPOSES This new second edition has been re-worked and re-designed in order to better respond to the changing needs of intermediate and high-intermediate students of English as a second language, in both academic and vocational programs. The content in this series provides integrated material to develop reading, listening, speaking and writing skills. Projects that consolidate learning at the end of each of the three theme-based modules enable students to connect the dots between what they are learning in English and their program of study.

STUDENT BOOK MODULE 1 MEDIA MESSAGES AND THE ART OF PERSUASION A look at the internet, print journalism and broadcast TV, with a view toward interpreting and producing more constructive digital and print media MODULE 2 GLOBAL MATTERS An exploration of how technology and our role in the natural world can better meet the needs of the 21st century MODULE 3 MAKING YOUR FUTURE WORK A helpful guide to the tools and issues surrounding today’s rapidly evolving workplace in order to encourage professional and innovative approaches to finding a fulfilling career MODULE 4 PRONUNCIATION AND LANGUAGE ELEMENTS A useful series of activities in pronunciation patterns, as well as vocabulary-building strategies, tips on oral presentations and reference material for essential language

AUDIO

• Excerpts from the CBC, National Public Radio and other authentic sources

VIDEO

• Full clips from the CBC, Slate V Media,

Howcast and independent filmmakers

TEACHER’S EDITION

• Teacher’s notes and answer key for the student book

• Transcripts of all audio and video excerpts • Extra reading, video and listening materials for testing

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Jane Petring has been teaching at Collège Édouard-Montpetit in Longueuil, Québec since 1995 and has also taught ESL in Europe, West Africa and the United States. She holds an MA in Applied Linguistics and TESOL from Michigan State University. She is the author of Prospect: English Skills for Academic and Professional Purposes and Access: Advanced Grammar and Writing Skills.

INSIGHT 2nd EDITION GRAMMAR The new edition includes 11 units on grammar, 3 review units, and a detailed unit on writing guidlines.

NEW FEATURES!

• A new Scope and Sequence chart for easier lesson • • • • •

planning Comprehension strategies for audio and video activities Nine vocabulary review activities for each topic Cross-references from texts to pronunciation activities Links from reading texts to the Insight Grammar book units The new look and feel of a magazine.

CODE DE PRODUIT : 251794 ISBN 978-2-7617-4124-8