Think Again!
Unit 7
A Do the questionnaire.
I wear a watch.
I’ve considered becoming a politician, an artist, or an architect.
I like to draw.
I hate following a schedule.
I’d rather draw a map than give someone directions.
I make “to-do” lists.
When I get something new, I usually read the instructions.
I generally do well in math and science.
I play or would like to play a musical instrument.
I’ve considered becoming a lawyer, a doctor, or a journalist.
B Score yourself. Are you more of a left-brain or right-brain thinker? • Score 1 point for every “Yes” answer to questions 1, 4, 8, 9, and 10. • Score 1 point for every “No” answer to questions 2, 3, 5, 6, and 7. • Add up your score.
0–5: You are more of a right-brain thinker. 6–10: You are more of a left-brain thinker. 67
1
Reading: distinguishing fact and opinion
Facts and opinions sometimes occur in the same sentence. To help you distinguish between them, look for phrases like Research shows that … and To me, this seems … Another way of identifying someone’s opinion in a sentence is to look for adjectives like good, bad, great, etc.
A
Language in context Listen to the conversation below. Which answer to the puzzle do they choose?
Morgan: Hi, Ben. What are you doing? Ben: Oh, hi, Morgan. I’m just taking an IQ test in this magazine.
A Look at these people. Do you recognize any of them? What do you think they have in common?
Morgan: Ben: Morgan: Ben: Leonardo da Vinci
Charles Darwin
2
Grammar: modals of deduction—might/must/could/can’t
p48
Stephen Hawking
Helen Keller
I’m not doing very well, though! Let me see. Which symbol is missing? Hmm … OK. Well, the missing square must be red. Yes, that’s what I think. So the answer can’t be B. It could be A, though. No, it can’t be A. Look where the dot is. It must be on the right at the bottom. The answer must be C. Oh, yes. You’re right. Hey, you’re good at these things, genius! Let’s try the next one.
B Read this article and check your ideas.
e all think we know one when we see one. Everyone agrees that the scientists Albert Einstein and Marie Curie were geniuses. Mozart was clearly a genius, and so was the naturalist Charles Darwin. And what about the well-known scientist Stephen Hawking? Or Helen Keller, the amazing woman who became a writer even though she was deaf and blind? Are they geniuses? What makes a genius? According to one definition, a genius has a high IQ. Studies show that normal IQs range from 85 to 115, and a genius has an IQ over 140. However, this seems to be a very poor definition to me. “Genius” is a complicated concept, involving many different
factors. Intelligence tests usually measure only logical thinking. I’m convinced that a better definition of “genius” should surely include other things, like creativity. The artist Picasso produced thousands of beautiful works of art. Was he a genius? Another definition, which to my mind seems more useful, states that originality is the defining factor. A genius puts things together in new ways, ways that ordinary people have never thought of, and creates something new. It might be a new idea, a new work of art, or a new way of working. Geniuses change the world they are born into. That raises another question: Are geniuses born that way?
B Notice Read the conversation again and complete the table. Verb (1)
Use Use to express something we think is (almost) certainly true.
be
might/ (2)
couldn’t/ (3)
Example
be
be
Use to express something we think is possibly true. Use to express something we think is (almost) certainly untrue.
The missing square (4)
It might/ (5)
be A, though.
So the answer (6)
Must/could/can’t/couldn’t/might are followed by be + a noun, e.g., That must be David at the door; an adjective, e.g., You must be tired.; -ing verb, e.g., Jenny couldn’t be flying to Lima. She hates planes.
be B.
Watch out! Which one do you think it is? It could be the last one. It can be the last one.
C Practice Write what you might say in each situation. Use the word given in parentheses. 1 You’re expecting Nicole to call. The phone rings.
4 You think it’s possible that John is sick.
(must)
C Look at these sentences from the article in Exercise B. For each one, decide if it expresses a fact, an opinion, or both.
2 You are almost certain the answer isn’t D.
Or Helen Keller, the amazing woman who became a writer even though she was deaf and blind? Studies show that normal IQs range from 85 to 115, and a genius has an IQ over 140. However, this seems to be a very poor definition to me. I’m convinced that a better definition of “genius” should surely include other things, like creativity. Another definition, which to my mind seems more useful, states that originality is the defining factor. The writer Malcolm Gladwell has written about geniuses in his book, Outliers: The Story of Success, and he thinks that there is an important factor we often overlook: hard work. 7 And, according to research, it is possible to put a figure on it: 10,000 hours.
3 It’s possible your cell phone is at home.
1 2 3 4 5 6
D 68
Work in pairs. Think of other geniuses you know of. Which one do you admire the most? Why?
be red.
(might) 5 You’re certain that an answer is not right.
(can’t)
(couldn’t) 6 You don’t believe it when someone says it’s snowing.
(could)
D
Now you do it Work in pairs. For each puzzle, decide what comes next.
(can’t)
How to say it
1 1, 4, 9, 16, ?
4 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, ?
It might be …
2 red, orange, yellow, green, ?
5 M, V, E, M, J, ?
No, it couldn’t be … because …
3 M, T, W, T, ?
6 Ronald, George, William, George, ?
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The writer Malcolm Gladwell has written about geniuses in his book, Outliers: The Story of Success, and he thinks that there is an important factor we often overlook: hard work. “The people at the very top don’t just work much harder than everyone else,” he says. “They work much, much harder.” You have to be born with talent, but then you have to develop that talent. And, according to research, it is possible to put a figure on it: 10,000 hours. That’s about 3 hours a day for 10 years. By studying examples ranging from Mozart to the Beatles to Bill Gates, Gladwell shows that they all got the chance to do an enormous amount of practice before becoming hugely successful. So, while talent and IQ are crucial, it seems that geniuses do an enormous amount of work to achieve their success.
I think it must be … 69
3
Vocabulary: adjective suffixes –ful, –less We often use a noun (e.g., pain) + a suffix (e.g., –less) to make an adjective (e.g., painless). We often use –ful to form positive adjectives and –less to form negative adjectives.
1 I was never very good at math because I was
Language in context Listen to the conversation below. Why is Victoria worried?
Victoria: I’m a little worried about Laurence. Victoria: Yes, but it’s not that. I’m worried about his schoolwork.
(care).
Nancy: But he’s not doing badly, is he? He got an A on his last test, didn’t he?
(success).
2 You don’t have to be very intelligent to be
Victoria: Yes, he did. That’s why I’m worried. He has straight As!
I think he’s a gifted child. I read an article about gifted children. They’re very intelligent children, aren’t they? That’s right. I was wondering if he needs special classes. Wendy’s daughter goes to a school for gifted children, doesn’t she? Let’s call her and ask her about it. That’s a good idea. You won’t tell anyone, will you? I don’t want people to think I’m a pushy parent. Of course not.
(use) on its own—you need to understand people, too. (pain) for them.
4 Very intelligent people are often very lonely and this can be (power) brain.
5 Einstein had a very
Nancy:
(thought) and always considers her friends’ feelings.
7 Nadine is very
Nancy: Victoria:
(hope) at doing logic puzzles. I always get the wrong answer!
6 I’m
A
Nancy: He’s been sick recently, hasn’t he?
A Complete each sentence with the correct adjective.
3 Intelligence is
Victoria:
(power) to stop him from dropping out of college.
8 Ben’s parents felt
Nancy:
B Circle agree (A) or disagree (D) for each statement. 1 You can be successful even if you aren’t very intelligent. 2 Logic is useless for understanding other people and their emotions. 3 Highly intelligent people are often thoughtless.
C
4
5
Grammar: tag questions
B Notice Look at the conversation in Exercise A again and complete the table.
A D A D A D
We use tag questions to confirm information we’re almost certain about or to check information we’re not sure about. We form the tag question using a pronoun and an auxiliary.
Tag question
Work in pairs. Compare your answers with your partner’s. Explain your choices. Simple tenses
Language use: listening to an interview
Progressive tenses
A You are going to listen to an interview about child prodigies. Before you listen, check which of these people you think were very intelligent when they were children.
Perfect tenses be as a main verb Modals
Short answer
She goes to a school for gifted children, (1) ? He’s not doing badly, (2)
Yes, she does./No, she doesn’t. ?
He’s been sick recently, (3)
Yes, he is./No, he isn’t. ?
They’re intelligent children, (4)
Yes, he has./No, he hasn’t. ?
You won’t tell anyone, (5)
?
Yes, they are./No, they aren’t. Yes, I will./No, I won’t.
When the main verb of the sentence is positive, the tag question is negative: e.g., He’s very smart, isn’t he? When the main verb of the sentence is negative, the tag question is positive: e.g., He’s not very smart, is he? Lope de Vega
B
Tiger Woods
William Shakespeare
Watch out! It starts at nine, doesn’t it? It starts at nine, does it?
With I am, we use aren’t I? With I’m not, we use am I?: e.g., I’m in the right place, aren’t I?/I’m not sitting in your seat, am I?
Mozart
Now listen to the interview and check your answers. C Practice Complete the tag questions. Listen again and complete the notes.
1 You didn’t do well on the test,
1 A child prodigy shows great talent before the age of
. when he was five.
2 Lope de Vega learned to read Latin and 3 Child prodigies usually have high 4
D
?
2 Al has always been very smart, ?
3 We aren’t late for the test,
?
4 Tom could read when he was three, 5 I won’t see you tomorrow, 6 Ann’s coming here tomorrow,
? ?
.
often put pressure on child prodigies.
Work in pairs. Ask and answer these questions.
1 Do you think young people today are under a lot of pressure to be successful? 2 Do/Did your parents put pressure on you to do well in school? 70
?
D
Now you do it Work in pairs. What do you know about these areas of your partner’s life? Use tag questions to check your knowledge. Ask other questions to find out more.
• family
• interests
• ambitions
U ni t 7
C
• experiences
You’ve been to the U.S., haven’t you? 71
6
Pronunciation: tag questions
Vocabulary: improving your brain
A
A Match the columns to make collocations.
Listen to these tag questions. Notice that we use falling intonation in the tag to confirm information we are almost certain about. We use rising intonation to check information when we are not sure.
1 Your brother’s son is really smart, isn’t he?
3 I’m not late, am I?
2 We didn’t do well on the exam, did we?
4 You’ve studied art, haven’t you?
B
Listen and draw an arrow for rising or falling intonation depending on whether the speaker is fairly certain of the answers, or not certain of the answer. You’ll hear each sentence twice.
1 We’ve done this wrong, haven’t we? 2 Today’s the 27th, isn’t it? 3 You didn’t work on that project, did you?
C
A
B
1 2 3 4 5 6
explore find develop solve challenge learn
a) a solution b) the possibilities c) a problem d) yourself e) an ability f) a new skill
B Complete these sentences with words from Exercise A. 1 You need to do a lot of practice to
your abilities in different areas.
myself every day to do something new and different.
2 I try to
before making a decision.
3 You should always explore all the 4 When I have to
Work in pairs. Practice saying the tag questions in Exercise A and B.
a problem, I try to look at it from different angles.
5 I think it’s important to always
7
Speaking: speculating
new skills to keep your brain active.
6 When I have a problem, my friends usually help me
We speculate when we aren’t sure about something. In order to speculate, we use modals of deduction and tag questions. We also use phrases such as Maybe it’s a …, If you ask me, it could be a …, and It looks like a … to show we are uncertain.
A
8
Listen to the conversation below. Underline the phrases that the speakers use to speculate about the picture.
C
a solution.
Work in pairs. Say which statements in Exercise B you agree with and explain why.
9
Language use: writing a comment about an online article A Read this article. What ways of training your brain does it mention?
Jonny: So, what do you think it is? Alannah: Well, if you ask me, it could be a dry river bed. Jonny: I don’t think it can be a river bed, can it? It’s the wrong shape. Charlie: Alannah: Charlie: Jonny:
B
It looks more like a tree trunk to me. Let me see. It’s part of an animal, isn’t it? Mm … It could be, I guess. Hey, I know! Maybe it’s an elephant. Or what about a rhino? Of course! It must be a rhino. It’s obvious now!
W
e used to think that when it came to brains, you were stuck with what Mother Nature gave you. But there’s growing evidence to show that it is possible to train your brain. American research has found that those who regularly take part in debates or do puzzles and crosswords have fewer cases of dementia and Alzheimer’s than the rest of the population. Other studies show that London taxi drivers have a bigger hippocampus—the area of the brain with the ability to memorize places—than the rest of us.
Work in pairs. Look at these pictures of everyday things. Speculate about what each picture might be.
“It is certainly possible to increase your mental ability,” says Dr. Joe Devlin, a cognitive neuroscientist. “It’s not that the brain increases in size—that’s determined by the size of your skull—but the density of the brain cells and the strength of their connections grows.”
Comments (2)
C
How to say it Compare your ideas with another pair. Who has the best ideas?
Lucinda, Cordoba
I’m not sure about this. Do puzzles really help you find solutions to your real-life problems? I think it’s great if people learn new skills, but different people’s brains work in different ways. I’ve tried to train my brain, but I didn’t see any difference. I still forget lots of things!
Anton, Moscow
It could be a …, couldn’t it? Maybe. It looks to me like it might be a … It can’t be a …, can it? What about …?
72
Great idea! I think it’s really important to challenge yourself and develop new abilities. I do a crossword puzzle every day, and I’m learning French. This training really helps me to solve problems in my everyday life. Everyone should try it!
Un it 7
According to psychologist Susan Blackmore, “If you lead a full and active life, take up new interests, and learn new skills, you can increase the number of connections between your brain cells. It really is a case of use it or lose it.”
B Write a comment in response to the article in Exercise A. Explain what you think of brain training and whether it would work for you. 73
E If you solved the puzzle in Exercise D, read this text and decide if it describes how you think. If you didn’t solve the puzzle, read the text and think about how you should approach the puzzle in Exercise D differently.
• Question your assumptions. • Approach the problem differently.
T
here are times in all our lives when we need to think more logically. It might be in a real-life situation, such as making a business decision. Or it might be when we are doing a test or puzzle of some kind. The problem some of us have when it comes to thinking logically is that we think certain limits exist, when in fact they don’t. It’s all about our assumptions. We all have lots of assumptions – things we think are correct, even if there’s no reason to. To illustrate, take a look at this well-known puzzle using matchsticks. The coin looks like it is inside a “glass” formed by four matchsticks. You have to move just two matchsticks to get the coin outside of the glass.
• Think of new ideas and test them.
A Connect these dots by drawing four straight lines, without lifting your pencil off the paper and without going back over a line. You have two minutes.
of thinking can be very useful in real life, too. If we aren’t careful, we can assume things about ourselves, other people, and the world around us which limit our thinking. By analyzing and questioning our assumptions, we can think more logically and systematically about a problem, and perhaps find solutions that we simply couldn’t see before.
B If you solved the puzzle, great job! If you didn’t, you need to question your assumptions. To do this, decide whether these sentences are true (T) or false (F).
F Now try the puzzle in Exercise D again. Use what you learned in the article to help you.
1 The instructions say each line has to start and end on a dot. 2 Your lines can go further than the rows of dots. 3 Each line has to go through three dots.
G
T T T
F F F
C Now try the puzzle in Exercise A again. If you still can’t figure out the answer, find someone who has the answer and ask them to show you how to do it.
3
7
8
How to say it One problem which could be solved using logical thinking is … Do you think logical thinking would help if …? How would logical thinking help in that situation? If …, logical thinking could help you to …
How logical thinking might help It can help you think of different ways, e.g., through the window.
2
4
6
Work in pairs. Brainstorm a list of real-life problems and how logical thinking might help to solve them. Then explain your ideas to the rest of the class.
Problem How to get a huge new sofa into your apartment
1
D Look at this fish made out of matchsticks. Move three matchsticks only so that the fish is swimming in the opposite direction. You have one minute. 5
74
You cannot move the coin! It seems impossible … and it is impossible, as long as you assume that the glass has to stay the same way up. However, the puzzle becomes very easy if you think about making an “upside-down” glass. To do this, all you have to do is move matchstick 3 to the right a little and move matchstick 1 down. The key to solving this problem is to question your assumptions. And questioning your assumptions is a big part of logical thinking. Logical thinking is not just about the artificial world of puzzles. This same kind
{
Reflect... How good are you at logical thinking? How can you improve your logical thinking skills?
}
U ni t 7
lifeSkills
Thinking and problem-solving: thinking logically
75
Language Wrap-up 1
Vocabulary Complete this text with the correct form of the word in parentheses or a word from the box. (10 points) One of the most (1)
ability
solution
yourself
possibilities
(power) techniques for training your brain is visualization.
Whether you’re trying to develop an (2)
you already have, such as doing
a sport, or trying to learn a new skill, visualization can help you be (3) It can also help you find a (4)
(success).
to unhealthy habits, such as smoking, when you’ve
tried other techniques that don’t work and leave you feeling (5)
(hope).
In fact, visualization can work in any situation where you are trying to challenge (6)
to improve. The technique involves forming a picture in your mind, like
a picture on a movie screen. You have to be (7)
(care) to create a colorful, vivid
picture of what you want to achieve. You have to explore the (8)
to come up with
a good picture. Add sound and make it come to life. Then, make a small black and white picture of yourself failing. Quickly replace that image with your colorful, happy image. Do that five or six times. (power) and feel as if you are going to fail, the
Now, every time you feel (9)
colorful, happy image will come to mind. Tough challenges, like giving up smoking, become much less (10)
(pain) and you are more likely to succeed. Why not give it a try?
8–10 correct: I can form adjectives using –ful and –less and use collocations connected to improving your brain.
SCORE:
0–7 correct: Look again at Sections 3 and 8 on pages 70 and 73.
2
/10
Grammar A Complete this conversation with the modals of deduction must, might, could, and can’t. (5 points) Andy: I’m stuck on my crossword puzzle. Do you know a country with a five-letter name? Kelly: There (1)
be hundreds! It (2)
Andy: No, it (3)
be “China.” It begins with “I.”
Kelly: Um … well, it (4)
be “China.”
be “Iran.” That only has four letters.
Andy: Wait a minute. I know! It ends with “a” so it (5)
be “India.”
B Complete the tag questions. (5 points) 1 They can’t solve the puzzle,
?
4 We didn’t pass the test,
2 She’s very good at puzzles,
?
5 I’m taking my exam tomorrow,
3 You’ll help me,
? ?
?
8–10 correct: I can express different levels of certainty using modals of deduction and use tag questions to check information I think is correct.
0–7 correct: Look again at Sections 2 and 5 on pages 69 and 71. 76
SCORE:
/10