LEVEL 3

ABOVE and BEYOND

English in an Academic Environment

 Mutlu Bosson
 B. Sonat Demirdirek
 Neslihan Demirdirek
 Pınar Gündüz
CONTENTS Page
UNIT 1: THE HUMAN MIND
 Unit 1 Lead-in 2
 Unit 1 Input 1: The Human Mind 3
 Grammar: Sentence Structure 13
 Speaking after Unit 1 Input 1 21
 Unit 1 Input 2: Growth Mindsets 28
 Grammar: Defining Relative Clauses 56
 Unit 1 Input 3: Neuroplasticity 69
 Speaking after Unit 1 Input 3 84
 Unit 1 Input 4: How Geniuses Think 88
 Unit 1 Input 5: Super Humans Among Us 108
 Grammar: Non-defining Relative Clauses 121
 Speaking after Unit 1 Input 5 131

UNIT 2: ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

 Unit 2 Lead-in 143
 Unit 2 Input 1: An Introduction to AI 145
 Grammar: Perfect Modal Verbs 160
 Speaking after Unit 2 Input 1 165
 Unit 2 Input 2: Artificial Intelligence and the Myth of Unemployment 171
 Grammar: Expressing Differences: Contrast Language 195
 Unit 2 Input 3: Big Data 201
 Grammar: Expressing Similarities 213
 Speaking after Unit 2 Input 3 218
 Unit 2 Input 4: AI and Two Other Myths 224
 Grammar: Noun Clauses 249
 Unit 2 Input 5: Ethical Concerns and AI 255
 Speaking after Unit 2 Input 5 269
 APPENDIX 274
 TAPESCRIPTS 276

1
UNIT 1 LEAD IN

1. DISCUSSION

Discuss the following questions in pairs or small groups:

1. How would you define intelligence?

2. Do you believe that people are born with certain skills? Can we improve our skills or acquire
new ones throughout our lives? How?
3. What type of skills do you have? What do you do to improve them?
4. What makes a genius? What are the differences between an intelligent person and a genius?

2. FACT OR MYTH

In pairs, discuss whether the following statements are facts or myths and circle ‘FACT’ or ‘MYTH’
for each statement. Once you have decided whether each statement is a myth or a fact, compare
your answers with another pair.

1. We use only 10 % of our brains. FACT / MYTH

2. All mental skills decline as we get older. FACT / MYTH
3. The brain is about 2% of the body weight but it uses 20% of the body’s total energy and
oxygen intake. FACT / MYTH
4. Intelligence is fixed at birth. FACT / MYTH
5. The brain has different types of cells. In fact, there are around 10,000 types of neurons in the
brain. FACT / MYTH
6. Brain injury can give people new talents. FACT / MYTH
7. The teenage brain is not fully formed. The brain does not reach full maturity until about the
age of 25. FACT / MYTH
8. Creativity is not the same as intelligence. An individual can be far more creative than he or
she is intelligent, or far more intelligent than creative. FACT / MYTH
2
 INPUT 1
The Human Mind

BEFORE LISTENING

1. In small groups, make a list of skills that each member of your group feels they are
good/competent at. These can be related to your academic studies, or your day-to-day life.
You can take a look at the picture above to give you ideas. You may use the space below to
take notes.

2. Group the skills in your list under appropriate categories (e.g. sports, cognitive abilities, etc.).
Keep your list available until the end of this input.

1. The questions on the next page are similar to those that appear in IQ test. Read the questions.
Which skills you listed above would help you answer these questions? What skills from your
list are not tested in the IQ test? What might be the reason?

3
 2. Answer the questions in 4 minutes. What kind of knowledge or ability does each question aim
to evaluate?

1. Which number should come next in the pattern? ... 6 – 9 – 15 – 24 – 39 – 63 –…?...

2. The day after the day after tomorrow is four days before Tuesday. What day is it today?
A. Monday
B. Tuesday
C. Wednesday
D. Thursday
E. Friday

3. Maureen, who is fifteen years old, is three times as old as her sister. How old will
Maureen be when she is twice as old as her sister?

4. Which number does not belong?

47, 53, 59, 61, 63, 67, 71, 73, 79, 89

5. How many four-sided figures are there in the diagram below?

6. If you rearrange the letters “KEODYN”, you would have the name of a:

a. ocean
b. country
c. city
d. animal
e. plant

C Read the questions below and make notes. Then discuss your ideas with your classmates.

 What are aims and uses of intelligence tests?

 Do you think an IQ test can accurately measure a person’s intelligence? Why or Why not?

4
ACADEMIC LISTENING SKILLS

A ABC Brainstorm This activity aims to activate your

background knowledge. Predicting
content and vocabulary helps to
Which words or phrases are likely to be used in this input? Complete
prepare the brain for the actual
the ABC Brainstorm below with words that relate to the concept of listening, and helps us to grasp
‘intelligence’. Write as many words as you can for each letter. There is meaning and make connections faster.

an example.

A G M S

B H N T

C I O U

D J P V

E K Q W

F L R reasoning, Y

B RECOGNISING CLARIFICATION Speakers use different ways of clarifying

the meaning of difficult concepts or
1 You are going to analyse some excerpts from the difficult words and terms. If you hear any
words or concepts you do not recognise, it
radio program that you will be listening to. First, read the
is important to keep focused and keep
statements below, and underline which word or concept is listening to. Speakers may define,
being clarified, and its clarification. Then, listen to the excerpts paraphrase or give synonyms for these
and fill in the gaps with the signposting marker that signals the new concepts or words. Speakers signal
clarification. There is an example. these paraphrases or synonyms in
different ways.

1. But overall, for adults, we can say roughly 80% of intelligence

is hereditary. ____That is,_____, it’s genetic…
2. There is still no consensus….__________________________, there is still no agreement on a
fix definition.
3. We actually can’t even agree on what constitutes intelligence – _______________________,
what intelligence is made up of.
4. Psychometric theories are all based on the presumption, _______________________ belief,
that intelligence is a measurable factor.
5. … because I do believe that intelligence is not fixed. It’s fluid, and it can be enhanced.
_______________________ the IQ scores can improve.
6. So they clearly show us how important nurture; _____________________, how important
environment is.

5
What other signal words and phrases can be used to clarify concepts?

2 The words below are from the radio program you will be listening to.

 Choose 3 words, and write your own sentence for each word. Then, using one of the
strategies you are given above, clarify the concept/word.
 Read out your sentences in pairs or small groups. Give feedback to your friends on their
method of clarification. Are their explanations or rephrases clear enough? Do you have any
suggestions for improvement?

definitive encounter strive (to) seem rapid variable

1. ____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

2. ____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

3. ____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

6
FOCUS ON KEY VOCABULARY

A Fill in the blanks with a word from the box.

shift (v) perceive (v) distinction (n) manipulate (v) reasoning (n)

presumption (n) require (v) adaptiveness (n) underlying (adj) variation (n)

1. Last week, we were discussing the structure of the brain. This week, we want to
__________________ our theme slightly. We are turning our attention to intelligence.

2. IQ tests may not always be reliable because there may be_____________________ reasons
for a poor performance. For instance, a child’s poor performance may be put down to stress,
or a memory problem.

3. The new theory is based on the ____________________ that playing a musical instrument
improves intelligence. Although there is not enough evidence on this, the researchers believe
that it is true.

4. A group of scientists are conducting research on certain animals. They are testing these
animals’ _________________ to a new environment. Their aim is to see how these animals
change to survive in new environmental conditions.

5. Success in mathematics is sometimes linked to a students’ self-image and how ‘intelligent’ they
consider themselves. In other words, students ___________________ mathematical ability to
be linked to a person’s intelligence.

6. The information age exposes us all to ever changing and sometimes confusing information
fragments. Hence, it becomes increasingly important for children to improve their
___________________ skills so that they can be better at skills such as critical thinking,
problem solving and decision-making.

7. It seems that genes account for 25 per cent of the ______________________ in intelligence
scores, and that the rest is determined by environment, which includes factors such as
education and hobbies.

8. Humans are better able to _____________________ their environment compared to any

other species. By using their intelligence, humans have always changed the environment to
make it more suitable to live. There are probably no habitats that haven’t been modified in
some way by humans.

9. Many of the highest paying jobs _____________________ critical thinking skills, such as
generating new ideas and making important decisions.

10. The ____________________ between being smart and being a genius needs to be clarified. It
may be hard to see the difference.

7
B Choose the phrase on the right that best completes each sentence on the left.

1. Some people excell in arts and sports, and some a. brain functions and increases
people are more suited to being competent…. concentration.

2. Most school curricula focus on academic skills b. about 2 percent of total body weight.
despite growing consensus…..
c. like negotiation and focus.
3. The human brain weighs about 1,5 kilograms and
constitutes…. d. at academic tasks, or fine motor, or
creativity skills.
4. The most important step in learning is the
retrieval…. e. traits such as height or intelligence.

5. Music has been regarded as a right-brain activity f. on the importance of arts and sports
because of its reliance…. for cognitive development.

6. Glucose that is found in chocolate stimulates…. g. of what has been learned from long-
term memory when needed.
7. Certain foods are beneficial for the brain and
help facilitate mental processes…. h. on creativity.

8. It seems that genes determine….

1.____ 2.____ 3.____ 4.____ 5.____ 6.____ 7.____ 8.____

WHILE LISTENING

You are going to listen to a podcast on the Human Mind. This episode focuses on intelligence.
Listen to the radio program. Answer the questions while you listen. Pay attention to main
ideas as well as important details. The information you provide needs to be full but precise.

1. According to Dr. Greg, why is it hard to define intelligence?

2. In Dr. Greg’s definition, what are the mental tasks that intelligence carries out? Complete the
missing ones.

1. Understand and
apply abstract
concepts

Main tasks of
intelligence

2.

8
3. How would “adaptiveness to environment” be used in a desert? Give one example.

4. In what two ways can adapting to the environment be achieved?

a.

b.

5. What is the main focus of Psychometric theories of intelligence?

6. According to Spearman, there were two kinds of intelligence. Complete the notes on what
they were, and the characteristics of them.

SPEARMAN’S THEORY OF INTELLIGENCE

 the most important factor for intelligence

1.__________________  determines a person’s performance in ___________________

____________________ ________________________.

 if a person does well on one mental-ability test, they

________________________ on all others tests.

 any task that requires intelligence definitely requires _______

___________________________.

 examples: ________________ or ______________ processing

2.__________________  this group of abilities/intelligence is necessary to carry out a

____________________ __________________ test or the task.

7. What aspect of Spearman’s theory was criticised?

8. What is one criticism towards Psychometric theories of intelligence?

9. What are the two criticisms toward Cognitive tests of intelligence?

a.

b.

9
10. Is the following sentence true or false?

Heredity plays the most important role in intelligence until children reach Kindergarten age.

11. Select the correct answer.

Feral Children are one example of:

a. Environmental effects

b. Genetic effects

12. Dr. Greg says certain events can have a negative impact on a person’s level of IQ. Which two
examples does he give?

13. Why can’t genes explain the Flynn effect?

14. What are the factors that contributed to the global increase in IQ scores? Name three.

Factors
contributing
to the
increase

15. What are the drawbacks of intelligence tests? Write two.

a.

b.

16. What could be a good reason to take an IQ test? Write one.

10
AFTER LISTENING

A Think about what you have learned in the podcast. Write something that you:

a. found interesting
b. have just learnt about
c. think is still muddy – that you need to learn more about.

a.

b.

c.

B Select one or both of the topics below, and discuss with another student.

 Greg talks about ‘adaptiveness to environment’ when he talks about different tasks that we
carry out thanks to our intelligence. What does he mean by ‘adaptiveness to environment? Do
you get nervous or excited when you are in a brand new environment? Think of a time and
situation when you had to adapt to a new environment. How long did it take you to adapt?
What was the most challenging aspect of this process?

 Greg mentions that intellectually stimulating activities such as playing chess or taking
advanced Maths classes can boost IQ. Think about different activities you have been involved
in since your childhood. Which ones do you think may have given your intelligence a bigger
boost? Did you like those activities at the time? Do you think parents should force their
children to engage in intellectually challenging activities from young age so that their IQ level
could rise?

ACTIVATE YOUR VOCABULARY

A Choose the correct word for each blank

1. Intelligence is considered to be a _______________________ factor. By answering questions

on an IQ test, test takers get a score which shows their IQ.

A. measurable B. hereditary C. underlying D. contributing

2. In intelligence tests, they want the test takers to answer questions in a short time. Rapid
__________________ of information is one important ability that is tested.

A. presumption B. retrieval C. stimulation D. reliance

11
 3. Children _______________ different ideas, information and different people that shape their
intelligence. With their experience, their intelligence improve.

A. determine B. detect C. enhance D. encounter

4. Small children need ______________________ in order to improve their IQ. All the games that
a small child plays cause their intelligence to develop.

A. stimulation b. reasoning c. adaptation d. quality

5. There are many studies about drivers’______________________ on GPS to get to a place. It

seems that this dependence has negative effects on spatial thinking.

A. consensus B. encounter C. distinction D. reliance

B Complete the sentences with the correct form of the word given.

rely

1. We need to decrease our _______________ on smart phones to store and retrieve information
and try to recall pieces of information to strengthen our memory.

2. Under certain circumstances, emotions can improve memory; however, recent research
indicates that emotions can also make it less _______________.

3. IQ scores may be _______________ because they depend on the willingness of the individual
to take and do well in the test as well as the ability to do IQ tests.

approve

1. Studies have demonstrated that even the examiners in IQ tests can affect scores. For instance,
_______________ comments can hinder test performance.

2. Gifted children may tend to hide their abilities to win social _______________.

comprehend

1. Reading books regularly enhances verbal _______________ over time.

2. Jargon aphasia is condition in which an individual's speech is _______________. Individuals

with this condition replace words with other words that make sense only to them.

12
C Re-write the sentences by using the word or the word form given in brackets. The meaning should
stay the same as the original sentence.

1. The test has multiple choice questions assessing mathematical and lexical knowledge.
The test __________________________________________________________ (comprise)

2. It looks as if many geniuses can get a low score in traditional IQ tests.

It ___________________________________________________________________(seem)

3. With this study, the most important causes of low IQ will be discovered by the researchers.
With this study, researchers will _________________________________________ (reveal)

4. Scientists haven’t agreed on how many different types of intelligence there are.
There is __________________________________________________________. (consensus)

5. For identical twins reared apart, IQ scores can vary based on the education they have received.
__________________________________________________________________(variation)

GRAMMAR: Sentence Structure

INTRODUCTION

Proficient writers try and use variety in their writings to attract and maintain the attention of their
readers. One obvious way of adding range to your writing is through a rich vocabulary. In terms of
grammar, one way you can achieve variety is to use different types of structures.

Three commonly used sentence structures that you can alternate between in your writing are
Simple, Compound and Complex Sentences.

Below are brief definitions of these structures along with some examples from the listening in this
input.

1. Simple Sentences have only one independent clause. An independent clause is often defined
as a clause that expresses a complete idea and has a subject and a verb.

In pairs answer the following questions about the sample sentences.

1. What is the subject and verb in each sentence?

2. Why are these sentences ‘simple’?

Sample sentences:

1. Psychometric theories strive to understand,

or focus on, the structure of intelligence.

13
 2. In cognitive processing speed is key in measuring intelligence.
3. Your view of environment and adaptiveness to environment would have been
different in the past.
4. A mistake occurred.

TIPS

1. If you often rely on simple sentences in your writing, consider changing some of them to compound
or complex sentences to add variety to your writing.

2. Simple sentences do not have to be short: A mistake occurred.

2. Compound Sentences are two independent clauses* connected with conjunctions.

‘and, but, so’ are among the most commonly used basic conjunctions. A comma usually
precedes these conjunctions.

*An independent clause can stand on its own and it can be turned into a sentence by simply
adding a full stop.

For example, in exercise a below, both parts of the sentence are made up of independent
clauses:

IQ tests can actually predict academic achievement to a certain extent

they can’t predict how this intelligence will be used

By simply adding punctuation (full stop) and capitalisation, these clauses can be turned into
sentences as they have their own subject and verb and they are complete in themselves in
terms of thought.

In pairs complete the sentences with the conjunctions ‘and’, ‘but’, ‘so’. Use each word only
once.

a. IQ tests can actually predict academic achievement to a certain extent,

_________they can’t predict how this intelligence will be used.

b. You could identify a cognitive or mental problem early, _________ take action.

c. These tests mostly use multiple choice questions, _________it is possible that the
test-takers guess some of the answers.

The conjunctions listed above are basic ones. By using a semicolon (;) and a comma (,) you can use
more sophisticated conjunctions. In pairs, find alternatives to the conjunctions for sentences a and c.
The punctuation has already been given.

 IQ tests can actually predict academic achievement to a certain extent; _________, they
can’t predict how this intelligence will be used.

14
 These tests mostly use multiple choice questions; _________, it is possible that the test-
takers guess some of the answers.

3. Complex Sentences usually consist of an independent clause and a dependent clause. A

dependent clause also contains a subject and a verb, but it does not form a complete
thought. Because it is not a complete thought, a dependent clause cannot stand on its own
as a sentence.

The Difference between Dependent Clauses and Full Sentences

If you want your own personal computer to recognise speech… (DEPENDENT CLAUSE)

This is a dependent clause because it doesn’t express a complete thought and cannot stand
on its own as a sentence. We don’t know what happens as a result of the condition expressed
in the clause.

If you want your own personal computer to recognise speech, you can just download the
fully trained program in seconds. (FULL SENTENCE)

This is a full sentence expressing a complete idea.

In complex sentences, the independent and dependent clauses are connected with
conjunctions. Although, if, because, as if, when (and other time phrases) and relative
pronouns (who, which, that…) are some commonly used conjunctions in complex sentences.

In pairs, fill in the gaps in the sentences using the conjunctions in the box. Sometimes more
than one option may be possible.

because if who although

a. Tolstoy’s teachers described him as a student ____________ was “unable to learn”.

b. Some test takers may underperform ____________ they are not good at multiple choice type
of tests.
c. ____________ you actually test your IQ regularly, you could detect neurological problems
early on.
d. ____________ he is seen as the founder of the psychometric tests of IQ, he received lots of
criticism.

TIP

The order of the independent and dependent clauses in complex structures are usually flexible. Either

of the clauses can come first or second. When the conjunction and dependent clause come first, use a

comma to separate two parts of the sentence.

For example:

We can perform better on IQ tests because we feed our brains well. OR

Because we feed our brains well, we can perform better on IQ tests.

15
COMMON MISTAKES

While forming compound and complex sentences in their academic writing, students tend to make
some mistakes. Below are some of these mistakes and how you can fix them:

1. Incomplete ideas
In academic writing conjunctions such as ‘but, because, so, and’ do not start a single clause.
They combine two clauses.

WRONG: There are so many variables that contribute to a person’s intelligence like their
learning style, personality, or even their mood. And these can change the test score.

CORRECT: There are so many variables that contribute to a person’s intelligence like their
learning style, personality, or even their mood, and these can change the test score.

2. Run-on sentences
Sentences that are incorrectly joined together are called run-on sentences. In order to
correct a run-on sentence, you can use appropriate punctuation, add a correct conjunction
or divide the sentence into singular ones.

WRONG: The tests can cost a lot of money you should consider it from this aspect, too.

CORRECT: The tests can cost a lot of money, so you should consider it from this aspect, too.

CORRECT: The tests can cost a lot of money; you should consider it from this aspect, too.

WRONG: The cognitive psychologists focused on mental representations of information and

processes that can operate on such representations they can be both visual, like a picture, or
verbal.

CORRECT: The cognitive psychologists focused on mental representations of information and

processes that can operate on such representations. Representations can be both visual, like
a picture, or verbal.

3. Comma splices
When sentences and clauses are incorrectly joined with a comma, this is called a comma
splice. You can use a suitable conjunction or divide the sentence into singular ones for a
clearer meaning.

WRONG: A more intelligent person can represent information more clearly, he is able to
operate faster on these representations.

CORRECT: A more intelligent person can represent information more clearly, and he is able
to operate faster on these representations.

CORRECT: A more intelligent person can represent information more clearly. He is also able
to operate faster on these representations.

16
PRACTICE TASKS

TASK 1: TYPES of SENTENCES

Below are more sentences from the listening in this input.

 Identify the subjects and verbs in each sentence.

 Write down whether these sentences are simple,
compound or complex.
 If a sentence is compound or complex, identify the
connecting words.
 Identify the dependent clause in complex sentences.

Example: People who (connecting word: who relative pronoun) did well on one mental-ability
test (Subject) also do (Verb) well on others.

Type of sentence: Complex sentence with a relative clause

(Dependent clause: People who did well on one mental-ability test)

a. I have never heard of his name so far, but I do know about some other people like Howard

Gardner.

Type of sentence:

b. All psychometric theories of intelligence are harshly criticised for reasons other than

practicality.

Type of sentence:

c. When feral children are found, they do not know how to speak.

Type of sentence:

d. Heredity-linked increases of IQ would take thousands of years.

Type of sentence:

e. Adaptation to the environment is very important, and it can be achieved in three main ways.

Type of sentence:

Once you have finished analysing the sentences, compare your answers in pairs or groups of 3.

17
TASK 2: COMPOUND SENTENCES

Below is a list of more conjunctions used in compound sentences. First, match each conjunction with
its function. Later, fill in the gaps with these conjunctions. When more than one answer is possible,
choose the best one.

Conjunction Function

and contrast
yet Addition
or Choice
so Result

a. Most cognitive theories ignore cultural differences ______________ they are widely
criticised.

b. Environmental factors such as education, nutrition and pollution may affect an individual’s
IQ, ______________ these factors may also have an effect on a person’s intelligence.

c. Genes determine a great deal when it comes to an individual’s IQ level, ______________

they don’t tell us the whole story.

d. We still don’t know how our intelligence impacts our chances of career, ______________
how much it affects our success in social and personal relationships.

When you finish, check your answers in pairs.

TASK 3: COMPLEX SENTENCES

a. Below is a brief biography of William James Sidis, who was reportedly one of the most
intelligent people that ever lived. Fill in the gaps in the first part of the biography with the
connecting words in the blanks.
even though x 2 After while
where who x 2 which
by the time Because so that
When

William James Sidis, _____________ might have been the most intelligent person in history, was a
child prodigy of his time. His IQ was estimated to be between 250 and 300 points, _____________ is
significantly higher than Einstein’s. Sidis was born in Boston in 1898 to Ukrainian parents.
_____________ his parents were loving and caring towards young William, they were quite pushy
_____________ it came to his education. They thought they could ‘create’ a genius. His mother
18
spent the family’s money on books, maps and other educational tools _____________ her son could
get the best education possible. William was able to read the New York Times before he was two
years old. _____________ he reached the age of 6, he had learned to speak English, Latin, French,
German, Russian, Hebrew, Turkish and Armenian. As a young boy, he created his own language and
wrote a novel. _____________ Sidis was accepted to Harvard University at the age of 9, the
university asked him to wait until he was 11 to start his undergraduate education. Harvard,
_____________ he stayed for five years, wasn’t a happy place for him. His classmates,
_____________ were quite older than him, kept mocking and humiliating him. _____________ he
graduated, he briefly worked as a maths professor. His great intellect and achievements fascinated
the public and the media. Numerous articles were written about him, and he was constantly chased
by reporters. Sidis kept moving from one place to another changing jobs along the way
_____________ he wanted to escape the limelight. _____________ he was hiding, he wrote many
books under different pseudonyms. Most of these books were never published.

b. Now read the rest of the biography and fill in the gaps with any appropriate connecting word.

In 1919, he was arrested for his communist ideas and sent to prison _____________ he met the love
of his life. Her name was Martha Foley and she was an Irish socialist. Their relationship didn’t work
mainly _____________ Sidis rejected sex, art, music and anything else _____________ he thought
would distract him from his pursuit of knowledge. The press continued to hound Sidis throughout his
life. A New Yorker article _____________ was titled ‘April Fool’ included a particularly humiliating
portrait of Sidis as well as intimate details of his personal life. Sidis sued the magazine for invasion of
privacy. _____________ he won the case in 1944, this wasn’t a happy victory for him. Soon
_____________ he received this court ruling, his landlady found him unconscious in his Boston flat.
He had suffered a brain haemorrhage. He never recovered and died at the age of 46.
_____________ he died, he still had a picture of Martha Foley in his wallet.

In pairs check your answers for tasks a and b above.

c. In small groups answer the questions about William James Sidis’ life.

1. Do you think being exceptionally intelligent was a blessing or a curse for Sidis? Why?
2. What do you think caused Sidis to live a mostly lonely life?
3. If you were as intelligent as Sidis, how do you think your life would be different? How would
you make use of your intelligence?

19
TASK 4: VARIETY IN WRITING
Below is a plot summary of the film ‘A Beautiful Mind’ written by a student. Study it in pairs. Decide
what seems to be the issue with the sentence structures and discuss how you can improve it. Later,
write your improved version underneath the original paragraph.
‘A Beautiful Mind’ is a 2001 drama. It was directed by Ron Howard based on the life of

John Forbes Nash Jr. a famous mathematician. The film starts in 1947 at Princeton

University. Nash is a graduate student. He is portrayed as a brilliant but asocial

student, he does not have many friends. He expands on game theory and publishes an

article on it. Thanks to his work on game theory, he receives an appointment at MIT. A

few years later, Nash goes to Pentagon to decrypt enemy communications. And later he

is offered a new assignment at the Department of Defence to decode enemy message.

Nash becomes more and more obsessed about looking for hidden patterns. He is

convinced that he is being followed. Meanwhile he meets Alicia, a student, they fall in

love and get married. During a lecture at Harvard University, Nash has a breakdown. He

thinks Soviet agents are following him. He is taken to a psychiatric facility. He is

diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. He is given shock therapy. He receives shock

therapy and medication, he continues to have a troubled time in his career and marriage.

Nash goes back to Princeton. He is allowed to work there. He learns to fight his

hallucinations. In the late 1970s he eventually goes back to teaching. The film has an

uplifting end. It is 1994 and Nash receives the Nobel Prize for his outstanding work on

game theory. The film received around 40 awards including 4 Oscars.

Your Improved Version:

__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
Once you have finished writing your version, compare it with another pair’s.
20
Speaking after Unit 1 Input 1:

INTRODUCTION:

Task A: You will watch a video. While watching the video, pay attention to the speakers to identify
how they share their opinions, emphasise their ideas and clarify their points. Write down the
expressions or strategies they use under each category.

The use of discourse markers (E.g. so, right, exactly):

Putting stress on some of the words to emphasise a point:

Repeating the same idea in other words to make it clear:

21
Task B: Write down how we use the following discourse markers in speaking while your teacher is
reading aloud the information.
The discourse markers in speaking: _____________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________

Task C: In pairs, discuss the following questions by using discourse markers (E.g. so, right, exactly),
emphasising a point by putting stress on a word and rephrasing to make an idea clear.

1. Are people born intelligent or does their environment make them intelligent?
2. Do you think a person’s socio-economic status has an impact on their mental abilities?

STRATEGIES:

In addition to the strategies we studied briefly in the introduction, there are other strategies speakers
use. In order to maintain a conversation or discussion, speakers need to respond to an opinion or ask
for more information and clarification. Asking for more information and clarification ensures a
smoother communication and reduces confusion and misunderstanding. Here are some strategies
that can be used while seeking information and clarification:

1. Asking (indirect) questions

2. Using question tags to check understanding
3. Asking for specific examples
4. Asking for elaboration
5. Summarising what has been said to check understanding
6. Asking for repetition

Task 1. Read the following extracts from Unit 1 Input 1 tapescript. Identify the function of the
underlined parts. One of them is given as an example.
A. Asking for definition / information ___1___
B. Showing doubt _______
C. Defining and explaining a concept ______ & ______
D. Showing doubt and giving the reason for it ______
E. Providing clarification ______ & ______
F. Asking for clarification ______ & ______

22
To start us off, Gregory, let’s begin with the most basic question. (1)What do we mean when we
say a person is intelligent? What is it really, and why is it such an important concept?
All good questions, and you could basically write books on each one of them. (2)The thing is, it is
so hard even to define intelligence. There is still no consensus over what constitutes intelligence –
I mean, what intelligence is comprised of. And also, (3) it is a subjective term. Different people
value different aspects of it. For instance, in a math class, the most intelligent students would
probably be perceived to be the one getting the highest scores, or solving an equation before all
the others, right?
Right.
But let’s think about Tolstoy. His teachers described him as a student who was “unable to learn”.
(4)Could we claim he was not intelligent?
Well, he is one of the greatest authors of all time. I’d say he is not just intelligent. He is a genius.
Exactly my point. So (5)let me attempt to define intelligence in the most general sense. Human
intelligence could be described as a mental quality that enables us to carry out four main tasks:
the first of these is to understand and apply abstract concepts. The second function is to learn
from past experience. The third is manipulating one’s environment, and finally, adapting to new
environments.
(6)What do you mean by environment, Greg? Could you expand on that?
Yes, you’re right (7) let’s clarify this. The environment in terms of using intelligence does not just
refer to the physical landscape like the mountains or forests, or our surroundings, such as school,
home or workplace. Most importantly, it refers to a person’s social contacts in day-to-day life,
such as our co-workers, friends and family members – or even complete strangers.
...................................
(8) So how do we measure something that we cannot even define properly? IQ tests are
universal, aren’t they?
Well, to tell you the truth, IQ tests may not be as reliable as people think they are. But to answer
your question in more detail, we need to think about different approaches to intelligence, as the
way you view intelligence would determine the way you measure it.
....................................................................................
(9) But his theory can’t have received a lot of approval – I mean, I have never heard of his name
so far, but I do know about some other people like Howard Gardner….
Yes, although he is seen as the founder of the psychometric tests of IQ, he received lots of
criticisms. Most psychologists thought Spearman’s categorization of abilities was too narrow, just
two types of abilities for millions of people and skills were just too limited…

23
Task 2. Clarification

A. Listen to two students who are doing the following task. Look at the following list of expressions
to ask for and provide clarification and put a tick (√) next to the expressions you hear.

Discussion Task:
1. How can you define intelligence? Who is an intelligent person?

2. What makes people successful in life? Discuss and rank the following points with a friend.
You may add other points if you want.

_______ Being smart _______Having parents showing an interest in

your education
_______ Hard work _______ Having good relationships
_______ A good education _______ Putting effort
_______ Persistence _______ Other: ______________________

Asking for clarification Providing clarification

____What do you mean by ...? ____ Let’s clarify this.
____ Do you mean ....? ____ Let me say this in other words.
____ Could you expand/elaborate on that? ____ Let me explain that in detail.
____ Could you be more explicit? ____ Let me put it in another way.
____ Could you be more specific? ____ In other words,
____ Could you clarify that? ____ I mean...
____ Could you explain what you mean by ...? ____ The thing is...
____ Could you give an example to be more ____What I am trying to say is that...
specific? ____ Let me give an example to clarify
____ I am not sure what you mean (by ...) this.
____ Sorry, but I’m not quite clear on ... ____ Let me give an example to be
____ I’d like to ask you about ... more specific.
____ I didn’t understand what you said about .. ____ What I mean by ... is ....
____ I don’t see what you mean. ____Well, ...
____ Am I correct in assuming that ...? ____ Yes, (repeating the same
____ Are you saying that ...? word/sentence + an explanation)

24
 B. Now, do the same discussion task in groups of 3. Your teacher will give each of you 3
expressions for clarification. Make sure that you use all of them during the discussion.

C. Reflection: Think about your performance during the discussion based on the questions below.

1. Were you able to use all 3 expressions?

2. How did these expressions help you understand or clarify points during the discussion?
3. Which strategies did you use to clarify your points?

Task 3. Expressing certainty and doubt

Study the following list of expressions to express certainty or doubt. Then choose one of the
underlined expressions to fill in each blank in the following excerpt taken from the discussion you
have listened to in Task 2.

Expressing certainty Expressing doubt

It is clear that .... Well, you may be right but...

I am sure /certain that... Perhaps /Possibly / maybe...

I am not so sure about that..
certainly/definitely/clearly/surely
I agree to some extent but...
/obviously/exactly....
This can’t be true..
will / must...
How can this be possible?
cannot .... Yes, but don’t you think that ....?
It seems that... I see your point but ....
Right but how about X?
It appears that...
It seems that (saying something
There is strong evidence that shows ...
opposite)

Jack: What about the relationship between intelligence and success in life? In other words, are
intelligent people more successful in life? Although we expect intelligent people to be successful in
life, (1) ________________________________. Intelligence does not always bring success. I believe
working hard and putting a lot of effort bring success. Without hard work even an intelligent person
can not achieve anything.

25
Tom: (2)__________________, you may be highly intelligent but if you don’t work hard, it is
impossible to succeed. One more thing related to this is persistence. (3)______________________
people who do not give up easily in case of a problem or failure become successful. Another point is
about the effect of parents. (4)___________________ the link between the success of children and
their parents’ interest in their education.
Jack: Could you give an example to be more specific? (5) _________________ at the end of the day, it
is the child who studies, puts effort and works hard. Otherwise, whatever the parents do won’t help.
Tom: That’s correct but the child needs opportunities. Let me give an example to be more specific.
The impact of parents start at a very early age I think. When parents start reading books to their baby
children, play memory games, legos or other educational games, it seems that children are better at
learning at school.
Jack: And some parents also arrange piano lessons and sports courses. These courses (6) ___________
have an effect.
Tom: They (7) _________________ have an effect. And also providing a good education starting from
kindergarten to university.
Jack: So, we both agree that hard work, effort and persistence are the most important factors for
success in life.
Tom: And (8) __________________ that parents’ attitude to education and parenting is important.
Thank you.

Task 4: Group Discussion: Discuss the following questions in groups. Use the expressions to ask for
and provide clarification and to show certainty and doubt during your discussion.

1. Do you think people get more intelligent with age? In what ways might people gain
or lose mental abilities as they get older?
2. Does education boost or hinder intelligence? Explain your ideas.
3. Do you know anyone you consider exceptionally intelligent? What do you think
makes them very intelligent?
Self-Reflection: Think about your performance during the discussion. Put a tick (√) or cross (X) next to
the statements below.

I have used a variety of expressions…

 to ask for clarification
 to provide clarification
 to show certainty
 to show doubt

26
Task 5. In faculty, you will frequently need to present your opinions during lectures or discussion
sessions. In order to express your opinions clearly, you need to develop them well through
descriptions and examples. Therefore, it is important for you to practice longer stretches of free
production, where you express your opinions either as a monologue, or as part of a discussion.

Individual Task: Talk about the topic of ‘unlocking your brain’s full potential’ individually for exactly 2
minutes. Make sure that you answer the following questions during your talk. You will be in pairs to
listen to each other and give feedback.

In the 2011 film Limitless, the main character Eddie Morra is offered a pharmaceutical drug that
allows people to unlock their brain’s full potential. Eddie takes this pill and his life changes.
1. If you were offered such a pill, would you take it? Why / why not?
2. How would your life change as a result of taking this pill?
3. How would you like to use your brain’s full potential?

Tip Box:
IMPROVING FLUENCY BY THINKING IN ENGLISH:
One way to improve your fluency is THINKING IN ENGLISH. This means:
 coming up words and ideas only in English
 not translating from your native language
 being able to access and use the vocabulary you have learnt
In order to practise thinking in English, you might do the following to
access the vocabulary you have without worrying about accuracy:
 Speak out loud to yourself and explain what you are doing while
you are doing it during the day (talking about your daily routine).
 Talk through the process of your daily routine activities some time
during the day (E.g. talk through a recipe, a sports activity).
 Tell a story about yourself, your childhood, a family member, your
experiences
 Practice answering typical questions about yourself (E.g. questions
about hobbies, future plans, etc.)

27
INPUT 2
GROWTH MINDSETS

What is a mindset? A person’s general attitude

and way of thinking.

BEFORE READING

1. Read the options and choose the option that best reflects your opinion.

1. A. A person is born with a certain level of intelligence and it is impossible to change it

later in life.
B. By exercising the mind, it is possible to increase intelligence.

2. A. It is possible to learn new things but the level of intelligence can’t be changed.
B. It is possible to increase the level of intelligence by learning new things.

3. A. People are born with certain abilities.

B. By practising something for a long time, it is possible to develop an ability.

4. A. Being good at a skill means having a natural ability for it.

B. Being good at a skill is not related to natural ability but results from practice and a
lot of effort.

2. What is the difference between the attitudes in options A and B in terms of their approach
to intelligence?

3. Think about your performance in the skills below and decide which band (A, B or C) reflects
your mindset and then discuss your answers in groups of four.

28
 Skills A B C
maths I am not good at maths as I I am good at maths I am not good at maths
don’t have the necessary skills because I am smart. but if I study hard, I can
and no matter how hard I study improve my maths
I cannot excel in maths. skills.
music I do not have an ear for music I have an innate music Although I am not
so I cannot play any talent and I can play talented in music, I can
instruments. any instruments still learn how to play a
without much practice. musical instrument
well.
foreign I do not have an aptitude for I have a natural I am not very good at
languages learning languages. Studying aptitude for learning learning languages but
hard cannot help me improve foreign languages. I do I can learn well if I
it. not need to study study regularly.
much
drawing I can only draw stick figures. My My teachers always Although I cannot
parents cannot draw well. I tell me how talented I draw well, I believe I
believe drawing is not in my am in drawing. I am can improve it if I keep
genes. perfect. trying.

Vocabulary Development

Below are the definitions of some of the words from the text you are going to read. First, read the
definitions to understand the meaning of the words and then fill in the blanks in the following
sentences with the best word. You may have to make tense changes.

Word / Part of Speech Definition

ultimately (adv.) finally, after everything else has been done or considered.
persistence (n) determination to do something even though it is difficult or other people
oppose it.
attribute (v) to believe or say that a situation or event is caused by something.
bias (n) an opinion about whether a person, group, or idea is good or bad which
influences how you deal with it.
decline (v) to become gradually worse in quality.
subsequent (adj.) happening or coming after something else.
initial (adj.) happening at the beginning [= first]
establish (v) to form, to decide about something
seek (v) to try to achieve or get something, look for sth.
promote (v) to help something to develop or increase
praise (v) to say that you admire and approve of someone or something.
aspect (n) one part of a situation, idea, plan etc that has many parts.

29
1. Primary school teachers play a crucial role in the early development of children. If they
___________ effort and learning, children can be lifelong learners in the future. Encouraging
children to put a lot of effort into learning is crucially important.
2. Patience and ___________ are two key elements of success. High achievers tend to remain in
the fight until the very end in order to achieve what they long for and they do not give up
easily.
3. There seems to be quite a lot of people who have been involved in this issue. However,
___________, the decision will be made by only a small group of people.
4. New PISA results show that levels of achievement in both reading and mathematics have
___________ in Turkey. This is why Turkey must strive to improve outcomes for all students,
and schools must get the lowest achievers up to an acceptable standard.
5. A recent research has shown that when students become successful, they usually
___________ it to their hard work and discipline. Yet, when they fail they believe that their
failure has been caused by other factors such as their teachers.
6. The ___________ reaction of the public to the news of the new nuclear reactor was to take to
the streets to protest it.
7. A survey conducted in 2016 shows that Turkish people rank their family and health as the two
most important ___________of life. Surprisingly, money is viewed as below the importance of
family and health.
8. The committee will have its first meeting in Albert Long Hall but all ___________ meetings will
be held in the new hall, which was built last year.
9. Parents should ___________ their children for their efforts, not for their intelligence. They
should avoid calling them smart or clever. When parents express their approval of their
children’s effort rather than their IQ, their children are more likely to be good learners in the
future.
10. Successful people usually like taking risks. They tend to ___________ challenges and learn
how to deal with them successfully.
11. Women in underdeveloped countries usually suffer from discrimination in employment and
educational opportunities as well as cultural and traditional ___________ and prejudices.
12. Professor Dunn always ___________ high standards for his students as he believes that
challenging students is highly likely to improve their performance.

30
Previewing
READING STRATEGIES:
SKIMMING
In order to have a general idea about a text, readers can skim it, which means reading the text quickly
to find out the length, the type, the author, purpose of the author, the main topic and points of the
text.
By simply looking at the text, readers can easily see how long the text is, what kind of text it is and
who it was written for. However, skimming a text for the main points will necessitate reading the
following quickly:

1. The title
2. Subheadings
3. The introduction
4. The first sentence of each paragraph
5. The conclusion

1. Read the introduction to Growth Mindsets and answer the following questions.
1. What does the writer think about the relationship between success and one’s natural ability?
2. What will be discussed in the following parts of the text?

2. Skim the text to answer the following questions.

1. How long is the text? ____________________________________________________

2. What type of text is it?

a. book review b. literature review c. newspaper article

3. What is the purpose of the writer?

a. To persuade the reader to adopt a growth mindset.
b. To entertain the reader.
c. To criticise fixed and growth mindsets.

4. What kind of audience may this text be intended for? ________________________________

5. What is the topic of the text? ________________________________________________

6. What do you think the writer will explain in the following sections of the text?

31
 a. Defining Fixed and Growth Mindsets: _______________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
b. Studies on Mindsets: _____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
c. Benefits of a Growth Mindset: _____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
d. Best Practices: _________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
While - Reading
a) Work in groups of four. Each of you will have a particular task while reading these two parts of
the text; Introduction and Defining Fixed Growth Mindsets on page 39. Now, read your task.
Make sure that you understand it before starting to read.

Student 1: Summary Person (pg 31-32) Student 3: Lexis Person (pg 33)

Student 2: Discussion Person (pg 33) Student 4: Research Person (pg 33)

Summary Person:

Your task is to summarize the sections of the text you have read. Use the charts below to take notes.
You will summarize it to the other member of your group by looking at your notes.

A person with a fixed mindset A person wih a growth mindset

32
 In a school setting

Students with a fixed mindset

Students with a growth mindset

Your Comments on the Quotation Your Comments on the Quotation from

from Alfred Binet Benjamin Barber

33
Discussion Person:
Your task is to prepare some questions, which you may all want to discuss about the text.
Possible discussion questions or topics for today:
1. __________________________________________________________________
2. __________________________________________________________________
3. __________________________________________________________________
4. __________________________________________________________________
5. __________________________________________________________________

Lexis Person:
Your task is to look for a few words that may be key to understanding the text. Write down the
unknown words and then look them up in a mono-lingual dictionary. Look for words that have high
frequency or are important to comprehend the text well. Underline these key words and use the table
below to write them down.
Word Definition Example from the text

Research Person:
Your task is to do a simple research on Google about the part of the text you have read.

What you have found: _______________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
b) In your groups, report your findings to each other. Listen to each other carefully and ask
questions if there is anything unclear.

c) For the rest of the text, work in groups of three. Each of you will have a particular task.
Student 1: Your task is on pages 34-35
Student 2: Your task is on pages 35-36
Student 3: Your task is on pages 36-37

34
Student 1: Read the first four paragraphs of the section “Studies on Mindsets” and take brief notes.
You will report this back to your friends in your group. Use the charts and tables to help you.

How did Dweck become interested in this area?

Yale ____________________________________

it led her to contemplate

_________________________________________

to answer her question (Ph.D dissertation)

experiment __________________________________

A study conducted by Lisa Blackwell, Trzesniewski and Dweck

Who participated
in the study?
How many
participants were
there in the
study?
What did the
researchers
measure?

What was the By the end of the

result? first term

Over two years

What did students with a

Blackwell fixed mindset
observe about

students with a
growth mindset

35
 Now, create your own tables to take notes about a workshop by Lisa Blackwell, Trzesniewski and
Dweck as well as Rheinberg’s research.

Student 2: Read the paragraphs 5-8 of the section “Studies on Mindsets” and take brief notes. You will
report this back to your friends in your group. Use the table below to help you.

A study by Dweck and Mueller in 1998

Who were the participants?

What instrument was used in

the study?

How did the researchers use

“praise” in this study?

What happened when

students were asked to
choose between two
subsequent tests?

36
Now, create your own table in order to take notes about the follow up studies of Dweck and Meller
which tried to test the students’ fear of failure.

Student 3

Read the section “Benefits of a Growth Mindset” and “Best Practices” and take brief notes. You will
report this back to your friends in your group. Use the charts and tables to help you.

•
•
Positive effects of a growth
mindset •
•
•

Now, take notes about the part “Best Practices” below.

37
d) In your groups, report to your group members about the parts you have read. Take notes while listening
to your friends.

________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________

Read the whole text in detail and answer the following questions

1. Sociologist Benjamin Barber said ‘I don’t divide the world into the weak and the strong, or the
successes and the failures. I divide the world into learners and non-learners.’ What do you think he
means by this statement?____________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________

2. What initially caused Carol Dweck to become interested in ‘mindsets’? ______________________

________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________

38
 3. Dweck conducted a study with Blackwell and Trzesniewski. Which of the following is NOT one of
the results of this study?
a. Students with a growth mindset did not give up easily when they faced challenges.
b. Students with a fixed mindset were unwilling to pay attention to feedback.
c. Students with a fixed mindset were inspired by the achievement of other students.
d. Students with a fixed mindset lagged behind the students who had a growth mindset
in maths.
4. What are TWO things a teacher with a growth mindset can improve in their students’ performance?
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
5. What kind of praise can have adverse effects on students? _________________________________

6. Fill in the gaps with the correct piece of information from the text.

Dweck and Mueller gave more than _____________________________________

_____________ fifth graders a test. _____________________________________
_____________________________________

When the students were later asked to choose between When both groups were given the

two tests, one of which was harder, more than two- first test for the second time, the

thirds of the students which were praised for their students who

_____________ wanted to take the _____________ ________________________ for

test. their _________________ did

worse than before.

7. Which of the following is NOT one of the best practices developed by Dweck and Blackwell?
a. Students should be challenged and have high expectations.
b. Students should be taught that the mind is not inflexible and can be changed.
c. A learning zone which is risk-free is essential for a growth mindset environment.
d. Teachers should not tell their students how smart they are and instead emphasise
the significance of their efforts.

8. According to Citotti, in what way can natural ability play a role in success?
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________

39
Growth Mindsets
Introduction:
In the early 20 century Alfred Binet, the inventor of the IQ test, wrote:
A few modern philosophers assert that an individual's intelligence is a fixed quantity, a quantity
which cannot be increased. We must protest and react against this brutal
pessimism.... With practice, training, and above all, method, we manage to increase our
attention, our memory, our judgment and literally to become more intelligent than we were
before.
Today, most experts agree that success is not merely found in one’s natural ability but rather in their
continuous development of those abilities. Thanks to leaders in a variety of fields such as Carol S
Dweck, Gilbert Gottlieb, and Robert Stemberg, there is a growing literature as to the benefits of
adopting a growth mindset.
Below, we will discuss the difference between a fixed mindset and a growth mindset and how that
affects one’s ability to learn and ultimately succeed.

Defining Fixed and Growth Mindsets

Benjamin Barber, an eminent sociologist, once said, 'I don't divide the world into the weak and the
strong, or the successes and the failures... I divide the world into learners and non-learners.'
Carol S Dweck, PhD is a leading researcher in the field of motivation and is the scholar behind the
concept of mindset. A mindset is a belief about oneself and one’s basic qualities1. According to Dweck,
there are two different types of mindsets – fixed and growth2.

A person who has a fixed mindset (entity theory of intelligence) believes that their qualities such as
intelligence, creativity, and talent are predetermined and finite, fixed traits. These qualities, or so
people with fixed mindsets believe, are so set that whatever you lack, you will continue to lack. On the
other hand, a person with a growth mindset (incremental theory of intelligence) believes that their
basic abilities can continue to be developed through hard work and dedication. These innate qualities
are just starting points with success being the fruit of effort, learning, and persistence.

In a school setting, fixed and growth mindsets manifest themselves differently3. For one, students who
view intelligence as fixed, value looking smart above all else and therefore will miss out on critical
learning opportunities if it may result in them performing poorly or admitting deficiencies in
knowledge. Students with growth mindsets meet difficult problems with great relish and value the

1
Source: [Link]
2
Dweck states in her book ‘Mindset’ that 40 % of people endorsing growth mindset, 40 % of the fixed and the remainder are in the middle
and cannot make up their minds.
3
Source:[Link] Geniuses Work [Link]
40
effort put in. As Dweck wrote, “even geniuses have to work hard to develop their abilities and make
their contributions.”
Studies on Mindsets
[Link] started her academic career at Yale where she studied the motivation of animals and the
effects of learned helplessness. This work led her to contemplate, “what makes a really capable child
give up in the face of failure, where other children may be motivated by the failure?4” This question
became her PhD dissertation. To answer it, Dweck and her assistants ran an experiment on elementary
school children whom school personnel identified as helpless; students who became discouraged after
failure and attributed these failures to lack of ability. Through a series of exercises conducted as part
of the study, Dweck’s idea that attributions were a key ingredient driving success was supported.

[Link] expanded on this thought and eventually shifted attribution theory from an emphasis on
attributional errors and biases to the consequences of why it matters what attributions people make.
Over the following decades, Dweck continued her work. One of the studies conducted by Lisa
Blackwell, Kali Trzesniewski, and Carol Dweck5 involved studying several hundred students in New York
City. They measured the student’s mindsets and monitored their grades to see how they coped with
challenges. By the end of the first term, despite similar math skills, the students jumped apart in
grades. Blackwell et al observed that students with growth mindsets focused on learning, effort, and
were resilient to challenges. On the other hand, students with fixed mindsets worried about looking
smart and being perfect. They tended to avoid challenges, give up easily, ignore feedback, and be
threatened by other’s success. Over the two-year study, the achievement gap widened and it became
evident that students with growth mindsets significantly outperformed their counterparts who
possessed fixed mindsets.

[Link] on those findings, the trio designed a workshop to teach students a growth mindset. In this
study they divided the students with declining math skills into two groups: the control group would
attend eight sessions of a workshop that taught study skills while the other half would be taught both
study skills and receive training in the growth mindset. The latter learned that their brain was a muscle
that could become stronger if used. This, they were told, would cause their brain to form new
connections and, eventually, make them smarter overtime. The result was clear; the students who
participated in the growth mindset workshop showed improvement in their grades. The teachers also
noted an increased motivation to learn from the students who attended the growth mindset
workshop.

4
Source: [Link]
5
Source: [Link]
bin/drupalm/system/files/[Link]
41
[Link]’s mindset concept continues to be studied inside and outside the classroom. Rheinberg, a
researcher in Germany, measured teacher’s mindsets and their effects on students. He monitored the
student’s achievements over the school year. He found that students who had a teacher with a fixed
mindset, the belief that students had fixed intelligence and that they had no influence on their
students’ intellectual skills, did not improve over the year. If they entered as low achievers, they
remained low achievers. When teachers had a growth mindset, their low achieving students tended to
improve their grades to become moderate or even high achievers. Rheinberg’s study shows that
teachers, who believe their students can learn, and are committed to finding a way to ensure they
continue to learn, can influence not only test scores but overall attitudes towards learning.

[Link] outside the classroom, Dweck has taken her concept to collegiate sports6. At the beginning
of the year, Dweck and colleagues asked athletes if they thought their coaches believed success came
from natural talent or from practice and hard work. Over the year, Dweck noticed that athletes who
thought their coaches believed in hard work over natural talent performed better. The athletes picked
up on their coach’s messages and acted on them.

[Link] to what was also seen on the field, in 1998 Dweck and Mueller7 noted that there can be
negative effects of praising student’s intelligence as opposed to praising their effort. In this study
Dweck and Mueller gave over 400 fifth graders a relatively easy test consisting of nonverbal puzzles.
After the students finished the test, the researchers told the students their score and gave them a
single line of praise. Half the students were praised on their intelligence, the other half on their effort.
The students were then allowed to choose between two different subsequent tests – one more
difficult than the other. Nearly 90% of the students that received praise for their effort chose the
harder test. Next, Dweck and Mueller tested the students’ fear of failure and gave the students yet
another test that was designed to be extremely difficult. During this test, the students who received
praise for their effort worked hard to figure out the puzzle while their counterparts became quickly
discouraged. The study continued with the students being giving the option of either looking at the
exams of students who performed better or worse. Once again, the students who received praise for
their hard work were interested in the higher scoring exams; they wanted to see their mistakes and
learn from their errors so that they may excel next time.

[Link], Dweck and Mueller readministered the initial test. Students who were praised for their effort
exhibited an improvement, raising their score by an average of 30%. Students who were praised for
their intelligence scored an average of 20% lower than their first time – the students regressed.

6
Source: [Link]
7
Source: [Link]
42
This study shows that when teachers and parents praise natural intelligence or skill over performance,
they are sending a fixed mindset message. On the contrary, adults who praise effort or the strategies
it took to achieve something, are building up students through a growth mindset. This taught students
to learn from their mistakes and challenge themselves, essentially, creating the mindset to succeed.

[Link], Dweck continues to study the effects the growth mindset has on students and individuals.
She has conducted studies on people’s brain waves and the effects of teaching a growth mindset.
Through her software program called Brainology and other initiatives such as “the Project for
Educational Research that Scales (PERTs)”, Dweck continues to explore the power of mindsets and the
benefits of changing the way people view their natural talents, creativity, and intelligence.

Benefits of a Growth Mindset

For students with a growth mindset, the possibilities are endless. Here are just some of the positive
effects a growth mindset has had on students:
 Growth mindset training can increase test scores (Blackwell et al., 2007; Yeager and
Dweck, 2012; Good, Aronson, &Inzlicht, 2003).8
 Growth mindedness can help students to use deeper learning strategies and to better
recover from an initial poor grade (Grant and Dweck, 2003)
 Growth mindset intervention staged the summer before a student’s freshman year in
college can increase the percentage of students earning 12+ credits during their first
term (a strong predictor of on -‐time graduation) by 3 to 10% (Yeager et al., 2013).
 Teaching a growth mindset seems to decrease or even close achievement gaps such as for
students who appear to be underachieving as a result of stereotyping. For example, when
Black and Latino students adopted a growth mindset, their grades and achievement test
scores looked more similar to those of their non-stereotyped peers. When female students
adopted a growth mindset, their grades and achievement test scores in mathematics
became similar to those of their male classmates. In these studies, every group seemed
to benefit from holding a growth mindset, but the stereotyped groups gained the most
(Aronson et al., 2002; Blackwell et al., 2007; Good et al., 2003).9
Best Practices
Thanks to Dweck and collaborators’ work, there is a good understanding of the best practices for
creating a growth mindset in individuals. On Dweck’s website, [Link], she lists 4 simple
steps to change10:

8
Source:[Link]

9
Source:[Link]
10 Source: [Link]
43
 Step 1: Learn to hear your fixed mindset “voice.”
Step 2: Recognize that you have a choice.
Step 3: Talk back to it with a growth mindset voice.
Step 4: Take the growth mindset action.
Echoed throughout many suggestions for best practices is the importance that the educator has a
growth mindset. The Origins Program, which works for equality in education, claims that, “teaching is
most successful when the teacher believes in the capacity of all people to grow, and when the teacher
cultivates in the students a belief in their own growth11”

Dweck and Blackwell developed their own best practices to establish a classroom as a growth
mindset environment. They are12:
1. Establish high expectations (not just standards). Challenge students so they know that
they have the ability to meet those expectations.
2. Create a risk-tolerant learning zone. Provide an environment that values challenge -‐
seeking, learning, and effort above perfection.
3. Give feedback focused on process –things students can control- not on their personal
abilities. Avoid praising children for their intelligence and instead focus on explaining
the importance of their actions towards their success.
4. Introduce students to the concept of the malleable mind. Show students that our
brains develop through effort and learning.

However encouraging a growth mindset does not just start and stop in the classroom. Maggie Wray,
PhD utilized Dweck’s book to create her own 4 strategies parents and educators may employ to help
teens to develop a growth mindset13:
1. Praise them for their effort, not their results.
2. Avoid praising results that require little or no effort
3. Focus on what they can change about their approach in order to do better next time
4. Be a growth mindset role model
Organizations have taken on Dweck’s mindset concept to help the children in their programs. For
example, Step It Up 2 Thrive has developed its own 3 tips to help young people shape their mindset14:
Tip #1: Promote Effort & Learning
Tip #2: Feed the Brain! Food, Sleep, Exercise, Challenge

11
Source: [Link]
12
Source:[Link]
_foster_a_growth_mindset.html
13
Source:[Link]
14
Source:[Link]
44
 Tip #3: Focus!
Methods they use include15:
 Raising young people’s awareness of growth versus fixed mindsets through self-assessment
and discussion.
 Discouraging labels (such as “smart” or “dumb”) that convey intelligence as a fixed ability.
 Praising effort, strategies and progress, not intelligence or abilities.
 Presenting young people with opportunities to be challenged, conveying the message that
challenging activities can be fun, and that mistakes may help them learn and improve.

Concluding Thoughts
As a result of the research conducted by Dweck and her colleagues, the language surrounding
education and intelligence has changed. It is understood that innate or natural ability does not
necessarily translate into success. Gregory Citotti states that there are two ways in which talent
matters, firstly as a head start and secondly in edge cases where talent adds that little something
extra16. However, hard work is the major contributor to long-term success. In other words, a brain can
be taught and can grow.

It is believed that 40% of people have a growth mindset, 40% have a fixed mindset, and the rest, well,
are not too sure. Today, Dweck’s mindset concept has been used in all facets of life way beyond the
classroom. Corporations, sports teams, and even relationship advice uses the concept of a growth
mindset to improve their performance and situation. Even scholars outside the field of psychology are
looking to find the effects of mindsets on the brain and other aspects of life.

AFTER READING

1. Consider what you read about growth mindsets. In small groups, discuss how you would praise
or give feedback to the people who did the following as a person with a growth mindset.
1. A high school student who always gets a high grade in math exams.

Praise / Feedback: _________________________________________________________

2. A child who cannot draw well.

Praise / Feedback: _________________________________________________________

3. A student who has failed all his foreign language exams.

Praise / Feedback: _________________________________________________________

15
Source:[Link]
16
Source:[Link]
45
2. Read the text again and complete the summary below using the words in the box.

colleagues conducted contributes researcher ignored

innate traits resilient achievements intelligence dedication

The literature review ‘Growth Mindsets’ by Samantha Walters compares two different types of
mindsets and discusses their effects on a person’s ability to learn. According to Dweck, who is the
leading (1) _________________ in the field of motivation, there are two different types of mindsets –
fixed and growth. People with a fixed mindset are of the opinion that their qualities such as (2)
___________, creativity and talent are fixed (3) ____________. People who have a growth mindset,
on the other hand, hold the belief that they can develop these basic abilities they are born with through
hard work and (4) _______________. These (5) _____________ qualities are just starting points for
them and can be improved through effort, learning and persistence. Dweck (6) __________________
several studies on students and monitored their mindsets and academic (7) ________________ over
the school years and she found out that students with fixed mindsets usually avoided challenges and
(8) ______________ feedback while those with growth mindsets focused on learning and were (9)
_________________ in the face of challenges. Thanks to the research carried out by Dweck and her
(10) _______________, the language surrounding education and intelligence has changed. The writer
concludes that most people now believe it is not natural ability but hard work which (11)
____________ significantly to long-term success.

3. PARAPHRASING

What is paraphrasing?

Paraphrasing is expressing the ideas from a source in your own words. It is a

skill that requires you to reprocess information and express it in your own
words without changing the meaning.

Why should you paraphrase?

In pairs, write down the reasons why you should paraphrase in academic
writing.







46
A. Some of you have had some experience with paraphrasing before. List each step you take when
you paraphrase a paragraph. Discuss with your partner about how you generally paraphrase.

Your Strategy What are the similarities and differences between

your strategy and your partner’s?

1.

2.

3.

4.

B. Read the original text and the two paraphrases of this text. Discuss which one is an acceptable
paraphrase in pairs. Why?

The original text: Rheinberg, a researcher in Germany, measured teacher’s mindsets and their
effects on students. He monitored the student’s achievements over the school year. He found that
students who had a teacher with a fixed mindset, the belief that students had fixed intelligence and
that they had no influence on their students’ intellectual skills, did not improve over the year. If they
entered as low achievers, they remained low achievers. When teachers had a growth mindset, their
low achieving students tended to improve their grades to become moderate or even high achievers.
Rheinberg’s study shows that teachers, who believe their students can learn, and are committed to
finding a way to ensure they continue to learn, can influence not only test scores but overall
attitudes towards learning.

Paraphrased version 1:

Rheinberg did some research about teachers’ mindsets and their influence on students. He observed
the students’ success throughout the year. The result was that students who were with a teacher
who had a fixed mindset and believed that they could not change a student’s intelligence did not
develop in a year. If they entered as weak students, they remained weak. If teacher had a growth
mindset, the low achievers improved. Teachers whose belief is that their learners can learn find a
way to make sure they keep learning. These teachers influence both test scores and attitudes of
their students.

47
 Paraphrased version 2:

Rheinberg found that as teachers with fixed mindsets think that intelligence cannot be changed,
they cannot affect their students’ learning in a positive way. Therefore, their students did not show
any progress throughout the year. In contrast, teachers with growth mindsets are more likely to
make a difference in the exam results of their students as well as their beliefs about learning. This is
because they try different ways to help their learners.

How should you paraphrase?

Put the following steps of a paraphrasing strategy in the correct order.
____ a. Compare your sentence with the original source text to edit your paraphrase
if necessary:
 Have you conveyed the same meaning?
 Have you used your own words?
 Have you included all the relevant and important information?
____ b. Integrate the information from your notes into your paraphrased sentence.
____ c. Read the original text and make sure you really understand its meaning.
____ d. Look away from the text and take notes (in your own words) on the text.

C. Compare your paraphrasing strategy with the one above. What are the similarities and
differences?

__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________

48
 Some strategies to help you paraphrase
While you are paraphrasing, you are restating the author’s ideas by using different
vocabulary, word order and structures. Below there are some strategies that might be
used together but using only one or two of these does not mean paraphrasing.

1. You can use synonyms and antonyms. You do not need to change the key words
such as fixed/growth mindsets. You cannot find suitable synonyms for every word. Most
students use a thesaurus to find synonyms and they sometimes choose one that does
not fit. A good strategy is to use the definition you can find in a dictionary. Below is an
example;
Sentence: Social Media is popular in the world.
The paraphrased sentence (the student chose a synonym from the thesaurus entry
below that doesn’t mean the same as ‘popular’ in this context):
Social Media is famous.
The paraphrased sentence (the student used the definition from the a dictionary
which gives the meaning in a better way)
A lot of people like social media in the world.

2. You can change part of speech (e.g. contribute (v) contribution (n) )
3. You can change the sentence structure from active to passive or vice versa.
4. You can separate a long sentence into two parts or combine two sentences.

49
 D. Read the sentences below and put a tick next to the mistakes you sometimes make while
paraphrasing. Compare your answers in pairs.

______ a. Failing to take notes while reading the paragraph but trying to paraphrase it word by word.

______ b. Using a only a single paraphrasing technique (e.g. only changing part of speech or replacing
words with their synonyms)

______ c. Paraphrasing the text by changing the meaning of the original paragraph.

______ d. Repeating portions of the original paragraph.

______ e. Changing every other word in the original paragraph with a synonym using a thesaurus.

______ f. Failing to change the structure of the paragraph sufficiently.

______ g. Adding your own opinion or new information that is not given in the original text.

E. Study the following sample notes and paraphrase

The original paragraph: A person who has a fixed mindset believes that their qualities such as
intelligence, creativity, and talent are predetermined and finite, fixed traits. These qualities, or so
people with fixed mindsets believe, are so set that whatever you lack, you will continue to lack. On
the other hand, a person with a growth mindset believes that their basic abilities can continue to be
developed through hard work and dedication. These innate qualities are just starting points with
success being the fruit of effort, learning, and persistence.

Notes:
People + FM intelligence, creativity, talent cannot be changed fixed

qualities -- set -- lack forever Sb + GM ability always improved by effort, work hard
inborn chr. = starting line

achievement = hard work, effort, determination

Paraphrase:
People with a fixed mindset think that traits like creativity and intelligence can never be improved
throughout life as they are set characteristics while those with a growth mindset believe that if they
work hard enough, they can improve these inborn traits.

F. Work with a partner and identify the strategies used while paraphrasing the paragraph above.

1. ___________________________________________________________________
2. ___________________________________________________________________
3. ___________________________________________________________________
4. ___________________________________________________________________
50
 G. Your turn: Read the following paragraph, take notes and paraphrase it by using the strategies
you have learned.

The original paragraph:

In a school setting, fixed and growth mindsets manifest themselves differently. For one, students who
view intelligence as fixed, value looking smart above all else and therefore will miss out on critical
learning opportunities if it may result in them performing poorly or admitting deficiencies in knowledge.
Students with growth mindsets meet difficult problems with great relish and value the effort put in. As
Dweck wrote, “even geniuses have to work hard to develop their abilities and make their contributions.”

Your Notes:

Your Paraphrase:

H. Write down the strategies you used while paraphrasing this paragraph:
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________

51
 I. Compare your paraphrases in pairs. What kind of similarities and differences can you see between the
two?

__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________

4. Collocations
A. Read the sentences below and answer the following questions.
 Circle the word “praise” used as a noun in the sentences and write down the

verbs that collocate with “praise”: _______________________________________________

adjectives that collocate with “praise”: ____________________________________________

 Put a tick next to the sentences in which the word “praise” is used as a verb and write down
the adverbs that collocate with the verb “praise”: ___________________________________
prepositions that collocate with praise”: ___________________________________________

How many of these sentences were written in the Passive Voice? ______________________

1. The new programme received mostly praise. 9. Her new album was highly praised by reviewers.

2. The writer’s second book received high praise. 10. Her speech attracted criticism and praise.

3. His teaching methods draw both praise and criticism. 11. The new reforms have been internationally praised.

4. It is always easy to praise students. 12. The director’s courage was both praised and blamed.

5. The movie was heavily praised by critics. 13. Praise is more useful than criticism.

6. The young pianist’s concert was widely praised. 14. Someone should give praise where praise is due.

7. The new record has received plenty of critical praise. 15. She received praise for her patience and hard work.

8. The author has received consistent positive praise so far. 16. The chess prodigy was praised on her intelligence.

 Write two sentences using the word ‘praise’ and its collocations.
 _____________________________________________________________________
 _____________________________________________________________________

52
B. Study the verbs and adjectives that collocate with the word “mindset” below and make three
sentences by using some of these collocations.

Adjectives
Verbs

growth
adopt

collective
understand

right
change

positive
create
mindset different mindset
reflect

similar
require

entrepreneurial
be

same
have

new
develop

 ____________________________________________________________________________
 ____________________________________________________________________________
 ____________________________________________________________________________

C. Write down three online vocabulary tools / dictionaries you often use. Compare your list with
your partners.





Tip:
You can find many tools on the web that may help you with vocabulary but they usually focus
on single words. Your teacher will share some online tools with you. What is different about
these tools is that they can help you with collocations, chunks and patterns, in other words -
lexis, and build up your phrasal lexicon. These online tools can help you with your assignments
in Faculty courses.

53
 D. Make a sentence with each word in the box below. Use the online tools your teacher has shared
with you to see the collocations and how each word is used in context. Your sentences should show
your understanding of the text ‘Growth Mindsets’.

feedback (n) research (n) innate (adj.) challenge (n) talent (n) discouraged (adj.) effort (n)

__________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________

5. Activate Your Vocabulary

The following four sentences were written by a student by using a TLP word from U1 Input2 in each
sentence. Read the sentences and study the dictionary entries for each word. Match each sentence
with the problems (a-d). There may be more than one problem with each sentence.
TLP Words Student’s sentences Problems

Promote James was promoted to junior director. This is an important step for him
on the way to the top of the corporate ladder.

Deficiency Poverty is seen as deficiency of money but it is actually worse than this.
Poor people do not only suffer from not having sufficient money but they
also lose their freedom.

Contribution Aziz Sancar has done contribution to science in many ways. There has
been considerable progress in cancer research thanks to Prof Sancar.

Excel Alp excels foreign languages.

54
 Problems:
a. Not enough information was given so the meaning of the word is not clear.
b. The word was not used in this meaning in Unit 1 Input 2. It was used in another meaning.
c. The wrong collocation of the word was used.
d. There is a missing article.
e. The preposition that collocates with the verb is missing.
f. The word was used in the wrong sense, possibly due to translation.

Write a sentence with each TLP word that gives the meaning of the word clearly.
Promote (v): Deficiency (n) (countable):

1. ENCOURAGE to help something to develop or increase 1. a lack of something that is necessary. SYN shortage

 A meeting to promote trade between Turkey and deficiency of

Finland.
 Fertilizer promotes leaf growth.  A deficiency of safe play areas for children.

2. BETTER JOB to give someone a better, more responsible job iron/vitamin etc. deficiency
in a company.
 Some elderly people suffer from iron deficiency in their
Promote somebody to something diet.

Helen was promoted to senior manager. 2. a weakness or fault in something

deficiency in

 There are deep deficiencies in this law.

Contribution (n) (countable): Excel (v) (intransitive, not in progressive):

1. something that you give or do in order to help something be To do something very well, or much better than most people.
succesful.
Excel at/in
Contribution to/ towards
 Rick has always excelled at foreign languages.
 Einstein was awarded the Nobel Prize for his
contribution to Quantum Theory.
 The school sees its job as preparing students to make
a contribution to society.

Significant/substantial/valuable etc. contribution

Promote (v): _______________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________
Deficiency (n): ______________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
Contribution (n):_____________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
Excel (v): __________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
55
GRAMMAR: Defining Relative Clauses

INTRODUCTION

In Input 1 you had a look at different types of sentence structures. One of the commonly used
complex sentence structures in academic writing is ‘Relative Clauses’.

Read the following paragraph from ‘Growth Mindsets’ and answer the reflection questions in pairs.

Dweck’s mindset concept continues to be studied inside and outside the classroom. Rheinberg, a
researcher in Germany, measured teachers’ mindsets and their effects on students. He monitored the
students’ achievements over the school year. He found that students who had a teacher with a fixed
mindset, the belief that students had fixed intelligence and that they had no influence on their
students’ intellectual skills, did not improve over the year. If they entered as low achievers, they
remained low achievers. When teachers had a growth mindset, their low achieving students tended
to improve their grades to become moderate or even high achievers.

Reflection Questions: What is the main idea of this paragraph? Do you agree with it? Why / Why
not?

In your pairs, go back to the paragraph and answer the following questions.

a. Can you identify the relative clause in this paragraph?

b. Why is the use of relative clauses common in academic writing?

What is a Relative Clause?

In English, a relative clause modifies a noun or a pronoun. It often comes immediately after the
words or phrases it modifies. A lot of the time it starts with a relative pronoun (e.g. who, that, which,
whom, whose, when, where).

Underline the relative clauses and circle the relative pronouns in the following sentences from
‘Growth Mindsets’.

1. Students who view intelligence as fixed value looking smart above all else and therefore will
miss out on critical learning opportunities.
2. Avoid praising results that require little or no effort.
3. Dweck and her assistants ran an experiment on elementary school children whom school
personnel identified as helpless.

Relative clauses can be divided into two main categories: Defining and Non-defining Relative Clauses.

Common Uses of Defining Relative Clauses

1. Defining relative clauses combine two sentences with the same noun to make a longer
sentence.

For example:
The students participated in the growth mindset workshop.

They showed improvement in their grades.

56
 =

The students who participated in the growth mindset workshop showed improvement in their
grades.

Combine the two sentences using a relative clause and check your answers with a partner.

Some believe that an individual's intelligence is a fixed quantity. The quantity cannot be
increased.

____________________________________________________________________________

2. Defining relative clauses describe a noun. They give necessary information about a noun.
This is why they are also referred to as ‘Adjective Clauses’.

For example:
The brain is a muscle.

This short sentence does not give any information about what type of a muscle the heart is.

The brain is a muscle that can become stronger if used.

When extended with the use of a relative clause, the sentence becomes more meaningful
and complete.

Note: While defining relative clauses give necessary information about a noun, non-defining
clauses give extra information. This distinction will be discussed further in Unit 1 Input 5.

In pairs, finish the sentence below by giving information about how mistakes are perceived
by a person with a growth mindset. Remember to use a relative clause in your sentence.

A person with a growth mindset is not afraid of making mistakes. Mistakes _______________

___________________________________________________________________________.

3. Relative clauses can also be used in order to compare two or more concepts, people,
things…etc.
For example:
In the UK, a college refers to an educational institution which students attend when they
complete their compulsory education after the age of 16. A university, on the other hand, is
where they go to receive a bachelor’s degree.

Complete the following sentences adapted from the article ‘Growth Mindsets’ forming
relative clauses and the phrases in the box.

a fixed mindset a growth mindset

A person _____________________________________ believes that their qualities such as

intelligence, creativity, and talent are predetermined and finite, fixed traits. On the other
hand, a person _____________________________________believes that their basic abilities
can continue to be developed through hard work and dedication.

57
 TIPS

 Combining short sentences using a relative clause will add variety to your writing
and improve the flow of your ideas as this will help avoid unnecessary repetition
of nouns and pronouns.
 Relative clauses are commonly used in academic definitions and descriptions.

Relative clauses are commonly used in academic definitions and descriptions.

Types of Defining Relative Clauses

Defining relative clauses can be divided into two main types: Subject and Object Relative Clauses

4. In Subject Relative Clauses, the relative pronoun is the subject (S) of the sentence. Who or
that can be used for people, and which or that can be used for things in defining relative
clauses.

Learners who/that believe intelligence is malleable will work harder to improve themselves.
S V

Schools which/that encourage a growth mindset allow room for making mistakes and taking
S V
risks in their curriculum.

Complete the sentences below with a subject relative clause. You can refer back to the ‘Growth
Mindsets’ article (‘Studies on Mindsets’ and ‘Benefits of a Growth Mindset’ sections) for ideas.

a. Growth mindset training

___________________________________________________.

a. Researchers of mindsets
___________________________________________________.

5. In Object Relative Clauses, the relative pronoun is the object (O) of the sentence. Who(m) or
that can be used for people, and which or that can be used for things in defining relative
clauses. Whom is considered to be a more formal alternative to who.

Students that/who/whom the researchers interviewed displayed different attitudes towards

O S V
learning.

The feedback that/which a teacher gives can encourage or discourage a learner.

O S V

Complete the sentences below with an object relative clause. You can refer back to the
‘Growth Mindsets’ article for ideas.
58
 a. Students_____________________________________________________________.

b. Praise _______________________________________________________________.

TIP: Omission of object pronouns

Sometimes the relative pronoun can be omitted. This can only be done in defining relative clauses. Study the
examples below.

1. Students that/who/whom the researchers interviewed displayed different attitudes towards learning.

After omission of relative pronoun:

Students the researchers interviewed displayed different attitudes towards learning.

2. The feedback that/which a teacher gives can encourage or discourage a learner.

After omission of relative pronoun:

The feedback a teacher gives can encourage or discourage a learner.

This type of omission is usually practised in informal language; in academic language object pronouns are
usually kept.

Use of Prepositions in Object Relative Clauses

When the verb of the relative clause requires a preposition, there are two ways to insert the
preposition into the sentence:

1. The preposition can be placed before the relative pronoun. In this case, we use ‘whom’ for
people and ‘which’ for things.
‘that’ or ‘who’ cannot be used when the preposition precedes the relative pronoun.

Example 1

The students need to return their final papers by tomorrow.

The tutor has given feedback to the students.

The students to whom the tutor has given feedback need to return their final papers by
tomorrow.

59
 Example 2

Gregory Citotti states that there are two ways.

Talent matters in two ways.

Gregory Citotti states that there are two ways in which talent matters.

2. The preposition can follow the verb it refers to. In this arrangement, ‘who’ or ‘that’ is usually
used for people and ‘which’ or ‘that’ for things.

For example:

The students who/that the tutor has given feedback to need to return their final papers by
tomorrow.

Gregory Citotti states that there are two ways which/that talent matters in.

In pairs, unscramble the following words and chunks to make meaningful sentences.

1. thirty / interviewed / in / conducted / a study / which / they / researchers / the /young

people/.

_______________________________________________________________________________.

2. researchers / whom / participants / with / aged / were / talked / the / between 15 and 23 / the.

_______________________________________________________________________________.

Once you have formed your sentences, share your answers with another pair and discuss the
following questions together.

 Have you come up with different alternatives of word order in your sentences? Share and
explain your version(s).
 In these sentences, is it always possible to move the preposition to the end of the relative
clause? Why / Why not?
 In these sentences, is it always possible to leave the relative pronoun out? Why / Why not?

PRACTICE TASK 1: Subject vs. Object Relative Clauses

In pairs, read the following sentences and complete the following tasks:
 Underline the relative clause in each sentence.
 Identify whether the relative clause in each sentence is a subject relative clause (S), an
object relative clause (O) or a prepositional object clause (P).

Example: _S__ Teachers who encourage learners to take risks help their students to learn from their
mistakes.

1. ______ The researcher with whom many experts disagree published his study in an academic
journal last month.
60
 2. ______ The study he carried out lasted about two years and included 2500 participants from
around the country.
3. ______ His opponents who reject his ideas about the positive effects of rote learning
challenged him in another journal article.
4. ______ This second article that many leading authorities of the field support has the
following thesis:
5. ______ An active learning environment in which young students are given opportunities to
think critically will benefit these learners in their future academic studies.

PRACTICE TASK 2: Sentence Formation

Using the following ideas and facts from the ‘Growth Mindsets’ reading, make sentences containing
relative clauses. Once you finish, compare your sentences with a partner’s.

1.
Success is not merely found in our natural ability.

Success is continuous self-development.

Your sentence:
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________

2.
Some students view intelligence as fixed.

These students value looking smart above all else.

Your sentence:
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________

3.
Other students have growth mindsets.

They meet difficult problems with great relish and value the effort put in.

61
 Your sentence:
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________

4.
Dweck and her assistants ran an experiment on elementary school children.

School personnel identified these children as helpless.

Your sentence:
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________

5.
Growth mindsetters embrace failure.

Through failure they learn to become more resilient in life.

Your sentence (Make a prepositional object relative clause!)

______________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________

PRACTICE TASK 3: Error Correction

Read the following paragraph about classroom research. In small groups, identify the four mistakes
related to relative clauses in it and correct them.

The research that teachers carry out in the classroom can be an effective tool for improving
teaching and learning practices. Curiosity that is a prerequisite to conducting classroom research
will help a teacher identify their research questions. This type of research which is about setting
out with certain questions and being eager to find answers to them. Classroom research is an on-
going process. Some questions in the research which does not get answered can be used later on
in different semesters or courses. Such research is not done to seek final answers to a question.
Instead, a teacher whom is doing research aims to find specific ways which they can improve
learning in the classroom.

62
Some Other Relative Pronouns: Whose, When & Where

Whose, when and where are also used as relative pronouns in English. Below are descriptions and
examples of these pronouns.

Whose

‘Whose’ shows possession in relative clauses. In academic English, ‘whose’ can refer to people or
things.

For example:

The professor whose study focuses on intrinsic motivation will publish his work next year.

The study whose results are highly controversial has provoked severe criticism from the academic
world.

In pairs, combine the two sentences using ‘whose’.

1. This school has a great reputation. The school’s teachers are highly qualified and experienced
in their fields.
____________________________________________________________________________

2. The teachers have impressive CVs. Their degrees are from reputable universities.
____________________________________________________________________________

When

‘When’ refers to time in a relative clause.

For example:

The first five years of childhood is a time.

During this time the brain develops more than at any other time in life.

The first five years of childhood is a time when the brain develops more than at any other time in life.

Where

‘Where’ refers to place in a relative clause.

He now works as a lecturer at a college.

He completed his graduate degree at the college.

He now works as a lecturer at the college where he completed his graduate degree.
63
 ‘Where’ can also refer to a field of study, an event or other similar settings.

His main area of interest is neuroplasticity.

He has done a lot of research in this area.

His main area of interest is neuroplasticity where he has done a lot of research.

TIP: when, where and which

The relative pronoun ‘which’ can often be used instead of ‘when’ and ‘where’. However, when ‘which’ is used, the
relevant time and place prepositions need to be added.

Look at the previous examples with ‘when’ and ‘where’.

1. The first five years of childhood is a time when the brain develops more than at any other time in life.

The first five years of childhood is a time during which the brain develops more than at any other time in life.

2. He now works as a lecturer at the college where he completed his graduate degree.

He now works as a lecturer at the college in which he completed his graduate degree.

In pairs combine a phrase or word from columns A, B and C to make four meaningful sentences. You
can write your sentences in the space under the table.

Column A Column B Column C

There is a lot of progress in the field students can apply their learning to real life situations
of learning sciences will lead to meaningful learning.

A lesson where Dweck and Mueller focused on the effects of praise on

learning.

1998 was the year when fifth graders were given an easy test compared the
effects of praise for intelligence and praise for effort.

Their study there is a lot of new and exciting research.

64
 1. ____________________________________________________________________________

2. ____________________________________________________________________________

3. ____________________________________________________________________________

4. ____________________________________________________________________________

COMMON MISTAKES

While using defining clauses in their writing and speaking, students tend to make some mistakes.
Below are some of these mistakes and how you can fix them:

4. Misuse of pronouns

Object relative pronouns (which, that, whom) replace the object pronouns so they cannot be
used in a sentence with a relative clause.

WRONG: The research that the team carried it out was presented in the conference.

CORRECT: The research that the team carried out was presented in the conference.

In the same way, a subject relative pronoun replaces the subject pronoun so it cannot be
used in a sentence with a relative clause.

WRONG: A person who she has a growth mindset strives to improve herself under difficult
circumstances.

CORRECT: A person who has a growth mindset strives to improve herself under difficult
circumstances.

5. Misuse of prepositions with ‘when’ and ‘where’

Relative pronouns ‘when’ and ‘where’ cannot be used with the preposition that is linked to
the particular place or time. The same rule applies to the use of words such as ‘there’ and
‘then’. The relative pronoun ‘which’ can be used with a preposition in these cases.

Use of ‘where’

WRONG: The room in where we have our Proj 001 class is downstairs.

WRONG: The room where we have our Proj 001 class there is downstairs.

CORRECT: The room where we have our Proj 001 class is downstairs.

CORRECT: The classroom in which we have our Proj 001 class is downstairs.

65
 Use of ‘when’
WRONG: The deadline by when we have to submit our drafts has been extended.

WRONG: The deadline when we have to submit our drafts then has been extended.

CORRECT: The deadline when we have to submit our drafts has been extended.

CORRECT: The deadline by which we have to submit our drafts has been extended.

6. Missing out prepositions in object relative clauses

When a certain verb requires the use of a preposition, this preposition needs to be included
in the sentence.

WRONG: The topic she is writing is related to her undergraduate dissertation.

CORRECT: The topic she is writing on is related to her undergraduate dissertation.

CORRECT: The topic on which she is writing is related to her undergraduate dissertation.

CORRECT: The topic which/that she is writing on is related to her undergraduate

dissertation.

7. which vs. where

When referring to places, it might be difficult to differentiate between ‘which’ and ‘where’. In
such cases, it may help to think of such structures without a relative clause.

Example 1: The laboratory is a part of the university. Some leading researchers work in it.

OR

The laboratory is a part of the university. Some leading researchers work there.

When there is a preposition that is related to the noun (the laboratory) or the word ‘there’, these
need to be included in a sentence with a relative clause. This can be done in different ways:

 The laboratory where some leading researchers work is a part of the university.
 The laboratory in which some leading researchers work is a part of the university.
 The laboratory which/that some leading researchers work in is a part of the university.

Example 2: The school was established at the beginning of the last century. It is one of the
country’s most established schools.

In this example, there is no preposition linked to the noun (the school) so the sentences can be
connected with a relative clause in the following ways:

 The school which/that was established at the beginning of the last century is one of the
country’s most established schools.
 The school which/that is one of the country’s most established schools was established
at the beginning of the last century

66
PRACTICE TASK 4: Error correction
You will play an error correction game. Your teacher will give you the instructions.

Sentences True or Correct version if false

false?
1 People whom had a bad experience
as young learners may find it
difficult to deal with later in life.

2 The research assistant from whom I

received this data said she needs to
work on it further.

3 The names of the schools which

the exam will take place have been
announced.

4 Experts which have made this claim

need to support it with further
evidence.

5 Exams that are below the

intellectual capacity of students
may give them false confidence.

6 The study showed that students

improved the most were those
with a positive attitude towards
learning.

7 The study in which continued for

two years revealed interesting
findings about motivation.

8 I didn’t realise that the day when I

was supposed to take the exam on
was last Friday.

PRACTICE TASK 5: Definitions

What is your understanding of the following key words from this input? Create your own definitions
using relative clauses and discuss your definitions in small groups. In what ways is your understanding
of these concepts are similar or different?

achievement praise failure

67
 MINI LISTENING & SPEAKING TASK: Personal stories

a. You will listen to two people talking about their experiences as students. As you listen, fill in
the gaps using relative clauses.
Carol is a 25 year-old research assistant ___who is from Manchester__ . She has a degree in
microbiology. Microbiology is the study of microorganisms ______________________________. She
has always been fascinated with biology and science. The reason for her passion was mainly because
her father was a medical doctor ____________________________. She feels lucky to have gone to a
public school _____________________________. Her teachers _______________________ provided
the students with a great learning environment. (Her teachers encouraged them to ask questions.)
She remembers there was always an exciting project, play or experiment ______________________.
Another thing that she remembers is the time ____________________________________________.
b. As a pair, write a similar paragraph about Kevin by using your notes. Use relative clauses in
your sentences.
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
Once you have finished writing, compare your paragraphs with another pair’s.
c. In your group share your own past experiences as a student. Use relative clauses in your
sentences. When you can, compare your educational experiences to Carol’s and Kevin’s.
Below is an example of how you can start your conversation.
I started my education at the age of 4 when my parents sent me to a nursery school. The nursery
which I went to was a small and warm place. My teachers whom I loved always smiled. These are my
first memories of my education life. In this sense, my school experiences are similar to Carol’s.
Throughout my educational life I attended schools where there was a lot of encouragement and
happiness…
68
 INPUT 3
Neuroplasticity

PREPARING FOR FACULTY LECTURES

Taking good notes is a very important skill especially for your academic studies. You will need to take
notes in a variety of contexts: during lectures, recitation and discussion sessions, and tutorials.

Attending lectures and taking notes help you to:

 identify the core of important ideas in the lecture;

 test your understanding of the material;
 have a permanent record to revise later;
 record of information not available in the course books.
Lecturers do not just repeat the information in your
course materials. They build on them, make connections
and give examples that clarify points;
 have a good source for exam preparation: lecturers go over what they think are the most important
aspects of the subjects in their lectures, and exams usually focus on those points. Take good notes.

Good notes:
 are neat, clear and organized,
 give an overall picture of the structure of the lecture,
 include all the necessary main ideas, supporting ideas, and important details and examples.

This way, when you need to revise your notes, you can understand them easily. Note-taking is personal.
Everyone has their own unique style of taking and organizing notes, or using abbreviations. For this
reason, your own notes will always be more meaningful to you than someone else’s notes. It is also a
good idea to compare your notes after class with a friend, and fill in the information that you may have
missed. This practice will also help you learn course material in greater depth, and remember course
content more easily over a longer period of time.

69
A What are the challenges you may experience with note-taking?

List your ideas with a partner. Once you are done, list possible ways of overcoming these challenges.
There is an example.

Challenges Possible solutions

 Not being able to hear  Sit in the front, ask the teacher to
speak up or to put the volume up

 

 

 

 

Compare your notes with the neighbouring pair. Are there any differences? Add the missing ones to
your list.

B How can you prepare for lectures?

Effective note-taking starts with preparation for lectures. There

are several useful things you can do before class that will make
taking notes in-class easier. How could you prepare for lectures
to ensure you can follow them and take notes in the most
efficient and effective way?

First spend a couple of minutes on your own to make notes. Then compare your notes in small
groups and add to your ideas.

70
GETTING READY FOR THE INPUT

A Think about the following questions. Then discuss it with the person sitting next to you.

 How do people physically change during their life span?

Think about the skin, muscles, skeleton, nervous system.
 What are the causes of these changes? What can prevent or
speed up these changes?
 How does the brain change throughout life? What are the
possible causes of these changes?

2 In this input, you are going to listen to a lecturer giving information about Neuroplasticity. Read
the examples for neuroplasticity below.

By looking at the examples, try to define neuroplasticity. Can you think of any other examples for
neuroplasticity?

The Sea Gypsies, or Moken, are a seafaring people who spend a great deal of their time in boats
off the coast of Myanmar and Thailand, have unusual underwater vision -- twice as good as
Europeans. This has enabled Mokens to gather shellfish at great depths without the aid of scuba
gear. How do the Moken do this? They constrict their pupils by 22 percent. How do they learn to
do this? Is it genetic? Neuroscientists argue that anyone can learn this trick. Simply put, the
brain orders the body to adapt to suit its needs.

Another example of neuroplasticity has been found in London taxi drivers. A cab driver's
hippocampus -- the part of the brain that holds spatial representation capacity -- is measurably
larger than that of a bus driver. By driving the same route every day, the bus drivers don't need
to exercise this part of the brain as much. The cabbies, on the other hand, rely on it constantly
for navigation.

If you were to restrict certain senses -- like vision, for instance -- your brain would make a similar
adaptation. This great survival machine will rewire itself, opening neuro pathways to heighten
the power of other senses to keep you from falling off a cliff or get eaten by a tiger.

Honan, D. “Neuroplasticity: You Can Teach An Old Brain New Tricks” Retrieved from:
[Link] 02.05.2017

Your definition:

_________________________________________________________________________________

Other possible examples:

__________________________________________________________________________________

71
C FOCUS ON KEY VOCABULARY
EXPANDING YOUR VOCABULARY
1 Match the general words or phrases (1-7) to the academic
Academic Word List comprises of words that
words (a-g)
you are likely to meet in your studies at faculty,
regardless of your department. If you know
these words before you start your faculty, it will
be easier for you understand and learn the
1. stop a. avoid course materials.
2. grow worse b. precise
Although certain words from the Academic
3. get c. eliminate
Word List (AWL) will be covered in this
4. stay away from d. prevent coursebook, it is a good idea to spare time to
5. enough e. deteriorate learn the words in AWL.
6. exact f. feature
There are many websites that provide you the
7. get rid of g. sufficient list, together with a range of activities to
8. typical quality/part h. acquire practice. Visit
[Link]
rdlist/english/academic/ for a start.

4 The following words will be important for you to understand the lecture. Read the sentences, and
find the word in the box that matches the meaning given in brackets at the end of the sentences.

retrieve acquisition measure compensate degenerate

tend engage nutritional boost gain quality

1. An interesting research on the benefits of exercise revealed that people who

__________________ in regular exercise increase their IQs. (to do or become involved in)

2. Preschool education that provide children with activities that might enhance cognitive
development, such as reading books or learning the numbers are crucial. Children who attend
pre-school __________________ as much as 15 IQ points compared to children who do not
receive this education. (obtain, get)

3. Alzheimer Disease causes neurons to stop functioning and __________________. When the
connections between neurons are lost, memories fade away. (become worse)

4. One theory suggests that the brain records everything. It is simply not possible to
__________________ all these memories without any cues. (bring back)

5. IQ scores in underdeveloped regions seem to be lower compared to more developed regions.

The main reason for this is that people in the poor regions generally lack access to food of high
__________________ value. (related to substances in food that make someone healthy)

6. There are different tests to __________________IQ. However, virtually all of these tests focus
on mathematical and lexical knowledge. (discover the size or amount)

7. When it comes to success in life, higher IQ scores may not be the only determining factor. It
seems that in most cases, ambition and hard work can __________________ for a lower IQ. A
hardworking person can outdo people with similar or even higher IQ scores. (do something
that removes or reduces the harmful effects of something else)
72
 8. For feral children, __________________ of a human language is a hard and complex process.
Since they haven’t had any interaction with humans for a very long time, it takes time for them
to learn a language. (learning a skill)

9. An interesting article claims that intelligent people __________________ to be messy. It gives

the example of Einstein, whose desk was always a mess. (to be likely to do or be something)

10. Learning to play a musical instrument may __________________ memory. This way, it may be
possible to strengthen your memory. (increase or improve)

11. While selecting managers, most companies take IQ test results into consideration because
these tests measure analytical skills. However, the most important __________________ of a
good manager is Emotional Intelligence, or EQ. (characteristic)

FOCUS ON NOTE-TAKING SKILLS

The chart you used in the previous section is called a T-chart. T-charts are simple and clear ways of
organizing notes by separating information. They can be used while summarizing or brainstorming
information, or while note-taking. You can use them to clearly note down or see two sides of an
argument, advantages and disadvantages of a topic, similarities and differences between two
concepts, etc.

1 Some people may prefer to take notes by hand, whereas some others like to use their laptops.
Which one do you prefer? Why?

2 Your teacher will read out some important information about note-taking, and how it can help
learning. The mini-lecture will be comparing note taking by hand and by using a laptop. Use a T-chart
to take notes while your teacher is reading out.

Taking notes by hand Using laptop / mobile to take notes

73
3 Reflect on using T-charts while taking notes. Do you find them helpful? Do you think you might use
them in the future? Why or why not?

4 How else can you organize your notes? Brainstorm in groups. Then share your ideas with the class.

3 IMPROVING NOTE-TAKING STRATEGIES

1 SIGNPOSTING LANGUAGE
Speakers organize their speech by using signals to make their talk easier to follow. Here are some of
the signals that the lecturer will use. Read the extracts, and match them with one of the functions.
You can use the functions more than once.

EXTRACTS FUNCTIONS

…..with malleable, I mean ……… A

There are two main misconceptions….
A. Rephrasing, paraphrasing
What I mean is, brain activity starts to….
B. Signalling main and
There is a reason why this happens.
However, when driving becomes automatised,…. supporting ideas

Neuroplasticity, in simple terms, is…. C. Signalling links between

There are two main kinds of brain plasticity. The first of
ideas (cause-effect)
these….
That’s why if one area of the brain is damaged, … D. Signalling links between

So what I’m trying to say is….. ideas (contrast)

Now, moving on to the second kind …….
E. Defining a term or concept
Think about a time when you…..
Why is that? Well, ….. F. Signalling transition from

There are some key factors that are important to one idea to another
counteract…..
G. Exemplifying
In other words, repeating an activity …..
For example, tonight I want you to think about….
First of all, getting daily physical exercise…

2 Can you add more to this list of signposts? What other words, phrases or sentences could the
lecturers use? Work with a partner to make notes of possible language that you may hear.

74
3 When you are note-taking, you shouldn’t note down everything word for word. This is the most
common mistake made by novice note-takers.

What are some of the things that you should definitely write down? What are things that are not
necessary to write down? Brainstorm using the T-chart below.

Write Don’t write

4 Read the following items. Put them in the correct column: which ones are things that you need to
take notes on and which ones that are not necessary to note down? Put a tick (√).

Write Don’t
write
Words that indicate organization (e.g. “The main point is”)
Specific examples
Fillers or transitions (“what I’m trying to say is”)
Facts that are difficult to remember (dates, names, numbers, etc.)
Section headings and main ideas
Jokes or insignificant details
Definitions
Details about the main ideas
Content words
Words that are spelled out (H-E-R-E-D-I-T-A-R-Y)
Function Words (grammar words that don’t contribute to the overall
meaning, such as the/a/an/been)

B. LISTENING & NOTE-TAKING

1 Predicting
You are attending a lecture in your faculty. At the beginning of the lesson, the professor hands out
the following lesson outline. Spend a couple of minutes going through the lesson outline. Consider
the following:

 Look at the topic of the lecture – what will the lecture be about?
 Are there pictures, diagrams, charts, etc.? Can you make any guesses based on these
regarding the issues that the professor will cover?
 Go over the sub-headings. Are you familiar with the concepts? What do you already know
about them? What do you think the professor will cover under each sub-heading?
75
 THE HUMAN BRAIN &
PSYCHOLOGY
Gordon Cox

LECTURE 3

BRAIN & NEUROPLASTICITY

Key concepts: Neuron, Neural Pathways, Hemisphere, Lobes, Cognitive Processing

Pre-reading: Course Book Chapter 2, pages 20-34

LECTURE OUTLINE

I. Introduction to the concept of neuroplasticity

A. Misconceptions

B. Background information & Definition

76
II. Different kinds of plasticity

A. Functional plasticity

B. Structural plasticity

III. Factors that may interfere with plasticity

A. Cognitive decline & modern life

77
 B. Factors related to childhood

IV. Enhancing neuroplasticity

2 The outline format

Notice how the lesson notes are organized by the lecturer. Unlike the T-chart, this leads you to take
more linear notes. The main ideas and major supporting details are already provided by the lecturer
to help your note-taking. How could you indicate the details and examples under the sub-headings?

D LISTENING TO THE LECTURE

Listen to the lecture and take notes on the note-taking pages. Make sure you identify and
indicate main ideas, supporting details and examples clearly.

78
E POST-LISTENING
1 Look at your notes, and analyse them using the questions below. Tick the box that best describes
your notes.

Did you…..? Yes To some Not

extent really
make notes on the main ideas and supporting details?
write down specific examples?
note facts such as dates, names and numbers?
write definitions?
avoid writing function words and other unnecessary words or
phrases such as transitions, jokes, etc.?
make a note of spelled words?
organize your notes so that they give a clear picture of what
the lecture was about, what the main parts were, etc.?
have enough information for each heading and subheading?

2 Now answer the questions below using your notes.

1. What were the two misconceptions related to neuroplasticity?

a.
b.

2. Why do cognitive functions slow down after the age of 40?

3. What definition does the lecturer provide for neuroplasticity?

4. What is the purpose of functional neuroplasticity?

5. How does structural neuroplasticity work?

a.
b.

6. What aspects of modern life contribute to cognitive decline? Write at least one.

7. What are two factors that prevent neuroplasticity in childhood?

8. What are two characteristics of tasks that can increase plasticity?

a.
b.

9. What are two tips to apply in daily life to improve neuroplasticity?

a.
b.

Check your answers with another student.

79
3 After checking your answers, take a look at the questions that you have missed. Can you identify
why you were not able to answer those questions? Take a look at your notes and the transcript.

4 Reflect on your note-taking. Write a few sentences about how you felt. Here are some questions
to guide you. Feel free to add anything that may not be suggested in the questions below.

 Are you happy with your performance in this task?

 What are the positive things about your note-taking in this task?
 What aspect of your note-taking do you think you can improve?
 What do you think you could have done differently to improve your notes in this task?

5 Look back at the predictions you made under “LISTENING & NOTE-TAKING” section, Task 1:
Predicting. Which predictions you made about the content were covered in the lecture?

6 Now that you have found out about Neuroplasticity, look at the items below. Which ones do you
think can increase plasticity? Which ones can hinder it? Discuss with a partner.

 Having regular sleep patterns  Berries

 Omega-3 fats  Chocolate
 Fructose  Learning a new language
 Stress  Substance abuse
 Solving puzzles  New hobbies

FOCUS ON PARAPHRASING

A Read the excerpt below and select the best paraphrase. Refer to the information surrounding the
excerpt in the transcript if you need to.

“Today however, we don’t need to pay attention to details. Instead of the to-do
lists in our head, there are electronic gadgets with reminder features. So what’s
happening is, we are not required to pay attention. Most of the day, our brain is in
a comfortable state, not being challenged. And without sufficient challenge, the
brain begins to deteriorate.”

80
a. We are lucky have technological gadgets such as navigation gadgets, because thanks to them we
don’t have to focus on details such as remembering our tasks. A lot of the time, the mind can rest
and doesn’t have to be challenged.

b. Humans don’t have to focus on details. Instead of the tasks in our mind, there are technological
tools with alarm functions. Therefore, we are not obligated to be alert. Usually, our mind is in a
relaxed condition, not being forced. Also, without enough force, the mind starts to be damaged.

c. The human brain is showing signs of cognitive decline due to the gadgets that modern life has
brought in the lives of humans. This is happening because having access to technological tools
that make our day-to-day life easy also means that the level of challenge the brain is exposed to
has gone down.

d. As technology advances and new electronic tools make their way into our lives, our brain
increasingly less challenged. Since this means focusing on details is no longer a requirement in our
day-to-day life, a decline in cognitive functions is inevitable. It can lead to Alzheimer’s eventually.

e. In recent years, humans do not need to pay attention to details. In the past, we used to have to
do lists in our head. On the other hand, today technological gadgets with reminder features make
it possible to remember the tasks that need to be accomplished. In the end, there is no need to
pay attention. The mind is in such a comfortable state that in time, because it is not used as hard,
it begins to deteriorate.

Discuss the following questions with another student.

 What makes the paraphrase a good one?

 What are the problems with the other paraphrases?

B Read the excerpt below and take notes. Then, write an answer to the question. Use as much or as
little of the information in the excerpt as necessary to answer the question.

“What are some important factors that can stop deterioration of the brain?”

There are some key factors that are important to counteract this deterioration. Ok? So to stop this
degeneration and help neuroplasticity and boost our brain power, the activities we need to engage in
must have certain characteristics. The first one is the seriousness of purpose. To put it in a different
way, the task must be important, meaningful or interesting to you. It must grab and hold your
attention. So tasks that do not seem important to you will not stimulate neuroplasticity. The second
factor is that practice makes perfect. In other words, repeating an activity, or repeatedly retrieving
information from memory, or, reviewing your course materials regularly are important to build better
and long lasting connections in the brain. The third and the last factor I’d like to mention in this
lecture is, using already-existing pathways; so using already existing information when learning.
When you learn something new, try to make connections between concepts. For example, tonight, I
want you think about neuroplasticity and intelligence. Are they linked? How would a fixed or a
growth mindset have an effect on neuroplasticity? So ask yourself such questions to find links
between concepts to achieve a more successful long-term memory storage and retrieval.

81
Your notes

Your answer

 Review your paraphrased text and ask yourself the following questions.

Did you…?
 read the text until you had a good grasp of its meaning?
 make notes of the main ideas and important details?
 paraphrase without looking at the original text?
 keep the same meaning as the original text?
 include the key information and not any parts that are not relevant?
 compare your paraphrase against the original to ensure that the structure of the sentences
and the vocabulary are different?

ACTIVATE YOUR VOCABULARY

1 This task aims to help you remember the meanings and uses of the words that were in the lecture,
and use them actively. This way, you will be more likely to remember these words, and use them.

You need to use at least 5 words from the target words list for this input. First, listen and note down
10 different target words in the following box. Then, choose 5 and write your response to the
question below. You may change the word forms.

i. Write down the words you hear:

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ii. Now write a response to this prompt using at least 5 of the words you noted down:

How can a university student ensure that they can use neuroplasticity to their advantage?

2 Below is a chart that shows different forms of some of the words you focused on in this input. Fill in
the empty cells with the appropriate form. Check the spelling from a dictionary.

verb noun adjective

_____________________ acquisition x
suffice _____________________ sufficient
_____________________

x _____________________ precise
eliminate _____________________ x
degenerate degeneration _____________________
retrieve _____________________ x
x nutrition _____________________
compensate _____________________ x
deteriorate deterioration x

3 Answer the questions below.

1. If you could eliminate one thing that you do every day and you would never have to do it
again, what would it be? Why?

2. If you were able to retrieve something that you lost or is missing, what would you choose to
retrieve? Why?

3. Who in your family cares most about their nutrition?

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Speaking after Unit 1 Input 3

MAKING CONNECTIONS: Mindsets & Neuroplasticity

Speaking Strategies:

A. Referring to Research

At university, most speaking you will do with your instructors, assistants and classmates will be
academic in nature. For example, you will give presentations, join group or class discussions, or speak
to your instructor to explain and discuss different aspects of your assignments. Throughout your
academic studies, you will refer to different sources in order to obtain information, form an opinion or
draw conclusions about a specific issue, topic or concept. As you will be making use of a variety of
sources on a given topic, you will analyse, synthesise and evaluate claims, data, theories and concepts.
You will also use your knowledge from previously read or heard texts to justify or exemplify a point.
While doing all this, you will make references to research, theories, data and claims you have read
about or listened to. Below is language you can use while referring to a source:

Verbs to use to refer to a source / author

claim / argue / point out / report / conclude / observe / note / state / indicate / assert /suggest / put
forward the idea that

Carol Dweck claims that putting in extra effort leads to higher achievement.

Phrases to use to refer to a specific study or work

The work of indicates

Research by Carol Dweck reveals that there are two types of mindsets.

A study by shows

asserts

Phrases to use to refer to a specific author

As Carol Dweck points out,

According to Dweck,
Dweck has drawn attention to the fact that there are two types of mindsets.
Carol Dweck discovered that

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 B. Referring to your group members’ ideas during a discussion

In part A, you learned how to refer to research or an author while having a discussion. In addition to
this, you need to refer to your group members’ points during a discussion in order to have a good
interaction. You need to listen to them carefully and use different strategies to refer to their ideas.

Task A: You will listen to experts having a discussion. Listen and pay attention to how they listen to
each other and refer to each other’s ideas, make a comment and ask for clarification or confirmation.
Write down the expressions or strategies they use.

Which speaker refers to the other speaker’s ideas, asks for clarification or confirmation more?

_______________________________________________________________________________

Task B: Now discuss the following in groups. Remember to use the structures above while you are
speaking.

1. By referring to your notes for the lecture on Brain and Neuroplasticity, describe neuroplasticity.
2. Remember the literature review you read on Carol Dweck’s mindsets. How does her work
make use of the recent findings in neuroplasticity?
3. As university students, what are some positive messages you can derive from Carol Dweck’s
work and what you have learned about neuroplasticity?
4. Can you think of a time when you faced a challenge in learning something at school and you
overcame this challenge? What helped you overcome this challenge? Share your story with
your group.

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Task C: MINI PROJECT
Poster Presentation

The malleability of the human brain, its adaptability to change and its capacity to improve learning
are among the main points made in the lecture you have listened to.

You will now design a poster to give advice on how we can make use of these capabilities of the brain
to improve our lives. Here are some guidelines and steps to help you with your project.

 You will work in groups of three or four.

 First narrow down the group of people you will address in your poster. For example, you can
give advice to students, aging people, people with disabilities, people who want to quit bad
habits or improve their mental abilities or memory...etc.
 This is a group work so each member of your group should be allocated a task.
 Your group will have around 3-5 minutes to present your poster and 2-3 minutes for a Q&A
session when you respond to questions from other groups.
 Every member of the group should speak during the presentation.

Task D: Individual Task: Speak about the concept of ‘neuroplasticity’ individually for exactly 2
minutes. Make sure that you answer the following questions. Record yourself while speaking and
watch it to reflect on your performance.

1. How would you define neuroplasticity by referring to what you have learnt in this unit so far?
2. How can learning about the malleability of the human brain help us to become better
learners?
3. What is one suggestion you can make to someone who would like to overcome challenges in
learning?

Self-Reflection

1. One positive aspect of my talk was ___________________________________________

2. If I did the task again, I would probably work more on _____________________________

(Write what you would work on & why)

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SELF REFLECTION:

Think about your performance in all the discussion tasks you have done in this unit. You will reflect
on your performance by using the following questions to guide you and write down your reflections
in the space below. Then, you will choose a part of your paragraph to share in class.

1. Did you manage to use different strategies to clarify your ideas? Give examples.
2. Did you listen to your friends actively and ask for clarification if necessary?
3. Did you use different strategies to respond to your friends’ ideas during the discussion? Give
examples.
4. How was your overall performance during the discussions?
5. What is one thing you are better at doing during a discussion?
6. What is one thing you still need to improve?

__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________

Tip Box:
SHADOWING OTHERS TO IMPROVE PRONUNCIATION
One way to improve your pronunciation is SHADOWING. This means:
 choosing a short video or a listening file which is 2-3 minutes long
 watching it a few times to get the meaning first
 watching it a few times to hear how the words are pronounced as
well as where the speaker pauses, emphasises, what is the rhythm
like, how the intonation sounds until these sounds become part of
your brain.
 imitating the speaker which means saying it at the same time with
the speaker by trying to sound like the person.
This can be practised with graded readers with CDs, YouTube videos with
subtitles, TED Talks with transcripts.

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INPUT 4
HOW GENIUSES THINK

BEFORE READING
1a. Complete the blanks under each category with the names of any geniuses that you know or can
find online. Why are these people considered geniuses? Discuss with a partner.

Science (Math/Physics Music Art Other (Psychology,

etc.) Computer
Programming / Chess

_________________ _________________ _________________ _________________

_________________ _________________ _________________ _________________
_________________ _________________ _________________ _________________
_________________ _________________ _________________ _________________

1b. What makes a genius? Look at some of the characteristics of geniuses below. Number them
from 1-6 in terms of importance to be considered a genius (1 = the most important, 6 the
least important).

________ A. Curiosity

________B. Intelligence

________C. Persistence

________D. Creativity

________ E. Motivation

________ F. Hard work

2a. The text you are going to read starts with the following questions:
How do geniuses come up with ideas? What is common to the thinking style that produced
“Mona Lisa” as well as the one that spawned the Theory of Relativity? What characterises the
thinking strategies of the Einsteins, Edisons, daVincis, Darwins, Picassos, Michelangelos,
Galileos, Freuds, and Mozarts of history?
Write down what you would like to find out from this text.
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
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 2b. Discuss the following question based on your prior knowledge.
Are all people with a very high IQ score geniuses?

Vocabulary Development
Read the definitions below and match them with the words in the table and answer the questions
in the right hand column. The first one has been done for you.
a. to stop having a particular idea, belief, or attitude, to stop doing something, especially before
it is finished
b. fairly large, especially large enough to have an effect or be important; great in amount, size,
importance, etc.
c. to experience something, especially problems or opposition.
d. relating to space and the position, size, shape, etc. of things in it.
e. relating to words or using words.
f. an important new discovery in an area, especially one made after trying for a long time.
g. known and admired by a lot of people, especially for a special skill, achievement, or quality;
famous.
h. not like anything known before, and unusual or interesting.
i. to make up, to form.
j. to notice, see, or recognize something.
k. to produce or cause something; to create.
l. the process by which mental and physical qualities are passed from a parent to a child before
the child is born.
m. to get something that you want, especially through your own effort, skill, or work.
n. to make it possible for someone to do something, or for something to happen.
o. someone who writes articles, especially about a particular subject, that appear regularly in a
newspaper or magazine.
Words Definition Use the word in a sentence based on your own experience
1 spatial (adj.) d Think about your family and friends. Do you think men have
better spatial skills than women do? Why do you think so?
_________________________________________________
_________________________________________________
2 breakthrough What do you think is the most significant scientific
(n) breakthrough in history? ____________________________
_________________________________________________
3 constitute (v) What percentage of your class do female students constitute?
_________________________________________________

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4 enable (v) What do you think enables geniuses to see things most people
are unable to see? __________________________________
_________________________________________________
5 verbal (adj.) Are you mathematically inclined or do you excel in verbal skills?
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
6 renowned (adj.) What is the most renowned painting of Leonardo Da Vinci?
________________________________________________
_________________________________________________
7 perceive (v) When you change the way you look (e.g. a haircut), who
perceives this change first?
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
8 encounter (v) What kind of problems have you encountered since you started
studying at this university? ___________________________
_________________________________________________
9 novel (adj.) Give an example of a novel idea people have come up with in
order to solve a problem such as traffic congestion, poverty,
hunger. __________________________________________
_________________________________________________
generate (v) Which classmates of yours usually generate ideas most when
10 your instructor asks you to brainstorm for an activity? _______
___________________________________________________
11 considerable Give an example of an issue that caused considerable debate in
(adj.) Turkey. __________________________________________
________________________________________________
12 columnist (n) Who are your favourite columnists in Turkish newspapers or
magazines? _______________________________________
________________________________________________
13 obtain (v) Where can you obtain information about English language
schools abroad? ____________________________________
_________________________________________________
14 heredity (n) How can heredity affect your health?
________________________________________________
________________________________________________

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15 abandon (v) Have you ever abandoned an idea because it did not work or
you were confronted with many difficulties?
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________

PREVIEWING
1. Decide what the main idea of the text is by previewing the text (reading the title, the first
sentences of each paragraph and the summary).
_______________________________________________________________________

2. Skim the second half of the text and match the subheadings below with the paragraphs in
the text.
A. Geniuses combine ideas in unusual ways. _____
B. Geniuses prepare themselves for chance. _____
C. Geniuses are prolific. _____
D. Geniuses force relationships. _____
E. Geniuses think metaphorically. _____
F. Geniuses make their thoughts visible. _____
G. Geniuses look at problems in different ways. _____
H. Geniuses think in opposites. _____

3. Who do you think the intended reader is?

a) A scientist.
b) A student who studies genetics.
c) An educated general reader.

4. Scan the text for the answers to the following questions.

1. What was the IQ score of Marilyn vos Savant? _________________________________

2. What are two novel responses to the question? “What is one half of 13?”
a) ____________
b) ____________
3. How many patents did Thomas Edison hold? ___________________________________

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WHILE READING
Read the text in detail and answer the following questions.
1. What does the writer think about the statistical analyses of geniuses? Write down the
words which reveal the writer’s point of view.
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
2. In the text, what evidence is used to show that intelligence alone may not be sufficient to
be a genius?
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
3. According to the text, when a problem occurs, people who think reproductively tend to
resort to a past experience. That is because ___________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
4. Imagine that a person invents a flying car in order to solve the problem of traffic
congestion. Is this person likely to be a genius or not? Justify your answer by giving
evidence from the text.
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
5. The following are the notes a student made on the paragraphs under the subheadings 1
and 2. Find out which one of these notes is false.
a) Da Vinci learning how to restructure knwldg 1 st step in acquiring knwldg
about the form of prblms.
b) Freud a genius bec. analyzed dreams in detail.
c) Abundance of creativity Renaissance.
d) Unlike Galileo, many scientists in this period wrds and №. express.
6. One defining characteristic of highly esteemed geniuses such as Mozart and Einstein was
that all their works were of high quality. True / False
7. Which ability of Thomas Edison enabled him to invent a system of lighting? Explain.
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
8. Unlike conventional scientists, creative geniuses wait patiently for a creative accident to
happen. True / False
9. Is creative thinking only a skill people are born with or can it also be taught? Explain by
giving an example from the text.
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
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How Geniuses Think

How do geniuses come up with ideas? What is common to the thinking style that produced "Mona
Lisa," as well as the one that spawned the theory of relativity? What characterises the thinking
strategies of the Einsteins, Edisons, daVincis, Darwins, Picassos, Michelangelos, Galileos, Freuds, and
Mozarts of history? What can we learn from them?

For years, scholars and researchers have tried to study genius by giving its vital statistics, as if piles of
data somehow illuminated genius. In his 1904 study of genius, Havelock Ellis noted that most geniuses
are fathered by men older than 30; had mothers younger than 25 and were usually sickly as children.
Other scholars reported that many were celibate (Descartes), others were fatherless (Dickens) or
motherless (Darwin). In the end, the piles of data illuminated nothing.

Academics also tried to measure the links between intelligence and genius. But intelligence is not
enough. Marilyn vos Savant, whose IQ of 228 is the highest ever recorded, has not exactly contributed
much to science or art. She is, instead, a question-and-answer columnist for Parade magazine. Run-of-
the-mill physicists have IQs much higher than Nobel Prize winner Richard Feynman, who many
acknowledge to be the last great American genius (his IQ was a merely respectable 122).

Genius is not about scoring 1600 on the SATs, mastering fourteen languages at the age of seven,
finishing Mensa exercises in record time, having an extraordinarily high I.Q., or even about being smart.
After considerable debate initiated by J. P. Guilford, a leading psychologist who called for a scientific
focus on creativity in the sixties, psychologists reached the conclusion that creativity is not the same
as intelligence. An individual can be far more creative than he or she is intelligent, or far more
intelligent than creative.

Most people of average intelligence, given data or some problem, can figure out the expected
conventional response. For example, when asked, "What is one-half of 13?" most of us immediately
answer six and one-half. You probably reached the answer in a few seconds and then turned your
attention back to the text.

Typically, we think reproductively, that is on the basis of similar problems encountered in the past.
When confronted with problems, we fixate on something in our past that has worked before. We ask,
"What have I been taught in life, education or work on how to solve the problem?" Then we analytically
select the most promising approach based on past experiences, excluding all other approaches, and
work within a clearly defined direction towards the solution of the problem. Because of the soundness
of the steps based on past experiences, we become arrogantly certain of the correctness of our
conclusion.
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In contrast, geniuses think productively, not reproductively. When confronted with a problem, they
ask "How many different ways can I look at it?", "How can I rethink the way I see it?", and "How many
different ways can I solve it?" instead of "What have I been taught by someone else on how to solve
this?" They tend to come up with many different responses, some of which are unconventional and
possibly unique. A productive thinker would say that there are many different ways to express
"thirteen" and many different ways to halve something. Following are some examples.

6.5
13=1 and 3
THIR TEEN = 4
XIII = 11 and 2
XIII = 8

(Note: As you can see, in addition to six and one half, by expressing 13 in different ways and halving it
in different ways, one could say one-half of thirteen is 6.5, or 1 and 3, or 4, or 11 and 2, or 8, and so
on.) With productive thinking, one generates as many alternative approaches as one can. You consider
the least obvious as well as the most likely approaches. It is the willingness to explore all approaches
that is important, even after one has found a promising one. Einstein was once asked what the
difference was between him and the average person. He said that if you asked the average person to
find a needle in the haystack, the person would stop when he or she found a needle. He, on the other
hand, would tear through the entire haystack looking for all the possible needles.)

How do creative geniuses generate so many alternatives and conjectures? Why are so many of their
ideas so rich and varied? How do they produce the "blind" variations that lead to the original and
novel? A growing cadre of scholars are offering evidence that one can characterise the way geniuses
think. By studying the notebooks, correspondence, conversations and ideas of the world's greatest
thinkers, they have teased out particular common thinking strategies and styles of thought that
enabled geniuses to generate a prodigious variety of novel and original ideas.

Following are thumbnail descriptions of strategies that are common to the thinking styles of creative
geniuses in science, art and industry throughout history.

1. G
___________________________________________

Genius often comes from finding a new perspective that no one else has taken. Leonardo da Vinci
believed that to gain knowledge about the form of problems, you begin by learning how to restructure
it in many different ways. He felt the first way he looked at a problem was too biased toward his usual
way of seeing things. He would restructure his problem by looking at it from one perspective and move
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to another perspective and still another. With each move, his understanding would deepen and he
would begin to understand the essence of the problem. Einstein's theory of relativity is, in essence, a
description of the interaction between different perspectives. Freud's analytical methods were
designed to find details that did not fit with traditional perspectives in order to find a completely new
point of view.

In order to creatively solve a problem, the thinker must abandon the initial approach that stems from
past experience and re-conceptualise the problem. By not settling with one perspective, geniuses do
not merely solve existing problems, like inventing an environmentally-friendly fuel. They identify new
ones. It does not take a genius to analyze dreams; it required Freud to ask in the first place what
meaning dreams carry from our psyche.

2. F
___________________________________________

The explosion of creativity in the Renaissance was intimately tied to the recording and conveying of a
vast knowledge in a parallel language; a language of drawings, graphs and diagrams — as, for instance,
in the renowned diagrams of Leonardo da Vinci and Galileo. Galileo revolutionized science by making
his thought visible with diagrams, maps, and drawings while his contemporaries used conventional
mathematical and verbal approaches. Once geniuses obtain a certain minimal verbal facility, they seem
to develop a skill in visual and spatial abilities which give them the flexibility to display information in
different ways. When Einstein had thought through a problem, he always found it necessary to
formulate his subject in as many different ways as possible, including diagrammatically. He had a very
visual mind. He thought in terms of visual and spatial forms, rather than thinking along purely
mathematical or verbal lines of reasoning. In fact, he believed that words and numbers, as they are
written or spoken, did not play a significant role in his thinking process.

3. C
___________________________________________

A distinguishing characteristic of genius is immense productivity. Thomas Edison held 1,093 patents,
still the record. He guaranteed productivity by giving himself and his assistants idea quotas. His own
personal quota was one minor invention every 10 days and a major invention every six months. Bach
wrote a cantata every week, even when he was sick or exhausted. Mozart produced more than six
hundred pieces of music. Einstein is best known for his paper on relativity, but he published 248 other
papers. T. S. Elliot's numerous drafts of "The Waste Land" constitute a jumble of good and bad passages
that eventually was turned into a masterpiece. In a study of 2,036 scientists throughout history, Dean
Kean Simonton of the University of California, Davis found that the most respected produced not only

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great works, but also more "bad" ones. Out of their massive quantity of work came quality. Geniuses
produce. Period.

A
4. ___________________________________________

Dean Keith Simonton, in his 1989 book Scientific Genius suggests that geniuses are geniuses because
they form more novel combinations than the merely talented. His theory has etymology behind it:
cogito — "I think — originally connoted "shake together": intelligo the root of "intelligence" means to
"select among." This is a clear early intuition about the utility of permitting ideas and thoughts to
randomly combine with each other and the utility of selecting from the many the few to retain. Like
the highly playful child with a pailful of Legos, a genius is constantly combining and recombining ideas,
images and thoughts into different combinations in their conscious and subconscious minds. Consider
Einstein's equation, E=mc2. Einstein did not invent the concepts of energy, mass, or speed of light.
Rather, by combining these concepts in a novel way, he was able to look at the same world as everyone
else and see something different. The laws of heredity on which the modern science of genetics is
based are the results of Gregor Mendel who combined mathematics and biology to create a new
science.

5. D
___________________________________________

If one particular style of thought stands out about creative genius, it is the ability to make
juxtapositions between dissimilar subjects. Call it a facility to connect the unconnected that enables
them to see things to which others are blind. Leonardo da Vinci forced a relationship between the
sound of a bell and a stone hitting water. This enabled him to make the connection that sound travels
in waves. In 1865, F. A. Kekule' intuited the shape of the ring-like benzene molecule by forcing a
relationship with a dream of a snake biting its tail. Samuel Morse was stumped trying to figure out how
to produce a telegraphic signal b enough to be received coast to coast. One day he saw tied horses
being exchanged at a relay station and forced a connection between relay stations for horses and b
signals. The solution was to give the traveling signal periodic boosts of power. Nikola Tesla forced a
connection between the setting sun and a motor that made the AC motor possible by having the
motor's magnetic field rotate inside the motor just as the sun (from our perspective) rotates.

6. H
___________________________________________

Physicist and philosopher David Bohm believed geniuses were able to think different thoughts
because they could tolerate ambivalence between opposites or two incompatible subjects. Dr. Albert
Rothenberg, a noted researcher on the creative process, identified this ability in a wide variety of
geniuses including Einstein, Mozart, Edison, Pasteur, Joseph Conrad, and Picasso in his 1990 book The
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Emerging Goddess: The Creative Process in Art, Science and Other Fields. Physicist Niels Bohr believed
that if you held opposites together, then you suspend your thought and your mind moves to a new
level. The suspension of thought allows an intelligence beyond thought to act and create a new form.
The swirling of opposites creates the conditions for a new point of view to bubble freely from your
mind. Bohr's ability to imagine light as both a particle and a wave led to his conception of the principle
of complementarity. Thomas Edison's invention of a practical system of lighting involved combining
wiring in parallel circuits with high resistance filaments in his bulbs, two things that were not
considered possible by conventional thinkers, in fact were not considered at all because of an assumed
incompatibility. Because Edison could tolerate the ambivalence between two incompatible things, he
could see the relationship that led to his breakthrough.

7. E
________________________________

Aristotle considered metaphor a sign of genius, believing that the individual who had the capacity to
perceive resemblances between two separate areas of existence and link them together was a person
of special gifts. If unlike things are really alike in some ways, perhaps, they are so in others. Alexander
Graham Bell observed the comparison between the inner workings of the ear and the movement of a
stout piece of membrane to move steel and conceived the telephone. Thomas Edison invented the
phonograph, in one day, after developing an analogy between a toy funnel and the motions of a paper
man and sound vibrations. Underwater construction was made possible by observing how shipworms
tunnel into timber by first constructing tubes. Einstein derived and explained many of his abstract
principles by drawing analogies with everyday occurrences such as rowing a boat or standing on a
platform while a train passed by.

8. B
__________________________________

Whenever we attempt to do something and fail, we end up doing something else. As simplistic as this
statement may seem, it is the first principle of creative accident. We may ask ourselves why we have
failed to do what we intended, and this is the reasonable, expected thing to do. But the creative
accident provokes a different question: What have we done? Answering that question in a novel,
unexpected way is the essential creative act. It is not luck, but creative insight of the highest order.
Alexander Fleming was not the first physician to notice the mold formed on an exposed culture while
studying deadly bacteria. A less gifted physician would have trashed this seemingly irrelevant event
but Fleming noted it as "interesting" and wondered if it had potential. This "interesting" observation
led to penicillin which has saved millions of lives. Thomas Edison, while pondering how to make a
carbon filament was mindlessly toying with a piece of putty, turning and twisting it in his fingers, when
he looked down at his hands, the answer hit him between the eyes: twist the carbon, like rope. B. F.

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 Skinner emphasised a first principle of scientific methodologists: when you find something interesting,
drop everything else and study it. Too many fail to answer opportunity's knock at the door because
they have to finish some preconceived plan. Creative geniuses do not wait for the gifts of chance;
instead, they actively seek the accidental discovery.

CONCLUSION
Recognizing the common thinking strategies of creative geniuses and applying them will make you
more creative in your work and personal life. Creative geniuses are geniuses because they know "how"
to think, instead of "what" to think. Sociologist Harriet Zuckerman published an interesting study of
the Nobel Prize winners who were living in the United States in 1977. She discovered that six of Enrico
Fermi's students won the prize. Ernst Lawrence and Niels Bohr each had four. J. J. Thompson and Ernest
Rutherford between them trained seventeen Nobel laureates. This was no accident. It is obvious that
these Nobel laureates were not only creative in their own right, but were also able to teach others how
to think creatively.
Source: [Link] by Michael Michalko | Apr 28, 2012

AFTER READING

1. How well were you able to predict the answer to the following question in the pre-reading
task? Explain why.
“Are all people with a very high IQ score geniuses?”
___________________________________________________________________________

2. Read the following dictionary definition of the word “genius”. The text challenges this
traditional definition of a genius. Improve this definition by considering the characteristics of
geniuses mentioned in the text.

Genius: (n) someone who has an unusually high level of intelligence, innate mental skill, or ability.

Your definition:

__________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________

3a. Self-reflection: Which of the following did you have difficulty with while reading the text? Rate
the difficulty of the following for you from 1-6 (1 = the least challenging, 6 the most challenging).

a. The length of the text ① ② ③ ④ ⑤ ⑥

b. The content of the text (i.e. concepts and ideas) ① ② ③ ④ ⑤ ⑥

c. The vocabulary of the text ① ② ③ ④ ⑤ ⑥

98
d. The language of the text ① ② ③ ④ ⑤ ⑥

e. The organisation of the text ① ② ③ ④ ⑤ ⑥

Any other difficulties you have experienced while _____________________________

reading the text. _____________________________

3b. In pairs, brainstorm possible solutions to the problems above and then give each other tips
and advice about each other’s problems in reading?

4. Academic texts usually contain sentences which are long and complex. Breaking them down
into shorter sentences and paraphrasing them may help you understand more easily. Read the
following sentence from the text and work in pairs to paraphrase it.

Aristotle considered metaphor a sign of genius, believing that the individual who had the
capacity to perceive resemblances between two separate areas of existence and link them
together was a person of special gifts.
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

5. By using some of the words in the word cloud, write a summary of the text you have read. You
can use the following to help you:
 Topic of the text.
 Definition of a genius.
 The strategies geniuses use.
You can also refer to the summary task at the end of Reading 1 in this unit to help you.

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________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________

6. Read the strategies below to help you increase your reading rate and then do the activity that
follows.

READING STRATEGIES:
Increasing Reading Rate

Gaining higher reading speed is particularly important for university students as they are often
required to read a considerable number of pages in a limited time. The chart below shows how many
words per minute good, average and slow readers can read.

Good Reader
250 - 350 words per minute.
300 wpm is the reading speed of
the average college student.

Average reader
230- 250 words per minute.

Slow Reader
150 -230 words per minute.

100
Reading speed is a key factor in determining the success of a reader. Check the two charts below to
see how reading speed affects overall comprehension.

The “vicious cycle of the weak reader.” (Nuttall (1996:127)

Readers who do
not understand
often slow down
their reading
rates

Then, theydo
As a result, they not enjoy
do not read reading because
much. it takes so much
time.

The “virtuous cycle of the good reader.” (Nuttall (1996:127)

Readers who
read faster are
encouraged to
read more

They start to
By reading
enjoy reading
more, their
and they
comprehension
continue to read
improves
more.

In order to be an efficient reader, readers should adjust their reading rate according to their purpose
of reading and the difficulty level of the text.

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Readers should increase their reading speed when the text has
 detailed explanations they do not need to know.
 examples which are not necessary to understand the text.
 illustrations which are not key to understanding the text.
 simple or generalised ideas.
 Inessential words.

Readers should decrease their reading speed when the text has
 difficult sentence and paragraph structure.
 terminology which they are not familiar with
 abstract concepts
 details which they want to remember later.

Readers can also use some other strategies in order to increase their reading rate. Readers can:
 read in broad phrases or in chunks rather than reading every word.
 run their fingers or pencils underneath the line they are reading.
 time their reading speed while reading a page.
 set a goal for their reading speed, one slightly above their current speed.
 practice on a regular basis.

7. Read the paragraphs under subheadings 1 & 2. Stop after you read for one minute. There are
379 words in these two parts. Calculate how many words you read in a minute.

_____________ words per minute.

 According to your performance in the activity above, are you a fast, average or slow
reader? What do you think decreased or increased your reading speed while reading
the two paragraphs?

 Which of the strategies mentioned above can you use in order to increase your
reading speed?

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Recognising Cohesive Devices in Academic Texts

What is COHESION?

Cohesion is the way different ideas are connected in a text. It is a series of grammatical and
lexical relations that provide links between the various parts of a text.

What are Cohesive Devices?

Reference words such as pronouns (one[s], another, the other, it), demonstratives (this,
that, these, those) as well as synonyms and word forms.

Why are Cohesive Devices used by the writers?

They are used to emphasise significant ideas and concepts, which have already been
mentioned elsewhere in the text.

Examples from the Text:

 How do geniuses come up with ideas? What is common to the thinking style that produced
"Mona Lisa," as well as the one that spawned the theory of relativity?

In this example, the writer uses the pronoun ‘one’ to refer to ‘thinking style’.

 The Creative Process in Art, Science and Other Fields. Physicist Niels Bohr believed that if
you held opposites together, then you suspend your thought and your mind moves to a
new level. The suspension of thought allows an intelligence beyond thought to act and
create a new form.

In this example, the writer uses a different word form, which is ‘suspension’ of thought to
refer to the part “you ‘suspend’ your thought”.

103
Read the paragraphs from the text and find out which word the underlined word refers to in the
paragraph.

1. For years, scholars and researchers have tried to study genius by giving its vital statistics, as if
piles of data somehow illuminated genius. In his 1904 study of genius, Havelock Ellis noted
that most geniuses are fathered by men older than 30; had mothers younger than 25 and were
usually sickly as children. Other scholars reported that many were celibate (Descartes), others
were fatherless (Dickens) or motherless (Darwin).

many: ____________ others: _____________

2. Genius often comes from finding a new perspective that no one else has taken. Leonardo da
Vinci believed that to gain knowledge about the form of problems, you begin by learning how
to restructure it in many different ways. He felt the first way he looked at a problem was too
biased toward his usual way of seeing things. He would restructure his problem by looking at
it from one perspective and move to another perspective and still another.

it: ___________________ he: _________________ it: ____________________

3. Typically, we think reproductively, that is on the basis of similar problems encountered in the
past. When confronted with problems, we fixate on something in our past that has worked
before. We ask, "What have I been taught in life, education or work on how to solve the
problem?" Then we analytically select the most promising approach based on past
experiences, excluding all other approaches, and work within a clearly defined direction
towards the solution of the problem.

Past experiences: ______________________________________

4. In order to creatively solve a problem, the thinker must abandon the initial approach that
stems from past experience and re-conceptualise the problem. By not settling with one
perspective, geniuses do not merely solve existing problems, like inventing an
environmentally-friendly fuel. They identify new ones. It does not take a genius to analyze
dreams; it required Freud to ask in the first place what meaning dreams carry from our psyche.

one perspective: _____________________ they: ______________________

ones: ____________________ Freud: ____________________

5. Dean Keith Simonton, in his 1989 book Scientific Genius suggests that geniuses are geniuses
because they form more novel combinations than the merely talented. His theory has
etymology behind it: cogito — "I think — originally connoted "shake together": intelligo the

104
 root of "intelligence" means to "select among." This is a clear early intuition about the utility
of permitting ideas and thoughts to randomly combine with each other and the utility of
selecting from the many the few to retain. Like the highly playful child with a pailful of Legos,
a genius is constantly combining and recombining ideas, images and thoughts into different
combinations in their conscious and subconscious minds.

his: _____________________________ this: ______________________________

the many: ________________________ their: ______________________________

6. If one particular style of thought stands out about creative genius, it is the ability to make
juxtapositions between dissimilar subjects. Call it a facility to connect the unconnected that
enables them to see things to which others are blind. Leonardo da Vinci forced a relationship
between the sound of a bell and a stone hitting water. This enabled him to make the
connection that sound travels in waves.

it: _______________________________ them: _____________________________

this: _____________________________ him: _______________________________

7. Most people of average intelligence, given data or some problem, can figure out the expected
conventional response. For example, when asked, "What is one-half of 13?" most of us
immediately answer six and one-half. You probably reached the answer in a few seconds and
then turned your attention back to the text.

answer: __________________________________

8. Davis found that the most respected produced not only great works, but also more "bad"
ones.

ones: ____________________________

9. Physicist and philosopher David Bohm believed geniuses were able to think different thoughts
because they could tolerate ambivalence between opposites or two incompatible subjects. Dr.
Albert Rothenberg, a noted researcher on the creative process, identified this ability in a wide
variety of geniuses including Einstein, Mozart, Edison, Pasteur, Joseph Conrad, and Picasso in
his 1990 book.

this ability: _______________________________________________________

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Activate Your Vocabulary

A. Read the following sentences and the explanations why they get the following grades.

Sentences Grade: Explanation

out of 2

1. It was such a novel idea that many people 2 points The meaning is clear and the sentence is
found it hard to understand. It sometimes grammatically correct too.
takes time to understand such unusual ideas

2. Elon Musk’s approach to the problem is a 1 point The meaning is clear but there is a grammar
novel and people think that such an unusual mistake.
solution will not work.
Elon Musk’s approach to the problem is a
novel.

3. Entrepreneurs have novel ideas. 0 The sentence is grammatically correct but

the word ‘novel’ can be replaced by many
other words such as crazy, boring, etc.

4. ‘Madonna in a fur coat’ is a novel written 0 The word ‘novel’ is not the one used in the
by Sabahattin Ali. text. In the text, it is an adjective and has
the meaning of ‘not like anything known
before, and unusual or interesting’.
However, the student used it in the
meaning of ‘a long written story in which
the characters and events are usually
imaginary’.

B. Read the following sentences and work in pairs to give them grades out of 2. Take notes to
explain your grade.

Sentences Grade: Explanation

out of 2

1. I am pondering about you now. I really

miss you.

2. Although I have spent a considerable

amount of time thinking about this problem,
I could not come up with a good solution. I
think I will continue to ponder this problem.

3. The committee is still pondering for this

issue. They have not been able to decide
what to do yet.

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C. Write a sentence with the words given below. Swap your books with your partner and give feedback
on each other’s sentences.

Your sentences Your friend’s feedback

renowned:

abandon:

prolific:

breakthrough:

willingness:

107
 INPUT 5
SUPER HUMANS AMONG US

GETTING READY

In this input, you are going to find out about Acquired (or Accidental) Savant Syndrome. It’s an
intriguing syndrome, and is very rare, with only about 50 of such people in the world. Therefore,
savants get a good media coverage, and appear in many documentaries or news programmes.

A Below are some of the most well-known accidental savants. Form groups of three. Each member
of your group should select one of the savants below, and do a mini-research on the person and their
condition.

 Alonzo Clemons
 Anthony Cicoria
 Tommy McHugh
 Jason Padgett
1 Make notes about the person you chose in the box below:

Savant:
He is a mathematician,a number theoirst who was born in 1970 and now he lives in Tacoma,
Washington.
In 2002, two men savagely attacked Jason Padgett outside a karaoke bar, leaving him
How it started:
with a severe concussion and post-traumatic stress disorder. But the incident also
turned Padgett into a mathematical genius who sees the world through the lens of
geometry.
The savant ability/abilities of this person:
He has the ability to visualize complex mathematical objects and physics concepts intuitively

He claims that he sees shapes and angles everywhere in real life.

Any other interesting information:

His is currently studying how all fractals arise from limits and how E=MC2 is itself a fractal.
He does his own fractal diagrams and can also create new ones by request.
He sees complex mathematical formules everywhere and turns them into diagrams drawn by his
own hands.

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 2 You will exchange information in your groups. Before you do this, think about what you
might want to learn about the savant your friends have chosen. Prepare questions to ask
about the person they have researched.

3 Ask each other the questions you have prepared. Once all the questions have been
answered, share any other interesting piece of information you have on the savant you have
researched.

4 Discuss the following questions in light of what you learnt from each other:

 What are some common points among all savants? In what ways are they different?

 Which one do you think is the luckiest about his/her acquired skill?

 What could be some problems they encounter due to being savants?

B Now search and read about Kim Peek, or about Stephen Wiltshire individually. Make brief notes
below. How are they different from the names you previously read about?

Notes about Kim Peek/Stephen Wilshire:

Share your findings with your classmates.

FOCUS ON KEY VOCABULARY

Fill in the blanks with the correct word from the box.

inherent scope attribute urge distinguish trigger inhibit

stimulate skeptical prior unleash severe intact induce

1. Regular physical exercise outdoors is very helpful to ________________ brain growth, as it

increases muscle and bone growth. Exercise also helps to ________________ your brain’s full
potential by developing new brain cells and increasing the formation of new brain connections.

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2. It may be hard to ________________ between a genius, a talented person and a smart
person.

3. Unless there is a medical reason, every child can walk because it is ________________ within
them. It is coded in their genes.

4. The patient had suffered ________________ head injuries and had to stay at the hospital for
a while to have a series of surgeries.

5. Brain injuries after accidents may cause a person to develop mental health problems, or
________________ an underlying mental issue that had not emerged ________________ to
the accident. For example, the patient may become an extremely aggressive person after the
accident.

6. Researchers need to widen the ________________ of their research into brain damage and
investigate the emotional and psychological impacts as well as physical ones.

7. We should not ________________ success only to an innate ability. For someone to be

successful at a skill, hard work and perseverance are also important requirements.

8. Therapy can ________________ some of the psychological effects that patients with Autism
suffer from. With therapy, the likelihood of the patients having relatively normal social lives
is possible.

9. The patient explained that he suddenly had a/an ________________ to draw the buildings
he saw. He couldn’t stop this desire to draw.

10. Many scientists are ________________ about the possibility of enhancing brain power
through electrical stimulations. They argue that expecting results from such experiments is
highly unrealistic. Furthermore, these experiments can ________________ pain and even
brain damage, so they should be prohibited.

11. Neurologists have a very challenging job. After an accident, even though the skull may look
________________ with no visible signs of any damage, patients can suffer from life-long
medical conditions.

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BEFORE YOU LISTEN

You are going to listen to a student and a professor having a tutorial. The tutorial is a preparation for
a presentation on “Savants”, as part of the Psychology 101 course.

FOCUS ON NOTE-TAKING STRATEGIES

A USING SYMBOLS AND ABBREVIATIONS

While you are listening and taking notes, you need to make sure your notes are as full as possible. To
do this, you need to write fast. Research suggests that speakers usually use around 125 to 140 words
per minute. However, the average note-taker is only able to note down around 25 words per minute.
Therefore, it is important that you develop a method of using symbols and abbreviations to help you
take down more notes.

1 Use of abbreviations needs practice. Here are some strategies to help you with this. Match the
two halves of each suggestion.

1. Don’t overuse abbreviations as too many a. for example, stars for headings and plus
of them sign for details; or red for headings and
blue for details.
2. They should be consistent and always b. as your instructors will frequently use
mean the same thing them.
3. You may have special symbols to signal c. so that you can remember what they
structure. stand for when you read your notes.
4. Invent your own abbreviations for terms d. until you get used to using them
and words that are common in your consistently
subject area;
5. Start with using just a few abbreviations e. will make your notes difficult to
and symbols understand

There are symbols and abbreviations that are commonly used. See a list of these in Appendix U1 I5.
However, there will be many more concepts or words that you will want to abbreviate. In such cases,
you may use one or a combination of the following methods while inventing your own abbreviations.

 Use the first few letters of the word. You may opt for:
a. Only the first syllable – e.g.: ‘Hem’ for ‘hemisphere’;
b. The first syllable + the first letter of the second syllable – e.g.: ‘sav’ for ‘savant’; ‘inf’ for
‘information’.
c. The first syllable and the final letter of the word. Some people also add an apostrophe (‘).
d. Eliminate the last few letters – e.g.: ‘concentr.’ for “concentration” or ‘assoc’ for
‘association’ – e.g.: govt or gov’t for ‘government’.

 Omit the vowels and keep only enough consonants for you to recognize the word. E.g. –
‘hrdt’ for ‘hereditary’ or ‘clsc’ for ‘classical’

111
2 Practise symbols and abbreviations
a. Below is an extract from the listening you will hear. Try to make notes using symbols and
abbreviations.

“Savant skills typically occur in a very narrow range of special abilities, I think it’s usually either music,
calendar calculation or mathematical abilities for savants.”

b. Now listen to an excerpt and take notes using abbreviations and symbols:

B SELECTING IMPORTANT INFORMATION

1 Before the listening starts, remember the main principles of note-taking:

 Make sure you note down:

 Specific examples
 Facts that are difficult to remember (dates, names, numbers, etc.)
 Section headings and main ideas
 Definitions
 Details about the main ideas
 Content words
 Words that are spelled out

 You don’t need to note down:

 Words that indicate organisation (e.g. “The main point is”)
 Fillers or transitions (“what I’m trying to say is”)
 Function Words (grammar words that don’t contribute to the overall meaning,
such as the/a/an/been)
 Jokes or insignificant details

2 Although the speech you are going to hear is not as organised as a lecture, you can still follow the
different main ideas by following the signposting language. See the appendix for input 3 for a list
of signposting language that can help you take notes.

3 There are two points where the speakers will be making comparison. When you notice the signal
that a comparison will be made, use a T-chart to practise the strategy you focused on in input 3.
Take a look at the note-taking sheet. Can you guess when comparisons will be made?

112
Now listen and take notes.

TUTORIAL NOTES: SAVANT SYNDROME

A. DEFINITION

B. SAVANTS OR GIFTED

C. ORIGINAL RAINMAN: Kim Peek

D. ACQUIRED (Accidental) SAVANTS

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E. CLASSICAL SAVANTS VS ACCIDENTAL SAVANTS

F. TWO EXAMPLES OF ACCIDENTAL SAVANTS

i)

ii)

G. THEORIES EXPLAINING WHAT CAUSES SAVANT SKILLS TO EMERGE

i)

114
 ii)

iii)

POST - LISTENING

A Scan your notes. Think about the following and write a few comments in the note-taking
reflection box below.
 Are you happy with your notes? Were you able to get all the important main ideas and
supporting details?
 Have you noticed transitions and signalling language the speakers used?
 Are your notes organised in a logical way?
 Have you used abbreviations? Can you recognise the full words when you look back at
your abbreviations?
 Did you use a T-chart? Did you find it helpful?

115
  If you were able to listen to this again, would you change anything about your note-
taking? Why?

B Compare your listening notes with another student.

 Do you have similar information?
 Are your notes organised in a similar way? In what ways are the notes similar/different?
 Do you have any suggestions for your friend to improve his or her notes? What are
his/her suggestions for you?

C DEALING WITH SIDETRACKING

Speakers sometimes sidetrack from their topic. In other words, they may
jump to a different point, or go back and say something about a point
that was already discussed. This happens because unlike writing,
speaking is usually unplanned. Therefore, it is important to be prepared
to deal with for such unexpected information.

If the instructor sidetracks and starts to give information that does not fit the topic, you can do the
following:

 continue to take notes on the sidetracked information

 indicate the sidetracked information that you add – for example, place these notes in a box.
You may draw an arrow from this box to the previous point the new information is linked to.
 leave some space while taking notes. This way, if the speaker sidetracks, you can add these
sidetracked notes to where they belong.

In the conversation you listened to, the professor sidetracked, and went back to the topic of musical
and artistic abilities of Savants. Look back at your notes. How did you deal with this?

D POST-LISTENING QUESTIONS

Now answer the following questions using your notes. Read the questions carefully, and write only
necessary information, leaving out irrelevant information. Your answers should be clear and precise.

1. What are two differences between savants and gifted people?

a.
b.

116
2. What are two things that the real Rain Man (Kim Peek) can do?
a.
b.

3. The students want to focus their presentation on Acquired Savants, because this condition
may mean _________________________________________________________________.

4. What are the 6 main groups of Savant skills?

a. Calendar calculations
b.
c. Musical abilities
d.
e. Lightening calculation
f.

5. What is one difference between classical savants and acquired savants?

6. How did Derek Amato gain his skills? Explain briefly.

7. How is Orlando’s condition different to other acquired Savant?

8. According to Miller, normal people cannot access to their talents because _______________
______________________________________.

9. Why did the professor use the examples of Derek Amato and Jay Greenberg?

10. Two possible ways to stimulate the hidden talents inside us could be ___________________
and _____________________.

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E MAKING INFERENCES
Inferences are conclusions you reach by making logical guesses about information that is not directly
stated in a text. Inferencing is an essential skill that requires critical thinking. We make inferences
both in oral and written communication every day. Most of the time we infer meaning automatically
- we don't even realise the information wasn't directly stated. To make inferences, we combine what
we are reading with what we already know about the topic and our own experiences of the world.
This active engagement with the text (written or oral) enables us to make the learning experience
personal and more meaningful, and thus, more memorable.
Inferences are based on evidence –
1 Which one of the statements below cannot be inferred from this is what distinguishes them
the text? Underline the evidence you find in the text for the from guesses. To make inferences,
ideas that can be inferred. pay attention to different factors,
which may include:
a. Derek has a good long term memory for music.  Claims and main ideas, key
details and major
b. Ockelford has a patient and understanding personality.
organizational patterns
c. Derek’s parents spent a lot of money for tutoring Derek  choice of language
to play the piano well.  the author’s /speaker’s purpose
d. Derek is creative as a musician.

The musical savant Derek Paravicini was born blind as he was born 25 weeks premature, and
although oxygen therapy saved his life, his brain was damaged. Derek suffers from severe learning
difficulties and autism. He can’t read Braille and can barely count. He even does not know how old
he is. But once he hears a tune, he can play it right after. His tutor is the well-known music
psychologist Dr Adam Ockelford. Ockelford met him when he was only 5 at the School for the
Blind, where he was doing voluntary work as a PhD student. Ockelford wanted to teach him how
to play the piano, but for a few months Derek didn’t let Ockelford come anywhere near his piano.
When Ockelford tried to approach, Derek hit him and pushed him away. Ockelford was only able
to teach Derek how to play by holding and taking Derek to the other side of the room, then quickly
running to the piano and playing a piece until Derek found his way back to the piano and hit him
again. But after pushing Ockelford away, Derek would play the same piece that Ockelford had just
played, and it was enough for him to have heard it once to add the piece to his repertoire. They
barely had any conversation for the 10 years he tutored him every single day. During these 10
years, Ockelford’s main success was getting Derek to use his fingers properly to play the piano. As
Derek had learnt how to play the piano himself, he had been playing it with his elbows and the
back of his hands.
He was only 8 when he was invited to play the piano at a major fund-raising event. Derek was
thrilled with the whole experience, and from that day on, he has been performing for large
audience. Today Derek’s musical database comprises of hundreds of thousands of songs and he
will be on a new tour with an orchestra soon. The tickets are sold out – perhaps partially because
of curiosity, but mainly because of his unique style of playing. Derek is excellent at playing jazz as
he likes to improvise a lot and he is very good at improvising. Even when he plays a classical piece
he likes to have fun – he often blends styles. He takes a piece by Chopin and plays it as a jazz song,
or vice versa. The other players in the orchestra are excited, but also a bit worried about Derek’s
unpredictable nature. Derek has a very poor short-term memory, and he often forgets what he
was supposed to do, or who he is playing with. There are other issues, such as Derek not being
able to follow the conductor’s baton to start a piece. This means he has to learn not only the parts
he will play really well, but also what other players will perform so that he knows when to start
playing.

118
2 Infer one more thing that was not explicitly stated by the author. Find evidence in the text for your
inference. You will share your inference and your evidence with other students.

Your inference: ____________________________________________________________________

The evidence: _____________________________________________________________________

F REFLECT

If you could have a ‘superhuman’ talent, what would you want it to be? Why?

G PRACTISE PARAPHRASING

Below is an excerpt from the listening. Read the text a few times, and make sure you have
understood all the key information.

“… But we can definitely mention a few key differences. Hmm… First of all, as far as I’m
concerned, unlike savants, people who are gifted have an inherent ability that is not due
to a brain-related issue. There is always a problem with the brain of Savants. The second
difference that I found is that gifted people have a high level of creativity, however, most
savants are actually extremely good at copying or mimicking rather than creating
something new. Another difference is…ermm.. let me see…. Ah, yes…They differ in terms
of the scope of their skills. Savant skills typically occur in a very narrow range of special
abilities, I think it’s usually either music, calendar calculation or mathematical abilities for
savants. But, the scope of gifted people’s abilities are unlimited. The gifted may have a
wide range of abilities.”

 With another student, re-tell the main differences between a savant and a gifted person
without looking at your book. Try to remember as many details as you can.

119
  Check the excerpt again and see if there are any key points that you missed while you
were re-telling the differences.

 Cover the excerpt, and write an answer to the question based on the excerpt:

“What are the differences between a savant and a gifted person?”

Check your paraphrase

 Review your paraphrased text and ask yourself the following questions.
Did you…?
 read the text until you had a good grasp of its meaning?
 paraphrase without looking at the original text?
 keep the same meaning as the original text?
 include the key information and not any parts that are not relevant?
 compare your paraphrase against the original to ensure that the structure of the sentences
and the vocabulary are different?

ACTIVATE YOUR VOCABULARY

A Answer the questions below.

1. Name one thing you did not know prior to coming to today’s class.

2. Egg drop challenge: Design a way using any material you can find in your dorm/house to
protect a raw egg from a high fall. The egg needs to remain intact after a fall of at least 2
meters to a hard surface. Think about it and write your ideas now, and challenge your friends
for a competition tonight 😉

3. What is one thing that you are very good at? What do you attribute your success to?

4. What triggers your stress most frequently? How do you deal with it?

5. Name one thing that may inhibit your ability to perform well in exams.

6. What could be some activities that can stimulate students’ motivation and interest even
more?
120
B Give an example of the following:

1. a severe disease: cancer

2. a claim or statement you are sceptical about: communism is an ideology that can be brought to life

3. something that distinguishes Sabancı University from other universities:

C Make sentences with each of the following words. Use a dictionary if necessary, but make sure
the sentences are your own sentences.

a. inherent
________________________________________________________________________

b. scope
________________________________________________________________________

c. unleash
________________________________________________________________________

d. urge
________________________________________________________________________

e. induce
________________________________________________________________________

GRAMMAR: Non-defining Relative Clauses

INTRODUCTION

The focus of input 2 was ‘Defining Relative Clauses’. The focus of this input is ‘Non-defining Clauses’.

In pairs, read the following sentences and complete the task below.

An acquired savant is a person who starts to display exceptional skills in fields such as maths, music
or art following a brain injury or a disease. Orlando Serrell, who is an acquired savant, can perform
astoundingly complex calendrical calculations.

Reflection Task:

1. Underline the two relative clauses in the sentences.

2. Explain the difference between them in terms of meaning and style.
3. Figure out which relative clause is a defining one, and which one is non-defining.

121
 4. In the box below, come up with a brief description of non-defining clauses explaining how
and when we use them.
5. Discuss your answers with another pair.

Defining vs. Non-defining Relative Clauses

Below are the similarities and differences between defining and non-defining relative clauses. Fill in
the gaps in the sentences.

All relative clauses modify a noun or a pronoun. The difference between a defining and non-defining
relative clause is the type of information given in the clause. Defining clauses give
__________________ about the noun or pronoun they modify while non-defining clauses give
__________________. In terms of punctuation, a non-defining clause is separated from the sentence
with __________________.

Non-defining relative clauses are more common in __________________ than in

__________________ and are a good way to introduce __________________ about a noun or
pronoun in a longer sentence. This structure may improve the flow of your writing and help you
avoid overusing short and choppy sentences.

Listening: Once you finish, listen to the paragraph and check your answers.

Look at the following sentences from this input’s listening:

Savant syndrome is a condition which causes superhuman abilities that result from mental
disabilities.

This sentence contains two defining relative clauses:

… which causes superhuman abilities: This relative clause defines the word ‘condition’. Condition is a
very general word and it is the relative clause that follows it that offers a clear description of this
condition.

… that result from mental disabilities: This relative clause specifies which or what type of
‘superhuman abilities’ are referred to in this sentence.

In other words, relative clauses make the meaning of nouns clear.

The final main group of savant skills is language ability, which is the rarest of all skills.
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This sentence has a non-defining relative clause:

…, which is the rarest of all skills: What we mean by ‘language ability’ is already clear and does not
need to be defined. The function of the non-defining relative clause is to add a piece of extra
information about language ability. Notice the comma that precedes the relative clause.

TIPS: Relative pronouns in non-defining relative clauses

 Relative pronouns ‘who, which, whom, when, where’ can all be used with non-
defining relative clauses. However, ‘that’ is NOT used in a non-defining relative
clause.
 Relative pronouns in non-defining relative clauses CANNOT be omitted.

PRACTICE TASK 1: Defining vs. Non-defining Relative Clauses

 Underline the relative clauses in the sentences from the listening below.
 Mark defining clauses ‘D’ and non-defining clauses ‘N’.
 Add commas to sentences with non-defining clauses.
 There is an example.

1. _ N__ Professor Jackson, who is my tutor, is a leading expert on human intelligence.

D
2. _____There was one savant who could read, write and translate 15 to 20 languages.

D
3. _____Studies show that there are more links between neurons in people who meditate.
N The right brain which is associated with creativity can function freely as the left
4. _____
hemisphere is damaged.
N
5. _____The second area of skills is artistic abilities which usually involve painting, sculpturing,
etc.
D
6. _____The acquired savant syndrome is the condition in which extraordinary abilities emerge
after experiencing some form of brain injury.

When you finish, compare your answers in small groups.

A second use of non-defining clauses

Apart from adding information about a noun or a pronoun, non-defining relative clauses can also be
used in order to comment on a situation. When used in this way, the relative pronoun is always
‘which’ and the relative clause is attached to the situation commented on with a comma. In a way,
the relative clause is a comment on the whole sentence that it follows. This use is more common in
speaking than in academic writing.

For example:

My tutor accepted to see me for a second tutorial, which was very nice of her.
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PRACTICE TASK 2: Personal statements

In groups share a situation you have been in or an experience you have had recently. Add your own
personal comment to it using a non-defining relative clause. Ask and answer questions about each
other’s experiences.

For example:

My roommate
never tidies up Have you tried
his part of the talking to him about
room, which is it?
quite annoying!

A third use of non-defining clauses

You can add credibility to your sources by adding extra information to them. You can add information
about a person’s credentials or an institution’s reputation to increase the credibility and reliability of
a source you are using.

For example:

Oliver Sacks, who was a professor of neurology, argued that the brain both shapes us and is shaped
by us.

PRACTICE TASK 3: Non-defining relative clauses & their functions

a. Combine the following sentences in each set to make non-defining clauses. Remember to use
commas.
1. Max H. Bazerman advises us to focus on noticing significant details around us by resisting
our tendency to accept readily available solutions.
Bazerman is a professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School.

2. The cortex is the outermost layer of the brain.

Thinking and voluntary movements start in the cortex.

3. A new study found out that apart from being responsible for motor coordination the
cerebellum also plays a role in controlling the brain’s reward system.
This surprised many scholars in field.

4. Derek Amato is the only known musical acquired savant.

His brain injury was caused by an accident in the swimming pool.

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 5. A study led by University College of London found that feeling stressed or anxious makes
people more able to process and internalise bad news.
University College of London has one of the most prestigious neuroscience departments
globally.

b. In pairs check your answers for the task above. Later, decide which function below each
sentence included. You can write your answers in the box below.
a) to add extra information
b) to comment on a situation
c) add credibility to a source

Sentence Function

PRACTICE TASK 4: Relative clauses & definitions

In pairs or small groups,

 Find 5 people, things, places and concepts or any other information that you have found
interesting in Unit 1. Write them in the boxes below.
 Write definitions for each item you have found. Use relative clauses in your definitions.
These can be defining or non-defining relative clauses.
 There is an example.

Carol Dweck

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 1. Carol S. Dweck, who is a leading researcher in the field of motivation, is the scholar behind
the_ concept of mindset.
2. ____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
3. ____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
4. ____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
5. ____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
6. ____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________

Share your definitions with the rest of the class.

Simplifying Relative Clauses

We can simplify relative clauses either by omission or reduction. In input 2 of this unit, you had a look
at omission of object pronouns.

Remember!

 In an object defining relative clause, the relative pronouns are optional and be omitted. Here is an
example from input 2 to refresh your memory:

The feedback (that/which) a teacher gives can encourage or discourage a learner.

In this section, the focus is reduced relative clauses. Below are some common ways to reduce, i.e. to
simplify, relative clauses. As relative clauses are quite commonly used, it may be a good idea to vary
your writing style through the use of different structures in order to avoid repetition. Reduced
clauses can also simplify longer compound and complex sentences making space for other
grammatical structures.

Using participle clauses to reduce relative clauses

Participle clauses are created with –ing and –ed (third form of the verb) forms of verbs. Unit 4 Input 2
will focus on participle clauses in detail. For now, here is how to use –ing and –ed in order to simplify
relative clauses.

This form of reduction is only possible in subject relative clauses.

Use of –ing in reduced relative clauses

Look at the following sentence from the listening:

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Studies show that there are more links between neurons in people who meditate regularly.

Studies show that there are more links between neurons in people meditating regularly.

A subject relative clause can be reduced by attaching –ing to the verb of the relative clause.

By attaching –ing to the underlined verb ‘meditate’ and removing the relative pronoun ‘who’, the
relative clause can be reduced. This means the modified noun (people) and the verb (meditate) stand
next to each other.

The –ing in this sentence does NOT refer to a continuous tense. This form of reduction is possible
with different tenses:

Who was the lecturer that talked about accidental savants last week?

Who was the lecturer talking about accidental savants last week?

Use of –ed in reduced relative clauses

The book which is published by the university focuses on how the creative brain is wired.

The book published by the university focuses on how the creative brain is wired.

If the verb of the relative clause is in the passive form, the clause can be reduced by taking out the
relative pronoun and the verb to be. In order to reduce these clauses, we simply remove the relative
pronoun (which) and the verb to be (is). This way, the modified noun (the book) and the –ed verb
stand together in the sentence

Reduce the following relative clauses using the –ing or –ed form of the verbs.

1. Ahmet wanted to see his tutor Berry about the topic that was assigned in class.
the topic assigned in class.
___________________________________________________________________________.
2. In order to prepare for their assignment, Ahmet and his classmates read two articles that
focus on acquired savants. read two articles focusing on acquired
savants.
____________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________.
3. Berry suggested Ahmet and his friends prepare a 10-minute presentation that includes the
main areas of savant skills. presentation including the main
areas of savant skills.
____________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________.
4. Rain Man is a film that is based on the life of an acquired savant.
a film based on the ...
___________________________________________________________________________.
5. The savant that was portrayed by Dustin Hoffman memorised over 6000 books and he has
expert knowledge on geography, literature, history, and nine other areas of expertise.
The savant portrayed by ...
____________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________.
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Check your answers in pairs.

Using ‘with’ to reduce relative clauses

Young savants who have extraordinary skills may sometimes feel isolated from their peers.

Young savants with extraordinary skills may sometimes feel isolated from their peers.

When the verb of the relative clause indicates possession (ownership), the relative pronoun and the
verb can be replaced by ‘with’. The verbs ‘have’ and ‘own’ are among those that show possession.
The verb ‘have’ in the first sentence above indicates ownership. The relative pronoun (who) and the
verb ‘have’ can be taken out and replaced by ‘with’.

Using the infinitive ‘to’ in order to reduce relative clauses

Superlative adjectives and the infinitive ‘to’

One of the most authoritative experts that specialises in the savant syndrome is the retired
psychiatrist Darold Treffert.

One of the most authoritative experts to specialise in the savant syndrome is the retired psychiatrist
Darold Treffert.

The most common ways of using the infinitive ‘to’ in reduced relative clauses take place when the
modified noun or pronoun includes a superlative adjective (best, most important…etc.) or an ordinal
structure (first, second, next, last, only…etc.).

In the sentence above, as there is a superlative adjective (most authoritative) attached to the
modified noun (experts), the sentence above can be reduced by removing the relative pronoun (that)
and adding ‘to’ to the infinitive (base) form of the verb (specialise).

Ordinal structures and the infinitive ‘to’

The first person who coined the term ‘savant’ was J. Langdon Down.

The first person to coin the term ‘savant’ was J. Langdon Down.

Derek Amato is the only savant who has acquired a musical talent.

Derek Amato is the only savant to acquire a musical talent.

When the modified noun has an ordinal structure (first, second, next, last, only…etc.), the relative
clause can be reduced by removing the relative pronoun and adding ‘to’ to the infinitive (base) form
of the verb. This form of reduction can be used in different tenses. This sentence can be simplified by
removing the ordinal structure (first) and adding ‘to’ to the base form of the verb (coin):

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Reduce the following relative clauses by either using ‘with’ or ‘to’. When you finish, check your
answers with a partner.

1. ‘Beautiful Minds: The Psychology of the Savant’ is one of the best documentaries that
reports on the neuroscientific research on the savant syndrome.
documentaries to report on ...
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
2. Could the last person who leaves the room turn off the lights please?
last person to leave the room
________________________________________________________________________

3. The next seminar which will focus on brain activity and cognition is scheduled for next
Friday.
The next seminar with a focus on brain activity
________________________________________________________________________

COMMON MISTAKES

Correct the commonly made mistakes in the sentences below by referring to the table. Each
sentence has a mistake.

Type of relative People Things Punctuation around

clause relative clauses

Defining who, that which, that -

Commas separating
Non-defining who which extra information from
the rest of the sentence

1. Kim Peek who was the real life inspiration for the fictional character Raymond Babbitt
was played by Dustin Hoffman in the movie Rain Man.

2. Savants are people, who have superhuman skills in fields such as arts, music or maths.

3. ‘Temple Grandin’ is a film about autism, that I find very inspirational.

4. Temple Grandin, which is the author of many books on autism, is a professor of animal
science.

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MINI RESEARCH TASK: Syndromes & disorders

In this input you learned about the savant syndrome. In this task you will research another brain
related syndrome or disorder.

In small groups,

 Research one of the following syndromes/disorders. Alternatively, you can find your own.

Cotard’s syndrome

Capgras delusion

Mirror-touch synaesthesia

Alien hand syndrome

Exploding head syndrome

 Write a group paragraph giving information on your topic. Use defining, non-defining and
simplified relative clauses in your paragraph.

 Present your paragraph to the rest of the class.

Here is an example paragraph that you can use as a model for your own writing (relative
clause structures highlighted):

Foreign accent syndrome (FAS) is a rare speech disorder caused usually by a stroke. People
with FAS suddenly start to speak with a new accent that is different from their native
language. Some of the cases that have been recorded around the world include accent
changes British English to French, American-English to British English and Spanish to
Hungarian. Some changes in accent associated with FAS are consonant omission, excess
stress and vowel distortion. Julie Matthias is one of the people who has acquired this
syndrome. Matthias, who believes her condition was triggered by a traffic accident, is
originally from the UK. Her doctors, who are baffled with her case, cannot find the exact
cause of her new accent. People hearing her accent think she is French, Italian or South
African. Matthias says the symptoms are awful and she has encountered racism. Some
people who don’t know her well have also accused her of making up the disease. She has
written in a book explaining what it is like to suffer from FAS.

60 other people with the same condition have also contributed to the book.

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Speaking after Input 5

Giving Academic Presentations

In this speaking input, you will focus on giving academic presentations. Presentations provide a good
opportunity for
 language practice in vocabulary and grammar as well as reading and listening as it is necessary
to get prepared for presentations by listening to lectures, reading texts on a specific subject or
topic and planning in terms of language to be used before delivering a presentation.
 expressing your ideas clearly.
 showing your comprehension of a subject and sharing what you have learnt.
 revising a topic.
 informing and/or convincing others on a subject.
 learning to listen actively by listening to each other giving presentations and asking and
answering questions.
 building confidence in public speaking.

The points above will help you both in your academic life and work life in the future. In this part, we
will mainly focus on the language used in different parts of a presentation.

Introduction:

A. You will watch a presentation. While watching the presentation, take notes considering the
following questions:

1. How does the speaker start the presentation?

2. How does the speaker explain the main points?
3. How does the speaker finish the presentation?

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 B. A good academic presentation often has four parts. What are these different parts of an
academic presentation? What does each part involve? Complete the following chart in pairs.

1. Introduction the topic of the presentation

2. the information you want to share about this topic

3. Conclusion

4.

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Language for Introductions:
Task A:
1. Read the notes prepared by a student who will give a presentation on savant syndrome. You
will plan the introduction of this presentation based on these notes in pairs.

Introduction the topic of the presentation: Savant Syndrome

the purpose of giving this presentation: To give information about different

types of savants and differences between savants and gifted people.

a brief outline of the presentation:

1. Definition of savants
2. Differences between savants and gifted people
3. Different types of savants
4. Some examples of savants

2. In pairs, one of you will present the introduction of this presentation while your partner will
write down the language you use for introduction.

Language for Introductions: The topic of the presentation:

The purpose of giving this presentation:

The outline of the presentation:

133
 3. In pairs, try to find other pieces of language for introductions and write them on the chart
above.

4. Listening to lectures and paying attention to the language used by lecturers will help you to
improve your presentation skills. Read the introduction of the lecture on geniuses. Identify
and underline the language for the three parts of an introduction. Add these pieces of
language to the chart above.

“Today’s lecture will mainly focus on raising geniuses ... In today’s class, I would like to give you
information on some of the concerns that have been frequently raised by psychologists, and I would
like to evaluate them in the light of recent research. I will divide today’s lecture into three main parts.
First, I will first go over the concerns regarding attitudes of the parents. Then, I will carry on with
concerns that are linked to education. In the final part of the lecture, I will mention what can be done
to provide a better education for geniuses so that they can reach their full potential. Ok, if you are
ready, let’s start.”

Language for the Body part of a Presentation:

Task B:
1. Put the following language for the body part of a presentation under the appropriate category.

Let me give you some information on… As you can see in the chart, …
To start with, … For example, ...
Now, I will explain … The main advantage / disadvantage is …
As I mentioned earlier, … We can see in the table that …
It is a fact that … The point I am making is that …
My point is that … X can be given as an example.
The truth is that … A contrary view is that …
Another point is … What I am saying is that …
Firstly … , Secondly … , Thirdly…, As the diagram indicates …
From the figures, we can understand that … Let me say it again …
For instance, … First of all, …
Take for example … We can infer from the statistics that …
Think of X as an example. What’s more …
Moreover Next, …
This shows that … Furthermore
Then, … On this graph, we can see …
In other words, … Finally, …
Let me explain it in another way This means …

Language for the Body Part of a Presentation

Language to give the Language for the Language for ordering the
information you want to share explanations, examples, information you will share
about this topic statistics that you want to
share

Examples:

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 Statistics / Charts:

Highlighting a point:

While giving a presentation, it is a good idea to give a short summary of the previous part
before moving on to the next part of the presentation. This helps the audience:
 to understand the main idea of the previous part
 to be ready for the next part of the presentation
 to concentrate better on the presentation
 to understand the whole presentation better

135
Task C: Read the following excerpt from a lecture on raising geniuses and underline the language used to
give a summary of the previous part and the language used to inform the listeners about the next part.

“All right. So far, we have looked at raising geniuses in terms of the attitudes of their parents, and tried
to understand the right attitude that will help geniuses reach their full potential. Let me now move on
to another area of concern, which focuses on whether geniuses receive the best possible education to
help them improve themselves. What type of education really caters for the needs of a genius?”

Language for Conclusions:

Task D:
1. Read the following conclusion and underline the language used for conclusion.

“Today, I have explained savant syndrome by giving a brief definition and differences between gifted
people and savants. Then, I have mentioned different types of savants. Finally, I have shared some
examples of savants. I mean, some famous savants and their conditions or abilities. We have seen that
savant syndrome is one of the most interesting and also complicated conditions which might lead to
serious challenges for the savant. So, it is important to fully understand this syndrome.”

Language for Conclusions Language for summarising the main points of a

presentation:

First we looked at …, then we …., and finally, we …

I also explained ………. by giving examples.

In short, …

In brief, …

In conclusion, …

To sum up, I would like to emphasise that …

So, …

We’ve seen that …

I think we have covered the main points about …

2. What is the purpose of a conclusion in an academic presentation? Discuss in pairs.

Language for Asking for Comments & Questions:

Some presenters take questions and comments during a presentation while others prefer doing this at
the end of the presentation. You might decide on when you would like to take questions and comments
and inform your audience at the beginning of your presentation. If you decide to have it at the end,
you need to consider how to ask for clarification if you can’t understand the question and how to deal
with difficult questions and comments.

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Task E: In pairs, think about the language for the following parts and fill in the chart below.

Language for Asking for Comments & Asking for comments and questions from the
Questions: audience:

Asking for clarification:

Answering difficult questions:

Preparing a Presentation
In small groups, you will give a presentation about extraordinary intelligence or abilities. Your
presentation will be about 10 minutes. You will start preparing it in class but you will present it on
another day.

1. You might choose one of the following topics:

a. Savants
b. Prodigies
c. Geniuses
d. Any other topic

137
 2. Use the information in the inputs in Unit 1 and do some research on the Internet about the
following headings. Take notes on the chart below.

Definition

Advantages of
having this
extraordinary
intelligence or
abilities

Disadvantages of
having this
extraordinary
intelligence or
abilities

138
 Examples of people
with extraordinary
intelligence or
abilities

Any other
information & your
opinion about this
topic based on your
research

3. Prepare your presentation by paying attention to the language you will use for the following
parts. Please refer to the language you have learned above.

a. Introduction
b. Body Part
c. Conclusion
d. Asking for questions & comments

You will be presenting in class on another day. When your presentation is ready, decide on who will
present which part. Make sure that you do not read from your notes.

139
Feedback sheet (To be filled in by the Audience during the presentation):
During the presentations that your friends will give, use the following chart to take notes. You will give
feedback for each presentation.
The topic of the Content: Is Organisation: Is the Language: Is the Questions &
presentation there enough presentation easy to language for Comments you
information follow? Are all the different parts have
and parts of the clear? Is there a
explanation? presentation clear? variety of
language?

Presentation 1:

Presentation 2:

Presentation 3:

140
The topic of the Content: Is Organisation: Is the Language: Is the Questions &
presentation there enough presentation easy to language for Comments you
information follow? Are all the different parts have
and parts of the clear? Is there a
explanation? presentation clear? variety of
language?

Presentation 4:

Presentation 5:

Presentation 6:

141
SELF REFLECTION:

Think about your performance in the presentation tasks. You will write a paragraph to reflect on your
performance by using the following questions to guide you. Then, you will choose a part of your
paragraph to share in class.

1. Were you well-prepared for the presentation? Did you do enough research?
2. Did you manage to use the language for presentations effectively?
3. How was your overall performance during the presentation?
4. What is one thing you were good at doing during the presentation?
5. What is one thing you still need to improve in order to give a better presentation?

__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________

142
UNIT 2 LEAD IN

In Unit 1, we explored the human brain: its amazing potential and intriguing unknowns. In Unit 2, we
will move on to another fascinating creation of the human brain: Artificial Intelligence (AI).

1. What is AI?
a. Write down words and phrases that you associate with AI in the box below.

b. Compare and discuss your words and phrases with a partner. Explain why you have
chosen these particular words.

2. Good AI, Bad AI

Technology is developing at a very rapid pace and as a result, AI will become even more
prevalent in our lives. Do you think AI is all good? Can you think of any problems the human
race might face as machines become more and more intelligent?

Think of AI as it is today and what it may become in the future and fill in the T-chart below.

143
 Advantages of AI Disadvantages of AI

At the end of the unit, re-visit your T-chart. Having explored AI in more detail, is there
anything you want to add / take out or change?

144
 INPUT 1
An Introduction to AI

GETTING READY

A Can you identify the robot in the picture? What is special about the humanoid?
It can think like a human but it happens on its own. I mean, it can learn without any help and develop itself.

B Read the questions below and reflect.

1 What does Artificial Intelligence (AI) mean to you? What do you think the future with AI will bring
humanity?

 Draw a picture illustrating your view of Artificial Intelligence.

 If you do not like drawing, write down a few sentences or key words.

2 In groups of 3, compare your pictures, or thoughts.

 Are they mostly positive or negative?

 What positive ideas come out in your drawings or writings?
 What are the negative associations with Artificial Intelligence?

145
C How much do you know about AI?

How are the following concepts/people linked to AI? Exchange ideas in small groups.

John McCarthy Tesla cars Alan Turing Deep Blue

FOCUS ON KEY VOCABULARY

A Fill in the blanks with one word from the box. You may need to make changes such as plural form
or third person singular. You don’t need all of the words.

strive opponent feature trigger precaution regard proportion

detect surpass enable scope indistinguishable handle comprise

Many people fear that one day, technology will be so advanced that the intelligence of machines will
1)___________________ the intelligence of humans. In other words, they will be more intelligent than
any human being that has ever lived. The 2)___________________ of Artificial Intelligence
applications are quite broad, ranging from simple applications in cell-
phones to domestic robots, or programs that make decisions about the
value of shares in stock market. They can 3)___________________
tasks that are extremely hard for one person to take care of. While
some people consider AI as a milestone in the history of mankind, there
are people who are worried about a future with AI. Prospect of highly advanced artificial intelligence
4)___________________ safety concerns even among scientists such as Stephan Hawkings. Despite
this, computer scientists 5)___________________ toward creating AI that can think and act
independently. Artificial Intelligence applications 6)___________________ us to carry out tasks that
take a person a very long time. For example, through face recognition software, the police can
7)___________________ criminals among a large crowd of people. Other 8)___________________ of
Artificial Intelligence such as enhanced sensors can be used in medical
care to diagnose diseases. Proponents of AI believe that one day it will
save humanity and may even overcome mortality.
9)___________________, on the other hand, believe that it will bring the
end of humanity. AI is 10)___________________ as the biggest external
threat to humanity by this group of people. They think that we need to take some
11)___________________ to make sure that this technology does not take over our race one day.

146
B When learning vocabulary, it is important to be aware of the multiple meanings of the words, and
decide which meaning is used based on the context. Below you can find words that you are likely to
have encountered before.

 Read the extracts from the listening text given in italics.

 Select which definition best describes its meaning in the extract provided.

1. Refer (v): “What do all these refer to?” / “Singularity is the term used to refer to the moment
when….”
a. To look at a book or a resource for information
b. To describe a thing, situation or idea

2. Retrieve (v): “A large proportion of the money was retrieved”

a. Get something back, recover
b. To remember

3. Advance (v): ‘As technology advances, we create complex ecosystems of AI”

a. make progress, develop
b. to bring forward in time, to make something earlier

4. Last (v): “the war would have lasted two more years”
a. to continue in time
b. belonging to the final part of something

5. Propose (v): “he proposed a test that can tell whether a machine can really think”
a. to ask someone to marry
b. to suggest a plan or action

6. Wealth (n): “…….bring together the relevant data from this wealth of information”
a. a large amount of money or valuable possessions a person has
b. A large amount of something good

7. Determine: The program determines if a mail is spam or not

a. to be the cause of or reason for
b. to make a decision

GETTING READY FOR THE LECTURE Predicting content prior to

listening helps to activate
A FOCUS ON LISTENING STRATEGIES
your background knowledge
1 Predicting content on the topic. This is useful
because your predictions will
You are going listen to an open lecture provided by a university then help you identify
renowned for their majors that are based on technology. The possible organization of the
listening and which listening
professor has been offering courses on various aspects of technology,
strategies to use.
and in this lecture, he will talk about Artificial Intelligence.

147
Make a list of possible topics that the professor may cover in the lecture in the box provided.

2 Drawing Inferences & identifying speaker’s stance

Listen to the beginning of the lecture. What kind of an attitude do you think the professor
has towards Artificial Intelligence? How can you tell?

a. Opponent of AI technologies – a sceptic

b. Proponent of AI technologies – an enthusiast
c. _____________________________________? (write your own opinion if a or b does not
reflect your view)

3 Identifying intended audience & speaker’s purpose

Listen to the excerpt again. Who is the intended audience of the lecture? How do you know?

a. Scientists in the field of AI

b. Science and technology students
c. Laypeople / public
d. Other professors teaching courses on AI

 What do you think is the purpose of the lecturer to give a talk on this topic?

4 Evaluating/confirming Predictions

Listen to the excerpt. What is the speaker’s purpose? Were you right about your prediction?

B ORGANIZING LECTURE NOTES

In Unit 1, you focused on two main methods of organising lecture notes: T-charts and the Outline
format. In this input, you will practise using The Two Column Method.

The Two Column method is a very effective method of taking notes, and reviewing notes both for lectures
and articles you read. It makes it easy to find the information you are looking for while reviewing your notes.
The method involves dividing your paper into two columns and using each column to record specific types of
information. For example, if the lecture is on history, you can use the left-hand column to record the dates
and time periods, and the right-hand column to record the events. Other information you can put on the left
hand column may include main ideas, questions and stages of an experiment, or causes of a phenomenon. If
your instructor provides presentation slides before lectures, you can print the slides in small scale, so that
you can make additional notes on the right during the lecture.

148
We will start forming your note-taking sheet together using the Two-Column Method. You are going
to listen to the professor giving an outline of his lecture.

1 Listen to the outline of the lecture. Do not make any notes at this stage. Listen to
understand which key concepts will be discussed. Are the concepts similar to your
predictions in task 1?

2 Listen to the extract again carefully, and write the missing main ideas on the note-taking
sheet on the left column of the Two-Column note-taking chart. Make sure you use
abbreviations to be able to record all the missing information.

3 Note down a few abbreviations you may need to use. The abbreviated words can include the
concepts that you have noted down, and any other words that you think may hear in the rest of
the lecture.

Possible abbreviations:

Check with a friend sitting next to you. Which words did you note down? Do your abbreviations
look similar for the same words/phrases?

Listen and take notes.

LECTURE NOTES

(SECTION TITLES) (NOTES)

I. OVERVIEW

A. Definition

B. 3 stg:

1. ____________

149
 2. ____________

3. ____________

II. ADV OF AI

150
III. __________ &
TURING

IV. KEY CONC.

A. Big data

B. _____________

151
C. _____________

152
POST LISTENING

A Answer the following questions using your notes.

1. What is the definition of Artificial Intelligence? Write a CCC definition using your notes.

Capability of machines to cop human intelligence.

2. What is another term used for Artificial Narrow Intelligence?
weak

3. In what way is A.N.I. is limited?

Only capable of a few functions.
4. Complete the sentence:
it can only do a few specific things.
A.N.I. does not pose a significant threat because ___________________________________
_________________________________________.

5. Complete the definition:

Artificial General Intelligence refers to a level of intelligence where the machine _________
is almost qeual to human mind.
______________________________________________________________.

6. Complete the definition:

Singularity is the name given to the hypothetical time when artificial intelligence
surpasses human mind.
___________________________________.

7. Which artificial intelligence form could possibly bring an end to humanity?

Artificial super intelligence

8. Based on your notes, determine what kind of Artificial Intelligence the following applications
require – ANI, AGI, or ASI.
 Siri ASI
 Google Voice search ANI
 Autonomous vehicles
AGI

9. What are two hardware and two software related advantages that AI has over human
intellect?
a. Hardware related advantages
speed
 _____________________________________________________
limitless storage
 ____________________________________________________

b. Software related advantages

collective
 _____________________________________________________
 ____________________________________________________
upgradable
153
 10. When was the term “Artificial Intelligence” coined by McCarthy?
1956

11. What was the initial question that was put forward by Alan Turing?
Can machines think?

12. What is the target of the judge in Turing test?

To find out that which is machine

13. Why can’t humans effectively use Big Data?

So large and complex

14. What are two key features of Machine Learning?

-Self adaptive -Learning from experiences

15. Complete the sentence:

big data
Deep Learning uses __________________________________ to learn and perform tasks.

16. What is one reason why the Go Game is a challenge?

There are almost no rules and need new strategies to win.

B Dealing with digressions or side-tracking

Digressions and side-tracking disturb the linear organization of a lecture. Speakers may depart from
the main topic because they may want to say something they find interesting, because they forget
what main topic they were going over, or for other reasons. In this lecture, the lecturer digressed
while going over the history of A.I. Below you can find the digression.

1 Underline the piece of information where the lecturer digressed.

“I would like to give you a very brief overview of the history of AI. After the second world war,
intelligent machines that can help countries gain advantage over others became important.
Therefore, researchers and scientists in various countries independently started to work on intelligent
machines to surpass the technology in other countries. And there was one scientist, Alan Turing, who
developed a computer program that cracked the German Enigma program that the German soldiers
were using. With this technology, Germany lost the war. Alan Turing’s story is very sad actually –
World War’s greatest hero was later arrested by his government and imprisoned for a year. He
eventually committed suicide. If it weren’t for Turing, historians believe the war would have lasted
two more years. But anyway, after the war was over, Turing was amazed by how much can be
achieved by programming…”

154
2 Look back at your notes. Did you think this information was important to take notes on? Why?

C Review and evaluate your notes

1 Scan your notes, and evaluate them based on the criteria that you worked on in unit 1.

Did you…..? Yes To some Not

extent really

1. organize your notes based on transitions and signalling

language the speakers used (e.g. cause & effect,
classification)
2. make notes on the main ideas and supporting details?
3. have enough information for each heading and
subheading?
4. write down specific examples, dates, names and numbers,
definitions?
5. avoid writing function words and other unnecessary words
or phrases such as transitions, jokes, etc.?
6. Use abbreviations and symbols?

2 What areas do you think you need to practice more? How do you think you can improve in these
areas? What extra sources can you use to help you improve in these areas?

D Making Inferences
Below you can find an excerpt from the listening you have done.

Choose the statement that can be inferred from the excerpt. Discuss your answer with a partner.

“Let me define what a trading algorithm is. Algorithmic trading is the use of computers to make large
trades effectively and efficiently – so basically, some software makes trade – buys and sells
automatically – without any human input. We have such software because compared to a human, AI
can trade faster, and with greater accuracy. How can it be more accurate than humans? Well, first of
all, it removes human emotion from investing decisions. And secondly, unlike humans, the program
makes these decisions based on data by analysing news headlines, social media, and so on. They can
analyse vast amounts of information far quicker compared to humans. Finally, these systems save on
labour costs.”

a. Today trade is dependent solely on AI systems, without the involvement of any humans.
b. AI systems are displacing humans in the business of trade.
c. AI systems do not make any wrong decisions, and so they are a valuable asset for trade.

155
E Practise your paraphrasing skills

1 Look back at your notes for “Artificial Narrow

Intelligence”, or “Weak AI”. Below is an excerpt from the
lecture you have listened to. Read the excerpt, and make
additions to your notes if necessary.

“The first form of AI is Artificial Narrow Intelligence, a.k.a,

Weak AI. As its name suggests, we use this term to refer to
Artificial Intelligence which is only capable of certain,
specific human abilities. To put it in another way, Narrow Intelligence is AI that is restricted to only one
functional area. It can even surpass human intelligence on one specific thing, but only on that one
thing. Let me illustrate what Narrow AI can do. Since you are listening to this lecture, I assume that you
are interested in AI and have been reading about it. If so, you must know about Deep Blue. But just in
case there are those of you who are just starting to learn about AI, Deep Blue is the name of the
computer programme that played chess with the world chess champion Kasparov. In 1996, Deep Blue
was dubbed the first machine ever to win a chess game against a world champion. I think you have a
clearer picture now? Deep Blue cannot surpass human intelligence in any other abilities – it is only good
at playing chess. This is what it was designed for. So as you can see, Narrow AI, or Weak AI is the area
where we have been successful at making rapid and effective progress.

At this point, you may be wondering if you ever encounter Narrow Intelligence yourself. You do. It has
been in our lives for quite a long time, actually. Let me give you a few examples. Your smart phone is
full of artificial intelligence applications. You are using narrow artificial intelligence when you use map
applications, check the weather, or set your alarm.”

Remember:
2 Use your notes to answer the question:
In listening or reading into writing tasks, you
need to paraphrase. If you start with your
“What is Artificial Narrow Intelligence? Explain it by notes and produce your writing based on your
giving examples.” notes rather than referring directly to the text,
you will be paraphrasing more effectıvely. This
way, you will be able concentrate on the
Make sure you use your own words. Do not copy overall meaning of ideas, concepts and
chunks of words, or the sentence structures. arguments presented in the original text rather
than the language of the individual sentences.

3 Swap books with another student. Read each other’s answers and give feedback on how the
answer and how well the original text has been paraphrased.
156
  Have all relevant ideas been included?
 Are there any parts that are not relevant to the question?
 Is the meaning in the paraphrased version exactly the same as the original text?
 How similar or different is the language (in terms of sentence structures, word order,
grammatical structures as well as choice of vocabulary) in the student’s answer and
the original text?

4 Search TED Talks or another video channel. Select a video on any aspect of Artificial
Intelligence.
 Make notes in the space below.
 Looking at your notes, write a brief summary of about 100-150 words. Remember to
paraphrase all the information you decide to include.

Notes

157
Your summary:

F OVER TO YOU

Think about how AI might make an impact on your life. Design an AI system (a robot, software, etc.)
that you think would really make your life healthier / easier / more enjoyable / more efficient, etc.

In small groups, tell each other about your AI system and how it will change your life.

 Which system do you think would be technically feasible?

 Which one has the biggest potential to become a commercial success?
 Which one could be life-changing for humans? Which one would have the biggest impact on
the human life?

158
ACTIVATE YOUR VOCABULARY

A Sentence transformation

 Re-write the sentences using the words given in brackets.

 You may need to make several changes, but the meaning should be the same.
 Use a dictionary to help you with the sentence structure if necessary.

1. Cars that have a fully-functional auto-pilot system is the main aim of Tesla.

strives to build cars having a fully-functional auto-pilot system.

Tesla ___________________________________________________________________. (STRIVE)

2. One concern is that due to the creation of super-intelligent machines, there will be changes we
can’t control.

will trigger
One concern is that the creation of super intelligent machines _______________
changes we can't control.
_________________________________. (TRIGGER)

3. Google’s AlphaGo won a game of Go against China's Ke Jie, who people believe is world's best
player.
considered as the world's best player.
Google’s AlphaGo won a game of Go against China's Ke Jie, who is ___________________________
_________________________________. (CONSIDER)

4. For now, four semi-autonomous driving features make up the Tesla Autopilot function. These are
autosteer, auto lane-change, automatic emergency steering, and autopark.

comprises four semi-autonomous driving features.

For now, the Tesla Autopilot function _________________________________________________.
These are autosteer, auto lane-change, automatic emergency steering, and autopark. (COMPRISE)

B Describe the word

 Select one word from the words you studied in the pre-listening section. Think about the
meaning and use. Do not share your word with anyone.

 You will explain your word to your classmates, who will try to guess the word. You cannot use
the word itself in your description. If you like, you can make notes about how you are going to
explain your word here:

 Listen to your classmates explaining their words. Write down your guesses below. How many
of them were you able to guess?
159
GRAMMAR: Perfect Modal Verbs

INTRODUCTION

In pairs, study the following sentences from this input’s listening and answer the questions below.

Reflection Questions:

1. What do the underlined questions add to the meaning of the verb in each sentence?
2. What can you say about the verb forms that follow these underlined verbs?
3. Can you think of any other words that are similar to the underlined ones in terms of meaning
and form? What are they?

These programs can copy intelligent human behaviour and

they can achieve tasks that require human intelligence.

We should still be very careful,

because as technology advances,
Scientists approach AI from we create complex ecosystems
many different pathways but of AI.
always with the same aim in mind.
Without such a vision, Artificial
Intelligence might have never
been formed, or it might have
remained just as a branch of Deep Blue cannot surpass human
maths or philosophy. intelligence in any other abilities –
it is only good at playing chess.

What is a Modal Verb?

A modal verb, or a modal auxiliary verb, helps the main verb in a sentence express ideas such as
possibility, probability, obligation or necessity. The underlined examples in the speech bubbles above
are all modal verbs.

Reflection Questions:

In small groups, re-read the sentences in the speech bubbles above and answer the questions below.

1. Which time frame (present, future or past) does each of the underlined modal verb refer to?
2. How are the modals that refer to the past different than the other ones in terms of
structure?

160
 Perfect Modal Verbs

Perfect modal verbs refer to past actions and situations in meaning. Below is the formula for forming
a perfect modal verb based on the example above.

AI might have remained just as a branch of maths or philosophy.

Subject Modal Verb + have + perfect (3rd) form of the verb

The meaning of perfect modals may sometimes have different meanings than modals that refer to
the present or past.

1. Probability and Possibility in the Past

The situation and reactions below exemplify probability and possibility in the past.

You hear your classmate Elif missed an

important tutorial a couple of days ago. You
remember her saying she felt very tired and
had a headache last week so you are pretty
sure she was ill on the day of her tutorial.

…so you say: She must have been ill.

However, your friend Ege says he saw Elif

exercising in the gym on the day of the
tutorial.

…and he says: She can’t have been ill.

You are not so sure what has happened

anymore and you make some guesses: She
may have forgotten about her tutorial or
her tutor could have cancelled the tutorial.
She might not have remembered the day
of her tutorial.

161
 The table below is a list of the modal verbs that indicate probability and possibility in the past. In
pairs, study the table below and fill in the missing information. You can refer to the examples
above to help you.

MEANING MODAL VERB

positive form negative form

Probability 

(We are almost
certain something
is true / is not
true.)

Possibility  
 
(We think there is a 
chance that
something is true /
is not true.)

Now listen to a teacher describing these modal verbs and check and complete your
answers.

PRACTICE TASK 1: PROBABILITY & POSSIBILTY IN THE PAST

Lisa is late to her project team meeting. Below are some reactions
from her team members. Rewrite their reactions using an appropriate
perfect modal verb. Make any necessary changes to the sentences.
Sometimes there may be more than one modal verb that fits the
sentence.

1. I am sure she misheard the time of the meeting.

______________________________________________________________________.
2. It is possible that she decided to stay at home to finish her essay for tomorrow.
______________________________________________________________________.
3. I am not certain but maybe she did not make it to the shuttle stop on time.
______________________________________________________________________.
4. Lisa most probably overslept because she went to bed very late last night.
______________________________________________________________________.
5. I am positive that she didn’t oversleep; I talked to her this morning.
______________________________________________________________________.

162
 2. Criticism and Regret about the Past

The perfect modals should have and could / might / may have are commonly used to express
criticism, regret and missed opportunities about past situations. See the examples below:

You have missed an important deadline to submit a

paper. You feel bad about this and think to yourself…

You were supposed to work on it at the weekend but you

went out with your friends instead so you say to yourself:

I should have stayed at home and finished my work. I

shouldn’t have gone out with my friends.

I was out with my friends all day. I could have come home
earlier and worked on my assignment.

PRACTICE TASK 2: CRITICISM AND REGRET ABOUT THE PAST

Read the situations below and write 2 responses to each situation by expressing criticism, regret
and/or missed opportunities. Use a variety of modal verbs in your responses.

1. Your friend says he finished all his money and he won’t receive his next allowance for
another two weeks.
a. ________________________________________________________________________.
b. ________________________________________________________________________.

2. You are supposed to complete a 20-page reading for tomorrow’s class. It’s 11 pm and you
haven’t started yet.
a. ________________________________________________________________________.
b. ________________________________________________________________________.

3. You were supposed to meet a friend yesterday but she never turned up or called. You see
her the next day and say to her:
a. _______________________________________________________________________.
b. ________________________________________________________________________.

COMMON MISTAKES
Below are two common mistakes made when forming sentences with modal verbs. In pairs, correct
the mistakes and write down the reason for these mistakes under each sentence.
1. In the future AI technologies might to cause massive job loss.
Explain the modal verb mistake in this sentence. ____________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________

163
 2. You should attended the presentation about Alan Turing’s life; it was great.
Explain the modal verb mistake in this sentence. ____________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________

READING & SPEAKING TASK: CONSOLIDATION

In the lecture you listened to in this input, there was a lot of

information about Alan Turing’s accomplishments in computing.
The lecturer also mentioned that his government arrested Turing
and he eventually committed suicide. There are still questions
unanswered surrounding Turing’s death. Read the following
details about the final years of his life.

In 1952, Alan Turing reported a burglary to the police. During his statement, he revealed that at
the time of the burglary, he had a male lover in his house. Having received this information, the
government charged him with ‘acts of gross indecency’. In order to avoid imprisonment and loss
of his post at the University of Manchester, Turing agreed to go under hormone treatment that
was supposed to supress his sexual urges during his year in custody.

Two years after the burglary, in June 1954, Turing was found dead in his bed by his
housekeeper. He was only 41 years old when he died. There was a half-eaten apple on his bedside
table. His cause of death is believed to be cyanide poisoning.

Other important facts to take into consideration are:

- Turing had cyanide in his house for chemical experiments.

- The apple on his bedside table was not tested for cyanide.

- His close friends said he was in a good mood prior to his death.

Questions

In pairs, answer the questions below using perfect modal verbs. You can search the internet in order
to get more information about Turing’s life and death.

1. How do you think Alan Turing died? What must / could have happened? Explain your answer.
If you and your partner have different theories, try to persuade each other.

2. Upon learning about Turing’s homosexuality, the British government and many of his
colleagues at the University of Manchester persecuted him. Why would people treat a
person this way based on their private life? How might they have treated him differently?
Why?

164
Speaking after Input 1:

Discussion Tasks

1. AI is everywhere!
a. Below are examples of Artificial Intelligence we use in our everyday lives. In pairs, rank them
according to how important they are in our lives (number 1 being the most important).

____Video games

____Virtual personal assistants

____Ridesharing apps

____Spam filters for your email

____Plagiarism checkers (e.g. Turn-it-in)

____Social networking (e.g. facial recognition on Facebook)

____Online shopping recommendations

____________________________________________ (your example of AI here)

b. Compare your list with another pair and negotiate with each other to come up with a
common group ranking.

2. AI in the future

Think about different aspects of life and discuss the following questions in small groups. You can take
notes on the chart below to help you during the discussion. Do not forget to use the strategies for
discussions you learned in Unit 1.

1. How will AI change the following aspects of our lives in the next 50 years?
165
 2. What type of apps / tools / services will be available to us?
3. How can young people be better prepared for the future not to be unemployed in the
future?
4. How can older people survive in the age of AI?

Work

Travel

Shopping

Health

Education

Another aspect of
your choice here

DEBATES

INTRODUCTION

Debates are a form of persuasive speech. During a debate, there are two sides trying to persuade each
other. Debates are a great opportunity to broaden your perspective by considering a variety of
arguments and opposing views. They also help improve a variety of skills such as speaking confidently
in public, willingness to hear different arguments and building valid arguments.

BEFORE THE DEBATE:

Before a debate, these steps are often followed:
1. You will decide on the motion or you will be given a motion.
166
 MOTION is a statement that determines the topic for the debate. It is also known as proposition or
resolution.
Examples of some motions:
 Smart technology is making us dumb.
 Technology is threatening our freedom.
 Video games will make us smarter.

2. You will do research on the topic in general.

3. You will decide on for and against teams.

4. You will meet your group members to decide on the aspects of the topic to do a more thorough
research and find evidence and supporting points.

Task A:
1. There are two groups in a debate: for and against the motion. Match the following words
with the two groups in the context of AI.

proponents critics optimists advocates opponents supporters pessimists

Singularitarians (FOR) Luddites (AGAINST)

 Do you think you are a Singularitarian or a Luddite?

2. At the end of this unit, you will have a debate on Artificial Intelligence. The motion is:

AI will have positive outcomes for humanity in the future.

167
The class will be divided into two different debate groups. Within each group, there will be an equal
number of Singularitarians and Luddites.
 Write down ideas about how AI will affect certain areas in the future on the chart below.
 Do a quick Internet search to have a general idea about the topic.
TWO DIFFERENT POINTS OF VIEW ABOUT THE FUTURE OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

Singularitarians Luddites
Important names: Ray Kurzweil, Peter Important names: Nick Bostrom, Stephen

Diamandis, Ben Goertezl Hawking, Bill Gates, Steve Wozniak, Elon Musk

 The effects of AI will be positive  The effects of AI will be negative

Health: Health:

There is always a race btw countries like the race to the moon and these kind of
behaviours increases the tension and causes war which ends with lots of death
Wars: Wars:
bodies lying on the ground. AI will accelerate the war process since it is possible
Take a look at today's world once more. with AI to do incredible things in seconds. Cyberattacks, nuclear weapons etc. AI
No matter where you're looking at, you will be the enabler of wars. War will alwasy exist bcs of politic reasons and
can see every kind of pollution human nature. Developing defensive techs bring developing offensive techs
Jobs: Jobs:are more deadly.
which
outside and all of these happens
because of AI. They try to invent
Environment:cleaners with AI but still it uses our precious Environment:
limited resources which kills the world We can see the signals nowadays. Online education is not so far
day by day. Always wanting more from AI and it effects learning in a bad way. Behind the good things about
means always more pollution and new problems. online education such as online libraries, open sources, new
Education: Energy sources, carbondioxyde emission Education: learning opportunities etc. , AI makes students much more
inactive which causes learning problems. They even take notes on
word documents instead of a paper. That prevents their brain to
use both hemispheres efficiently and radiation increases the
chance to got the cancer.
Transportation: Transportation:
Data in education is a mess, so AI can measure wrong things and
mislead students and teachers.

Daily life: Daily life:

________________ (Other areas): ________________ (Other areas):

168
THE BEGINNING OF THE DEBATE:

Task A:

1. You will watch the opening part of a debate. Take notes on the following headings while
watching.

How does the moderator begin his introduction?

What is the motion?

What does the moderator do after the brief introduction?

2. In pairs, compare your answers and discuss whether it is a good introduction for a debate.
What might be other ways of introducing a topic to increase interest?

Task B:

1. You will prepare an introduction for a debate as the moderator. Use the following information
below and introduce these speakers. Take notes to get ready to speak. Do not write full
sentences.

Motion: Smart technology is making us dumb.

Presenters
FOR: Jack Reed, an author and lecturer & Mary James, a computer engineer
AGAINST: Margaret Smith, an educational psychologist & James Richardson, an author and an
anthropologist

169
2. In pairs, you will present your introductions to each other. You will listen and give each other
feedback on your introductions. Use the following questions to take notes to give feedback.

 How did your friend introduce the topic? Was it effective in terms of raising interest?

____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
 Was your friend neutral or did your friend seem to support one side?

____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
 How effective was your friend’s introduction of the presenters?

____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________

3. You will watch the introduction for a debate on the same topic. Compare your introductions
as a pair with this introduction. What are the similarities and differences? Discuss with your
partner.

170
INPUT 2
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND THE MYTH OF UNEMPLOYMENT

BEFORE READING

1. Artificial Intelligence surrounds us in our daily lives. In pairs, think about the ways we use AI in
our everyday lives and list them below and explain how they help us. There is one example below.

1. Web mapping services (e.g. Yandex / Google Maps): They offer satellite
imagery, street maps, real-time traffic conditions, and route planning for
travelling.

2. Internet Recommendadiont ( Google translate, YouTube,..) : They help us to find the contents we're looking for.

3. Online Meeting Apps ( Zoom, Google Meeting,...) : They give us the opportunity to join lessons from long distances.

4.

2. Discuss with a partner what ‘Intelligence’ in “Artificial Intelligence” means for you. What qualities
make a machine intelligent?

171
3. With a partner, create a metaphor or a simile that reflects your feelings about AI.

A metaphor: an expression which describes a person or object by referring to something that is

considered to have similar characteristics to that person or object.
A simile: a figure of speech comparing two unlike things that is often introduced by ‘like’ or ‘as’.
Both metahphors and similes are used to make comparisons. The difference is that similes use the
words ‘like’ or ‘as’ to compare things.
Example (simile): “Artificial Intelligence is like a child. It must be trained and given experience.”
Michael Hibbard
Example: (metaphor): For many people, AI is Pandora’s Box.
Your metaphor / simile:
__________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________

4. While AI looks promising to many people, it looks threatening to others. In groups of four, write
down your fears and expectations related to AI.

smart cities
info storage

AI may improve accelerate wars

medicine
Promises of
AI

conquer
laziness humanity

AI may create cause wars

unemployment.

AI Fears

172
5. Discuss with a partner whether the jobs below are likely to be replaced completely or partially by AI.
You can add more jobs which you think may be replaced by AI. Explain why you think so.

Jobs Reasons

Piano teachers There are now apps such as ‘SimplyPiano’ and ‘Yousician’ which can teach you
how to play the piano. When these apps are developed further, there will not be
a need for piano teachers anymore.

Football
referees

Doctors

Factory
workers

White-collar
employees

Front desk
clerks

Pilots

Taxi / Truck
drivers

173
6a. Below are some of the films mentioned in the text you are going to read. Research them if
necessary and write down what kind of scenarios they have created about the future of AI.

The Terminator:_________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________

Ex Machina:____________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________

2001: A Space Odyssey:___________________________________

______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________

The Matrix: ____________________________________________

______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________

6b. The following are some of the examples how machine learning systems are used in our daily
lives. In groups of four, discuss how many of them you already know or use and conduct a quick
Google search to find out about the others.

174
 Vocabulary Development

A. Fill in the gaps with the words that have a similar meaning to the words in bold in each
sentence. There is an extra word in each box!

boost accelerated physicians recession

occupations displace emerge collaborative

EMERGE
1. Some scientists believe that human-level AI could come into existence (_______________)
during our lifetimes. However, they do not comment on the possible consequences if advanced
AI is developed.
DISPLACE
2. There is much concern among the public that robots can take the place of (_____________)
people in the near future, leading to massive unemployment.
3. In order to improve living standards and well-being of the people, governments should work
BOOST
hard to increase (__________________) productivity growth.
ACCELERATED
4. The pace of urbanisation in Turkey has gained speed (__________________) due to the
migration from rural to urban areas.
5. The rate of unemployment is likely to increase during a period of time in which there is a
RECESSION
decrease in economic activity (______________________).
6. Although automation poses a threat to many employees, it may not be as bad as they expect.
OCCUPATIONS
It is likely to eliminate very few jobs (___________________) entirely in the near future. It is
expected to affect only some jobs to some extent.
PHYSICIANS
7. When asked if they think they will be replaced by AI, most doctors (_______________) say that
they do not fear that. Most think that such technologies will only help them make better
decisions.

proponent virtually decade correlation rampant

underlie vast alternatively prediction

CORRELATION
8. The recent study has shown a strong relationship (____________________) between athletic
success and academic achievement. In other words, athletic success means high rates of
academic success.
9. Interestingly, some people think that society will get worse as technology gets better. They claim
that population has suffered an increase in obesity and diabetes since the arrival of new
technologies. Furthermore, social problems such as drug addiction and alcoholism are
RAMPANT
widespread (__________________).

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 VAST
10. Thanks to the Internet, there is now a huge (________________) amount of data available about
almost anything. Many companies which have access to this data use it in order to attract
customers.
VIRTUALLY
11. She spent almost (______________) all her life in Turkey. She only lived abroad for a few years.
DECADE
12. Scientists have made major breakthroughs in the past ten years (_________________). Creating
a chip that mimics the human brain was one of them.
13. It was quite surprising for many people when Elon Musk issued a warning about the
potential dangers of AI research by saying that "With artificial intelligence, we are summoning
the demon.” This statement astonished many because Musk has been a vocal advocate
PROPONENT
(_________________) of many technologies such as the electric car and space exploration.
PREDICTION
14. It does not seem easy to make an accurate forecast (_______________) about the future of
Artificial Intelligence. Time will tell if improvements in AI will be to the benefit of humanity or
not.
15. Professor Smith has been doing research on social problems which form the basis of
UNDERLIE
(_________________) much of the crime in urban areas.

B. Prepositional Collocations

Prepositional collocations are a combination of a word (a verb, an adjective or a noun) and a

preposition. Use the best prepositional collocation in the box to fill in the blanks in the following
sentences.

understanding of risk of lead to referred to

involved in emergence of research on interest in

LEAD TO
1. Unlike many people who believe that AI will _______________ unemployment, Professor
Quinn claims that it will create more jobs.
2. Although there have been many advances in AI, it does not seem likely that we will witness the
EMERGENCE OF
____________________________ human-level AI in our lifetimes.
UNDERSTANDING OF
3. Most people are fearful of AI as they have little _________________________ technology.
They are technophobes since they do not have enough knowledge about technology and AI.
RESEARCH ON
4. Computer scientists who conduct _______________ Artificial Intelligence to create human-
level AI sometimes suffer from a lack of funds.
RISK OF
5. Contrary to popular belief, there is little _______________ job loss due to automation.
Automation is unlikely to cause unemployment in the near future.
INVOLVED IN
6. Computer scientists who have been ____________________ the field of AI for a long time
assure the public that it will not exterminate humanity.
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 7. For a long time in the past, the public did not pay much attention to the developments in AI.
INTEREST IN
There was little popular __________________ AI until the last decade. Now, people are much
more enthusiastic about the advances in this field.
REFERRED TO
8. Artificial Intelligence which is also ________________ as cognitive computing is the study of
how to make computers do intelligent things that people can do.

recover from correlate with focus on part of

invest in devoted to similar to

DEVOTED TO
9. Artificial intelligence is a branch of computer science which is _______________ creating
computers which are capable of doing intelligent things that people can do such thinking and
making decisions.
PART OF
10. Artificial Intelligence is not a separate field of study. It is a _____________ computer science
that aims at making computing machines with humanlike capabilities.
SIMILAR TO
11. Currently, computers are still unable to perform tasks in a way which is ____________ the way
humans do.
INVEST IN
12. If governments _______________ AI more, the risks associated with AI may be reduced. By
spending more money on AI and allocating resources, such risks are likely to be minimised.
FOCUS ON
13. The next chapter will ___________________ the problems which may be caused by AI in
greater detail. It will mainly deal with the problem of unemployment.
CORRELATE WITH
14. Research shows that poverty and poor nutrition usually ____________________ a short life
expectancy. There seems to be a strong relationship between these factors.
RECOVER FROM
15. Iceland is still striving to ____________________ the worst recession since 1970. The
government has taken some drastic measures to heal the economy but they seem to be in need
of more time.

Previewing
1. Read the title and the first part of the text until the part ‘What is Artificial Intelligence’. What do
you think was the author’s purpose when writing this text?
a) To give a balanced opinion about the topic.
b) To inform the reader about the topic.
c) To persuade the reader to accept his opinion.
d) All of the above.
Which words or phrases show the author’s purpose in writing this text and attitude towards AI?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________

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2. When we read an academic text, we usually read it for a purpose or try to decide how useful the
text is for our purposes. Suppose that you are reading this text to acquire some information to
help you write an essay on the following prompt.

What is Artificial Intelligence and why is AI unlikely to lead to unemployment?

Read the title and subheadings of the text and read the first paragraphs of each section of the text
and decide if the text will be useful for writing an essay on this prompt. Complete the following
sentence accordingly:

The text may / may not be useful for the purpose of writing an essay on the prompt because
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________

While Reading

The text has different sections: The introductory part and the parts entitled ‘What is Artificial
Intelligence’, ‘The Current Environment for AI Policy’, Myth: AI Will Destroy Most Jobs’.

Read the following section of the text and answer the following questions.

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND THE MYTH OF UNEMPLOYMENT

The past decade has seen many important advancements in computer science that enable software systems to
compile and process new information to continually improve the way they function. Indeed, with artificial
intelligence (AI), computing is moving from something that “computes” to something that effectively reasons,
thinks, and learns. In doing so, it is becoming an ever more powerful and valuable complement to human
capabilities: improving medical diagnoses, weather prediction, supply-chain management, transportation, and
even personal choices about where to go on holiday or what to buy.
Although artificial intelligence has become commonplace, most smart phones contain some version of
AI, such as speech recognition, the public still has a poor understanding of the technology. As a result,
a diverse cast of critics, driven by fear of technology, opportunism, or ignorance, has jumped into the
intellectual vacuum to warn policymakers that, sooner than we think, AI will produce a parade of
horribles: mass unemployment, abuse from “algorithmic bias,” the end of privacy, and even the
destruction of humanity, as “Skynet”-like machines decide the world is better off without us. Indeed,
these voices have grown so loud, supporting a message that a click-hungry media eagerly amplifies,
that we are very near the point where these narratives may be accepted as truth. Needless to say,
when AI is so vocally demonised (indeed, the engineering magnate Elon Musk has explicitly warned

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 that AI could be “the demon” that threatens our existence, especially if actions are not taken to design
systems that can remain under human control), there is a real risk that policymakers will seek to retard
its progress.

But AI is like a shovel or a tractor: It is a tool in the service of humans, making our lives vastly better.
And given the promise that AI holds for economic growth and societal advancement, it is critical that
policymakers actively support its further development and use. The cost of not developing artificial
intelligence or developing it more slowly will be enormous: lower growth in per-capita incomes, slower
progress in areas such as health and environment, and reduced improvement of quality of a wide array
of public and private goods and services. This report explains AI and debunks one prevailing myth that,
if left unchecked, could undermine support for it at untold expense to the economy and society: The
myth that AI will destroy most jobs.
1. What is ONE example the writer uses in order to show that AI is widely used in everyday life?
Speech recognition
_____________________________________________________________________________
2. Which of the following is NOT one of the possible problems mentioned in the text that AI may
bring about?
a) The end of the human race in the near future.
b) Widespread job destruction in the world.
c) The decline in the intelligence of humans.
d) Invasion of individuals’ right to privacy.
3. What does ‘these voices’ in Paragraph 1 line 7 refer to?
Possible problems that AI may bring
____________________________________________________________________________
4. In this part of the text, different metaphors/similes which oppose each other are mentioned to
describe AI? One of them is optimistic while the other is pessimistic. Scan this part and write them
below.

Optimistic:
AI is like a shovel or a tractor
___________________

Pessimistic:
___________________
AI could be ''the demon''

Read the following section of the text and answer the following questions.

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WHAT IS ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE?
Artificial intelligence is a part of computer science devoted to creating computing machines and
systems that perform operations similar to human learning and decision-making. Also referred to as
deep learning, cognitive computing, machine learning, and machine intelligence, the Association for
the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence describes artificial intelligence as “the scientific
understanding of the mechanisms underlying thought and intelligent behaviour and their embodiment
in machines.” To be sure, “intelligence” can vary greatly, and the term does not automatically imply
human-level intelligence. Indeed, your dryer is intelligent if it shuts off when it senses your clothes are
dry.

Machine intelligence involves many capabilities and with these capabilities, Guruduth S. Banavar,
IBM’s vice president for cognitive computing, predicts, “experts of the future will routinely work with
learning and reasoning machines to do their day-to-day tasks in a very deep collaborative relationship
between people and machines. This is nothing to be fearful of; it is an evolution, and I think it is going
to be much better for the world.”

The promise of artificial intelligence has been around since the beginning of electromechanical
computing, after WWII. But hope has long raced far ahead of reality. At the first AI conference, held at
Dartmouth College in 1956, the view was that AI could almost be achieved in one summer’s worth of
work. In the 1960s and 1970s, some computer scientists predicted that within a decade we would see
machines that could think like humans. In 1965, the Nobel laureate Herbert Simon predicted that
“machines will be capable, within 20 years, of doing any work a man can do.” Two years later, AI
pioneer Marvin Minsky predicted, “In from three to eight years we will have a machine with the general
intelligence of an average human being.” Around the same time, legendary computer scientist John
McCarthy told the Defense Department that it would be possible to build “a fully intelligent machine”
in the space of a decade.

Needless to say, it is taking longer for these predictions to come true (as likely will be the case with
current predictions that human-level AI will emerge in our lifetimes). Even the minimal progress that
was achieved came slowly, leading to two distinct periods those in the field call “AI winters,” when the
shine was off the apple and funding for AI shrunk. Fortunately, we finally appear to have entered a
period of “AI spring,” with regular announcements of AI breakthroughs: IBM’s Watson wins against
Jeopardy champions; a Facebook algorithm recognises digital pictures and communicates the
information in audio form; Google’s AI entry beats the world champion Go player; Siri’s creators
develop an AI voice assistant that will order a pizza.

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 The reason for these advancements is the emergence of what computer scientists refer to as
“machine-learning” systems. Before these learning algorithms, computer scientists had to program a
wide array of functions into a system for it to mimic intelligence. As computer scientist Pedro
Domingos writes in his book The Master Algorithm, “learning algorithms are algorithms that make
other algorithms.” This capability has emerged for a number of reasons, including better hardware
(faster processers, more abundant storage, etc.) and better algorithms. Domingos writes about how
machine learning already surrounds us in our daily lives, from a Nest thermostat that learns from a
user’s preferences, to Pandora’s music service that learns to recommend music, Bing’s airfare
predictions, Google’s automatic language translator, Yelp’s system that helps us find a place to eat, or
[Link]’s method of finding people ideal mates. As the technology progresses, there is no doubt
that machine-learning capabilities will continue to broaden and improve, bringing significant benefits
to individuals and societies along the way.

it is a simple and well-known machine

1. The writer of the text uses the example of a ‘dryer’ because ______________________________
which hasn't been considered as intelligent yet.
__________________________________________________________________________________.
2. What do you think the writer implies with the sentence “But hope has long raced far ahead of
Hopes have no space-time limits, but reality does.
reality.”? __________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________

3. Fill in the charts to explain two different periods of AI.

Regular announcements about AI

_____________________________________________________________
The public was not interested in AI.
_____________________________________________________________

AI Winters IBM's Watson , Google's AI and Siri

Breakthroughs such as _________________________________
_____________________________________________________

Slow progress
_____________________________________
_____________________________________ AI Spring

4. Write ONE reason why AI is more advanced now.

Machine Learning is discovered and improved.

_________________________________________________________________________

Read the following section of the text and answer the following questions.

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THE CURRENT ENVIRONMENT FOR AI POLICY
For more than half a century after the first theoretical discussions about AI, computer scientists
involved in the field laboured in relative obscurity, because there was little popular interest in the field.
Occasionally, a particular AI breakthrough would make the news, as when IBM’s Deep Blue beat chess
champion Garry Kasparov, but by and large only those directly involved in the discipline thought much
about it. The U.S. government was interested and supportive of AI, but principally through its support
for scientific research, especially through the Defence Department.
That has all changed in the last decade, in large part because of the new advances in machine learning
that have finally shown broader promise for AI. Coupled with the widespread job destruction following
the great recession, AI has become a fixture in the news (and the movies), looking alternatively
promising and threatening.
And into this milieu have jumped both fanatical true believers in AI—people who are enthusiastically
awaiting the “singularity” when they will be able to upload their minds into silicon—and fearful
machine-learning Luddites, who are convinced that AI sci-fi movies are close to the mark and that AI is
poised to take over humanity. Against this backdrop, it is easy to see how serious policy debates about
AI are close to going off the rails. For both the Singularitarians and the Luddites, strong AI is near at
hand, so we are poised for either Utopian transformation or apocalyptic destruction: Take your pick.
Because human-level AI could emerge any year, according to the prevailing narrative, it is high time to
put in place safeguards and restrictions.
This perspective has turned into a true techno-panic. Indeed, rather than measured, rational
discussions about AI, most of the social and political commentary has involved a lot of hype, bordering
on urban myth, and it has even been apocalyptic. New York Times reporter John Markoff writes that
some say it is possible that “these powerful and productive technologies, rather than freeing humanity,
will instead facilitate a further concentration of wealth, causing vast new waves of technological
unemployment, casting an inescapable surveillance net around the globe, while unleashing a new
generation of autonomous super weapons.” Nick Bostrom, who has been called “a philosopher of
remarkable influence,” writes that a world with advanced AI would produce “economic miracles and
technological awesomeness, with nobody there to benefit,” like “a Disneyland without children,”
because the AI would first kill us all. Thankfully, reality is much more prosaic: AI will likely continue
improving gradually, under human control, providing important economic and societal benefits in the
process.
There are some key reasons why people make extreme claims about AI and why the claims
draw such widespread attention. For example, humans have had a longstanding attraction-repulsion
relationship with the idea that non-humans might challenge us. From the Hebrew myth of golem, to
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, to movies such as Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, The

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 Terminator, and Ex Machina, to video commentary pieces with titles such as “We should be more
afraid of computers than we are,” it has been common to view technology as a threat.
It is important to note that risk potential does not provide a reason for slowing AI development. If
anything, the fact that there are risks, as there are with every technology, points to why societies
should be investing more resources in AI research. Cutting funding for AI research will mean less
research on reducing risks. We need funding agencies to devote even more attention and support to
these risks as AI continues to grow. No technology is an unalloyed good, but virtually all technologies
that emerge in the marketplace produce benefits vastly in excess of their costs. AI is and will continue
to be no different. But it will emerge much more slowly if we do not think rationally about it. And this
requires confronting commonly held myths about the impacts of AI.
1. Despite its increasing popularity, Artificial Intelligence has been perceived as a threat by many in the
the perspective of human level AIs emerging.
last ten years. This is due to ______________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
They are afraid of losing their normal lives because of AI.
2. According to the text, what is Luddites’ stance on AI? ______________________________________
They are surrounded by a tru techno-panic.
________________________________________________________________________________
3. What may the writer of the text mean when he says “Thankfully, reality is much more prosaic.”?
We can think the edges of any idea but bringing it to the real life is not always so easy or possible.
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________

Read the following section of the text and answer the following questions.

MYTH: AI WILL DESTROY MOST JOBS

Reality: AI will be like past technologies, modestly boosting productivity growth and having no effect
on the overall number of jobs and unemployment rates.
Even if AI does not turn into super-intelligence, many argue that even modest advances in AI will
destroy massive numbers of jobs. We will be alive, but most of us will be on the dole. In this increasingly
widely held view, AI will power a productivity explosion that will be so great that it will destroy jobs
faster than the economy can keep up, creating a permanent unemployed underclass dominated by a
class of elite “machine owners.” Jerry Kaplan writes. “We’re about to discover that Karl Marx was right:
the inevitable struggle between capital (whose interests are promoted by management) and labour is
a losing proposition for workers. … They will offer us the minimum required to keep us satisfied while
pocketing the excess profits, just as any smart businessperson does.” Moshe Vardi, a professor at Rice
University, predicts that with artificial intelligence, global unemployment will reach 50 percent. Stuart
Elliott, in a paper for the National Research Council, extrapolates from Moore’s Law and argues that in

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23 years computers are likely to displace 60 percent of jobs. Moore’s Law is named after one of the
founders of Intel, Gordon Moore, who famously predicted that the speed of computer processing
would double every 18 to 24 months even as the price of that computing power halved. Moore’s law
has led many to believe that the speed of computer processing will keep growing ad infinitum and in
doing so, make AGI not only possible but inevitable. Perhaps no one has done more to popularise the
idea that AI (and robotics) will destroy jobs than MIT professors Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee.
In The Race Against the Machine: How the Digital Revolution Is Accelerating Innovation, Driving
Productivity, and Irreversibly Transforming Employment and the Economy, they write that workers
are, “losing the race against the machine, a fact reflected in today’s employment statistics.”
These are not new predictions. For almost half a century, people have been warning of the coming
jobs collapse from AI. Economist Gail Garfield Schwartz wrote in 1982 that, with robots and AI,
“perhaps as much as 20 percent of the work force will be out of work in a generation.” Wasily Leontief
wrote in 1983, “We are beginning a gradual process whereby over the next 30-40 years many people
will be displaced, creating massive problems of unemployment and dislocation.” And the next year Nil
Nilson, a computer science professor at Stanford and former head of the American Association for
Artificial Intelligence, wrote “We must convince our leaders that they should give up the notion of full
employment. The pace of technical change is accelerating.” It was no coincidence that they were
writing in the midst of one of the worst recessions since the Great Depression when unemployment
was high. In 1993, in the wake of the recession of 1990 and 1991, Daniel Crevier wrote in AI: The
Tumultuous History of the Search for Artificial Intelligence
“The management and service sectors of the economy will be in no position to absorb displaced plant
employees, because automation will wreak havoc in these activities.”
Today, these claims have resonance for two reasons. The first is that, like the early 1980s and 1990s,
the U.S. is recovering from a recession, and many people are confusing job loss from a recession with
job loss from technology. The second is because while automation has had a larger effect on some
kinds of physical labour in the past, today it is also affecting mental labour. That is scaring many white
collar workers who thought their jobs were immune.
This narrative is powered by a few constantly repeated anecdotes that are intended to convince people
that “AI is coming for your job next.” Whether it is AI programs that can write sports articles or smart
document-scanning systems that can perform legal document review, the narrative is that these job-
taking technologies are running rampant. What the proponents of this story do not say is that while
these technologies can do these narrow tasks reasonably well, they are confined to narrow tasks. An
AI system cannot write an article about why the Golden State Warriors performed so well in the NBA
or prepare a court brief.
Before discussing why these fearful prophecies are wrong, it is worth remembering why AI-based
productivity is so important to our future. Because if these systems are so powerful, why has
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productivity in developed economies slowed dramatically since 2009? The simple answer is that
without increased productivity, it will be impossible to raise living standards in a sustainable way. As
Vice Chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank Stanley Fischer states, “There are few economic issues
more important to our economy than productivity growth.” And going forward AI will be an important
tool to boost productivity.
The pessimistic, if not apocalyptic, views that AI will kill jobs suffer from two major errors. The first is
that the capabilities of AI to replace humans are limited. The second is that even if AI were more
capable, there still would be ample jobs.

AI is limited in its ability to replace workers

It is actually hard for technology, AI or otherwise, to eliminate jobs, as evidenced by the fact that if we
are lucky, productivity in advanced economies will grow by more than 2 percent per year. A key reason
why it is hard to automate jobs with AI is that virtually all AI is “narrow AI,” focused on doing one thing
really well. Within particular occupations, the introduction of AI may not lead to job loss. Take AI used
for radiological analysis. The AI system may in fact become better than a human radiologist at reading
images. But radiologists do much more than read images: They communicate with patients and other
doctors; they prescribe scans; they interpret results; etc.
In fact, there are thousands of different occupations and, within each occupation, tens if not hundreds
of different tasks that workers do. In other words, there would need to be millions of AI systems built
to come close to covering even half the jobs in a developed economy, and it would take decades to
build systems that could apply AI to all of these. Moreover, for many tasks, AI, no matter how
advanced, can’t replace human workers. One reason is that, for many occupations, AI tools don’t affect
the occupation so much as they affect some tasks performed in an occupation. As the McKinsey Global
Institute concludes, “Very few occupations will be automated in their entirety in the near or medium
term. Rather, certain activities are more likely to be automated, requiring entire business processes to
be transformed, and jobs performed by people to be redefined.” In other words, in many cases AI will
lead more to job redefinitions and opportunities to add more value, not to outright job destruction. If
20 percent of an administrative assistant’s time is spent on tasks that can be automated with an
intelligent assistant, that doesn’t necessarily mean we lose 20 percent of administrative assistants—it
means they can spend that time doing more meaningful things instead of routine tasks such as weekly
scheduling.
Even where AI is applicable, a lot of AI tools will augment skills, not replace workers, no matter how it
is designed. But many AI dystopians assume that all AI technology will be a substitute for human
workers, rather than a complement. Technology author Don Tapscott writes, “Soon the work will stay
here but be done by computers. For example, IBM’s Watson computer diagnoses cancers with much
higher levels of speed and accuracy than skilled physicians do.” It may very well do that, but when
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people get cancer they are not going to have Watson diagnose and treat it using their smart phones.
They will go to their doctors, as they always have, and AI technologies will help the physicians make
better decisions. Much of AI will improve quality, as systems like Watson do for health care, and will
for many other areas such as weather forecasting and education. For these kinds of applications, there
is little risk of job loss. AI will also expand output. As Domingos writes, “Most of all, automation makes
all sorts of things possible that would be way too expensive if done by humans. ATMs replaced some
bank tellers, but mainly they let us withdraw money anytime, anywhere. If pixels had to be coloured
one at a time by human animators, there would be no Toy Story and no video games.” AI will be no
different, enabling new things to be done and produced. This is why predictions of massive job loss
from AI will most surely not be fulfilled. One of the most widely cited studies on this matter, from
Osborne and Frey, found that 47 percent of U.S. jobs could be eliminated by technology over the next
20 years. But they appear to overstate this number by including occupations that have little chance of
automation, such as fashion models. Osborne and Frey rank industries by the risk that their workers
would be automated. They find that, in accommodation and food services, “as many as 87 percent of
workers are at risk of automation, while only 10 percent of workers in information are at risk.” While
this is a speculation about the future, one would expect that there would be some positive correlation
between recent productivity growth and risk of automation. In other words, industries they expect to
be most at risk of being automated (by definition, through productivity growth) should have enjoyed
higher productivity growth in the last few years, since many of the technologies Osborne and Frey
expect to drive automation are already here, albeit not at the same levels of development or
deployment. But in fact, there was a negative correlation between the risk of automation in an industry
as defined by Osborne and Frey and the industry productivity growth of 0.26. Unless AI could do every
single job in the world, which it will not be able to do (certainly not in the next century or two), even
high productivity growth will not lead to fewer jobs because demand for goods and services will grow
rapidly and those jobs that AI can’t do will need to be done by humans.

High productivity growth does not increase unemployment rates or inequality

Another mistake AI dystopians make is subscribing to what economists call the “lump of labor fallacy,”
the view that once a job is gone there are no others created. History, logic, and scholarly evidence are
all clear that higher productivity growth does not lead to fewer jobs. Historically, there has been a
negative relationship between productivity growth and unemployment rates. In other words, higher
productivity meant lower unemployment. This correlation is shown in the 2011 McKinsey Global
Institute report, “Growth and Renewal in the United States: Retooling America’s Economic Engine.”
MGI looked at annual employment and productivity change from 1929 to 2009 and found that
increases in productivity are correlated with increases in subsequent employment growth.

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In sum, the worries of machines overtaking humans are as old as machines themselves. Pitting man
against machine only stokes antipathy toward technology and could have a chilling effect on AI
innovation and adoption. The reality is that, far from being doomed by an excess of technology and
productivity, the real risk is being held back by too little. To be sure, there are winners and losers in
the process of productivity improvement: Some workers will lose their jobs, and it is appropriate for
policymakers to help those workers quickly transition to new employment. But to say that we should
worry about productivity growth reducing the overall number of jobs available and implement basic
income supports to the anticipated large mass of non-workers is simply without merit.

1. Many economists and computer scientists who wrote that AI would cause massive
unemployment made these claims around the same time. This is because
of the recession they were in at the time.
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
2. According to the writer, what is ONE deficiency of AI programs that will stop them from
AI is narrow and limited , so it's not able to displace jobs.
displacing jobs? ______________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
3. Fill in the gaps with the correct information from the text.

Many people think The writer thinks

AI will lead to job AI will lead to
losses since it will
_______________ new job opportunities.
_______________
displace humans.
_______________ _______________

4. The study by Osborne and Frey found that almost half of the occupations will be automated.
The writer thinks that this is an exaggeration. The reason is that _______________________
jobs contain lots of work and AI can automate just some of them which is counted as the automation of a whole work area by this
___________________________________________________________________________.
study.
5. What are TWO reasons why a high productivity growth is highly unlikely to cause
unemployment?
Capabilities of AI is not enough to displace human jobs.
a. __________________________________________________________________
Even if some jobs were sicplaced, there would still be ample jobs.
b. __________________________________________________________________
6. Do you find the writer’s arguments convincing? Has reading this text changed your point of
view about AI in any way?
The writer has some true points. He/She gave me a few ideas which frightened me a lot actually. Now I think an answer
____________________________________________________________________________
to this topic is never going to emerge until we face it. There is a foggy road ahead. Some other issues that the writer didn't
____________________________________________________________________________
mention may literally cause job losses in the future.

187
 After Reading
1. Recalling information from the text you have read
One strategy to improve your comprehension of a text is to try to recall information from the text
you have just read. Close your books now and with a partner, try to remember and tell the main
points of the text you have read. You can use the following words to help you remember.

AI Policy Unemployment Automation Prophecies

AI Winter AI Spring Productivity growth
Singularitarians Luddites Learning Algorithms

2. In groups of three, write about one heading each and put your summaries together at the
end.
 AI Fears and Expectations
 History of AI
 Unemployment and AI

__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
It is perceived that we are going to be unemployed because AI will displace us. That is nothing more than a myth. AI will never be able to beat
__________________________________________________________________________________
us because of its capabilities. It is so limited. Some parts of the jobs might be automated but that doesn't mean they will disappear. When some
parts of the jobs are being closed, new job opportunities will emerge and there will still be ample jobs.
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________

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 3. Synthesis and Paraphrasing

A synthesis is combining information from more than one text into your
writing. It has the important points from all texts and is paraphrased.

Below is an excerpt from Unit 2 Input 2 (Text A). Read the text a few times, and make sure
you have understood all the key information. While reading, take notes in the box below.

Artificial intelligence is a part of computer science devoted to creating computing machines and systems that
perform operations similar to human learning and decision-making. Also referred to as deep learning, and
machine intelligence, the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence describes artificial intelligence
as “the scientific understanding of the mechanisms underlying thought and intelligent behaviour and their
embodiment in machines.” To be sure, “intelligence” can vary greatly, and the term does not automatically imply
human-level intelligence.
There have been regular announcements of AI breakthroughs: IBM’s Watson wins against Jeopardy champions;
a Facebook algorithm recognises digital pictures; Google’s AI entry beats the world champion Go player; Siri’s
creators develop an AI voice assistant that will order a pizza.
The reason for these advancements is the emergence of what computer scientists refer to as “machine-learning”
systems. Before these learning algorithms, computer scientists had to program a wide array of functions into a
system for it to mimic intelligence. As computer scientist, Domingos writes in his book The Master Algorithm,
“Learning algorithms are algorithms that make other algorithms.” This capability has emerged for a number of
reasons, including better hardware (faster processers, more abundant storage, etc.) and better algorithms.
Domingos writes about how machine learning already surrounds us in our daily lives, from a Nest thermostat that
learns from a user’s preferences, to Pandora’s music service that learns to recommend music, Google’s automatic
language translator. As the technology progresses, there is no doubt that machine-learning capabilities will
continue to broaden and improve, bringing significant benefits to individuals and societies along the way.

Your notes: better hardware and software -> more capable AI

machines mimic human int
AI has signifitanct benefits

Machine learning and learning algorithms and deep learning

189
 Below is an excerpt from Unit 2 Input 1(Text B, Lecture). Read the text a few times, and make
sure you have understood all the key information. While reading, take notes in the box below.

Let me start by giving you a definition for Artificial Intelligence. Artificial Intelligence can simply be defined as
the capability of a machine to imitate intelligent human behaviour. Let me elaborate on that. Artificial
intelligence is basically a computer program…..these programs can copy intelligent human behaviour and they
can achieve tasks that require human intelligence. I think it is important for you to understand this definition
because it clearly shows how wide the scope of Artificial Intelligence is.

Let me tell you a bit about Machine Learning. Machine Learning is one Artificial Intelligence technique that we
use to process Big Data. The aim of Machine Learning is to give machines the ability to learn without explicit
programming, I mean without a human being programming it. Machine Learning has certain features. One of
them is that it uses Big Data instead of human programming to complete a task. The second important feature
is that it is self-adaptive. In other words, it adapts and improves itself when it has access to new data. The
machine is trained, and performs the task better with each new data. For example, spam filters are designed
this way. The program determines if a mail is spam or not by matching the new mails to samples of language
that spam mails usually contain, or the sender to a list of spam-mail senders. Let’s say the computer couldn’t
detect a spam. You can indicate that mail or that sender as spam manually. Once you do that, the software will
recognise it and will filter mails similar to the one you indicated as spam. So to put that a bit more simply, with
machine learning, machines can improve their performance by using previous experience. Its purpose is
enabling computers to learn from data with minimal programming.

Your notes:
self-adaptive
AIM: self learner AI
machines imitates human int

e.g. spam filter

learns from exp.

190
  In pairs, re-tell what AI and Machine Learning systems are without looking at the
excerpts. Try to remember as many details as you can.
 Check the excerpts again and see if there are any key points that you missed
while you were re-telling.
 Identify the common parts in your notes about the texts to be able to synthesise
while writing your response.
 Write a response to the prompt synthesising from both excerpts. M ake sure you
paraphrase all the information. Use in-text citation!

What is AI? Explain Machine Learning by giving examples

Artificial Intelligence could be defined as the ability of a machine to process some data and act properly as the result of the data
______________________________________________________________________________________
in a way similar to human brain. Topmost aim here is to write an algorithm which can continue to learn and change on its own
______________________________________________________________________________________
by using experiences which is called ''Machine Learning''. It needs to be able to adapt any situation. We need to advance current hardware
______________________________________________________________________________________
and software systems if we want advanced machines. Those AIs also has significant benefits. Google automatic language translator, spam filters,
______________________________________________________________________________________
Nest thermostat that learns from a user’s preferences and Pandora’s music service that learns to recommend music
______________________________________________________________________________________
can be given as instances.
______________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
__ TEXT A TEXT B

References In-text Citation

Text A

Atkinson, R. D. (2016). " It's Going to Kill Us!" and Other Myths about the Future of Artificial (Atkinson, 2016, p.8 )
Intelligence. NCSSS Journal, 21(1), 8-11.

Text B (Lecture)
(Gündüz, 2019)
Gündüz, P. (January, 2019). Lecture on AI. Lecture conducted at Sabancı University, Istanbul.

In-text Citations: You can use in-text citations in several ways while paraphrasing. Below are some
examples of using in-text citations, in APA style. Please note that the following sentences have been
paraphrased, not directly quoted!

191
 1. Machine learning systems have been developing at an accelerating rate in the last decade. This
has changed the way many people used to view Artificial Intelligence (Oswald, 2004, p. 68).

2. Oswald (2004) suggests that data analytics can improve corporate transparency and improve
medical discovery. It is improving the enforcement of human rights and the protection of
fragile ecosystems (p. 68).

3. Oswald (2004) argues that the future of AI hinges upon how the public reacts. He claims it is
of great importance to get the approval and full support of the people (p. 68).

4. Oswald (2004, p. 68) argues that the future of AI hinges upon how the public reacts. It is of
great importance to get the approval and full support of the people.

Check your synthesis:

Highlight the parts you took from each text in two different colours to see how well you
have synthesised the sources.

Check your paraphrase:

Review your paraphrased text and ask yourself the following questions.
Did you…
 read the texts until you had a good grasp of their meaning?
 make notes of the main ideas and important details in each text?
 paraphrase without looking at the original texts?
 keep the same meaning as the original texts?
 include the key information but not any parts that are not relevant?
 compare your paraphrase against the original to ensure that the structure of the
sentences and the vocabulary are different?
 cite your sources and use more than one method to do so?

3. Recognising Cohesive Devices

In the previous unit, you learned about cohesion and cohesive devices used in texts. Read the
information about cohesion below and in pairs, fill in the gaps with the most appropriate words.

emphasise pronouns connected forms

lexical mentioned grammatical

Cohesion is the way different ideas are 1. ____________ in a text. It is a series of 2. ____________ and
3. ________________ relations that provide links between the various parts of a text.

Cohesive devices are reference words such as 4. _______________ (one[s], another, the other, it),
demonstratives (this, that, these, those) as well as synonyms and word 5. ________.

Cohesive Devices are used to 6. _______________ significant ideas and concepts, which have already
been 7. __________________ elsewhere in the text.

192
Exercises
1. In pairs, read the paragraph below and underline the reference words (synonyms and pronoun)
referring to AI.

For more than half a century after the first theoretical discussions about AI, computer scientists
involved in the field laboured in relative obscurity, because there was little popular interest in the field.
Occasionally, a particular AI breakthrough would make the news, as when IBM’s Deep Blue beat chess
champion Garry Kasparov, but by and large only those directly involved in the discipline thought much
about it. The U.S. government was interested and supportive of AI, but principally through its support
for scientific research, especially through the Defence Department.

2. In pairs, read the paragraphs below and circle the reference words. Then, underline the parts or
words they refer to.
a. For both the Singularitarians and the Luddites, strong AI is near at hand, so we are poised for
either Utopian transformation or apocalyptic destruction: Take your pick. Because human-
level AI could emerge any year, according to the prevailing narrative, it is high time to put in
place safeguards and restrictions. This perspective has turned into a true techno-panic.
b. Even if AI does not turn into super-intelligence, many argue that even modest advances in AI
will destroy massive numbers of jobs. We will be alive, but most of us will be on the dole. In
this increasingly widely held view, AI will power a productivity explosion that will be so great
that it will destroy jobs faster than the economy can keep up, creating a permanent
unemployed underclass dominated by a class of elite “machine owners.” Jerry Kaplan writes.
c. “The management and service sectors of the economy will be in no position to absorb
displaced plant employees, because automation will wreak havoc in these activities.”
d. The first is that, like the early 1980s and 1990s, the U.S. is recovering from a recession, and
many people are confusing job loss from a recession with job loss from technology. The second
is because while automation has had a larger effect on some kinds of physical labour in the
past, today it is also affecting mental labour. That is scaring many white collar workers who
thought their jobs were immune.
e. They find that, in accommodation and food services, “as many as 87 percent of workers are at
risk of automation, while only 10 percent of workers in information are at risk.” While this is a
speculation about the future, one would expect that there would be some positive correlation
between recent productivity growth and risk of automation.
f. “Soon the work will stay here but be done by computers. For example, IBM’s Watson computer
diagnoses cancers with much higher levels of speed and accuracy than skilled physicians do.”
It may very well do that, but when people get cancer they are not going to have Watson
diagnose and treat it using their smart phones.

193
Activate Your Vocabulary

First, examine the words in bold to see how they were used in the text and then make your own
sentences by using these words.

Displace:

Examples from the text:

Stuart Elliott, in a paper for the National Research Council, extrapolates from Moore’s Law and argues
that in 23 years computers are likely to displace 60 percent of jobs.

Wasily Leontief wrote in 1983, “We are beginning a gradual process whereby over the next 30-40 years
many people will be displaced, creating massive problems of unemployment and dislocation.”

“The management and service sectors of the economy will be in no position to absorb displaced plant
employees, because automation will wreak havoc in these activities.”

Your sentence: _____________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________

Proponent:
Examples from the text:
Whether it is AI programs that can write sports articles or smart document-scanning systems that can
perform legal document review, the narrative is that these job-taking technologies are running
rampant. What the proponents of this story do not say is that while these technologies can do these
narrow tasks reasonably well, they are confined to narrow tasks.

Your sentence: _____________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________

Ample:

Examples from the text:

The pessimistic, if not apocalyptic, views that AI will kill jobs suffer from two major errors. The first is
that the capabilities of AI to replace humans are limited. The second is that even if AI were more
capable, there still would be ample jobs.

Your sentence: _____________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________
194
Automate:

Examples from the text:

A key reason why it is hard to automate jobs with AI is that virtually all AI is “narrow AI,” focused on
doing one thing really well.

As the McKinsey Global Institute concludes, “Very few occupations will be automated in their entirety
in the near or medium term. Rather, certain activities are more likely to be automated, requiring entire
business processes to be transformed, and jobs performed by people to be redefined.” In other words,
in many cases AI will lead more to job redefinitions and opportunities to add more value, not to
outright job destruction. If 20 percent of an administrative assistant’s time is spent on tasks that can
be automated with an intelligent assistant, that does not necessarily mean we lose 20 percent of
administrative assistants—it means they can spend that time doing more meaningful things instead of
routine tasks such as weekly scheduling.
Your sentence: _____________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________

GRAMMAR: Expressing Differences: Contrast Language

INTRODUCTION

Comparing and contrasting people, ideas and concepts is

an important rhetorical pattern in academic writing. The
focus of this input is contrast language; in other words,
language that expresses differences.

Reflection Task

a. Look at the following sentences from ‘Artificial Intelligence and the Myth of Unemployment’ and
underline the language and structures that express differences.

1. The AI system may in fact become better than a human radiologist at reading images.

2. Although artificial intelligence has become commonplace, the public still has a poor
understanding of the technology.

3. IBM’s Watson computer diagnoses cancers with much higher levels of speed and accuracy
than skilled physicians do.

195
 b. In pairs, check the structures you have found. What ideas / facts / things are being compared in
these sentences?

c. In your pairs, add other contrast structures that you know to the box below. When you finish,
share the structures you have come up with in class.

Contrast Language
In pairs, complete the following table with the commonly used contrast language structures in the
box below.
Despite / in spite of …, … Although / Even though (dependent clause), (independent
clause).

Nonetheless / Nevertheless, … On the contrary, …

Pattern With nouns / noun phrases Sentences with a dependent and an As transitions at the beginning of a
independent clause sentence
Language The difference between X While / Whereas (dependent clause), In contrast, …
and Y is (that) … (independent clause).
On the other hand, …
X differ(s) from Y in that…
2._____________________________
Unlike X, Y …
3._____________________________
1.______________
4._____________________________

Example AI differs from human While a robot is highly competent at AI technologies increase our
sentences intelligence in that AI does performing repetitive tasks, a person standard of life in many ways. In
not commit emotion- may be better at tasks requiring contrast, they pose a threat to
related errors. human judgement. current jobs.

Unlike humans, AI
programs do not commit
emotion related errors.

In spite of /Despite their

many advantages, AI
technologies come with
certain security
shortcomings and issues.

196
PRACTICE TASK 1: SENTENCE TRANSFORMATION

In pairs, combine or complete the sentences using the contrast language structure given in brackets
or at the beginning of the blanks. Pay attention to your use of
punctuation.

1. Trusted bilingual dictionaries such as Cambridge Dictionary Online

have long been one of the first ports of call to look up a word.
More and more people turn to Google Translate, a neural
machine translation system capable of deep learning, for
translations of words and phrases.
(although)

_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________

2. Google Translate may save the day for you when you are in a rush. A machine will probably
never be as proficient as a human when it comes to grasping language. (whereas)

_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________

3. The use of a dictionary involves human interaction. The use of Google Translate does not.

The main difference between a dictionary and Google Translate

_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________

4. Google Translate is known to make mistakes even in a translation of a simple word or phrase.
The results you produce with the help of a dictionary will be much more accurate and
meaningful. (on the contrary)

_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________

5. Humans can understand culture, relate to words in context and appreciate the use of style
and tone in writing and speech. Machines cannot do these things. (unlike)

_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________

197
Reflection Questions

Discuss the following questions in small groups.

1. Do you use Google Translate or similar translation programs for your studies in the School of
Languages? If so, discuss how you use these services and to what extent you are happy with
the results you get.

2. Does using such services improve or hinder your English language skills? Explain your answer.

3. Do you agree with the statement from the practice task above: A machine will probably
never be as proficient as a human when it comes to grasping language? Why / why not?

PRACTICE TASK 2: GAP-FILLING

Fill in the gaps in the paragraph with suitable contrast language in the box below. You can refer to
the table above to help you.

whereas despite diverse Nonetheless

difference even though unlike Differ

As AI applications are becoming more and more prevalent in many areas of life, we are also
DIVERSE
witnessing the rise of two ____________ groups of people: Singularitarians and Luddites. The main
DIFFERENCE
____________ between these two camps is how they receive all these head-spinning technological
WHEREAS
developments. ____________ Singularitarians are avid followers of AI who enthusiastically embrace
all that these technologies have to offer, Luddites are rather wary of AI and are convinced that it is
here to take over humanity. ____________ DIFFER
EVEN THOUGH their opinions ____________ widely, both sides seem to
have valid points as AI seems to have as many benefits as downsides. Autonomous vehicles, for one,
is a contentious issue. One school of thought argues that self-driving cars will lead to many job losses;
NONETHELESS autonomous cars can be
this technology may mark the end of driving as a profession. ____________,
a convenient way to travel, freeing us from the nuisance of driving in heavy traffic or on long
UNLIKE
journeys. Another issue concerning self-driving cars is safety. ____________ human drivers, self-
DESPITE
driving cars do not cause accidents because they are tired, upset or drunk. ____________ their highly
secure features, however, there have been reports of autonomous cars involved in road accidents. In
March 2018, for example, a driverless Uber vehicle killed a pedestrian in Arizona, USA.

Reflection Questions

In pairs, discuss the following questions.

What is your take on driverless cars? Is it a technology we should make use of or discard?

198
COMMON MISTAKES

Three of the sentences below contain common mistakes related to contrast language. In pairs,
identify and correct these mistakes.

1. Web 1.0 differs from Web 2.0 in that it is ‘read only’.

2. Web 1.0 does not allow for active communication between users and producers in contrast
Web 2.0 users can contribute to and interact with a website.

3. Despite of its interactive nature, Web 2.0 still has its limits.

4. Even though its great potential, Web 3.0 is a very complicated system and only advanced
computers will be compatible with it.

5. Despite the fact that the internet and AI may seem like two very different notions, AI - with
the help of the Internet of Things - is already transforming the Internet.

LISTENING & WRITING TASK: CONSOLIDATION

Listen to a short presentation on the differences between artificial and human intelligence
and take brief notes in the table below.

Differences Human Intelligence Artificial Intelligence

Cognitive processing X

Consciousness

Skills

Multitasking

199
Using your notes, write a short paragraph about the differences between AI and human intelligence.
Remember to use contrast language.

__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________

200
 INPUT 3
Big Data

GETTING READY

1 What do you know about Big Data? Write freely about Big Data for 2 minutes without stopping.
Do not worry about organization or grammar. Just aim to write as much as possible. If you don’t
know much about Big Data, use the picture above to guide you.

2 Share one part of what you wrote above with a partner. The part you share could be key words,
phrases, a sentence, or the whole thing. You may share as much, or as little as you like.

201
FOCUS ON KEY VOCABULARY

A The boldfaced words are from this input’s listening. Listen to each sentence. Then,
working with a partner, match the definitions on the next page.

Set 1

1. Big Data has become relevant to the lives of not just the tech-geeks, but every one of us in
one way or other.
2. Big Data represents a source for ongoing discovery and analysis.
3. We need to understand that these data sets are so large or complex that traditional methods
and software for processing data is inadequate.
4. The amount of data is almost inconceivable, and it just keeps growing.
5. Big Data works on the principle that if you know more about a situation, you can gain new,
reliable insights.
6. Data can range from structured, numeric data to unstructured data such as e-mails.
7. The quantity of the data has significance because it determines its value and potential.
8. Unstructured data comprises the biggest chunk of data available.
9. So are you saying that velocity is the measure of how fast the data accumulates?

Set 2

10. It has to receive them all without any failure, process them, put them in the right folders, and
it needs to be able to retrieve them later.
11. I think we need more explanation on this. Could you elaborate on that a little?
12. Can you guess the first internet appliance - the first ever machine connected to the internet?
13. The opportunities are just starting to unveil – we are just starting to open the door of
opportunities.
14. The same data can inform government health agencies or health care organizations to
conduct thorough research to deal with these health issues at a national or global level.
15. It’s not only predicting them, but also responding to natural and man-made disasters in a
timely manner.
16. Big Data boosts production and efficiency.
17. Big Data provides us with unprecedented insights and opportunities.
18. In 2012, The U.S.A. announced a national "Big Data Initiative" for which they allocated a
budget of $200 million.

202
B Match each definition to the correct word from task A above.

Definitions for Set 1 word Definitions for Set 2 word

a) vary or extend between specified b) to improve or increase

limits something
c) consist of; be made up of d) distribute (resources or duties)
for a particular purpose.
e) gather; build up f) never done or known before.

g) cause (sth) to occur in a particular h) get something back

way or to have a particular nature.
i) impossible to imagine or think of j) show or make something new
known for the first time, reveal
k) lacking the quality or quantity l) detailed and careful
required; insufficient.
m) continuing to exist or develop, or n) a device, machine, or piece of
happening at the present moment equipment
o) an accurate and deep p) do something as a reaction to
understanding someone or something.
q) closely connected or appropriate to r) add more detail concerning what
what is being done or considered. has already been said.

GETTING READY TO TAKE NOTES

You are going to listen to a radio show on technology. The guest speaker will talk about Big Data.
Before you listen, we will focus on some note-taking strategies.

A FOCUS ON SIGNPOSTING LANGUAGE

In Unit 1, you went over different signposting language that speakers may use to signal what they
will be talking about next. Listening for the signposting language helps the listeners understand the
content better, and take more organized and effective notes.

1 In this input, you will hear the speakers use various kinds of signposting language. Listen
to the extracts, and for each extract, note down what kind of information will follow.
Some examples of what the speaker will say next may include:

 Rephrasing, paraphrasing, or re-stating the information that has just been given
 Signalling semantic links between ideas such as causes, effects, advantages, comparisons,
purpose, etc.
 Definitions
 Exemplification
 Adding another point
 Listing

203
Note down what kind of information will follow. The first one is given as an example.

1. The lecturer will define Big Data.

2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.

2 In conversations, speakers use a variety of communicative strategies, which are important to

follow while you listen as these strategies also signal what information to expect next. Below are
some extracts from the listening. Why does the interviewer use these strategies?

 So are you saying that velocity is the measure of…….

 I think I need more explanation on this. Could you elaborate on that?
 Could you expand on that a little?
 It would be great if you could clarify one last point for me.

Discuss your answers with another student.

B ORGANISING LECTURE NOTES

1 Below you can find a form of Two Column Method that you started practising in Input 1. The
questions on the left are the notes that the host made before the interview. Read the questions.
What do you already know about these topics?

Guess what the lecturer will talk about under each question. Share your predictions with another
student.

204
WHILE YOU LISTEN

Listen and take notes.

What is it?

How big is it?

How do we create
such large amounts
of Data?

205
Why is Big Data
becoming such an
important concept?

What are the

characteristics of Big
Data?

206
What is Internet of
Things (IoT)?

How are IoT, Big

Data and AI related?

What are the

(possible/current)
uses of Big Data?

207
What are the
challenges that Big
Data presents?

208
 What is the Cloud?

AFTER YOU LISTEN

A In small groups, tell each other about the following:

 Something you found interesting in the talk

 Something you disagree with
 Something you would like to find more about
 A prediction you made about the content that was
covered in the program
 A prediction you made about the content that was
not covered in the program

209
B Producing an oral summary
Summarising to consolidate learning
Student A: Your grandmother, who doesn’t know much about
computers, asks you about Big Data. She is curious because she Summarising as a learning strategy can
increase understanding and it can help
heard it mentioned on TV. Explain Big Data to her. Remember she you remember the course content. It is
does not understand any technical terms, and she doesn’t use the an essential strategy because it requires
internet for any other thing than reading the news and Facebook. and enables you to condense the
information to the essential ideas and
important details that support them.
This means you focus on the
Student B: You are the grandmother. You’ve asked your grandchild information that is worth noting and
to tell you about Big Data. You heard the term when you were remembering. For this reason, it should
be a part of a systematic study approach
watching TV. You don’t know anything about computers other than
to consolidate learning. A summary for
using Facebook and reading the news. Ask your grandchild such a purpose could be written, but
questions to clarify, exemplify and rephrase muddy points. you can also summarise content orally
to yourself or to others.

C Producing a written summary & paraphrasing

1 Write about Big Data looking at your notes. Make sure you include a definition as well as key
areas. Paraphrase all the information.

210
2 Review and reflect on your writing. Did you….?

 include all the relevant ideas?

 keep meaning is exactly the same as the original text?
 use your own language in terms of sentence structures, word order, grammatical
structures as well as choice of vocabulary?

D Below is a condensed version of the main points of the discussion. Fill in the gaps with suitable
information from your notes. Pay attention to the signposting language that is bold face to help you
while searching for the information in your notes.

The term big data refers to (1)_________________________________________________________.

The amount of data that is stored is incredible. To illustrate, (2)_______________________________
__________________________________________________. This large amount of data comes
from many different sources activities. Just to give some examples, (3)_________________________
_____________________________________________________________________.

There are three main characteristics of Big Data. The first one is (4)_____________________. One
example that illustrates this characteristic is that Facebook currently has (5)_________________
images. The second characteristic, variety, refers to (6)_____________________________________.
Data can be grouped under two general headings. The first one, (7)______________________ data is
usually numeric. The second one is (8)_________________________ and it includes images, mails, or
videos. The third characteristic of Big Data is (9)_______________________. This feature is used to
describe (10)________________________________________________________________________.
However, this characteristic raises two main concerns: (11)___________________________________
_______________________. Moreover, (12)______________________________________________.

Internet of Things is a concept closely related to Big Data. It can be defined as (13)_______________
______________________________________________________________________. Examples of
IoT may include (14)_________________________________. Big Data, including data from IoT may
offer many benefits for us in many areas of life. For example, Big Data can be very helpful in terms of
(15)
____________________________. In this field, it can be used to (16)_________________________
_____________________________________________.

Big Data also causes concerns that need to be carefully considered. To give an example, it is risky in
terms of (17)_________________________. In other words, (18)_____________________________
_______________________________________________. Still, despite the risks governments
continue to invest in it.

A concept that is usually confused with, but is actually not directly linked to Big Data is the Cloud.
Examples of the Cloud in our daily lives are many, (19)_________________________________, just to
name a few. The cloud can be defined as (20)_____________________________________________.

211
ACTIVATE YOUR VOCABULARY

A Re-write the sentences using the words given in brackets.

1. Heart rate monitors and advanced devices such as hearing aids are some of the health
monitoring devices that are linked to the internet. (RANGE)
___________________________________________________________________________

2. Could anyone explain what big data and data analytics are? (ELABORATE)
___________________________________________________________________________

3. Data which can be used in its original form make up structured data sets. (COMPRISE)
___________________________________________________________________________

4. The meeting will give bankers a chance to take action to deal with the concerns about the
recent security breach. (RESPOND)
___________________________________________________________________________

5. Big companies are increasingly using big data and machine learning to increase their
understanding of customer shopping and buying habits. (INSIGHT)
___________________________________________________________________________

B Put the words in brackets in the correct form. Be careful with spelling.

6. It is hard to ______________ of a world without the internet. (INCONCEIVABLE)

7. As well as the storage, _______________ of data is also a major problem for current
traditional network systems. (RETRIEVE)
8. The company conducted a/an ________________ analysis of their data security and spotted
major issues that resulted in an increased number of cyber-crime attacks. (INSIGHT)
9. The government is working on a better ________________ of budget so that research on
data privacy can be carried out. (ALLOCATE)
10. As a/an ________________ to recent concerns regarding online banking, new security
systems will be put in action. (RESPOND)

C Answer the questions.

11. What is one thing that seems inconceivable to you?

It seems inconceivable to me that ........

12. What is something that you would like to gain more insight into? Why?

I’d like to gain more insight into ........

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GRAMMAR: Expressing Similarities

INTRODUCTION

Comparing and contrasting people, ideas and concepts is an

important rhetorical pattern in academic writing. The focus of
this input is expressing similarities.

Reflection Task

a. Look at the following sentences from the reading and listening inputs in this unit and underline
the language and structures that express similarities.

1. For both the Singularitarians and the Luddites, strong AI is near at hand.

2. The worries of machines overtaking humans are as old as machines themselves.

3. Computing machines and systems perform operations similar to human learning and
decision-making.

4. Are cloud systems the same thing as big data?

b. In pairs, check the structures you have found. What ideas / facts / things are being compared in
these sentences?

c. In your pairs, add other comparison structures that you know to the box below. When you
finish, share the structures you have come up with in class.

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 Language that Expresses Similarities

In pairs, complete the following table with the commonly used language structures that express
similarities in the box below.

Both X and Y … / Neither X nor Y In the same way, …

In a similar manner, … X and Y are equally…

Pattern With nouns / noun phrases As transitions at the beginning of a sentence

Language The similarities between X and Y … Similarly, …

X is similar to Y. Likewise, …

X and Y are alike [in terms of…]. 3.___________________________________________

X and Y have [a lot / two characteristics…] in common. 4.___________________________________________

(Just) Like / (Just) As X, Y...

1.___________________________________________

2.___________________________________________

Example The similarities between AI and the human brain Google Drive allows you to store and share files.
sentences outweigh the differences. Similarly, Dropbox offers cloud hosting services.

Google Drive is similar to Dropbox in many ways.

Google Drive and Dropbox are alike in terms of user-

friendliness.

Like Google Drive, Dropbox allows you to store and

share files. They are equally practical and user
friendly.

Neither Google Drive nor Dropbox offers unlimited

free storage.

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 TIP: Subject-verb agreement with ‘neither…nor’

If both subjects are singular, use a singular verb:

Neither Google Drive nor Dropbox offers unlimited free storage.

If both subjects are plural, use a plural verb:

Neither Web 1.0 tools nor Web 2.0 tools are focused on individual web users.

If one subject is plural and the other is singular, your verb agrees with the subject closest to it:

Neither Google Drive nor other file sharing services offer unlimited free storage.

Neither the students nor the teacher was able to access the Google Drive document.

PRACTICE TASK: GAP-FILLING

Fill in the gaps in the paragraph with suitable language in the box below. You can refer to the table
above to help you.

both similarities in the same way equally

in common nor same

The Internet of Things (IoT) and the Internet of Everything (IoE) are two concepts that are frequently
compared. Some believe that the differences are mostly superficial and that the _______________
between these concepts outweigh the differences. These people argue that IoT and IoE are basically
the _______________ thing; the term IoE was created for marketing purposes. It has to be said that
these concepts have a lot _______________. For one thing, the main function of _______________
systems is internet connectivity. IoT allows different devices to communicate with each other. As
mentioned in the listening, these devices include cell phones, coffee makers, washing machines,
animals with biochips, wearable devices such as your smart watch, a heart monitor implant, and car
sensors. _______________, IoE is all about internet connectivity even though some argue that IoE
has taken this connectivity further and is more advanced than IoT in this respect. Another similarity
these systems share is security issues. Both are _______________ vulnerable to security issues. As
classic security methods do not work with these systems, neither IoT _______________ IoE is
completely safe from data breaches.

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COMMON MISTAKES

Three of the sentences below contain common mistakes related to structures expressing similarities.
Identify and correct these mistakes.

1. Netflix and Hulu are both streaming services.

2. Neither Netflix nor Hulu is not free.
3. They charge same amount of monthly fee.
4. One similarity between Netflix and Hulu is the free trial-
period they offer.
5. Viewers can access Netflix on their TV, mobile phones and tablets similarly Hulu is available
on all mobile devices and smart TVs.

Reflection Questions

In your pairs, answer the following questions.

1. Do you use any streaming services like Netflix? If not, how do you watch / stream films?
2. Which is a better experience: watching a film on TV or at the cinema? Why?
3. Does watching a film or a TV series on a mobile device such as a mobile phone or a tablet
take away from your experience? Why / why not?

WRITING TASK: CONSOLIDATION

Using the bullet points below, write a paragraph on the similarities between human and artificial
intelligence. Remember to use your own words and comparison language.

Human Intelligence & Artificial Intelligence

Similarities

1. Learning – humans absorb new info & use it actively – machines do these using algorithms
Ex: Watson & Deep Blue

2. Understanding – Machine learning enables AI systems to ‘understand’ in a way like humans:

understanding through observation
Ex: Netflix and Amazon suggest products to customers based on preferences

3. Info storage – Human brain and computer database similar: have memory, connect &
retrieve data to reach conclusions

4. Operating – Brain and AI operate in the background to help with decision making

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Your paragraph:

__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________

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Speaking after Input 3:

THE DEBATE:

In the speaking part after Input 1, you learned what a debate is, how you can prepare for a debate and
the opening of a debate. Now, you will learn more about the debate itself. You will practise putting
forward arguments for and against and rebutting an argument during a debate.

Task A: Read the following quotation and discuss in pairs what it means for a debater.

‘Don’t raise your voice, improve your argument.’ Desmond Tutu

Taking a turn during a debate:

When you take a turn during a debate, you need to put forward an argument and improve it. It is a
good idea to follow a structure as below:

Greet the audience. Introduce your topic briefly. Explain your point by giving a reason and
evidence. Give an example if possible.

Give your reasons against the counter-arguments. Provide evidence.

Restate your point or add something memorable such as a quotation or a question. Ask the
audience vote for your group.

Task B:
1. You will watch a debate video to see if the debater follows the structure above. Take notes
below about the structure of his turn.

thanks

purpose clarified
explained two different angles and his part
gave some information and examples on harms of technology (distraction and interruption instances)
compared short-long term memory(memory consoladation)
devices and internet prevent thinking, gathering info is not wisdom

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 2. Compare your notes with a partner and answer the following questions:

 How did he start his turn?

 How did he put his argument forward? Which language did he use to emphasise his
points?

 How did he finish his turn?

Task C: Below, you can see some examples of useful language that can be used in different parts of a
turn. In pairs, fill in the chart with some other language that can be used under each category.

Useful Language:

Starting Thank you.

Today, our topic is…

Explaining your argument It is important to remember that…

It is essential to bear in mind that…

First of all, I would like to list/say/give an example …

There is no doubt that …

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 Referring to Research Remember the language you learnt in Unit 1 to refer to research,
theories, data or claims.

Verbs to use to refer to a source / author:

Structures to use at the beginning of a sentence:

As Richard Dawkins points out, ...

According to Canan Dağdeviren, ...

Finishing So, as we have seen … Therefore, …

I urge you to vote against the motion.

Task D:
1. You will prepare a short turn of about 3 minutes. You are in the ‘for’ group and you will
prepare your turn in the first round. Refer to Input 3 listening if necessary. Take notes below.
The motion: Big Data is making our lives more practical.

Processing data makes someone wise. You can only learn something IF you think on your experiences. Both for real life

thinking process and computer process, you need processable data. I mean, the key ingredient for development is gathering data.
The more information you gather, the more chance you will have to learn something. Now, think about gathering every single information
on our planet. Do you think it is possible?
research studies showed the possibility

ever heard machine learning?

many devices use ML --- built by big data

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 2. In pairs, you will speak for 3 minutes each and listen to each other. Take notes while listening
to your friend in order to give feedback.

Starting:

Explaining:

Finishing:

3. Give each other feedback by looking at your notes. Discuss how you can improve your turns
to be more effective.

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REBUTTALS:

During a debate, rebuttals are extremely important as they often play an important role in the final
decision of the audience. Rebuttal means responding to an argument your opponent has made and
saying that it is false by giving good reasons. In order to be better at rebutting an argument, you need
to listen to your opponents carefully and take notes. Then, when it is your turn, you will rebut by using
appropriate language.

Task E: You will watch a video to see how a debater rebuts an opponent’s argument. Put a tick next
to the language the debater uses in the chart below.

Rebutting arguments Before I come to my point, let me first have a look at what
… has said.
I will continue but before that I would like to answer …’s
question.
The first speaker told us … but …
He/ She also said that … but in fact …
He/ She claimed that … but …
Commenting on another point of view X are certainly correct when they say that… but …
X may be correct in saying that … but …
I agree against ….
The question here is ….
Does that make …?
X seem to be somewhat mistaken.
Their views are highly debatable / open to doubt/ not
necessarily true/ incorrect/inaccurate/not always the case.
There is no study out there that shows that…
I find myself agreeing with X on some of his points but the
question I would like to ask is …
Wouldn’t you have to agree …? / Doesn’t what you’re
saying contradict with …? / What about …? / How would
you explain …?
I would not defend that …
Their approach may be quite wrong.
I want to go back to …
Serious doubts can be raised against this.
One of the main arguments against this is that …
One disadvantage of this is…
A further argument against this is…

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Task F:
1. You are in the ‘for’ group and one of your opponents in the ‘against’ group made the following
argument. You will prepare a rebuttal by taking notes below.

The motion: Big Data is making our lives more practical.

Your opponent’s argument: Big Data is not making our lives more practical. Due to Big Data, we are
losing some important skills. For example, we are losing our decision making skills as we rely on
Artificial Intelligence, Big Data and the Internet of Things.

2. In pairs, you will speak for 2 minutes each and listen to each other. Take notes while listening
to your friend in order to give feedback.

The language for rebuttals that your friend uses:

The points that your friend makes:

3. Give each other feedback by looking at your notes. Discuss how you can improve your rebuttals
to be more effective.
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INPUT 4
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND TWO OTHER MYTHS

In Input 2, you read about AI and the myth of unemployment. In this input, you will continue to read
about myths surrounding AI. In pairs, write down three things you remember about the first reading
in this unit.
1. ___________________________________________________________________________

2. ___________________________________________________________________________

3. ___________________________________________________________________________

BEFORE READING

1. Artificial Intelligence and technology have caused people to lose some important skills. In groups
of four, try to list these skills and discuss what kind of disadvantages they may bring about. The first
one is an example.

What people used to do in the What they do nowThe skill they have lost to AI
past and Technology /
disadvantages
We used to memorise phone We now add phone numbers to Memorising phone numbers
numbers. our contacts list on our smart The loss of this skill may weaken
phones. the memory.

2. One of the most important products of AI technology is self-driving cars (Autonomous Vehicles).
In groups of four, discuss and note down the possible advantages and disadvantages of self-driving
cars for people.

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 Advantages of Disadvantages
Autonomous of Autonomous
vehicles vehicles

3. The text you are going to read refers to the author, George Orwell. In pairs, find out how much you
know about Orwell and do a quick Google search if necessary. Discuss what the following pictures
mean.

His major books:

His predictions that came true:

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 Previewing

1. The text consists of two myths, realities and the conclusion part. Read the subheadings in
bold (Myths and Realities and the last part; What To Do and What Not To Do) and the first
sentence of each section. Predict the content of the text. Note your predictions down
below.
_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

2a. Increasing Reading Rate

A good reader can read 250-350 words per minute without losing comprehension. Attaining
around 70 percent comprehension while reading at this speed may be set as a goal for a university
student.

Time yourself while reading the first 5 paragraphs of the part ‘Myth 2: AI will make us
stupid’. Take note of how long it took you to read the paragraphs and then divide the number of
words by the number of minutes.

number of words:
940

Your reading speed:_____ mpw

reading time (e.g.,

9.3 mins):

After you note down your reading speed, go to page 234 to complete the tasks.

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MYTH 2: AI WILL MAKE US STUPID
Reality: AI will enable us to make smarter decisions.
Robert D. Atkinson June 2016
Even if smart machines won’t take our jobs, some AI dystopians assert they will turn us into dumb
automatons who can only respond to the more intelligent machine. No one has done more to advance
this notion than Nicholas Carr, author of The Glass Cage: How Our Computers Are Changing Us. Carr
writes, “Automation can take a toll on our work, our talents, and our lives.” Carr sees technologies like
AI that simplify tasks that used to require more human engagement as decidedly negative. But he’s
not objecting to AI, just to most technology. He complains that past technologies such as the automatic
transmission meant that most people now don’t learn to drive a manual transmission car. The power
lawn mower led people to lose their skills at using a scythe. And GPS-enabled smart phones led people
to lose their way-finding and map-reading skills. To be sure, with all three technologies, human skills
at shifting gears, scything grass, and reading paper maps has diminished. But not only have these
technologies greatly improved our lives, new skills have emerged, such as the ability to use computers
and navigate the Internet.

Carr wants technology to be hard to use, not easy, objecting to technologies that fade into the
background, seeing them as dehumanising. But this is an elitist view that only someone who has had
the benefit of technologies such as home heating and electricity would write. Presumably Carr would
see the invention of automatic starter motors for cars as dehumanizing, because it eliminated the
experience of hand-cranking the engine to start it or indoor plumbing because we lost our skills at
pumping water. Try telling that to a villager in Africa or India without potable water.

Some have pointed to technologies such as IBM’s chess program that beat chess masters, saying they
reduce the interest in chess and lower chess skills. But as Sejnowski writes:
When Deep Blue beat Garry Kasparov, the world chess champion, in 1997, did human chess
players give up trying to compare with machines? Quite the contrary: Humans have used
chess programs to improve their game, and as a consequence the level of play in the world
has improved. So my prediction is that as more and more cognitive appliances, like chess-
playing programs and recommender systems, are devised, humans will become smarter
and more capable.

Carr also writes that ready availability of information online, in part through search engines, weakens
memory. He seems to challenge Plato, who, 3,000 years ago, quoted the Egyptian king Thamus as
“complaining that those who practise writing will stop exercising their memory and become forgetful:
they might start believing that wisdom dwells in writings … when it resides in the mind.” To be sure,
for most people easy access to information reduces the need to memorise it. Indeed, many people
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now no longer bother to remember phone numbers because they are in their smart phones’ speed
dial. But this does not mean that their minds are any less effective or developed, only that they can
use their minds for more valuable activities than remembering mundane facts. I am reminded of my
father, who early in his career was a demand deposit accountant at a bank, and one of his jobs was to
reconcile the cash and checks coming in and out of the bank. He did this with a manual adding machine
(advanced information technology at the time), but he also double-checked it by manually adding
extremely long columns of numbers. Needless to say, my father was a master at adding and
subtracting. The fact that I am not does not, however, mean that I have not developed other skills that
surpass my father’s. As Donald Milchie, the British dean of AI research, said, AI is a remedy to
“complexity pollution” because “AI is about making machines more fathomable and more under
control of human beings, not less.”

Carr also writes that as technology becomes more automatic, much of that from AI, humans will trust
them too much. So when there are errors, as when airline pilots encounter new situations that the
autopilot systems can’t handle or when an autonomous vehicle (AV) software module fails, humans
will be ill prepared to deal with them. There are several problems with this argument. First, he is right
that AI systems will not be infallible, and that in some cases people’s skills will decay. For example,
there is no doubt that when fully autonomous vehicles become adopted widely that many people’s
driving skills will atrophy, or perhaps even never develop. And there will be almost certainly be cases
where an AV’s software fails and the person “driving” is not paying attention and gets into a possibly
fatal crash. But this one-sided view ignores the fact that, overall, autonomous vehicles will reduce
accidents. Carr dismisses these benefits, writing “some routine accidents may be avoided, but we’re
going to end up with even more bad drivers on the road.” Research suggests that full deployment of
AVs would save lives, leading to around 30,000 fewer fatalities and generating $900 billion in savings
a year in the U.S. alone from fewer accidents. Likewise, MIT’s David Mindell writes, with regard to
aviation, “Digital avionics and software, to be sure, have succeeded in simplifying and improving their
interfaces. Their safety record is exemplary, and on balance they have certainly improved safety.” So
the issue is not whether AI systems won’t make errors; the issue is whether or not they will make fewer
errors than humans. And the answer is yes, they will make fewer errors.

Related to this, Carr speaks of overdependence on AI automation, where people trust AI systems and
assume the system is giving accurate advice when, in fact, it may not always be. For example, he argues
that computer-aided detection systems for radiology can lead to radiologists making type 1 errors (not
identifying a problem when one exists) and type 2 errors (finding a problem where there is not one).
He then claims that “doctors will face increasing pressure, if not outright management fiat, to cede
more control over diagnosis and treatment decisions to software.” But Carr focuses on speculative

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examples, and not overall net change in outcomes. On net, AI systems improve decision-making, and
while there is a potential for some errors to be made, the real question is whether there are fewer
errors with computer-aided systems. If there were not, the systems would not be used, assuming
similar overall costs. This is why, according to a study published in The Journal of the American Medical
Association, 50 percent of doctors see the effects of health IT as positive, with just 28 percent saying
it is negative. Nor does Carr talk about the fact that AI systems now make real progress in helping
diagnose cancer more quickly and enabling more personalised treatments. Moreover, there is
considerable evidence that human errors are more prevalent than AI errors. As Gigerzner writes
“Studies consistently show that most doctors don’t understand health statistics and thus cannot
critically evaluate a medical article in their own field.”Behavioural economist Richard Thaler writes:
Any routine decision-making task—detecting fraud, assessing the severity of a tumour,
hiring employees—is done better by a simple statistical model than by a leading expert in
the field. So pardon me if I don’t lose sleep worrying about computers taking over the
world. Let’s take it one step at a time, and see if people are willing to trust them to make
the easy decisions at which they’re already better than humans.

In short, almost no one complains about autonomous technology that has replaced humans because,
by definition, if it has replaced humans, it is doing a better job than humans (or is boosting
productivity). And Norvig writes:
With regard to autonomy: If AI systems act on their own, they can make errors that might
not be made by a system with a human in the loop. Again, this valid concern is not unique to
AI. Consider our system of automated traffic lights, which replaced the human direction of
traffic once the number of cars exceeded the number of available policemen. The automated
system leads to some errors, but this is deemed a worthwhile trade-off.

In my own case, 15 years ago I was diagnosed with throat cancer, but my doctor misdiagnosed the
source of the primary tumour, even though the latest medical research had shown that unknown
primaries for throat cancer almost always originated in the tonsils. But my doctor—highly renowned
as one of the best in Washington, DC, for this particular type of cancer—did not have the time to read
the hundreds of scholarly oncology journals, and so prescribed the wrong course of treatment. It was
only through luck and determination that I spoke with a doctor involved in analyzing the tumour biopsy
who told me about the new research study. With that information, I switched doctors, and my new
doctor rightly removed my tonsils, where the cancer had in fact originated. If my original
doctor had access to a machine-learning system and had put in my symptoms and test results, he
without doubt would have recommended removing my tonsils.

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Moreover, these AI-enabled decision support systems are being designed and implemented to
support, not replace workers. To be sure, some doctors may end up relying on them too much, but,
with the proper training and professional guidelines, most won’t. And as noted above, it’s not that
relying on expert judgement produces the best result. In fact, the combination of machine-learning
systems and expert judgement will lead to increased correct diagnoses.

Finally, many AI dystopians argue that AI will end up taking control of our lives, not because “it” wants
to, but because it will be so easy for us as humans to give it control. As Markoff writes:

Now the Internet seamlessly serves up life directions. They might be little things like
finding the best place for Korean barbecue based on the Internet’s increasingly complete
understanding of your individual wants and needs, or big things like an Internet service
arranging your marriage—not just the food, gifts, and flowers, but your partner, too.”

Kaplan presents an even more apocalyptic view, predicting that humans will blindly follow our
computer/AI overlords the way a puppy follows its master. He writes, “Synthetic intellects may
ultimately decide what is allowed and not allowed, what rules we should follow. This may start with
adjusting driving routes based on congestion but could end up controlling where we can live, what we
can study, and whom we can marry.” This is nonsense. AI won’t change human nature. It might give
really good recommendations on where we should live, what we should study, and who the best
potential mates for us might be. But for the vast majority of humanity, individuals will still be the ones
making those, albeit more informed, decisions.

Second, many of these technologies can be designed in ways that keep the user more engaged. For
example, Carr talks about the difference between Airbus and Boeing automation systems and finds
that Boeing systems are designed to keep the pilot more engaged. As engineers’ experience with AI-
assisted systems increases, designers will by default include features like Boeing has done. Indeed,
Mindell writes “These findings suggest that new technologies ought to enhance human problem
solving, not eliminate it. If possible, automation ought to aid humans in their tasks without distancing
them from the machine, and without alienating them from their professions.”

Finally, when Carr complains about AI reducing skills and capabilities, he is advocating for society to
make a choice between embracing AI with these challenges or rejecting AI and allowing society to be
poorer than it has to be, in which case there will be fewer resources to invest in safer roads, in health
care, or in public education, which will come at considerable economic and human costs. This gets to
the real problem with Carr and other anti-technology advocates: Their arguments reflect a deep
elitism. As they live privileged, upper-middle class existences as knowledge workers, they at the same

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time counsel against technological improvement that can relieve billions of people from performing
dangerous and mind-numbing jobs while suffering from low incomes. This elitism is evident when Carr
dismisses autonomous vehicles, even though he acknowledges they will save lives, because they
foreclose other options, such as promoting mass transit or strengthening driver education. Easy for
him to say. Try telling that to the parents of a child killed by a drunk driver who didn’t bother to brush
up on his driver’s education or take the bus. Or when he complains that “the working of the soil, which
Thomas Jefferson saw as the most vigorous and virtuous of occupations, is being offloaded almost
entirely to machines.” Clearly he never picked crops or did other backbreaking work. Carr is just one in
a long line of privileged Romantics who have criticised technology since the dawn of the industrial
revolution, worrying that “the dark Satanic mills” of the late 1700s or the “demonic AI” of today were
destroying our humanity, and should be shunned in favour of the more natural order.

MYTH 3: AI WILL DESTROY OUR PRIVACY

Reality: AI will have little effect on privacy. Privacy issues will be here regardless, and most
information practices are and will be bound by laws and regulations.

While not yet the focus of as much techno-panic as the effects of AI on human existence and jobs,
some have argued that AI will destroy privacy, through its ability to more automatically collect and
analyze information. In 1993 Daniel Crevier wrote that AI systems “could be tuned to listen for a few
hundred key words, which would increase the effective surveillance power of any single human
monitor by orders of magnitude. By letting the system filter out the tedious bits, an AI-assisted listener
could process four hundred hours of tape in, say, two hours.” More recently, Globe and Mail reporter
Carly Weeks writes that “new and ever-expanding ways computer technology can search, store and
archive information about all of us means that, in many ways, the notion of privacy is becoming
obsolete.” Matthew Aylett, a computer scientist at Edinburgh University argues that “Given enough
data sources you can find out things that people didn’t realise. Take the classic idea that if you know
people’s positions on their phone, you can tell where they move about and guess where they work
and where they live. It is very exciting for companies, who can sell things to you based on that.”Markoff
agrees, writing in overwrought tones, “This neo-Orwellian society presents a softer form of control.
The Internet offers unparalleled new freedoms while paradoxically extending control and surveillance
far beyond what Orwell originally conceived. Every footstep and every utterance is now tracked and
collected, if not by Big Brother then by a growing array of commercial ‘Little Brothers’.” And Ryan Calo,
a law professor at University of Washington, writes:
AI can be said to threaten privacy according to a specific pattern: AI substitutes for humans at
various stages of observation or surveillance, allowing such activity to reach a previously
impracticable scale. Whereas once telephonic surveillance required one listener per phone

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 call, the development of voice recognition technology permits the substitution of a computer
capable of monitoring

Even some supporters of AI fall prey to this view. Adele Howe, computer science professor at Colorado
State University and executive council member of the Association for Advancement of Artificial
Intelligence, states, "We have to get over, at some point, the idea that we have privacy. We don't. We
have to redefine what privacy means.” Besides being wrong, statements like this by AI scientists only
fan the fears of AI opposition. We can be assured that as AI becomes more widespread, privacy
advocates will seek to raise fears about AI in what the Information Technology and Innovation
Foundation (ITIF) calls “The Privacy Panic Cycle.”

There are four problems with these claims. First, while AI systems certainly have the ability and even
need to collect and analyze more information, the threat to privacy is little greater than the non-AI
systems of today. Many organizations already collect personally identifiable data. AI doesn’t change
that. It might lead to more data being collected, but it won’t change privacy in any qualitative way.
Moreover, the rules that govern data use and protect privacy today will also cover data analyzed by
AI. In short, this is a policy question, not a technology question. Privacy issues will be with us regardless
of whether AI progresses or not. Moreover, if we don’t want U.S. government agencies, for example,
to collect certain data, Congress and the courts can require that. Whether they have or use AI is
irrelevant to that.

Second, some argue that AI technologies will give governments unlimited power of surveillance. But
governments don’t need AI to do that; technology exists today for unlimited surveillance. Government
could bug all our phones and install cameras in every room in every home to watch and listen, just as
in 1984. But “it” doesn’t, because “it” is us (at least in democratic societies) and “we” neither want it
nor will allow it. Going forward we shouldn’t fear AI. We should fear, or least be vigilant for, the decline
of the rule of law and democracy. That, rather than any particular technology, is the source of any
threat to privacy from government overreach.

Third, these privacy dystopians overlook the vast benefits to society from data analytics. As Domingos
writes, “Privacy is not a zero-sum game, even though it’s often treated like one.” Data analytics is
already producing important societal benefits in health care, education, transportation, government
function, social work, and a host of other areas. For example, data analytics can improve corporate
transparency. It is improving medical discovery. It is improving the enforcement of human rights and
the protection of fragile ecosystems. This is why, as Domingos writes, “laws that forbid using data for
any purpose other than the originally intended one are extremely myopic.”

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Finally, many, if not most, of the benefits of AI-enabled data analysis can be obtained without risking
disclosure of personally identifiable information. As ITIF has shown, data de-identification technologies
work very well if properly designed and executed.

Moreover, as MIT’s Technology Review reports, companies are working on “privacy preserving deep
learning.” These systems allow multiple organizations to combine their data to train deep-learning
software without having to take the risk of actually sharing it. For example, researchers at Cornell
University have developed systems that can train a company’s deep-learning algorithms using data
such as images from smart phones, without transferring that data to the company.

WHAT TO DO AND WHAT NOT TO DO

Making sure that societies receive the full economic and social benefits that AI has to offer first and
foremost requires accelerating, rather than restricting the technology’s development and adoption.
And that in turn requires that policymakers resist an AI techno-panic; they must instead embrace
future possibilities with optimism and hope.

When it comes to AI, policymakers should rely on the innovation principle, not the precautionary
principle. In other words, we should proceed on the assumption that AI will be fundamentally good,
and while it will present some risks, as every technology does, we should focus on addressing these
risks, rather than slowing or stopping the technology. Living by the innovation principle also means
understanding that AI will involve both Type I and Type II errors, which is to say it will produce some
errors, but it will also eliminate many others. Focusing only on the potential errors AI might make
overlooks the vast number of errors it will solve or avoid. Banning a technology to eliminate errors
would likely be very costly. As Zarkadakis eloquently states, “Despite the fact that complex software
and hardware already take autonomous decisions that may have adverse effects on a global scale,
there should be no desire to halt progress—as long as we understand the risks. Every day, the
information age delivers value across every sector of our society. The digitization of just about
everything creates new opportunities for wealth and for finding fresh ways to solve problems across
the whole spectrum of the human condition.”

To be sure, we should not overlook the challenges as we pursue the opportunities AI offers. Indeed,
we need more discussion about the challenges, not less, if only because many, if not most, of the voices
dominating the AI debate are spreading techno-panic. Governments should look at AI rationally and
calmly. For example, the White House recently announced a series of workshops to explore the social
issues around AI. It will be important that they populate these panels with individuals who are
generally pro-innovation, even if they reflect a diversity of views about the risks of AI. Likewise, the UK

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Parliament has launched an inquiry into robotics and AI to examine a range of issues, including the
implications for the labour market, and other social, legal, and ethical issues.

As IT researcher David Moschella writes, society will be more willing to experiment with machine
intelligence in low-risk areas, such as navigating, reporting, entertaining, and learning. But over time—
and more quickly for some nations than others—society will accept it for medium-risk areas such as
investing, diagnosing, essay grading, and lawyering. The high-risk areas, such as driving, surgery, and
killing in times of war, may be the last to gain acceptance. As Moschella writes, “Looking ahead, levels
of assurance and societal acceptance will likely vary widely, both within each column and especially
among countries.”

One group that should start focusing on the enormous benefit AI can produce, instead of possible
harms, is the AI profession itself. Indeed, as a profession, AI researchers do a poor job of explaining
why government and society should support AI. In fact, researchers sometimes appear to go out of
their way to convince people they shouldn’t. The civil engineering association doesn’t have articles on
its website about why bridges could collapse, nor does the mechanical engineers’ website feature
articles about how robots will take jobs. But one finds these kinds of statements and links on the
website of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence. As noted above, some of the
loudest voices for how AI will destroy jobs come from the AI community itself, despite the fact that
they are not economists and have no insight or expertise into labour market dynamics.

Finally, policymakers need to do more to support research on AI development, including on making AI

safer, more secure, and more transparent. Given the future importance of AI, a big reason government
should increase funding for AI research is that such research funding will play an important role in
fostering the next generation of scientists and engineers with the skills needed to advance AI.
Policymakers also should support companies and government agencies in using AI to better accomplish
their tasks.
In short, technological progress has been and will remain key for future progress, and AI is poised to
play a key role in that progress, provided we do not give in to fear.
Retrieved from: [Link]
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The author wishes to thank the following individuals for providing input to this report: Rodney Brooks, MIT and Rethink
Robotics; Daniel Castro, ITIF; Dan Gordon, Managing Director of dangordontech LLC ; David Moschella, Leading Edge
Forum, CSC Corporation; Joshua New, ITIF; and Roger Schank, Engines for Education . The author also wishes to thank Kaya
Singleton, ITIF, for her editorial assistance. Any errors or omissions are the author’s alone.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Robert D. Atkinson is the founder and president of ITIF. Atkinson’s books include Innovation Economics: The Race for
Global Advantage (Yale, 2012), Supply -Side Follies: Why Conservative Economics Fails, Liberal Economics Falters, and
Innovation Economics is the Answer (Rowman & Littlefield, 2006), and The Past And Future Of America’s Economy: Long
Waves Of Innovation That Power Cycles Of Growth(Edward Elgar, 2005). Atkinson holds a Ph.D. in city and regional

234
 planning from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and a master’s degree in urban and regional planning from the
University of Oregon.
ABOUT ITIF
The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan research and educational
institute focusing on the intersection of technological innovation and public policy. Recognised as one of the world’s
leading science and technology think tanks, ITIF’s mission is to formulate and promote policy solutions that accelerate
innovation and boost productivity to spur growth, opportunity, and progress.
FOR MORE INFORMATION , VISIT US AT [Link].

[Link] Comprehension after speed reading

Answer the following questions in order to see your comprehension of the text while speed reading.
Choose the best option.

Correct Answers: _______ / 10 questions _______% comprehension

1. Which of the following is not mentioned in the text as one of the past technologies that caused
people to lose their skills?
a. GPS-enabled smart phones
b. Lawn mowers
c. e-Readers
d. Automatic transmission

2. According to the author of the text, which of the following is one of the new skills that have
emerged along with new technologies?
a. Playing computer games
b. Navigating the Internet
c. Multitasking while driving
d. Coding

3. Which TWO of the following are the reasons why AI critics are against computer programs
that beat chess masters?
a. They reduce the duration of the game.
b. They reduce the interest in chess.
c. They lower chess skills.
d. They make it harder to achieve checkmate.

4. Which chess program beat the world chess champion, Garry Kasparov?
a. Apple
b. Checkmate App
c. Deep Blue
d. Macintosh Chess

5. Nicholas Carr thinks that having easy access to information online through search engines is
highly likely to _____________________.
a. cause students to plagiarise.
b. encourage people to copy and paste information.
c. stop people from reading hard copy books.
d. cause people to have a poor memory.

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 6. The Egyptian king Thamus complained that people who practised ____________ would stop
exercising their memory.
a. algebra
b. geometry
c. history
d. writing

7. The father of the author worked in a _________.

a. school
b. factory
c. bank
d. hospital

8. The author’s father was a master at __________________.

a. memorising phone numbers
b. playing chess
c. adding and subtracting
d. multiplying
9. The author believes that autonomous vehicles will _________________________.
a. cause fatal accidents
b. increase the number of bad drivers on the road
c. be infallible
d. reduce accidents

10. According to the text, research suggests that autonomous vehicles will lead to ___________.
a. an increase in the death toll
b. financial loss
c. fewer deaths
d. more skilful drivers

Vocabulary Development

Read the following sentences below. The words in bold are from the text. Guess what these words
mean and match them with the definitions below.

1. AI critics fear that computers will substitute for humans in many fields of life. However,
supporters of AI claim that computers are not likely to replace humans in the near future.
2. While some teachers are afraid of new technologies, there are many other teachers who
embrace educational technology and use it to enhance student learning.
3. Studies show that millennials surpass prior generations in some important business skills.
These findings have revealed that millennials are the generation considered best at key
skills such as being innovative and proactive.
4. Being a scientist requires patience and perseverance since they are highly likely to
encounter difficulties throughout their careers.

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5. It is surprising for many computer scientists to see that Artificial Intelligence is deemed a
threat to the future of humanity.
6. The most prevalent problem among teenagers in the US seems to be drug abuse.
7. Following the introduction of computers and mobile devices into the classroom, the
writing skills of students seem to have diminished.
8. The same disease can have different effects on different patients. This is because the
patient's general health can also affect the outcome of the disease.
9. Mehmet Öz is renowned as an accomplished medical expert.
10. There is considerable evidence that spending too much time playing computer games has
an adverse effect on children.
11. Every day, people perform hundreds of cognitive tasks such as remembering names and
making calculations. As humans age, these cognitive abilities start to decline. Memory
decline is one example of this.
12. The new committee successfully designed a new system but many people have doubts if
they will be successful at implementing this new system.
13. Research consistently shows that students from wealthier families in the US tend to have
higher exam results.
14. Smart people do not like spending their time carrying out mundane tasks such as cleaning
the house, washing and doing shopping.
15. They have invested quite a long time and money to keep up with the latest changes but in
the end, it was worthwhile because they succeeded in developing their IT company.
A. _____ very ordinary, not interesting
B. _____ to reduce or be reduced in importance or size
C. _____ to be even better or greater than someone or something else
D. _____ to perform the job as another thing or to take its place
E. _____ to think of something in a particular way or as having a particular quality
F. _____ known and admired by a lot of people, especially for a special skill,
achievement, or quality.
G. _____ to improve the quality or the amount of something
H. _____ to experience something, especially problems or opposition
I. _____ fairly large, especially large enough to have an effect or be important
J. _____ the final result of a situation or an action
K. _____ related to the process of knowing, understanding, and learning
something or conscious mental processes
L. _____ in a way that does not vary
M. _____ useful, important or good enough to be a suitable reward for the
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 money or time spent or the effort made
N. _____common at a particular time, in a particular place, or among a
particular group of people
O. _____to put a plan, agreement, etc. into effect

While Reading
1. You will now work in pairs. The text has three parts. One of you will read Myth 2 while your
partner will read Myth 3 and the conclusion (what to and what not to do). While reading,
take notes in the charts given below for your part.

MYTH 2: AI WILL MAKE US STUPID

Nicholas Carr’s view about the effect of technology on our lives:
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________

The author’s reaction to this view:

________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________

Example of Deep Blue and other chess programs:

________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________

Carr’s view about ready availability of information online & memory:

________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________

The author’s reaction to this view:

________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________

Example of his father:

________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________

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Carr’s view about technology becoming more automatic:
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________

The author’s reaction to this view:

________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________

Carr’s view about overdependence on AI automation & errors:

________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________

Example of radiologists:

Type 1 errors: _____________ Type 2 errors: ___________________________

_________________________ ___________________________________

The author’s reaction to this view:

________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________

An example from his own experience:

________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________

AI dystopians’ view about AI taking control of our lives: ___________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________

Author’s reaction to these views:

________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________

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The conclusion part:

Carr & other anti-technology advocates’ views:

________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________

The author’s reaction:

________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________

MYTH 3: AI WILL DESTROY OUR PRIVACY

How AI will destroy privacy:
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________

Four problems with the claims about privacy & AI:

[Link] & Analysing information:

________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________

[Link] with unlimited power of surveillance: ____________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________

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 [Link] of data analytics: _________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________

[Link]-enabled data analysis without risking privacy:

________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________

What to do & What not to do:

What policymakers can do: __________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________

What society can do:

Experimenting with machine intelligence: ______________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
What AI researchers can do:
_______________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
What policymakers can do to support AI development:
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________

2. Work in pairs and tell each other about the part you have read by using your notes. While listening
to your partner, fill in the note-taking gaps.

241
3. Answer the following detailed questions about the entire text below by using your notes. You can
also refer to the text.
1. The writer does not accept that human skills such as reading paper maps and shifting gears have
diminished. T / F
writing
2. The Egyptian King Thamus thought that a. ____________________________ would weaken
writing
memory. And today Nicholas Carr thinks b._______________________________ will weaken
memory.
3. Unlike Nicholas Carr, the author is in favour of automatic vehicles because ___________
_________________________________________________________.
4. Carr suggests that AI is likely to cause two types of errors in radiology. Which type of error can the
following diagnosis be categorised as?
The patient’s problem is interpreted as the start of a tumour but later it turns out that it is not the case.
__________________________________________________________________________________
5. The writer gives the example of ____________________________________ to show that when
humans are not involved, machines might make errors but it is still worth it.
6. What will increase precision in diagnoses according to the author?
__________________________________________________________________________________
7. AI dystopians believe that AI will control our lives. However, the author thinks that AI will give
__________________________ to help us make ___________________________ .
8. What is the paradox of the neo-Orwellian society according to Markoff?
Internet brings freedom but in paradox it takes our privacy.
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
9. AI will change the amount of data collected but privacy issues about personally identifiable data will
continue to exist in the same way. T/ F
10. For which societies are the AI systems unlikely to pose a threat to privacy? Explain why.
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
accelerate
11. It is important for the policymakers to ____________________________ instead of being against
the technology. This means adopting the innovation principle.
12. Whose responsibility is it to persuade the government and society that AI is beneficial?
__________________________________________________________________________________
13. More __________________________ is essential for people in the field of AI to improve
themselves so that they can achieve more progress in AI.

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After Reading
1. Checking your Predictions
Go back to the Previewing Part and find out if your predictions were correct. With your partner, discuss
them.
2. Word Meaning
Most words in English have multiple meanings. When you come across words you are not familiar with,
you can look them up in a mono-lingual dictionary. If the dictionary suggests several meanings for the
word, it is best to make use of contextual clues such as the words and phrases surrounding it in order
to find out which meaning fits best.
Find the following words underlined in the text. Read the definitions below. Choose the definition that
best reflects how the word is used in the text. Then, with a partner, justify and explain your answers
to each other. The first one has been done for you as an example.

__b___ 1. Eliminate
a. to defeat a team or person in a competition, so that they no longer take part in it.
b. to completely get rid of something that is unnecessary or unwanted.
_____ 2. Toll
a. the number of people killed or injured in a particular accident, by a particular illness etc.
b. a very bad effect that something has on something or someone over a long period of time.
______ 3. Navigate
a. to sail along a river or other area of water.
b. to find your way around on a particular website, or to move from one website to another.
______ 4. Remedy
a. a way of dealing with a problem or making a bad situation better; a solution.
b. a medicine to cure an illness or pain that is not very serious.
______ 5. Decay
a. to be slowly destroyed by a natural chemical process, or to make something do this; to rot.
b. to gradually become worse.
______ 6. Dismiss
a. to refuse to consider someone's idea, opinion etc, because you think it is not serious, true,
or important.
b. to remove someone from their job; to fire.

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 3. Word Formation: Use the correct form of the word in bold in sentence a to complete sentence b
1. a. The girl who had difficulties carrying out simple mental tasks was taken to a psychologist for some
tests that examined her cognitive skills.
b. Drug abuse is detrimental to the brain as it affects the regions of the brain responsible for memory
and __________________________.
2. a. His doctor did not realise the severity of his illness until his condition got much worse.
b. With the advent of the Internet, many people started spending more time online and became
addicted to social media. Research has shown that exposure to social media can cause ________
depression.
3. a. Thanks to AI, doctors are now able to diagnose cancer more quickly. This means better results in
treatment.
b. Although there have been major developments in the __________________________of cancer,
we still have a long way to go in terms of treatment.
4. a. The advice given by AI may not be accurate. Therefore, it is better for people not to give full
control to AI programmes.
b. Some researchers have serious doubts about the __________________________ of the advice
given by AI. They do not want to depend on this advice.
5. a. When the inventors first introduce an intelligent machine, they often do not know how people
will respond to this machine.
b. The ___________________ to intelligent machines might vary depending on one’s approach to
AI.
6. a. People have been speculating about the future of AI for years in a way far from the reality.
b. There appears to be very little evidence to support the theories of AI critics. Therefore, all their
theories remain largely ____________________.
7. a. Automation is expected to replace many jobs in the years to come.
b. Due to modern technology, there have been dramatic changes in industry. One example is that
the production process is now fully ______________.
8. a. Prof. Dunn is one of the leading experts in the field of computer science.
b. AI systems will not replace doctors. They will help doctors develop medical _______________.
9. a. Computers are capable of analysing data in fast way, which makes them an indispensable part of
our lives.
b. One of the advantages of computers is that they carry out statistical ___________ of the data
rapidly.
10. a. Although he acknowledges that artificial intelligence has brought about beneficial changes for
humanity, he continues to speak in a way that raises fears among the public about the future of AI.
b. Those in favour of AI want an ________________ of the benefits of AI systems for the society.
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 4. Checking the reliability of Internet Sources
Before using information you find on the internet for academic assignments, it is important to check
the reliability of the source. You should remember that anyone can publish an article on a website. The
report you read in this input was retrieved from a website.
Use the checklist below to check the reliability of the text you have read in this input:
Currency
It is important to check the publication date. For online articles, look for the
copyright date, or last revised date. Up-to-date information is crucial in some fields
such as technology, AI, medicine, science and psychology.

Is the information in the text up-to-date? Yes / No

Does the text have a publication date or a ‘last updated’ date? Yes / No
Authority
Who is the author of the text?
Is the author a person you recognise as an expert in their field? Yes / No
Is ‘about the author’ (biographical) information provided? Yes / No
Are contact details provided? Yes / No
Objectivity
Are the author’s arguments objective? Yes / No
Are other points of view explored too? Yes / No
What seems to be the purpose of this website? Is it part of a commercial
organisation, a political party or an educational organisation?

The Domain Name (The URL)

A domain name can give you an idea about the quality of information of a website or tell you what
a site is about. Extensions are an important part of domain names. Below is a list that can help you:

 .edu Educational organization (most US universities)

 .k12 US school site (not all US schools use this)
 .ac Academic institution (outside of US)
 .sch School site (some schools outside of the US use this)
 .com Company (usually .co in the UK)
 .org Any organization
 .gov Government agency
 .net Network
 .mil Military institution
Extensions including .edu, .gov, .k12. may be more reliable and you should be more careful with the
extensions such as are .com, .org, .net. as these domains can be purchased by anybody. This does
not mean that these extensions are not to be trusted, but it could be useful to check whether you

245
 are on a commercial or special interest-type site when you are trying to access academic-type
information.

What is the extension of this website? __________

Accuracy
Has a bibliography been included by the author? Yes / No
Are the statements made based on research? Yes / No

Activate Your Vocabulary

It is important to use words with the right collocations in English. The entries for each word were
retrieved from [Link] Examine each entry as well as the
examples and make your own sentences accordingly.

Implement:

Example:

The administration has implemented an educational programme successfully.

The plan has not been fully implemented yet.

Your sentence: _____________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________

Prevalent:

246
Example:

Diabetes has increasingly become a more prevalent disease.

Mental health problems are much more prevalent among the poor.

The prevalent belief is that AI will cause mass unemployment.

Your sentence: _____________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________

Embrace:

Examples:

We expect our students to embrace the concept of lifelong learning.

Employers should embrace AI technology because it is cheaper than manpower.

Your sentence: _____________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________

247
Mundane:

Examples:

Life is full of mundane tasks such as taking out the garbage and cleaning up the kitchen.

Many people complain that they just lead a dull and mundane life and they yearn for excitement.

Your sentence: _____________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________

Threat:

Examples:

Habitat destruction by deforestation poses a serious threat to many species.

Turkey was able to address the threat posed by the refugee crisis.

Your sentence: _____________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________

248
GRAMMAR: Noun Clauses

INTRODUCTION

A noun clause is a dependent clause with a subject and a verb and acts as a noun in a sentence.

For example:

Research suggests (that) full deployment of autonomous vehicles would save lives.

Research suggests this.

In both of the above sentences, the underlined parts act as nouns. The noun clause in the first
sentence from the reading gives more detailed information about what research suggests. This is one
of the main functions of noun clauses in academic writing. They give details about ideas, theories,
and research findings as well as make suggestions. Therefore, they are often used with reporting
verbs (e.g. suggest, claim, recommend, argue…).

TIP: Noun clauses as a paraphrasing tool

Noun clauses are often used to paraphrase with the help of reporting verbs.

For example:

Nicholas Carr complains that past technologies such as the automatic transmission meant that most
people now don’t learn to drive a manual transmission car.

With the help of the reporting verb ‘complain’, Nicholas Carr’s opinion (the italicised noun clause) is
paraphrased in this input’s reading text.

Some commonly used reporting verbs are show, suggest, recommend, report, find, realise, think, indicate,
state, argue and claim.

The focus of this input is three commonly used noun clause structures:
 Noun clauses with that + Subject + Verb
 Noun clauses with question words (who, when, how…etc.) + Subject + Verb
 Noun clauses with if or whether + Subject + Verb

TIP: Omission of that

With that noun clauses, that can be omitted. However, it is usually included in formal and
academic writing.

For example:

Nicholas Carr complains (that) past technologies such as the automatic transmission meant
that most people now don’t learn to drive a manual transmission car.

249
Reflection Tasks

a. In pairs, complete the following steps.

 Underline all the noun clauses in the following sentences from this input’s reading. There
may be more than one noun clause in some sentences.
 Identify what type each noun clause is: that, question words or if/whether.
 Identify the reporting verbs used in the sentences with noun clauses.

1. The issue is not whether AI systems won’t make errors; the issue is whether or not they will
make fewer errors than humans.

2. In my own case, 15 years ago I was diagnosed with throat cancer, but my doctor
misdiagnosed the source of the primary tumour, even though the latest medical research
had shown that unknown primary sources for throat cancer almost always originated in the
tonsils.

3. This may start with adjusting driving routes based on congestion but could end up controlling
where we can live, what we can study, and whom we can marry.

4. Let’s take it one step at a time, and see if people are willing to trust them to make the easy
decisions at which they’re already better than humans.

5. Carr talks about the difference between Airbus and Boeing automation systems and finds
that Boeing systems are designed to keep the pilot more engaged.

b. In your pairs or small groups, go back to the reading text of this input and find two more
noun clauses. Later, share them with another pair.

Position of Noun Clauses in a Sentence

Noun clauses can have different positions in a sentence. Below are some common positions of noun
clauses along with examples from this input’s reading:

 as the subject of a sentence: Whether or not they use AI is irrelevant.

 as the object of a sentence: Some argue that AI technologies will give governments
unlimited power of surveillance.

 after a preposition: Privacy issues will be with us regardless of whether AI progresses or not.

250
Reflection Task

TIP: Some structures used with noun clauses

 Structures beginning with ‘The fact / assumption / idea / belief that…’ are commonly
used with noun clauses. Sentence 4 in the reflection task above is a good example to this
use.

 ‘The verb to be + adjective (that)…’ is another commonly used structure in noun clauses.
Below is an example from the reading text:

He is right that AI systems will not be infallible.

 ‘Despite the fact that…’ is another commonly used noun clause structure. Sentence 3 in
the reflection task above is a good example to this use.

Here are some other noun clause structures mentioned in the tip box above. In pairs, underline all
the noun clauses in the following sentences from this input’s reading. There may be more than one
noun clause in some sentences.

1. Some of the loudest voices for how AI will destroy jobs come from the AI community itself,
despite the fact that they are not economists and have no insight or expertise into labour
market dynamics.

2. Despite the fact that complex software and hardware already take autonomous decisions
which may have adverse effects on a global scale, there should be no desire to halt progress.

3. The fact that I am not a master at adding and subtracting does not, however, mean that I
have not developed other skills.

PRACTICE TASK: SENTENCE TRANSFORMATION

Combine the pairs of sentences using noun clauses. Make any necessary changes without changing
the meaning.

1. A computer-aided detection system for radiology exists today. This system can lead
radiologists to make type 1 and type 2 errors.
What_______________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________

2. Carr does not talk about a fact. This fact is AI systems now make real progress in helping
diagnose cancer more quickly.
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
251
 3. Carr says ‘In some cases people’s skills will decay’. He is right.
Carr is right __________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________

4. When fully autonomous vehicles become adopted widely that many people’s driving skills
will atrophy, or perhaps even never develop. There is no doubt about this.
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________

5. Humans will blindly follow our AI overlords the way a puppy follows its master. This view is
rather pessimistic.
The view ____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________

6. Privacy can be defined in different ways. The way it is defined may change in time as AI
technologies develop.
How _______________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________

7. AI technologies will give governments unlimited power of surveillance. This is not clear yet.
Whether_____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________

When you finish, check your answers in small groups.

COMMON MISTAKES
In pairs, identify, correct and explain the mistake in each sentence. These sentences have been
adapted from this input’s reading so you may remember the correct versions.
1. The assumption that full deployment of autonomous cars would save lives are not shared by
everyone.
Explain the noun clause mistake in this sentence.
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________

2. The real question is whether are there fewer errors with computer-aided systems.
Explain the noun clause mistake in this sentence.
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________

3. There is considerable evidence that human errors more prevalent than AI errors.
Explain the noun clause mistake in this sentence.
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________

4. The issue is whether won’t make errors.

Explain the noun clause mistake in this sentence.
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________

252
 What is considered by some as the utmost future of technology might displace our jobs
someday.
SPEAKING TASK: QUOTATIONS

In groups of 3 or 4, complete the following steps:

 Identify the noun clauses in the quotations below.

 Discuss what is meant by each quote, how these quotations relate to the topic of AI and
whether you agree or disagree with the quotations. Explain why you agree or disagree.
 In your group, create your quotation about Artificial Intelligence. This may be related to how
you feel about AI, any rules you think people should follow while using AI…etc. Make sure
your quotation has a noun clause in it.
 Once your quotation is ready, share it with another group and explain why and how you
came up with your quote.

The first rule of any technology used in a business is that

automation applied to an efficient operation will magnify the
efficiency. The second is that automation applied to an inefficient
operation will magnify the inefficiency.

Bill Gates

253
 I think it's very important to have a
feedback loop, where you're
constantly thinking about what you've
done and how you could be doing it
better. I think that's the single best
piece of advice: constantly think
about how you could be doing things
better and questioning yourself.

Elon Musk

I believe that at the end of the century the

use of words and general educated opinion
will have altered so much that one will be able
to speak of machines thinking without
expecting to be contradicted.

Alan Turing (1912-1954)

The saddest aspect of life right now is

that science gathers knowledge faster
than society gathers wisdom.

Isaac Asimov (1920-1992)

Your group’s quote

254
 INPUT 5

Ethical Concerns and AI

GETTING READY
Predicting can help you make
Predicting content
connections between the
topic and what you already
You are going to listen to a panel discussion on artificial intelligence. Look at
know. This will make it easier
the title, and think about the issues you have been discussing in this unit.
to understand key
Choose the topics (1-8) that you think will be included in the talk. Put a tick
information when you listen
(√) next to the ones that you think will be included. for the first time.
1. The cost of AI research
2. Patent rights for AI related discoveries
3. Laws and regulations concerning AI
4. Unemployment caused by AI workforce
5. Violation of the right to privacy
6. Creation and use of AI weaponry
7. AI-automated everyday tasks
8. Replacement of the human race by robots

Are there any other possible topics that you think may be
covered in the panel?

FOCUS ON KEY VOCABULARY

Here are some words that will come up in the discussion.

1. Tick (√) the words you know, and note down its word
form and its meaning.
2. Refer to the sentences on the next page to help you.

√/X Word Meaning √/X Word Meaning

form form
1. indispensable adj 10. cautious adv
2. outlaw n person who has broken laws11. impulse n signal
3. outweigh v pass by weight 12. induce v
4. reiterate v 13. revelation n
5. surpass v pass, beat 14. assert v claim
6. precaution n 15. advocate v,n defend
7. rationale n 16. tackle v deal with sth
8. surveillance adj 17. allocate v
9. prioritise v 18. precision n being exact

3. In pairs or small groups, go over the words one by one, and help each other with the words
you know.

255
Excerpts from the listening:

1. Before we know it, AI will have become an indispensable part of our lives, and we must be
ready for any potential risks.
2. The law dictates that there is always a person behind the AI weapon – it is illegal to leave AI
weapons autonomous. (….) So, although we can actually use AI to tear a whole region down
without using any soldiers, we can’t do it, because this is outlawed.
3. And Brian, you’re a believer that the benefits of AI far outweigh the downsides, is that right?
4. I would like to reiterate what I said at the beginning of the panel.
5. If we ever wanted to create intelligence that equals or even surpasses the human mind, we
must program the machines to do all those things that we do unconsciously.
6. There are also great risks that we need to get ready and take precautions for.
7. As our technology improves, we may better understand the rationale behind the decisions
they make.
8. Let me give you an example. Someone could write an application to help people find their
friends among crowds. However, this application can later become a part of police
surveillance.
9. It needs to prioritise the safety of either the passengers or the people around, at all costs.
10. I’m also cautious but welcoming. I think we should all be cautious.
11. If a person has an accident, the driver decides by impulse – by reflexes.
12. Compared to human-induced deaths on the road, I think we would all appreciate the
enhanced safety that is ensured by driverless cars.
13. This can be used against people by employers or governments. Imagine a person is an atheist
– in highly conservative societies, revelation of this information might even result in jail or
death.
14. I think perhaps where I would depart from this optimism towards AI would be the inequality
this will bring, even if driverless cars prove to be as perfect as Brian asserts.
15. I would advocate that we put forward guidelines and let the law-makers deal with the issues
that worry you.
16. Today we will try to tackle some complicated issues related to AI and ethics.
17. Governments must allocate more budget to understand how AI systems work.
18. I believe AI will bring precision, order, and efficiency in even more areas of life.

256
DISTINGUISHING FACTS FROM OPINIONS

1 Read the quotation below. What does it mean? Can you think of any examples that
illustrate this? You may make notes in the space available.

YOU’RE ENTITLED TO YOUR OWN

OPINIONS.

YOU ARE NOT ENTITLED TO YOUR OWN

FACTS.

When you are listening to a speaker,

 Discuss your views with another student.
you may wonder whether what you
hear are the opinions of the speaker or
2 Below is a list of characteristics that describe either facts facts. Facts and opinions are not always
or opinions. Indicate whether these characteristics pertain easily identifiable and separable, but by
more to facts or opinions. listening critically, and by paying
attention to cues and clues, you can
distinguish between them.

Fact or Opinion?
1 expressed with unbiased words
2 influenced by personal experience, culture, background of a person
3 cannot be challenged or debated
4 not supported by evidence
5 relies on personal judgments, perceptions, or assumptions
6 expressed with biased words
7 Subjective
8 unchanging, do not differ from person to person
9 can be supported, refuted, debated, challenged through critical analysis
10 subject to change
11 based on belief and viewpoint and personal interpretations
12 can be verified/proven to be true
13 reveal feelings, values, attitudes
14 use of comparative or superlative adjectives
15 use of numerical data and dates
16 vague language such as “some” “many” “often”
17 use of phrases such as “people say” “I’ve heard”
18 use of modal verbs such as “may”, “should”

257
Why is it important to distinguish facts and opinions?
Opinions cannot be verified, but
Persuasive speakers can express their opinions effectively to they can be backed by
explanations and facts. Speakers
shape or change the ideas of other people. As a listener, in order
can build a persuasive case for
to discern the reliability and the usefulness of information you their opinion by providing
evidence that supports their
hear, you need to be able to identify facts and opinions. The
point of view. These opinions are
differences may be subtle and hard to notice. Therefore, usually called “valid opinions” or
distinguishing between facts and opinions requires being aware of “justified opinions”.

the speaker’s purpose, and paying attention to their choice of

words.

Differentiating facts and opinions is a higher order thinking skill. As university students, you should
critically evaluate the information you hear instead of accepting what you hear as the truth. This skill
requires critically analysing the strength of the arguments that the speaker puts forward. To evaluate
the information you hear and form your own opinions, once you have identified facts and different
perspectives, you must critically evaluate them based on evidence.

3 Read the excerpts below and identify the facts and opinions.
Be prepared to justify your reasons.

O 1. Technology experts claim that around the middle of this

century, there will come a time when the singularity will occur.
F 2. It was in 1997 when AI was able to beat the human champion in chess.

F 3. Mercedes announced that their autonomous cars will focus on saving the car’s driver and
passengers, even if that means sacrificing the lives of pedestrians.
O 4. I suspect that Mercedes’ decision was driven primarily by accounting and marketing.
F 5. The internet was developed by the Army for communication during war.

F 6. The Baltimore Police used an application for face recognition on social network pages.

O 7. Technology makes things so much more efficient for students when they do research.

O 8. From my point of view, privacy of data has never been under greater threat.
9. AI can do a much better job at analysing MRI, tomography, or X-ray images of patients, and
O
much more accurately diagnose diseases.

O 10. Super Intelligence is likely to bring the end of humanity.

 Discuss your answers in small groups.

258
WHILE YOU LISTEN

1. Look at the headings from B-G, and discuss in pairs/groups what details you think will be
discussed under the headings.
2. Then listen and take notes.

A. Overall views of the panellists on the concept of AI

B. Singularity

259
C. Employment

D. Driverless cars

260
E. AI & military

F. Privacy & security of data

261
G. Education

H. Final comments

262
POST-LISTENING

A REFLECT ON YOUR NOTE-TAKING

1 What are the ethical concerns that were raised in the panel, but not in the prediction chart at the
beginning of this input?

2 What is one invention that has raised/raises similar ethical concerns as AI: an invention that
has/had great potential to help humanity but also raises/raised many ethical concerns?

263
3 Discuss the following questions with your pair/group:

 What challenges did you face was when you were listening to this discussion? What
made it challenging?
 What strategies did you use to deal with these challenges?
 What else could you have done to take notes that are more effective?

B MAKING INFERENCES

1 Which one of the statements below is the author of this excerpt more likely to say for AI?

"The effects of most important decisions aren't reversible. You can't undo them. The myth of Pandora's
box is right: once the box is opened, you can't put the stuff that comes out back inside. But the myth is
right in another way: opening the box is inevitable. It will always be opened; if not by you, by someone
else. Therefore, a simple "we shouldn't do this" argument is always dangerous, because someone will
inevitably do it, for any possible "this." You may personally decide not to work on a project, but any
ethics that assumes people will stay away from forbidden knowledge is a failure. It's far more important
to think about what happens after the box has been opened. If we're afraid to do so, we will be the
victims of whoever eventually opens the box."

a. We should stay away from any AI that has the potential of being misused.

b. Advances in AI are unstoppable and we should be prepared for their misuse.

c. We shouldn't work towards creating advance AI technologies because once it's done, it
cannot be undone.

d. Governments should ban any work towards creating advance AI technologies to prevent
any misuse and abuse.

 Discuss your answer with another student and justify your choice.

C REVIEWING AND EDITING NOTES

Get into small groups. Go back to your notes, and go over the ideas and details you noted down for
each heading. Complete your notes with information your friends could catch.

D USING NOTES TO ANSWER A PROMPT

Use the Information you have heard to answer the following question. Make sure you paraphrase all
the information.

264
 What are two major concerns regarding the future of AI?

____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

Swap books with a student, and give each other feedback. Focus especially on the following areas:

 Is the information accurate? Is the meaning the same as the original text?
 Have all relevant ideas been included?
 Are there any parts that are not relevant to the question?
 Was paraphrasing done effectively? How similar or different is the language (in terms of
sentence structures, word order, grammatical structures as well as choice of vocabulary) in
the student’s answer and the original text?

265
 Peer comments:

____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

“By far the greatest danger of Artificial “The AI runs on a different timescale
Intelligence is that people conclude too than you do; by the time your
neurons finish thinking the words "I
early that they understand it.”
should do something" you have
Eliezer Yudkowsky already lost.”
Eliezer Yudkowsky

“The question of whether a computer can “The story of evolution unfolds with
think is no more interesting than the increasing levels of abstraction.”
question of whether a submarine can
Ray Kurzweil
swim.”
Edsger W. Dijkstra

E REFLECT

In pairs or small groups, select one of the quotes below, and discuss your reflections and reactions.

266
ACTIVATE YOUR VOCABULARY Organizing target words in multiple ways help
create more links between your neurons. This
1 Without looking back at the pre-listening section, means it will be easier to learn and remember
group the words based on their word forms. the target words. Categories could be based on
prefixes, suffixes, synonyms, antonyms, etc.

advocate assert allocate cautious impulse induce

indispensable outlaw outweigh precaution precision prioritise
rationale reiterate revelation surpass surveillance tackle

Nouns Verbs Adjectives

2 Now think of another way of grouping these words. You may exclude the words that don’t fit your
category. For example, you can group them alphabetically, based on the number of syllables it has,
based on their meaning, or any other category you can think of.

3 Answer the questions below. Make sure you use the words in bold in your answers.

1. What is one technological device that is indispensable for you? Why is it indispensable?

2. To what extent do you advocate the use of AI in our daily life? Explain why.

3. What are some things that humans act on impulse? Give at least 3 examples.

4. What precautions should be taken to prevent AI from taking control of humans one day?

267
 5. Think about all AI related research for new applications. Which fields of AI research
should governments prioritise? You may think about health, weaponry, road safety,
economy, etc.

6. Some scientists are working on chips to be inserted into the human brain to upload,
download and access information when necessary. Do you think it should be outlawed,
or should it be allowed?

4 Fill in the blanks with the correct word form. Make sure your spelling is correct.

1. Further research into making AI safer needs to be conducted. However, this requires
________________ of a larger budget on AI compared to what the governments are
putting aside now. (ALLOCATE)

2. The ________________ of all AI research should be safety. Nothing is more important

than keeping our race safe. (PRIORITISE)

3. A new study on robotics will hopefully ________________ more about whether robots
will ever experience feelings. (REVELATION)

4. Many people approach the topic of driverless cars with ________________. They think
cars should always have a human controlling them. (CAUTIOUS)

5. AI researchers aim to create systems to answer questions as ________________ as

humans. (PRECISION)

6. Many people are ________________ -- they make a lot of decisions straight away,
without considering the implications. (IMPULSE)

7. We humans don’t always make decisions after we ________________ up all the facts.
This is the main cause of our regrets. (OUTWEIGH)

8. ________________ decisions are those that are based on statistics and objective facts.
On the other hand, humans can also take ________________ decisions based on their
feelings. (RATIONALE)

268
Speaking after Input 5:

Having a Debate:
In this part, you will have a debate on Artificial Intelligence. The motion is:

AI will have positive outcomes for humanity in the future.

You will be in two groups. One group will be arguing for the motion and the other will be arguing
against the motion.
 Each speaker will have 3 minutes to present or rebut a point.
 While the other team is presenting their points, other participants will take notes.
 Everyone will take turns to contribute to the debate.

Task A:
1. Please refer to the chart in the speaking after Input 1. You started doing some research to
have a general idea on this topic. You will use the information on that chart and do a more
detailed preparation as a group. In order to get prepared, you can follow the plan below:

Questions to consider Notes

What is your point of view?

What are your main arguments to 1.

support your point?

2.

3.

269
What might the other side put
forward? What might be your
counter-arguments? Think about
examples and explanations.

What is your conclusion?

2. Decide which group member will present which arguments or which aspect of the topic.
Then, plan your 3 minute turns individually.

Your Notes:

3. As a group, go over your preparations and give each other feedback to improve your
arguments. Remember the language for debates you have learned so far. Decide which
group member will do the closing speech.

270
Task B: Now, do the debate according to the following plan.

Round 1: Individual Turns Round 2: Rebuttals Closing Speech

1. For Group Speaker A 1. Against Group Speaker E

2. Against Group Speaker E 2. For Group Speaker A For Group – one member
3. For Group Speaker B 3. Against Group Speaker F
4. Against Group Speaker F 4. For Group Speaker B Against Group – one
5. For Group Speaker C 5. Against Group Speaker G member
6. Against Group Speaker G 6. For Group Speaker C
7. For Group Speaker D 7. Against Group Speaker H
8. Against Group Speaker H 8. For Group Speaker D

Feedback charts for the Audience:

Feedback for the ‘FOR’ group:
Preparation: Is the group well prepared? Have they understood the topic well?

Participation: Have all the members participated actively?

Have all the members taken notes while listening to their opponents?

Individual Turns: Have they explained their arguments well?

Have they used a variety of language for different parts of their turns?

Rebuttals: Have they been able to respond to their opponents’ arguments effectively?

Have they used a variety of language for different parts of their rebuttals?

Overall: Were they convincing?

271
Feedback for the ‘AGAINST’ group:

Preparation: Is the group well prepared? Have they understood the topic well?

Participation: Have all the members participated actively?

Have all the members taken notes while listening to their opponents?

Individual Turns: Have they explained their arguments well?

Have they used a variety of language for different parts of their turns?

Rebuttals: Have they been able to respond to their opponents’ arguments effectively?

Have they used a variety of language for different parts of their rebuttals?

Overall: Were they convincing?

272
SELF REFLECTION:

Think about your performance in the debate. You will write a paragraph to reflect on your
performance by using the following questions to guide you. Then, you will choose a part of your
paragraph to share in class.

1. Were you well-prepared for the debate?

2. Were you able to put forward your points and improve your arguments clearly?
3. Did you listen to your opponents actively and take notes?
4. Were you able to rebut your opponents’ arguments effectively?
5. Did you manage to use the language for debates well? Give examples.
6. How was your overall performance during the debate?
7. What is one thing you were good at doing during the debate?
8. What is one thing you still need to improve?

__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________

Tip Box:
TAKING A SELFIE VIDEO TO IMPROVE YOUR PRONUNCIATION:
One way to improve your pronunciation is taking a SELFIE VIDEO. This
means:
 recording yourself by using your mobile phone while you are
speaking
 watching it to see how you sound, pay attention to the way you
pronounce and stress words, your rhythm and intonation (i.e. the
rise and fall in the sound of your voice).
 checking the pronunciation of some of the words by using an
online dictionary
 sharing the video with a friend or your teacher to get some
feedback.

273
APPENDIX
Unit 1 Input 3: LISTENING FOR SIGNPOSTING MARKERS

Speakers organize their speech by using signals to make their talk easier to follow. While taking
notes, watch out for these signals to help you.
 Pay close attention to transitional words, phrases, and sentence which signal the end of one
idea and the beginning of another, such as:
 That’s all about the causes of ……
 Let me move on to……
 Next, I’d like to discuss……
 Listen for words that signal relations between ideas, such as:
 therefore  on the contrary
 finally  on the other hand....
 furthermore  similarly
 in comparison  however
 Listen for organizational markers or signals, such as:
 First of all, …
 The second cause is….
 Another way to do explain the results is…
 Listen for words that signal an important point or a main idea will be covered, such as:
 The most important point about this is………..
 Most importantly, ………..
 Another significant cause of ……..
 A major development in the field of neuroscience is….
 The basic concept here is....
 Pay attention to examples, and indicate them clearly, such as:
 For instance,
 An illustration of this is…,
 One example is...
 Listen for signals of summary so that you check your organization and whether you
missed any important information or not:
 In conclusion....
 as a result....
 finally....
 in summary....
 from this we see....

Unit 1 Input 5
COMMON SYMBOLS AND ABBREVIATIONS
→ leads to, causes ← caused by, because of (showing reason)

↑ Increase ↓ decrease

= equal to, is, are x opposite of

≈ about, approximately # number

274
 > greater/more than < less than

&/+ And @ at

′ Minutes ″ seconds

/ Or ↔ linked to

etc. etcetera apprx. approximately

diff difference / different imp importance/important

max maximum min minimum

no. number poss. possible, possibility

prob problem sts students

sb somebody sth something

w/ with w/o without

excl. excluding incl. include/including

info. information ltd. limited

p. page pp. pages

re. regarding i.e. that is

e.g. for example v. very

Add your own symbols and abbreviations that you are using/would like to use:

275
TAPESCRIPTS
UNIT 1 INPUT 1

P: This is Phil Macguire, and you are listening to our radio program, ‘The Human Mind”. Following on
from last week in the theme of learning, this week we are shifting our theme slightly and we're
turning our attention to the issue of intelligence. Together we will be looking into various questions
such as what is intelligence and why does it matter. I've got Professor Gregory Stein joining me this
week. Gregory has published various articles and books on intelligence, so I’ve asked him to join us
today. To start us off, Gregory, let’s begin with the most basic question. What do we mean when we
say a person is intelligent? What is it really, and why is it such an important concept?

G: All good questions, and you could basically write books on each one of them. The thing is, it is
hard to even define intelligence. There is still no consensus….In other words, there is still no
agreement on a fix definition. We actually can’t even agree on what constitutes intelligence – I mean,
what is intelligence made up of. And also, it is a subjective term. Different people value different
aspects of it. For instance, in a math class, the most intelligent students would probably be perceived
to be the ones getting the highest scores, or solving an equation or problem before all the others,
right?

P: Right.

G: But let’s think about Tolstoy. His teachers described him as a student who was “unable to learn”.
Could we claim he was not intelligent?

P: Well, he is one of the greatest authors of all time. I’d say he was not just intelligent. He was a
genius.

G: Exactly my point. So let me attempt to define intelligence in the most general sense. Human
intelligence could be defined as a mental quality that enables us to carry out four main tasks: the
first one of these is to understand and apply abstract concepts. The second task that our intelligence
enables us to carry out is to learn from past experience. The third one is that it makes it possible for
us to manipulate our environment. OK? And the final main task is adapting to new environments.

P: What do you mean by environment, Greg? Could you expand on that?

Yes, you’re right, let’s clarify this. The environment in terms of using intelligence does not just refer
to the physical landscape like the mountains or forests, or our surroundings, such as school, home or
workplace. Most importantly, it refers to a person’s social contacts in day-to-day life, such as co-
workers, friends and family members – or even complete strangers.

P: Right – but I guess your view of ‘environment’ and ‘adaptiveness to environment’ would have been
different in the past, right?

G: Exactly. Our definition of intelligence may also be based on the time period or the context because
what the human mind needs to be capable of could be different. Suppose we lived in a desert. What
would your day-to-day life require you to do?

P: Hmm. You’d definitely have to be very good at survival skills like how to find water or plants to eat,
how to hunt….what to do when you’re lost, I guess?…
276
G: Exactly – you’d desperately need to have this kind of adaptive intelligence to survive. So,
adaptation to the environment is a very important skill, and it can be achieved in three ways. One is
to change oneself to cope effectively with the environment. Another possible way could involve
changing the environment to suit your needs. And finally, it can also be done through finding out an
entirely new environment.

P: Ok, let me repeat these – I wanna check if I got them right. So the first way we can adapt to our
environment is to change ourselves. We can also try to make changes to our environment, or, if these
don’t work, we can look for and find a brand new environment.

G: Yes, you’ve got them right.

P: So Greg, you say it’s difficult to define intelligence. Then how do we measure something that we
cannot even define properly? IQ tests are universal, aren’t they?

G: Well, to tell you the truth, IQ tests may not be as reliable as people think they are. But to answer
your question in more detail, we need to think about different approaches to intelligence, as the way
we view intelligence would determine the way we measure it.

P: Sure. Ok.

G: I think maybe we should give our listeners an overview of a few of the most well-known theories
that try to explain intelligence.

P: Ok. Good idea. So what’s the first theory you’d like to tell us about?

G: The first one, because it’s also the oldest one, is the Psychometric theories. Psychometric theories
strive to understand, or focus on, the structure of intelligence. I mean its form and its parts.
Psychometric theories are all based on the presumption, or belief, that intelligence is a measurable
factor. Psychologists think they can measure intelligence through paper-and-pencil tests of mental
abilities such as analogy questions, classification of similar terms, or asking the test-takers to
complete series of numbers….

P: So it’s a straightforward way of measuring it, isn’t it?

G: Yes, it gives you a number. But we will discuss what this number may mean in a few minutes – so
I’ll get back to this point. Now, this theory of intelligence is nothing new – like I said it’s very old. It
actually dates back to 1904.

P: More than a century ago. Wow.

G: Yes. It started with Charles Spearman. Spearman’s theory was that merely two kinds of factors
underlie all individual differences in test scores. Ok? So just two kinds. The first and the most
important one is what he called the general factor – or the general mental capabilitıes. And he used
the letter ‘g’ to represent this. The second factor is the ‘special abilities’ - like verbal or mathematical
processing. He said that the general mental factor, or the g factor, determines the performance in all
intellectual tasks – so all special abilities. So in other words, he noticed what may seem obvious
now—that people who did well on one mental-ability test also did well on others, while people who
performed poorly on one of them also tended to perform poorly on others.

277
P: Ok I think I get it but can you maybe give an example – what is the distinction between the general
factor and the special abilities?

G: All right. If something – anything- requires intelligence, it definitely requires the g factor. On top of
that, the special abilities will be required to do a specific test or the task. So for example, if you need
to take a test of arithmetical reasoning, the test requires a general factor that is common to all tests
– the g factor- ….And, it also requires a specific factor, specific ability, that’s related to the mental
operations you will need for mathematical reasoning than any other kinds of thinking.

P: But his theory can’t have received a lot of approval – I mean, I have never heard of his name so far,
but I do know about some other people like Howard Gardner….

G: Yes, although he is seen as the founder of the psychometric tests of IQ, he received lots of
criticism. Most psychologists thought Spearman’s categorization of abilities was too
narrow…Errmmm, I mean, what is it - just two types of abilities for millions of people and skills were
just too limited… Another psychologist, Guilford, listed 150 different cognitive abilities for their own
theory of intelligence.

P: Now that’s excessive, right?

G: If you want to make it practical, sure! There is no way you could test people on 150 different skills
and then compare them. But all psychometric theories of intelligence are harshly criticised for
reasons other than practicality. First of all, these theories were not well supported by scientific
studies. Another problem was that, these theories couldn’t explain the mental processes underlying
intelligence – they couldn’t explain what goes on in the mind when a person is completing a task. The
solution to these problems was to study directly the mental processes underlying intelligence.

P: Cognitive psychologists then?

G: That’s right. The cognitive psychologists focused on mental representations of information and
processes that can operate on such representations. Representations can be both visual, like a
picture, or verbal. A more-intelligent person can represent information more clearly and he is able to
think faster on these representations. I mean an intelligent person can operate faster.

P: Hmmm what you’re describing, I think, are those IQ tests that we see online. I’m talking about
questions like ‘which one of the following shapes is different’. And you need to answer those fast,
right? I mean if time didn’t matter, everyone would be able to do equally well. Are those based on
cognitive theories?

G: Exactly. In cognitive processing speed is key in measuring intelligence. The psychologists claimed
that rapid retrieval of information from memory was a critical ability for intelligence. And so, they
focused on the time that people needed to react to the questions while measuring IQ. But of course,
most cognitive theories are criticised too. Especially because of the fact that they ignore cultural
differences. Some cultures value social skills over academic abilities – and people from these cultures
always underperform – I mean do worse than some other cultures that emphasize Academic
achievement. A second problem with these tests is .., ok so these tests can actually predict academic
achievement to a certain extent. But they can’t predict how this intelligence will be used. It doesn’t
predict future success in life. For instance, we can’t say just because a person scored high in the test
they will be as successful in their profession.

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P: But Howard Gardner and his theory of multiple intelligences really stand out - he is a cognitive
psychologist too I believe. And I must say I find the Multiple Intelligences theory the most sensible of
all these theories. I mean, would Tchaikovsky definitely demonstrate his genius on a cognitive test
focusing on the word matching speed? But few can compete with his musical intelligence.

G: Absolutely. There are so many other ways to form theories about what constitutes intelligence,
and hence, how it can be measured. Personally I’m more interested in how a person’s intelligence
can be shaped. How a person can increase their mental capacity – because I do believe that
intelligence is not fixed. It’s fluid, and it can be enhanced. By ‘enhance’, I mean the IQ scores can
improve.

P: That’s a much more humanistic way of looking at it, and I’d agree with you. I remember reading
that in 1900s people used to be categorized based on their intelligence test scores. Like if a person
scored below a certain point they couldn’t join the army, or be employed by the government, for
instance. I also remember, some schools used to put students into different classes based on their IQ
scores when they first register. That’s just horrible especially if you, for some reason or other, scored
low on the test day. They’re basically labelling you as someone ‘not very likely to succeed’.

G: I couldn’t agree more. Ok, there is no denying that an IQ test would give a rough idea, but it
cannot and should not be used as a definitive tool. So we first need to discuss what determines
intelligence. Why are some people obviously more intelligent than others?

P: Well, genes must have the biggest role here. Heredity determines our health, our appearance, even
our character to some extent.

G: Yeah, we’ve long known not only that our genes play a role in our intelligence, but also, that their
influence increases as we get older. At kindergarten, genes play a relatively little role. What matters
the most is whether your parents talk to you, read to you and do activities with you that encourage
you to count. Think about Feral children.

P: Feral children….ok just in case our listeners do not know this term – Feral, F-E-R-A-L children are
children who are left in the forest, and live among the animals without any kind of human contact.

G: Yes, that’s right, thanks Phil. So when feral children are found, they do not know how to speak,
they can’t understand a word we are saying. They can’t read or write. At first glance, they would look
as if they have the same intelligence as an animal. However, once they start being cared for, taught
how to speak, read and write, the progress they make is astonishing. So they clearly show us how
important nurture, that is, how important environment is. And we’ve got some scientific evidence on
the environmental effects, too. There are many studies done on twins – who are separated right
after their birth. They were raised in completely different environments by different parents. Twin
studies show us that that genes account for about 20% of the variation in IQ at around kindergarten
age. The rest comes from the way they were brought up, and the people they are surrounded by.

P: ….yeah, it can’t all be related to our parents - from kindergarten on, we get to interact with more
and more people – our classmates, teachers,…

G: ….and just like you said, you spend most of your time at school and these new people start
shaping you, and your IQ as well. You get to meet lots of new people, encounter different ideas,
different viewpoints, different kinds of information. If you have the genetic potential, your brain will
develop thanks to extra stimulation. Your genes still shape these new encounters, though. For
example, you may use your genetic tendencies to join intellectually demanding hobbies, like the

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chess club, or you might take a harder maths class at college. All these will raise your IQ score. So you
use your genetic potential, and you should also be thanking your parents for reading those books to
you, or making you take those extra Math classes that you probably didn’t appreciate it at the time.

P: So both genetic and environmental factors can work to our advantage.

G: …or to our disadvantage. Imagine you get fired and you’re unemployed or go through a tragedy.
Your IQ will decline. But overall, for adults, we can say roughly 80% of intelligence is hereditary. That
is, it’s genetic… Have you heard of the Flynn Effect?

P: I’m not sure I remember the exact details, but I think it says that the IQ scores have risen all around
the globe. Is that it?

G: Yes, The Flynn Effect is the theory that IQ scores continue to increase from one generation to the
next for all of the countries. He gives the example of the Dutch, whose IQ scores have risen by 20
points in just 30 years.

P: 20 points? That’s a lot!

G: Yeah! And you’d think it could possibly be genetic – but it really can’t. The effect is just too
noticeable and too rapid to be explained by changing genes. Heredity-linked increases of IQ would
take thousands of years. So Flynn claims that this is happening because of the increasing cognitive
demands of our society.

So what are these cognitively demanding changes? First of all, in many countries the level of
education of the general public is increasing. More time is spent on learning and being examined in
schools. Increased years spent in formal education is a major factor. And the nature of education is
more challenging, isn’t it? Kids doing research, presenting their findings. Not just reading from books.
Ok, so apart from education, Flynn thinks the increasing reliance on technology also has a major
effect. Children today learn to use a touchscreen at the age of 3. Compare this to your parents’
childhood. Our day-to-day life is getting more complex, complicated and demanding. Think about
how reading the city underground map may be too complicated for your grandparents to figure out.
Unlike them, we are forced to think in abstract terms, through symbols and hierarchies – and
remember, thinking abstractly is a cognitive skill that is tested in IQ tests. Another hypothesis was
that better world wide nutrition was the reason for this increase in IQ. The idea is that because we
feed our brains well, we can perform better on IQ tests. I must say that to prove this theory a few
leading psychologists carried out experiments and they concluded that nutrition alone could not
account entirely for such massive gains. But, pregnancy vitamins were proven to be a contributing
factor.

P: Oh, that’s interesting. I thought those pregnancy vitamins were good for the health of the baby,
but never thought they would affect intelligence. So… to wrap it up…. We talked about intelligence
tests a little bit – but not in great detail, and I have a question. So is it a good idea to take those tests?
Are the results really meaningful?

G: That’s a tricky question… I really can’t give you a yes or no response. It also depends on why you
are taking it. There are numerous well-known IQ tests used by psychologists. They’re designed to
assess various different abilities through a variety of tasks. These tests are regularly revised and
updated. But that doesn’t mean we should all take these tests. First of all, the tests can cost a lot of
money, so you should consider it from this aspect, too.. Another worry is that basically, these tests
mostly use multiple choice questions – so it is possible that the test-takers guess some of the
answers, while some other test takers may underperform poorly because they are not good at
multiple choice type of tests – so you can question to what extent the results are reliable. Another
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issue is that, OK, the tests are frequently updated, but still, the majority of the tests were developed
in the 50s and 60s. Our knowledge about the brain, cognition …. Lots of things have changed since
then. And finally, the brain is a very complicated organ. Can just one test reveal its full capacity? We
are still not able to measure all of brain functions. They can only roughly measure some abilities. On
a related note, there are so many variables that contribute to a person’s intelligence…like their
learning style, personality, or even their mood and these things can change the test score.

P: So you’re saying they aren’t very helpful then?

G: No, I’m not saying that. I’m just saying you should make a more informed decision. You must think
about the pros and the cons. Do it, for example, if you want to discover your cognitive strengths and
weaknesses, it will give you an idea. And if you actually test your IQ regularly, you could detect
neurological problems early on. So you could identify a cognitive or mental problem early and take
action.

P: All right, I get your point. Well, thanks a lot, Greg. You’ve given us lots of food for thought. We
really appreciate you coming here today.

G: My pleasure.

Tapescript for Unit 1 Speaking after Input 1 Task 2:

Bolded: Asking for clarification Underlined: Providing clarification

Jack: OK, let’s start with the definition of intelligence. I personally think that intelligence means
thinking ability. I mean using your mind.
Tom: What do you mean by thinking ability?
Jack: Well, I mean perceiving relationships and problem solving. When there is a problem, intelligent
people come up with different ..erm.. creative solutions. For example, many people needed light and
electricity in the past but Edison invented the light bulb. And obviously, Edison was an intelligent
person.
Tom: I see what you mean. I consider people intelligent if they can calculate quickly. I mean being
good at maths, solving problems fast shows mathematical intelligence.
Jack: Are you saying that there are different types of intelligence?
Tom: Yes, let me explain that in detail. I read an article on different types of intelligence. These
include mathematical intelligence, musical intelligence, interpersonal intelligence, verbal-linguistic
intelligence and spatial intelligence. There are three more but I can’t remember them now.
Jack: Could you clarify spatial intelligence? I haven’t heard of that before.
Tom: Yes, spatial intelligence. It means understanding maps, finding directions easily and solving
puzzles.
Jack: OK. I see. That is something I am not good at unfortunately. What about the relationship
between intelligence and success in life? In other words, are intelligent people more successful in
life? Although we expect intelligent people to be successful in life, I am not so sure about that.
Intelligence does not always bring success. I believe working hard and putting a lot of effort bring
success. Without hard work even an intelligent person can not achieve much.
Tom: Exactly, you may be highly intelligent but if you don’t work hard, it is impossible to succeed.
One more thing related to this is persistence. It appears that people who do not give up easily in case
of a problem or failure become successful. Another point is about the effect of parents. There is
strong evidence that shows the link between the success of children and their parents’ interest in
their education.
Jack: Could you give an example to be more specific? You may be right but at the end of the day, it
is the child who studies, puts in effort and works hard. Otherwise, whatever the parents do won’t
help.

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Tom: That’s correct but the child needs opportunities. Let me give an example to be more specific.
The impact of parents starts at a very early age I think. When parents start reading books to their
young children, play memory games, legos or other educational games, it seems that children are
better at learning at school.
Jack: And some parents also arrange piano lessons and sports courses. These courses possibly have
an effect.
Tom: They definitely have an effect. And also providing a good education starting from kindergarten
to university.
Jack: So, we both agree that hard work, effort and persistence are the most important factors for
success in life.
Tom: And I am sure that parents’ attitude to education and parenting is important. Thank you.
Jack: My pleasure.

Grammar after Input 2

MINI LISTENING TASK: Personal stories
Carol: Hi, I’m Carol. I’m a 25 year-old research assistant from Manchester. I completed my
undergraduate degree in microbiology. Microbiology can be defined as the study of all living
organisms that are not visible to the naked eye. I have been fascinated with biology since I was a
little girl. The main reason for this was my father’s occupation. He was a medical doctor and from a
young age, I loved listening to him talk about viruses, bacteria and anything else related to biology. I
was also lucky enough to go to a great public school which had 50 students in total. I remember my
class with only 7 of us. Our teachers who always encouraged us to ask questions provided us with a
great learning environment. I remember learning as a fun activity. There was always some exciting
project, play or experiment that we worked on. I remember the time when I played the part of a
scientist in the school play. Our teachers knew us very well and encouraged us to become who we
wanted to.

Kevin: Hello. I’m Kevin, a 72 year-old pensioner from London. I worked as a bank teller for most of
my adult life until I retired a couple of years ago. When I think back to my school days, all I remember
is fear and embarrassment. School wasn’t a happy place. We had a head teacher who had no
tolerance for mistakes or bad behaviour. Any student who made a mistake had to go and sit at the
back of the classroom for the rest of the day. I was so scared of making mistakes so at some point I
stopped talking altogether. Looking back, I think most of my classmates felt the way I did. It is such a
shame because I was a young boy who actually enjoyed learning and loved reading. I wonder how
different my life would have been if I’d had teachers who were more supportive and understanding. I
would have probably gone to university. Now I have two adult children who are both university
graduates and have jobs they love and they are great at.

UNIT 1 INPUT 3
Good morning….good morning… Please take a seat… Your assignments from last week are all here, so
don’t forget to take your feedback on your way out.
Ok, let me pass this lecture outline first so that you can follow it better while you’re taking your
notes. OK? Ok – could you pass these around? (Paper shuffling) Thanks.
All right. So we will continue with the topic of brain, and today, we will focus on neuroplasticity,
a.k.a. brain plasticity.
Let me start with a brief introduction. Our brain is a miraculous machine... it has many fascinating
qualities. Science provides more and more evidence that your brain is malleable, that is M – A – L – L
-E – A – B- L -E. With malleable, I mean that it can be easily shaped, re-formed …and it’s continually
changing in response to your lifestyle, physiology, and environment. We can re-invent our brains.
And we do this through neuroplasticity.

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There were two main misconceptions in the past, in other words, two incorrect assumptions, – and it
was after many years of research that the truth was revealed. The first misconception was that we
thought that the brain was static, errmmm, unchanging, except during some developmental periods
in childhood. This old theory thought our ability to generate new pathways sharply declined around
the age of 20, and then became permanently fixed around the age of 40. But today, we know this
isn’t true, mainly thanks to brain MRI studies. And the second misconception was that we thought
when brain cells were lost, they could not be retrieved. Today we know this isn’t true, either. The
brain can repair, or recreate itself.
Ok, so today, we will be finding more about the brain and intelligence, and we will focus on
neuroplasticity. I will begin my lecture by giving a little bit of a background knowledge defining what
it is, then, I will explain to you two different kinds of plasticity. I will carry on with explaining the
factors that can interfere with neuroplasticity. In the final part of my lecture, I will briefly discuss
some research findings about how to enhance brain plasticity. OK? All of these main areas are listed
in the lecture outlines, so you can use them to guide your note taking.
I’d now like to give you a little bit of background information and the definition of neuroplasticity.
Generally, mental functions tend to start declining by about the fourth decade of life – what I mean
is, brain activity starts to slow down after about 40 years of age. There is a reason why this happens.
This is a time when acquisition of skills and abilities, learning new things slow down. Instead, people
mostly use the abilities and knowledge that they acquired in the first 4 decades of life. They have a
profession, their career has settled, and they apply the fundamental skills that they worked so hard
to get. They are not learning new skills, but mainly using the skills they have learned. . They are now
the master of that profession, and they carry out their tasks related to their job without much mental
effort – they do most things automatically without having to think, without engaging mentally. This is
similar to driving. When we first learn to drive, for a long while, every action and decision needs to be
carefully thought out, all possibilities and risks need to be carefully measured. However, when
driving becomes automatized, we do not really put any mental effort into it. We check the mirrors
automatically – we don’t consciously think “OK I need to check the mirror before I turn right”.
There are huge differences between a brain that is engaging in learning activities compared to a
brain that is not learning many new things. Let me briefly tell you about how engaging in new
learning activities change the brain. As we gain new experiences, or acquire new abilities, we create
new neural pathways… new neural connections that doesn’t exist in the brain of a person who
doesn’t have this ability. These new abilities or experiences redesign the brain. The brain is so
flexible that it continues to create new neurons as we live. With each little piece of information that
we learn, the neurons in our brain create more brain connections.
And this is what we call neuroplasticity. Let me give you a clear and precise definition. In simple
terms, neuroplasticity is, the ability of your brain to change and adapt in response to experience. Ok?
Were you able to get this? To repeat, it’s the ability of your brain to change and adapt in response to
experience ….Ok. I think we can move on?
There are two main kinds of brain plasticity. The first of these is functional plasticity. Functional
plasticity is especially important when areas of the brain are damaged. The brain uses plasticity for
an important purpose: to move functions from the damaged parts of the brain to the undamaged
parts of the brain. Now let me remind you what we learnt about the brain in our previous lecture.
The brain is divided into two parts, a right and a left hemisphere, and in total there are four lobes.
And each of these lobes have about 200 functional areas – so each lobe controls about 200 different
functions. And that’s why if one area of the brain is damaged, it will influence the functions, or skills
that are stored in that area. However, plasticity of the brain makes it possible for it to re-assign new
roles to different parts of the brain. So what I’m trying to say is, although a damage to the brain can
cause speech problems, in time, the brain can re-assign the lost skill to another part of it, and this
new region of the brain can compensate for the lost skill, restoring it. I’m sure you’ve heard before
that blind people are better at hearing than sighted people? Or vice-versa, hearing impaired people
have better vision than people with normal hearing? That’s how through neuroplasticity the brain
can compensate for the lost skill.

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Ok. So that was the first type. Now, moving on to the second kind of plasticity, I’ll briefly tell you
about structural plasticity. Structural ability can be defined as the brain’s ability to actually change its
physical structure as a result of learning. And although the first one may not have got your attention,
I can see that you look rather curious right now. Yes, each time we learn something, our miraculous
brain actually changes its physical structure. You can actually very easily see how this happens. Think
about a time when you first tried to acquire a new skill – let’s say playing the piano. The more you
focus on this new skill and practice it, the better you become, right? And this is actually structural
neuroplasticity in action. Structural neuroplasticity can occur in different ways. First of all, it may
form new neural pathways in response to your learning efforts. Ok? So to rephrase this, the brain
creates new pathways with each new piece of information, or new skill. Furthermore, your brain
displays structural neuroplasticity when it eliminates the pathways you no longer need. So briefly, it
shuts down unused neural pathways. Think about skills that you have lost because you haven’t
practiced for a long time. Do you know the saying “use it or lose it”? Well, that is a scientific fact.
This phenomenon even applies to your emotions. A lot of people are doing courses on mindfulness.
More and more people are practising meditation. Why is that? Well, because science tells us that if a
person usually feels anxiety and stress, their neural pathways will perceive anxiety and stress more
than any other feeling. But you can reverse it. If you make an effort to feel calm and peaceful for the
most part of your day, then the anxiety pathways will be eliminated because of lack of activity - so
the good thing is, we can turn the “use it or lose it” rule to our advantage.
So we need to take this seriously. Can increasing plasticity be the answer to the cognitive decline that
we, as humans, have been experiencing due to our so called “modern life”? And you may be thinking
what cognitive decline is irrelevant since we are all well-educated people
Let me explain. In the past, keeping track of the details used to be extremely important for survival,
but we don’t really need to pay attention to details anymore. Just a tiny example – we had to know
the important telephone numbers by heart. We had to remember all our loved ones’ birthdays, and
remember a doctor’s appointment which could be one month from now. We had to remember the
buildings in our surroundings in order not to get lost.
Today however, we don’t need to pay attention to details. Instead of the to-do lists in our head,
there are electronic gadgets with reminder features. Navigation gadgets help us reach our
destination without really having to think about our location or direction.
So what’s happening is, we are not required to pay attention. Most of the day, our brain is in a
comfortable state, not being challenged. And without sufficient challenge, the brain begins to
deteriorate. Remember the “use it or lose it” rule?
That’s not the only thing that stops neuroplasticity. In childhood, there are three main additional
factors that prevent neuroplasticity from forming sufficient pathways. These factors are
environmental conditions, emotional traumas and nutritional deficiencies. Ok? Did you get that? Let
me repeat for you: environmental conditions, emotional traumas and nutritional deficiencies – I
mean lack of good nutrition.
The good news is… what research into brain plasticity shows us is that we can counteract this
deterioration if we stimulate our brain in the right way. This is important for all of us, people of all
ages, genders and occupations.
There are some key factors that are important to counteract this deterioration. Ok? So to stop this
degeneration and help neuroplasticity and boost our brain power, the activities we need to engage
in must have certain characteristics. The first one is the seriousness of purpose. To put it in a
different way, the task must be important, meaningful or interesting to you. It must grab and hold
your attention. So tasks that do not seem important to you will not stimulate neuroplasticity.
The second factor is that practice makes perfect. In other words, repeating an activity, or repeatedly
retrieving information from memory, or, reviewing your course materials regularly are important to
build better and long lasting connections in the brain.
The third and the last factor I’d like to mention in this lecture is, using already-existing pathways; so
using already existing information when learning. When you learn something new, try to make
connections between concepts. For example, tonight, I want you think about neuroplasticity and

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intelligence. Are they linked? How would a fixed or a growth mindset have an effect on
neuroplasticity? So ask yourself such questions to find links between concepts to achieve a more
successful long-term memory storage and retrieval.
Ok. So these were about tasks that stimulate neuroplasticity. I would like to give a few tips for your
day-to-day life now. How can you improve your brain on a daily basis? First of all, getting daily
physical exercise is a must. At least 15-30 minutes of exercise every day. But – here is the key:
instead of listening to your favourite songs while you are exercising, observe your environment and
pay attention to details. When physical activity is combined with active cognitive processing, the
brain can create new neural networks. The second tip is, and you’re going to like this one particularly,
stay socially engaged. Meet new people so that you can learn from them.. And the third tip I can give
today is practise meditation. Studies have shown that meditation helps neurons to connect better
and in different ways. Ok, just a final one, but I think this is very important for you: avoid processed
foods and sugars. These cause insulin resistance, and insulin resistance damages neurons and causes
brain degeneration.
Well, I think that’s all I have to say on this topic. So let’s spend the next 10 minutes for your
questions. OK – does anyone have any questions or any comments?

UNIT 1 INPUT 5

Ahmet: Good afternoon, professor. We’re here for our tutorials, may we come in?

Berry: Yes, sure, come on in. Take a seat please. I hope you’re ready – as you know if you haven’t
prepared for your tutorial, there is no use for us to do this – it won’t be helpful to you. So if you
didn’t prepare questions and think about parts you need help with, let’s stop right now.

Ahmet: We are ready. Tutorials really help, we appreciate the opportunity.

Berry: Ok, great to hear that. All right, let’s start then. So you’re going to give a presentation on ….

Ahmet: on Savants, or the Savant syndrome – that was the topic that you assigned us.

Berry: Ah, you got one of the most interesting ones.

Ahmet: Yes, we think so, we enjoyed reading about savants, but I must say it’s still complicated.

Berry: Maybe consider explaining the condition to your classmates first – the very basics. How are
you going to define it?

Ahmet: Ermm…we found various definitions but most were a bit too technical. How does this sound:
Savant syndrome is a condition which causes superhuman abilities that result from mental
disabilities…superhuman abilities like being exceptionally good at playing the piano.

Berry: Yes, that’s simple enough. Maybe it may also help to mention here how savants are different
from gifted people.

Ahmet: Right. I don’t quite know how to define giftedness though - There is no universally accepted
definition of it. But we can definitely mention a few key differences. Hmm… First of all, as far as I’m
concerned, unlike savants, people who are gifted have an inherent ability that is not due to a brain-
related issue. There is always a problem with the brain of Savants. The second difference that I found is
that gifted people have a high level of creativity, however, most savants are actually extremely good at
copying or mimicking rather than creating something new. Another difference is…ermm.. let me see…. Ah,
yes…They differ in terms of the scope of their skills. Savant skills typically occur in a very narrow range of
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special abilities, I think it’s usually either music, calendar calculation or mathematical abilities for savants.
But, the scope of gifted people’s abilities are unlimited. The gifted may have a wide range of abilities.
Hmm. And I think maybe we can talk about the movie Rain Man, and the real savant that inspired the
movie. I think that would raise interest.

Berry: Yes, good idea. So what can you tell me about the real savant portrayed by Dustin Hoffman in the
movie? What was he good at?

Ahmet: Well, it’s hard not be jealous of him really. He memorised over 6000 books and he has expert
knowledge on geography, literature, history, and nine other areas of expertise. He can name all the
US area codes and major city zip codes. He has also memorised the maps in the front of telephone
books and can tell you how to get around in a city street by street. He also has calendar-calculating
abilities, so he can for example tell you what day was June the 9th in 1937 in an instant. What I find
the most amazing though, is that he can read simultaneously but separately with his left and right
eye - scanning one page with the left eye and the other page with the right eye at the same time.

We were wondering if we could focus on Acquired Savants though.

Berry: Ok. So tell me – what is the acquired savant syndrome?

Ahmet: We can define it very simply as the condition in which extraordinary abilities emerge after
experiencing some form of brain injury.

Berry: Ok. And why do you want to focus on Acquired Savants?

Ahmet: Well, we are really interested in this because a couple of articles said that this syndrome
indicates that there is a great potential, hidden gifts of skill in all of us. It’s just amazing to think that
there is an inactive, sleeping genius inside all normal people.

Berry: Well, that’s a good reason, but let’s see if you will have enough to say for a 10 minute
presentation. You know that there are typically six main areas of savant skills.

Ahmet: We know of calendar calculations… these savants can identify the day of the week that a
particular date falls on. and, the second area of skills is artistic abilities, which usually involve
painting, sculpturing, etc. The third one I know of is musical abilities. What are the other ones?

Berry: Well, the fourth area of savant abilities is memorisation. These savants have such superior
memory that they can memorise a whole telephone book, for instance. The fifth type of abilities is
lightning calculation.

Ahmet: I’m sorry, Sir, what do you mean by lightning calculation – they don’t count the number of
lightning I guess?

Berry: No no – Not like that. It means instantaneous – so fast like lightning. So this group of savants
can do complex calculations such as square roots etc in seconds.

Ahmet: Oh, OK.

Berry: Ok, you already mentioned artistic abilities – but let me just add that the most common savant
skill is musical ability, followed by artistic ability, especially drawing or sculpting. Ok? So these two
are much more common than other savant abilities. Anyway…Ermmm…. Where were we? Oh, yes,

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the final main group of savant skills is Language ability, which is the rarest of all skills. There was one
savant who could read, write and translate 15 to 20 languages.

Ahmet: Oh, wow.. Thanks.

Berry: Ok. Ok I get that you will focus on accidental savants, but for your friends to understand it
fully, it’s important that you distinguish between classical, or born savants and accidental savants.
Can you tell me the differences between a classical savant and the acquired or accidental savants?

Ahmet: Hmmm. Let me check my notes… Ok so first of all, normal or classical savants are born with
these abilities. What I mean this, those abilities are present from birth. On the other hand, accidental
savants can get their abilities at even a very old age.

Berry: M-Hm., that’s right. What else?

Ahmet: Acquired Savant syndrome only occurs after accidents.

Berry: That’s not right though. Although accidents are the most common trigger, there are many
accidental savants who acquired their skills after a brain disease, like dementia. The most common
reason for classical savant condition is a genetic problem, such as autism.

Ahmet: Oh, ok, so what you’re saying is accidental savants may get their gifts after an accident or
some kind of disease with their brain...whereas classical savants usually have a genetic problem like
autism… Ok we are making a note of it….Ok. Ah, there is another difference, I think but I’m not sure.
Let me check it with you. Based on my notes, classical savants’ brain damage is so severe that they
need assistance – support with their life. Is that right? And unlike classical savants, many acquired
savants can actually lead a healthy life and don’t require assistance.

Berry: Yes, good point, Ahmet….

Ahmet: I found it interesting that for both acquired and classical savant syndrome, female savants
are very rare. Men are 6 times more likely to have the condition.

Berry: That’s right. It’s assumed that this is due to the hormone testosterone. But we need more
research into this. Ok, during your presentation, you will need to mention some examples. Maybe
talk about Derek Amato, for instance.

Ahmet: Derek…?

Berry: Amato. Let me spell it for you. A-M-A-T-O. I’m sure you’ll find lots of information on him but
let me quickly give you an overview. So his story is, one day, he was standing near the swimming
pool, and he ran and jumped in the water – he dived in head first. But he smashed his head into the
pool's floor – you see, the water was quite shallow where he stood. He was immediately taken to the
hospital, where he was simply told to rest in bed for a few days and just take it easy, and he was sent
home. From the outside, there weren’t any major problems that the doctors could identify at that
moment, so they weren’t really worried. But 4 days after the accident, the most amazing thing
happened. Derek noticed an old piano in his friend’s house. And he had never ever played the piano
before. But when he saw it, he felt the urge to start playing it. And when he started to play, he was
playing better than many piano masters. And he played for 6 hours straight.

Ahmet: ….and with no prior training on how to play the piano…. that’s incredible.
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Berry: Well, what are the examples you were planning to give to your friends. Do you have any
information about Orlando Serrell, for instance?

Ahmet: Yes, I found out about him right before our tutorial actually. Let me go over my notes. Hmm..
he is actually a famous savant – he even appeared in some documentaries.. Anyway. So Orlando, he
was….I think he was like maybe 10 years old? (M-hmm…) And he was playing ….playing some ball
game with his friends when the ball hit him on the left side of his head…. Hmmm so again left
hemisphere…., and the ball knocked him unconscious for a minute. But he came to, he gained
consciousness, and he basically got up and continued to play. He was all OK – they didn’t even take
him to the hospital…. errr.. he looked just fine. No bumps or anything. A couple of days later, his
parents observed a new talent. Now Orlando could name the day of the week for any given date. He
could also remember where he was, what he was doing, what the weather was like with almost exact
precision. He can also do complex mathematical calculations although he was not very good at
maths prior to the accident.

Berry: Yes, you’ve got it all right. But don’t forget to mention that what actually makes him so
different than other savants, and such a centre of attention for researchers, especially, is the fact
that apart from these amazing new abilities, Orlando did not suffer ANY side effects. He has had no
complaints due to his brain injury. Not even a headache. So, the researchers began to think this:
Would we be able to artificially induce, I mean artificially cause such great talents? Could we, for
example, stimulate the left hemisphere to create savants on purpose?

Ahmet: Ah well, no wonder. Anyone would be only extremely happy to suddenly gain such wonderful
skills without any side effects.

Berry: Exactly.. So, there is a lot of research going on to investigate how these skills emerge – what
exactly causes these skills to suddenly appear. And there are various theories. Most scientists
attribute this enhanced brain activity to neuroplasticity. And you remember what neuroplasticity is,
right? It was the topic of my lecture in the last lesson we had. So just to repeat, it’s the capacity of
the neurons and neural networks in the brain to develop and change throughout life. Many scientists
think that the brain somehow learns to make new connections and that’s how savants demonstrate
those skills. But one scientist called Miller disagreed. Miller said this skill development cannot be
explained by neuroplasticity…. Instead, he put forward a different argument. Miller’s argument is
based on an important similarity between classical savants and accidental savants. This similarity is,
when we analyse the brains of savants, classic or accidental, almost always the left hemisphere is
affected, and right hemisphere is always intact – in other words, undamaged.

So Miller’s theory is that the left brain is mainly responsible for preventing the right brain to go free.
Miller claims that before the brain damage happened, the left brain used to prevent super human
abilities. So these abilities were already present, but they were being inhibited, they were prevented
from surfacing by the left hemisphere. But, when the left brain is damaged, those walls that were
preventing these skills suddenly disappear and the right brain is free. In other words, he argues that
the skills emerge because the right brain, which is associated with creativity, can now function freely
as the left hemisphere is damaged, and it cannot keep the right brain under control.

But these days a third theory is more widely accepted. More and more scientists today support the
idea of genetic transmission of knowledge… that the rules of math, the rules of music, the rules of
art might all be transmitted genetically.

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Ahmet: Genetically? That’s an interesting theory.

Berry: Remember Derek Amato

Ahmet: Yes, the piano player.

Berry: Yes. Ok, well, like I said he never had any training in playing the piano – he never even tried to.
But his grandmother used to play the piano at church every Sunday, and Derek used to sit with her
when she played when he was a child.

Ahmet: Interesting, but I’m still sceptical about this whole genetic memory or genetic knowledge
theory I must say.

Berry: And you’re right to be. But the more you read and explore, the more examples you can find.
Examples like child prodigies. There was a boy called Jay Greenberg. He was a musical genius. Jay had
composed 5 symphonies by the time he was 11 years old. But what’s more interesting is, when Jay
was just 3 years old, he started drawing cellos. His parents didn’t know how to play the cello, and
they didn’t have one at home. So one day, he was 5 years old then, they took him to a music store.
He directly went up to the cellos and started playing one – and he hadn’t even seen a real one until
then. I think nothing but genetic memory can explain this.

Anyway, if it is true, and we have a genetic memory, if we have abilities waiting to be stimulated,
perhaps it can be done without any medical intervention. That’s what some researchers are studying
now. Whether the right brain can be unleashed, I mean, can be let free to realise the potential within
ourselves. And they are looking into two separate possible ways to do this. Meditation is one way.
Studies show that connection between neurons between people meditating and not meditating are
obviously different, with more links between neurons in people who meditate. The second method is
spending more time on arts and music especially.

Ok. So this looks good. I think your presentation will be interesting and your friends will be all ears.
Do you have any questions?

Ahmet: Not for now, thank you. We will be heading to IC now to go over the notes my friend took
and we’ll start preparing our visual aids. Have a good day.

Berry: Thanks, you too.

Grammar After Unit 1 Input 5: Listening transcript:

All relative clauses modify a noun or a pronoun. The difference between a defining and non-defining
relative clause is the type of information given in the clause. Defining clauses give essential
information about the noun or pronoun they modify while non-defining clauses give extra
information. In terms of punctuation, a non-defining clause is separated from the sentence with
commas.

Non-defining relative clauses are more common in academic writing than in speaking and are a good
way to introduce extra information about a noun or pronoun in a longer sentence. This structure
may improve the flow of your writing and help you avoid overusing short and choppy sentences.

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 UNIT 2 INPUT 1

Will artificial intelligence take over the world? Will it surpass our own? Will it mean massive-job loss?
Will Artificial intelligence end human race? We fear what we don’t understand.

Artificial Intelligence, or A.I., is cutting-edge technology. It is a complicated topic for many people.
There are many technical terms that are used even in the simplest newspaper articles… Deep
learning, machine learning, generalized AI, narrow IA and there are many more terms. What do all
these refer to? Today my aim is to give you a clear sense of the meanings of these different terms,
and hopefully you will be able to make better sense of the concepts that are frequently referred to in
the news.

In my lecture today I will begin by giving you an overview of AI by first defining AI and AI
technologies, and then I wıll be going over the three stages of Artificial Intelligence, namely Artificial
Narrow Intelligence, Artificial General Intelligence, and Artificial Superintelligence. Following this
section, I would like to briefly go over the advantages of Artificial Intelligence over human
intelligence. The third part of my lecture will be based on the history of Artificial Intelligence, and the
Turing test. In the final section of my lecture I will go over three key concepts that are frequently
used when talking about Artificial Intelligence, these are Big Data, Machine Learning and Deep
Learning.

All right. Let me start by giving you a definition for Artificial Intelligence. Artificial Intelligence can
simply be defined as the capability of a machine to imitate intelligent human behaviour. Let me
elaborate on that. Artificial intelligence is basically a computer programme…..these programmes can
copy intelligent human behaviour and they can achieve tasks that require human intelligence. I think
it is important for you to understand this definition because it clearly shows how wide the scope of
Artificial Intelligence is.

We can divide AI broadly into three stages. The first of these is artificial narrow intelligence. It is also
sometimes called Weak AI. The second stage is called artificial general intelligence. This form of
artificial intelligence is also known as Strong AI. And finally, the third hypothetical stage is artificial
super intelligence (ASI). I am now going to explain these terms for you as simply as I can.

The first form of AI is Artificial Narrow Intelligence, a.k.a, Weak AI. As its name suggests, we use this
term to refer to Artificial Intelligence which is only capable of certain, specific human abilities. To put
it in another way, Narrow Intelligence is AI that is restricted to only one functional area. It can even
surpass human intelligence on one specific thing, but only on that one thing. Let me illustrate what
Narrow AI can do. Since you are listening to this lecture, I assume that you are interested in AI and
have been reading about it. If so, you must know about Deep Blue. But just in case there are those of
you who are just starting to learn about AI, Deep Blue is the name of the computer programme that
played chess with the world chess champion Kasparov. In 1996, Deep Blue was dubbed the first
machine ever to win a chess game against a world champion. I think you have a clearer picture now?
Deep Blue cannot surpass human intelligence in any other abilities – it is only good at playing chess.
This is what it was designed for. So as you can see, Narrow AI, or Weak AI is the area where we have
been successful at making rapid and effective progress.

At this point, you may be wondering if you ever encounter Narrow Intelligence yourself. You do. It
has been in our lives for quite a long time, actually. Let me give you a few examples. Your smart
phone is full of artificial intelligence applications. You are using narrow artificial intelligence when
you use map applications, check the weather, or set your alarm.

Artificial Narrow Intelligence is considered to be the safest form of AI. This is mainly because any
issues that may be triggered by a Narrow AI going wrong would be local and isolated. There isn’t an
external threat. This means that although narrow AI could also cause damage, at the very least, it is
possible to intervene as soon as a problem is detected.
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Examples of this have been observed in economy. For instance, the 2016 pound flash crash is claimed
to have been triggered by a trading algorithm malfunction. Let me define what a trading algorithm
is. Algorithmic trading is the use of computers to make large trades effectively and efficiently – so
basically, some software makes trade – buys and sells automatically – without any human input. We
have such software because compared to a human, AI can trade faster, and with greater accuracy.
How can it be more accurate than humans? Well, first of all, it removes human emotion from
investing decisions. And secondly, unlike humans, the program makes these decisions based on data
by analysing news headlines, social media, and so on. They can analyse vast amounts of information
far quicker compared to humans. Finally, these systems save on labour costs.

Let me briefly explain how the software works. AI keeps collecting data from multiple sources as I
have just explained. Then, if AI detects positive comments on a product, it will take it as a signal to
buy more of it because the price is likely to increase. If there are negative comments or news, the
software will take it as a signal that it should sell what it has before the prices went further down.
However, sometimes, this automated process can result in unexpected problems, and the 2016
pound flash crash is an example. What happened was, the French president made some comments
on Brexit. You know, on the fact that Britain decided to exit the European Union.. After this
comment, the value of the pound dropped. Financial experts claim that the drop was because of the
software… because the software overreacted to the comments on the social media on the French
president’s claims, and sold the pounds in the investment accounts. The British Pound already had
been losing value since the voting for Brexit. What made the experts blame the algorithm for this one
specifically was that the pound fell more than 6 per cent against the US dollar and it happened just
overnight. So this happened in an unusually short time – in a flash- and it was a sharp fall – a crash-:
A flash crash.

Well, I know this sounds horrific, but although it did cause some financial problems, eventually we
were able to stop the drop, and the pound roughly went up to its previous value before the flash
crash.

Although this issue was resolved in the end without too much damage, we should still be very
careful, because as technology advances, we create complex ecosystems of AI. Banks, Stock Market,
Cell phones… AI is all around us. We need to make sure that each of these AI systems is secure and
harmless. And this is our job as computer scientists. AI companies probably spend more time on
ensuring their systems are secure than they do on designing new systems.

Now let’s move on to the second type of AI, which is Artificial General Intelligence, it’s also called
Generalized AI. Artificial General Intelligence refers to forms of Artificial intelligence that are capable
of anything that humans can do. In other words, Artificial General Intelligence comprises of systems
or devices which can in theory handle any task that requires human intelligence. So what I mean is,
with Artificial General Intelligence, the machine's intelligence is functionally equal to a human's. If
Artificial Narrow Intelligence is like the mind of a baby, Artificial General intelligence is like the adult
mind. Machines with Artificial General Intelligence will be superior to humans in several fields like
reasoning, problem solving and abstract thinking. Think about the movie, Terminator, or C-3 PO in
Star Wars.

And the final stage of Artificial Intelligence is the Artificial Superintelligence. This form of intelligence
is an intellect that surpasses human intelligence in every field. If this is achieved one day, machines
will outsmart every human being from every aspect you can imagine, such as scientific creativity,
social skills, or even arts. And this form of artificial intelligence is what all the fierce discussions about
human extinction and the machine age focus on. There is one more concept that I should mention
here, and that is, singularity. Singularity is the term used to refer to the moment when artificial

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intelligence exceeds man's intellectual capacity. Some scientists, like Elon Musk, warn against this,
and so did Stephen Hawking – against creating Artificial Superintelligence and leading to a moment
when a machine will exceed human intellectual capacity.

I would like to now very briefly mention the advantages of AI that exceed human capability. Let me
first tell you about the hardware related advantages of computers. The first hardware related
advantage is speed. Current computers can process information 10 million times faster than the
human brain can. The second advantage computers have is that they can expand and increase their
storage capacity, whereas humans have limited access to their long-term memory, and very limited
short term memory. The third benefit is reliability. Computers are always accurate – they do not have
false memories. Also, while humans’ brains can deteriorate due to aging or other reasons, computers
can continue to perform in the same way nonstop.

The second group of advantages of computers over humans is related to their software. First of all,
computers have software that receive regular updates. They can be upgraded. Secondly, and I think
this is the biggest advantage, computers have collective capability. Unlike humans, computers can
sync, and anything new that is learnt will be accessible to other computers that can connect.

So you may be wondering, how did this all start? Well, in this part of my lecture, I would like to give
you a very brief overview of the history of AI. After the second world war, intelligent machines that
can help countries gain advantage over others became important. Therefore, researchers and
scientists in various countries independently started to work on intelligent machines to surpass the
technology in other countries. And there was one scientist, Alan Turing, who developed a computer
programme that cracked the German Enigma code that the German soldiers were using. Thanks to
Turing’s technology, Germany lost the war. Alan Turing’s story is very sad actually – World War’s
greatest hero was later arrested by his government and imprisoned for a year. He eventually
committed suicide. If it weren’t for Turing, historians believe the war would have lasted two more
years. But anyway, after the war was over, Turing was amazed by how much can be achieved by
programming, and he continued to work on programming and designing computers. In those years,
he was the first person to put forward the question: Can Machines think? He even gave a lecture on
artificial intelligence as early as 1947. And he became the founding father of the Artificial Intelligence
idea. I must add here that at that time the concept was not referred to as “Artificial Intelligence” –
this name, I mean the phrase ‘Artificial Intelligence’ was coined by a different scientist, John
McCarthy, in 1956. Going back to Turing, his contribution to the area of AI is not just this. As well as
being the founding father of AI, he also proposed a test that can tell whether a machine can really
think. I will talk about the Turing test now.

Ok. Turing asked his famous question ‘can machines think’ in an article in 1950. His article was called
‘Computing Machinery and Intelligence’ – you can actually read it online for free if you are
interested. Anyway. His article, began with a seemingly simple question – ‘can machines think’ – and
this was followed by the description of a test that he proposed to evaluate whether machines can
actually think. He called this test “the imitation game”, and it’s actually very simple and
straightforward to set up.

I will now briefly describe the imitation game in very simple terms. According to Turing’s proposal,
the test is conducted as some kind of an imitation game. A human judge sits in an isolated room, and
has a computer chat program open. The judge chats with some mysterious participants through the
online chat program. The judge asks questions to the participants. One of the participants is a
chatbot – some kind of AI. The chatbot’s goal is to trick the judge into thinking that it is the real
human. The goal of the judge is to identify which of the participants is a machine. For the machine to
pass the test there is one criterion - the responses from the computer must be indistinguishable
from that of a human. Since Turing proposed this seemingly simple test, some scientists have
developed it to make it even harder to pass. For example, some have increased the chat duration
from 5 minutes to 2 hours. I must add that for the first time in history, in 2014, a machine passed the

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simplest form of the Turing test after a 5 minute chat. However, as impressive as this may sound,
most scientists argue that the duration of the test should be not less than 25 minutes. Another
change that has been proposed is that there should be at least 4 judges. And finally, most scientists
agree that at least 3 out of 4 judges should be deceived by the machine.

I must mention that this test has significance because it actually set a long-term target for computer
scientists all around the world. Turing basically defined what researchers for decades would strive
toward since 1950. We believe that this has enabled the scientists to approach AI from many
different pathways but always with the same aim in mind. Without such a vision of what AI should
achieve, Artificial Intelligence might have never been formed, or it might have remained just as a
branch of maths or philosophy. But thanks to Turing, scientists from many different areas collaborate
in order to create together.

In the final part of my lecture I will try to explain three terms that are commonly used with AI. The
terms are Big Data, Machine Learning and Deep Learning – I am sure you must have heard about
them, they are very commonly used these days. But many people get confused by them.

To start with, let’s focus on Big Data. The invention of the Internet, and technological advances that
enabled us to store and share information digitally started a new digital revolution. The digital
Revolution has meant that every little piece of information humans have can be stored digitally,
thanks to computers’ increasing storage capacities. It enabled us to store data in all forms and from
anywhere in the world. This digital collection of information is called ‘big’ because the data is
enormous in size, it is complex, and it can be made available to everyone. However, one major
disadvantage is that it is so large, complex and unstructured, I mean, so disorganised that it can be
extremely hard to find what you need. Let’s say a company would like to understand how it is
perceived by its potential customers. First, they would need to be able to identify people who would
be likely to buy their products. For this, they would need to search people who buy, use, or search
for products that are similar to their own. The data they can use could be coming from social media
like twitter and Instagram, internet search engines and search results, e-commerce platforms, and
many more.

That is why it is quite a hard task for a human to first find the data that can be useful for a particular
task, then bring all relevant data together, and then analyse and reach a conclusion. It would take a
person decades to find and bring together the relevant data from this wealth of information.
However, for a computer that has a processing ability of million times faster compared to the human
brain, this is an easy task.

Ok so I hope Big Data as a concept is clearer now? To put it in a nutshell, we can define it as large
volumes of digital data. The data is enormous, complex and it’s readily available, but it’s also too big
and too unstructured for humans to use it efficiently and effectively.

This is where Machine Learning comes into play, so let me tell you a bit about Machine Learning.
Machine Learning is one Artificial Intelligence technique that we use to process Big Data. The aim of
Machine Learning is to give machines the ability to learn without explicit programming, I mean
without a human being programming it. Machine Learning has certain features. One of them is that it
uses Big Data instead of human programming to complete a task. The second important feature is
that it is self-adaptive. In other words, it adapts and improves itself when it has access to new data.
The machine is trained, and performs the task better with each new data. For example, spam filters
are designed this way. The program determines if an e-mail is spam or not by matching the new e-
mails to samples of language that spam mails usually contain, or the sender to a list of spam-mail
senders. Let’s say the computer couldn’t detect a spam. You can indicate that the e-mail or that
sender as spam manually. Once you do that, the software will recognise it and will filter messages
similar to the one you indicated as spam. So to put that a bit more simply, with machine learning,
machines can improve their performance by using previous experience. Its purpose is enabling
computers to learn from data with minimal programming,
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Let me illustrate how this works for a simple game of tic-tac-toe. You may know this game as noughts
and crosses. All computers can play tic tac toe. In traditional, less sophisticated programs, a
programmer defines all the data – all the strategies that the computer can use are given to it. The
computer can play the game only within the limits of what it was already defined. However, with
machine learning, the programme doesn’t have any strategies defined. It is only given a set of rules
and a target. So the computer needs to play the game over and over again until it starts to form its
strategies itself. Just like humans, right? Through trial and error. Imitating the way humans learn is
the most fundamental principle of machine learning.

Ok, I think you have at least a rough idea about machine learning now. I would like to now move on
to the final topic of my lecture: deep learning. Deep Learning is a type of machine learning. Machines
learn by using artificial neural networks – just like the neural networks in the human brain. The
machine uses these networks to learn. It synthesises different kinds of information to make
inferences. For example, if you transfer a large amount of money, the traditional banking system will
detect it, and you will get a call from the bank. However, deep learning enables the programme to
analyse various pieces of information – not just the amount of money you spend. It analyses time,
your geographic location, IP address, where you usually shop, age or gender appropriateness of the
purchased item, and a lot more data. So you may get a call from the bank because an online
purchase was made at 3 a.m., for instance, or because you transferred money to a person who is not
in your phone’s contact list.

Another example could be the Go Game. It’s been regarded as one of the biggest challenges in the
field of artificial intelligence. This is mainly because of the amount of creativity and freedom
involved. There are almost no set rules – you start with a blank board, and you have to develop new
strategies for each move your opponent makes. Therefore, strategies that your opponent may use
are not easily predictable. Moves are mostly intuitive and spontaneous. However, despite all these,
Google’s DeepMind program has succeeded in defeating the world’s best Go player. DeepMind’s Go
moves were made of entirely new ways of approaching a game that was created three hundred years
ago. DeepMind used deep learning.

And I think this brings us to the end of my lecture. I hope you’ve enjoyed it and that I was able to
explain the key concepts related to AI. In my open lecture next week, I will be going over the dangers
associated with AI, so if you are interested, make sure you come back next week.

Unit 2 Grammar after Input 2

Dear friends. In the last lesson, Melis did a presentation on the similarities between the human brain
and artificial intelligence. Today I will briefly talk about the main differences between human
intelligence and AI. I researched this topic on the internet and one difference that kept coming up
was the cognitive process. This is one area we can say we are still better at than AI applications. The
human brain currently contains more processing sources than AI. Unlike AI, our brains incorporate
emotions and self-awareness when we are processing and evaluating information. Human
intelligence also differs from AI in consciousness. Whereas consciousness is one of our most
important features as humans, AI completely lacks in consciousness. It is in fact our consciousness
that makes us a life-long learner, always hungry for knowledge. A third difference is skills. Our brains
make it possible for us to learn and manage hundreds of skills during our lifetime. On the contrary, AI
is usually designed for a specific number of skills or tasks. Finally, our multitasking skills separate us
from AI technologies. Despite the advances in the field of AI, we are still in the lead when it comes to
multitasking. Although robots and other AI systems can be taught individual responses for different
tasks, this is a very time consuming process, which makes it impractical. So these are the differences I
was able to find for my presentation. Thank you for listening.

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 UNIT 2 INPUT 3

Interviewer/Celia: Good afternoon. This week in our program we meet again with our guests to
discuss important technological concepts. Today James Carter joins us to explain to our listeners a
buzzword in any area that involves technology. We are talking about Big Data. Jimmy, welcome to
the show. Big Data has become relevant to the lives of not just the tech-geeks, but every one of us in
one way or other. So let’s try to make our discussion accessible for everyone who might be listening
to us.

James: Sure Celia. I think it’s a good idea. Actually, let’s start by defining Big Data, shall we?

Celia: Great idea – ok James, so what is Big Data?

James: The term refers to a collection of data from both traditional and digital sources that may be
inside and outside your company. Let me repeat that again. It’s data sets from traditional and digital
sources inside and outside your company. Big Data represents a source for ongoing discovery and
analysis. Business world is extremely competitive today, and for this reason, companies have to find
and analyse the data they need very quickly. We need to understand that these data sets are so
large or complex that traditional methods and software for processing data is inadequate.

Celia: How big? Can you at least give us some idea?

James: Well, the amount of data is almost inconceivable, and it just keeps growing, but I’ll try.
Hmmm…For instance, currently there are 5,200 gigabytes of data on every person in the world. 5200
gigabytes on each one of us. This probably adds up to hmm… let’s see…40 zettabytes, or to put it in a
different way, 43 trillion gigabytes. It is estimated that 2.5 quintillion bytes, or in other words, 2.3
trillion gigabytes of data are created every day. And what’s more, ninety percent of the world’s
digital data was created just over the past two years.

Celia: …and how do we create such large amounts data, James?

James: Most of us create this data from the moment we wake up. We check the news first thing in
the morning from our cell phones. This creates data on web history – I mean which news stories are
read, which news sources are visited. We leave home to commute to work, and we create traffic
patterns, which are recorded by satellites. When we visit the doctor’s, and we have a simple blood
test, our medical information, test results are stored. Social media, traffic cameras, mobile devices,
bank transactions, any shopping we do online constantly store data about us. We call these digital
footprints. We leave these digital footprints whenever we do something online.

Celia: I see. Why is Big Data becoming such an important concept? Why does it matter?

James: It matters because Big Data works on the principle that if you know about more about a
situation, you can gain new, reliable insights into it, and also you can make predictions about what
will happen in the future. This is because once you start using and comparing a wider range and
bigger size of data, new links and relationships that were previously hidden will begin to emerge.
What I mean is we begin to see new connections between data that we could not see before. Thanks
to these new links, we can learn and inform our decisions.

Celia: James, correct me if I’m wrong, but as far as I’m concerned, when we talk about Big Data, we
talk about 3 Vs, right? Volume, Velocity, Variety?

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James: Yes, let’s repeat these characteristics for our listeners: volume, velocity and variety. These
terms are used to refer to any challenges as well as opportunities that Big Data creates. Different
companies may actually add other characteristics. For example, IBM adds Veracity. But let’s
concentrate on the 3 Vs for today, shall we?

Celia: Yes, so I think we already discussed Volume, am I right?

James: Yes, that’s right – we gave examples of the volume, or the size of Big Data. Let me define it
just to make sure it’s crystal clear to everyone: Big Data refers to the quantity of data. The quantity of
the data has significance because it determines its value and potential. Let me illustrate my point.
Facebook has roughly 250 billion images stored as we speak. Another example could be to-do list
applications that we all download. If you use the free version, all your tasks are stored. Just one
application called todoist has 10 million users. 10 million.
Celia:… so we can move on to the second characteristic now.

James: Right; let me tell you more about variety, and we gave examples at the beginning of our talk.
Variety in terms of Big data refers to the range of data types and sources. Data comes in all types of
formats – as we discussed before, this can range from structured, numeric data, such as how many
people clicked on a particular link, ermmm… to unstructured data such as email, text documents,
video, audio data and financial transactions. Unstructured data comprises the biggest chunk of data
available. So, that’s variety in a nutshell. Let me now talk about velocity. Velocity. Now remember
the Facebook example?

Celia: Yeah, you said it has about 250 billion images.

James: Right. So this size related to volume. But we also need to realise that Facebook users upload
more than 900 million photos a day. So can you imagine how many pictures it will have stored by the
end of one year?

Celia: So are you saying that velocity is the measure of how fast the data accumulates?

James: That’s exactly my point. Velocity can be described as the speed of data in and out. Now – I
guess you can imagine the problems this brings about. The first issue is, the traditional software that
the companies use to process data isn’t adequate for this kind of flow. Going back to the Facebook
example, the number of photographs it has to process is just huge. It has to receive them all without
any failure, process them, put them in the right folders, and it needs to be able to retrieve them
later, when you want to see your old pictures…. And it’s just not possible for traditional software to
cope with this flow. Another major problem is that such a fast flow of data passing through the
firewall makes it easier for cybercriminals to hide their attacks. And this results in an increase in
cybercrimes. For this reason, any data coming in has to be monitored, investigated and analysed
constantly. The issues related to velocity are expected to be on the rise with a hot topic, I mean the
Internet of Things. Because of the…

Celia: James, I'm really sorry for interrupting, but perhaps you could first explain to our listeners what
you mean by the Internet of Things.

James: Oh, yes, absolutely. Right. Simply put, Internet of Things is a network of devices that are
internet-connected. These things are able to collect and exchange data using their sensors. A thing in
the Internet of Things may include cell phones, coffee makers, washing machines, animals with
biochips, wearable devices such as your smart watch, a heart monitor implant, or car sensor that

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informs a driver when the tire pressure is low, and almost anything else you can think of – anything
that can send data over a network. It’s estimated that in a couple of years, there will be around 100
billion devices connected devices.

Celia: And you said that the Internet of Things is a new concept and it’s becoming more widespread. I
think we need more explanation on this - could you elaborate on that a little?

James: Sure. The Internet of Things is on the rise for a number of reasons. First of all, the cost of
technology and internet connection is dropping, and this means it’s more widely available. What’s
more, more devices are designed with sensors and Wi-Fi capabilities. It’s a concept that we have only
recently began to talk about, but it actually dates back to 1980s. Can you guess the first internet
appliance - the first ever machine connected to the internet?

Celia: Mmhh. No, sorry. Nothing comes to my mind. Was it a medical device?

James: The first ever device to be connected to the Internet was a Coke Machine.

Celia: A coke Machine??

James: That’s right. It was a machine at a university. The programmers connected it to the internet so
that they could see the status of the machine – you know, to see if there is any coke for them or not
– they wanted to see if the machine had drinks in it before they had to walk all the way to the
machine.

Celia: (laughs) Ok. I think now I get why you started to talk about the Internet of Things while
discussing Velocity, and I guess the Internet of Things is also related to Volume and Variety as well,
isn’t it? I mean, so much data from so many different sources flow and accumulate. What do we do
with all this information?

James: The opportunities are just starting to unveil – we are just starting to open the door of
opportunities. Big Data has started making our lives more practical – like when you are on your way
home, and you can start the heating system from your cell phone. Or your alarm clock wakes you up
as well as start the coffee machine.

Celia: Smart homes?

James: Yes, smart homes. But this is just the beginning. Think about smart factories, smart cities…
Traffic cameras that detect issues, re-arrange the traffic lights accordingly, inform the traffic police of
extraordinary congestion and the firefighters in case of accidents.

Celia: I see, I see. And how are all these linked to Artificial Intelligence?

James: That’s a great question. With the Internet of Things and Big Data, artificial intelligence and
humans are interconnected. This is how artificial intelligence impacts human life directly. We humans
have been able to create, collect and store data. What we cannot do is process, analyse and make
sense of data in time to take action. But AI, on the other hand, takes this data, analyses it instantly,
compare with any data that may be even remotely relevant to act – all in seconds. We can make big
decisions that affect millions of people’s lives.

Celia: Shall we summarise a few key areas where Big Data provides us advantages? This may perhaps
help us better understand the implications on our lives.

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James: Ok. I think first and foremost, we should talk about medical applications. Remember, our
medical history is stored with all the medicine we have used, our symptoms, diagnosis, prognosis,
test results, MR images. AI can use Big Data to analyse this data to search for patterns which can help
spot disease early and develop new medicines. Let’s think about a person wearing a heart monitor
device, which constantly sends data. Or a person struggling with diabetes, who measures his blood
sugar regularly. If this data can get sent automatically to the physicians, their doctors can contact
them immediately when there is an abnormality, and achieve more accurate clinical decisions. The
same data can inform government health agencies or health care organizations to conduct thorough
research to deal with these health issues at a national or global level. The data from all patients with
similar kind of health problem can be collated to identify changes in the nature of diseases, analyse
and come up with effective treatment methods, and improve long-term patient care. In the future,
we may even come up with personalised medicine.

Celia: What about disasters? I guess we can use it to predict certain extreme weather conditions,
when an earthquake will strike in a certain area, etc. couldn’t we?

James: Absolutely. It’s not only predicting them, but also responding to natural and man-made
disasters in a timely manner. What I mean is, patterns of human behaviour during and after disaster
can be analysed, which will help aid organizations give relief more efficiently.

Celia: I read an article where Big Data was described as a game changer for business life. Could you
expand on it a little?

James: Yeah, that’s a good way of putting it. It really is a game changer and the thing is, we predict
that companies who don’t invest in Big Data applications won’t be able to compete. There are so
many benefits for companies, but overall, we can say that Big Data boosts production and efficiency.
Secondly, despite the usually unpredictable nature of customers, it can help companies predict
future trends. Another important advantage is better targeting of consumers for advertisements.
Companies can identify their potential consumers and reach out to them in a more efficient and cost-
effective way.

Celia: But I guess nothing comes without a price to pay. So what is it? What are the concerns that we
need to take into consideration?

James: Yes, indeed. Big Data provides us with unprecedented insights and opportunities, but it also
raises concerns and questions that must be addressed soon. Let me quickly go over two of these. As
you can imagine, with so much data being shared about us, the main concern is data privacy. We
may not be even aware of the types of information that are collected on us. Some of them may not
bother you, like your daily total step count, but some may be worrying, such as your e-mail
exchanges. Private data can be revealed without users’ consent or knowledge. The second concern
is data security. What if our data is stolen? What can a person with bad intentions do with them?
What if the data belongs to our bank account? What about a company’s bank accounts?

Celia: That’s a good point – big companies are putting themselves at a certain risk, as well. And what
about governments, right?

James: Yes, but let’s not forget that using big data within governmental processes allows efficiencies
in terms of cost, productivity, and innovation. Despite all concerns, leading governments are
investing in Big Data. Just to give you an example, in 2012, the U.S.A. announced a national "Big Data
Initiative" for which they allocated a budget of $200 million. In the U.K., the founding of the Alan
Turing Institute was announced in 2014. The institute focuses on finding new ways to collect and
analyse large data sets. So as you can see, Big Data is a part of our future.

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Celia: James, on a related note, I get confused about one thing; it would be great if you could clarify
this one last point for me. My question is about cloud systems or cloud services or cloud
computing…. Are these the same thing as big data? What is the cloud?

James: Yeah, we get this question a lot, so thanks for giving me the chance to clarify it to our listeners
as well. The cloud is a buzzword in the technology world, we hear it a lot, don’t we? The cloud refers
to software and services that run on the Internet, instead of locally on your computer. Some
examples of cloud services include Google Drive, Apple iCloud, Netflix, Yahoo Mail, Dropbox and
Microsoft OneDrive. The advantage of the cloud is that you can access your information on almost
any device with an internet connection. When we say some data is stored in the cloud, we actually
mean that it is not stored on your computer, but stored on some servers in a data-centre that may be
located anywhere on Earth— and when you need to retrieve your data, the network of servers find
what you need and deliver it to you. So in short, although they are often confused, these two terms
are entirely different. The cloud simply refers to the platform for saving and accessing large volumes
of data. In other words, big data is the information, and the cloud is a system that allows us to save
and access information.

Celia: Ah, this has been very helpful, thank you. I think it’s time for a few questions from our
listeners, if that’s OK?

James: Yes, sure, let’s do so.

UNIT 2 INPUT 5

Good afternoon. This is the Technology in Perspective program, where we have roundtable
discussions with experts on technology related issues. I’m your host, Janet Troy, and today we are
hosting three panellists to discuss the issue of Artificial Intelligence and Ethics. With our panellists
Alison Chan, a professor of social psychology; Brian Trump, who is a digital anthropologist, and Tony
Dellar, a researcher on Robotics. Experts in the field of AI express concerns as well as excitement in
response to the recent and impressive advancements in AI. Today we will try to tackle some
complicated issues related to AI and ethics, and provide you with a detailed view to give you a better
understanding.

So, shall we start with you, Alison? Before we delve into the ethics of AI, I would like to know what
your general view of AI is? Do you think AI will bring the end of humanity? Given the potential of the
threats and risks, are you welcoming or fearful of AI?

Alison: Well, I can say I’m partially enthusiastic about it but mostly dreading it. I think it is good that
AI systems are becoming widespread, as this means more things will be automated through AI -
more things will be operated automatically in many different areas of life. With this increased levels
of automation, I believe AI will bring precision, order, and efficiency into even more areas of life.

Host: And what do you dread?

Alison: I do worry that AI might take total control over humanity, and in my opinion even in its
current form, we don’t have much control over AI.

Host: Hmm. Well, what about you Tony?

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Tony: I’m also cautious but welcoming. I think we should all be cautious. I agree with Alison that AI
will increase our efficiency in various areas from banking to education. But I also believe that a lot of
effort should be put into taking appropriate measures to prevent AI from harming humanity.

Host: I see, I see… And Brian?

Brian: Oh, I’m very much welcoming the idea – I must say I just can’t understand all these doomsday
scenarios like the ones Alison has mentioned. I don’t believe AI poses any major threats. I mean, we
trust AI to be a major part of our lives. We use it in banking and stock market, right? We use it in
medicine. From diagnosis to creation of new treatment methods or surgeries, we rely on AI to
perform all sorts of medical procedures. We trust AI with our lives. So the thought that AI could
damage humanity seems like a far-fetched fantasy to me.

Alison: Ok let me explain the main worry then. Technology experts claim that around the middle of
this century, there will come a time when the singularity will occur. This means AI will become self-
programming, autonomous – independent from any human input. It will re-design itself
independently. This kind of super-intelligence will surely lead to advances and breakthroughs in
many aspects of life. In education, science, medicine to name a few. But, there is also the other side
of the coin. Once these super smart machines surpass human intelligence, we will no longer be in
charge. We can never know what they will be capable of doing or what kind of threats they may pose
to humankind. For this reason, we need to think in advance, before AI outsmarts us and our hands
are tied. If we don’t control the development of this super-intelligence now, we may be engineering
our very own extinction.

Brian: What you are describing only happens in science fiction movies. Do you really believe that AI
will become an evil monster?

Alison: No, I don’t think they will be evil like in science fiction movies of course. But we should
understand that when singularity is here, humans will be to AI as ants are to us. Let’s say you want a
pool in your backyard. But there are ant colonies there. What do you do? You keep on with your
work, which destroys the ant colonies. That does not make you a bad person, and your intention is
not evil. What I fear is that the same thing will happen to us. It’s not that AI will be hostile to
humans, but that they will be indifferent to us. They will ignore the presence of the human race if we
get in the way when they are working towards a target they set for themselves. I am concerned that
this indifference is what will bring our downfall.

Brian: I am sorry but let’s think back – it was in 1997 – in 1997 when AI was able to beat the human
champion in chess. Has anything threatening to humanity happened since then? I don’t think so.
There hasn’t been any events at all that implied that AI could get out of control. It is still humans
creating these systems and programs. Surely we can deal with any issues that may possibly create
complications.

Tony: You have a point, Brian, but what about the snowball effect? At the beginning of any scientific
or technological development, progress is very slow. It took from 1950s to 1997 for a computer to
beat a human in chess. But in time, progress will accelerate. Before we know it, AI will have become
an indispensable part of our lives, and we must be ready for any potential risks.

Alison: I must say I agree with Tony on this. When we reach the point of singularity, it will be too late
if we don’t take any action now.

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Brian: Yes, I get what you’re saying, but AI is already everywhere. People don’t even realise that
when they use the brakes in their cars, they are using AI. Each time you transfer money to your
child’s account, you use AI. We fear it as a concept at first, but once it enters our lives, we are not
even aware that we are using AI everywhere.

Alison: What you are referring to are all examples of Narrow AI, though.

Tony: Yes exactly. All of those examples belong to Narrow Artificial Intelligence, and humans still
have great advantage over Narrow AI forms. Of course, it will be a totally different story when
Artificial General Intelligence is fully functional.

Host: What exactly are our advantages?

Alison: Let me take this question. Humans have different types of intelligence that at least the
Narrow AI models are far from reaching. For instance, there is social intelligence, emotional
intelligence, spatial intelligence, just to name a few. There is a bit of all these in every human being.
We experience them as a whole. However, AI systems are almost always based on analytical
intelligence. This is not all. Another major advantage that humans have over machine thinking is that
a lot of our actions stem from instincts and reflexes. These are automatic, unconscious responses.
They all require intelligence that pertains to humans. If we ever wanted to create intelligence that
equals or even surpasses the human mind, we must program the machines to do all those things that
we do unconsciously. And finally, when we need to make a decision, our mind allows us to choose
from an infinite number of possibilities. Some of these are rational, some of them are irrational. Let
me illustrate my point. When you make a person very angry, their reaction could be one of the
infinite possibilities of rational or irrational responses. In other words, humans’ actions and options
are unpredictable. This infinite possibilities and unpredictability prevents a robot from fully copying
human behaviour.

Host: Tony? Brian? Any comments on this?

Brian: Yeah, what Alison has been describing is a fact. Since the first AI systems began to be
developed, we have realised that things that we thought would be very easy for AI to accomplish are
actually extremely hard. Things like making tea, for instance. And things we thought would be hard
turned out to be not so difficult – like beating the world chess champion. We haven’t come anywhere
near achieving Artificial General Intelligence yet.

Host: Well, one main ethical concern is related to unemployment. What do you think about that?

Tony: I’d like to comment on this. All technological advances lead to unemployment to some extent.
Many factory workers were unemployed after the industrial revolution. Has it ever stopped us from
inventing new technologies?

Alison: I share the same view with Tony on this. AI has brought about automation in various fields,
especially in factories. And yes, this is bad news for low-level workers, for rule-based, routine
occupations. However, the efficiency and precision this automation brings also means that we can
use our time for more productive, more interesting things.

Brian: Yes, absolutely.

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Host: All right, so we all agree on this aspect. Then may I ask what you think about robots taking care
of everyday tasks such as driving? Driverless cars?

Brian: I am looking forward to having more of them on the roads. Driverless cars will be programmed
to always follow traffic rules. They will carefully calculate the distance between each other, their
speed, and will always aim to protect their passengers. Every year millions of accidents happen on
our roads. Driverless cars will bring the number of deaths to almost 0. And that’s not all. Another
major advantage will be that we will have a much more energy efficient transport network. They will
avoid traffic congestion and find the shortest routes to our destinations.

Host: Would you like to comment on this, Tony?

Tony: I think perhaps where I would depart from this optimism towards AI would be the inequality
this will bring, even if driverless cars prove to be as perfect as Brian asserts. Who will be able to pay
for these driverless cars? The rich. So, will this mean we will be letting the poorer to continue to die
in road accidents? This is always a problem with AI – the rich having control of it, and using it for their
own benefits while the poor suffer the consequences.

Alison: Moreover, what will happen when there is an accident? Who is going to be responsible for
any accidents AI systems may be involved in? The owner of the car? The designer of the AI system?

Tony: That’s true. This is a very important issue. Also, may I just add that autonomous cars will need
to make very difficult choices. For example, let’s say, as Alison said, the car will be involved in an
accident. Once the AI senses what’s going to happen, it will need to choose between protecting the
passengers versus protecting the pedestrians. It needs to prioritise the safety of either the
passengers or the people around, at all costs. Mercedes announced that their autonomous cars will
focus on saving the car’s driver and passengers, even if that means sacrificing the lives of
pedestrians. I suspect that Mercedes' decision was driven primarily by accounting and marketing - no
one would buy a car that would prioritise others over them as the owner. The company tried to
justify their reason for this decision from another ethical perspective. Mercedes spokesperson stated
that they have an ethical commitment to the passengers because they put their lives in the hands of
the Mercedes AI systems. Another argument they put forward is that the driverless car has more
control over what happens to the person inside the car than what may happen outside. According to
their point of view, the pedestrians can react in so many unpredictable ways, and the car has no
control over what the pedestrians will do. The car cannot estimate whether the pedestrian will run or
freeze for example. But still, these don’t justify putting others in danger, whether they are
pedestrians or passengers in other vehicles.

Alison: Well absolutely, I mean, these cars will have algorithms that will tell them what to do in case
of an accident. The outcome of an accident will have been determined years in advance. It will
always be favouring or discriminating certain kinds of people. And anyone that the car is not
instructed to protect will suffer the consequences. Who could say one life is worth more over the
other? Neither programmers nor automated systems should be entitled to weigh the value of human
lives. And from a different point of view, we need to understand that if a person has an accident, the
driver decides by impulse – by reflexes. However, because of the algorithms, or their instructions, the
AI system will be intentionally harming the objects or people that it was not instructed to protect.
This is the definition of homicide – of murder.

Brian: Ok, I’m not saying you’re wrong in questioning all these, however, I must say I am not at all
worried about who the self-driving cars will be hitting. I think if you take a step back, you will see that

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autonomous cars are such complex systems with such great control that their aim in the first place is
to always avoid any crashes. Yes, accidents would still occur, but very rarely. Compared to human-
induced deaths on the road, I think we would all appreciate the enhanced safety that is ensured by
driverless cars, despite a few accidents from time to time.

Host: Maybe we could change the subject a little bit because I would also like to get your views on
another highly controversial issue: use of AI in the military.

Brian: Militaries around the world have always been keen on developing AI systems, and they have
invested a lot on it with serious funding from the governments. The aim of course, is to protect the
citizens of their country without having to sacrifice their soldiers. So, different governments have
developed precision weapons using AI technology. Precision weapons are basically weapons that aim
to precisely hit a specific target. When you can hit a target with great precision, you can minimise the
damage you give to civilians and civilian buildings. Also, it maximises the effect of the strike on the
intended targets. Like drones that can hit a target where terrorists are hiding.

Tony: I entirely agree with Brian that the use of AI in weapons has reduced the errors and their effect
on civilians. And I’m not worried about their use. I’m not worried because the law dictates that there
is always a person behind the AI weapon – it is illegal to leave AI weapons autonomous. This is
because you can give only basic orders to AI weapons through algorithms but remember, human
intelligence is unpredictable. What if those terrorists go and hide in a civilian hospital? And what’s
more, those weapons cannot discriminate between civilians and terrorists without a human. So,
although we can actually use AI to tear a whole region down without using any soldiers, we can’t do
it, because this is outlawed.

Alison: Good point, Tony, but I have serious concerns about this. In war time, a government can
change this protective law that states that AI weapons should be controlled by a human at all times
and they cannot be left to function autonomously. To win a war, governments can change their
minds and they can allow precision weapons to act autonomously. They could instruct them to freely
hit as many targets as they can. Who is going to stop them if a government decides to let their AI
weapons to cause as much damage as possible?

Brian: Alison, remember, the Internet was developed by the Army for communication during war.
Can you imagine a life without it now?

Alison: I’m not saying I don’t agree with its potential benefits. My point is just that there is always a
great risk of misuse, like ISIS using the Internet to deceive civilians to join them. And let me add one
more point. Who decides that the governments’ intention is pure? Can you imagine what would have
happened if Hitler had had access to AI precision weapons? How would we counter such an attack?

Host: Tony? Would you like to comment on Alison’s point?

Tony: Yes, well, I don’t object to that. I think she is right to speculate that although the intention is
good, the technology has the potential for abuse.

Host: All right. Let me ask you another question. What does the future look like for privacy? Could
you maybe give your views on the pros and cons of AI and privacy of personal data?

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Brian: Well, it depends whether you share private data online, and what information you reveal
about yourself, doesn’t it? And it also heavily depends on what your laws state – do the laws allow
companies to collect digital data? Can your Facebook wall be used against you?

Tony: Well, can I come in here because I’m not quite as optimistic about privacy. From my point of
view, privacy of data has never been under greater threat. Not only that AI gathers information
about us from so many different resources, but also that the data collected about us can be moved
easily. What I mean is, any data that is gathered on us, or personal data that is stolen can easily be
shared by third parties. It’s hard to know that data is stolen. When your money is stolen, you know
it’s stolen, because it’s not there anymore. But when your data is stolen, you have no idea. This is
very scary if you ask me.

Host: What kind of information about ourselves could we be revealing without realising?

Alison: Well, whether you want it or not, you make a lot of things explicit about yourself. It is wrong
to assume that just because you don’t post anything or make comments about politics or religion you
can keep your ideas private. Let me illustrate my point. Through social media, especially, you reveal
your religion with extreme accuracy. You do this by liking a picture or somebody’s comments on
Facebook, or by the people you follow on Twitter. The thing that’s alarming me is that this can be
used against people by employers or governments. Imagine a person is an atheist – in highly
conservative societies, revelation of this information might even result in jail or death.

Another point is that, just to go back to what Tony was saying, data theft is a major issue. With AI,
every click sends some sort of message about you. All your “likes” and “retweets” and “clicks” are
stored somewhere. Yes, it’s true that you can regulate AI through algorithms, and have the AI make
only certain information public. But you can’t control people like hackers who steal data and use it
for other purposes.

Tony: And it’s not just hackers. A few years ago, the Baltimore Police used an application for face
recognition on social network pages. So, they used people’s Facebook photos to detect protestors
and arrested them.

Brian: I’d like to propose that all the problems such as hacking or data theft can be countered by
using AI again. There are extremely capable and intelligent scientists who can ensure that AI
understands when it’s being attacked or hacked, and takes measures. And to protect personal data
of individuals, I don’t see any reason why we wouldn’t be able to design international laws that
ensure privacy of personal data. I would advocate that we put forward guidelines and let the law-
makers deal with the issues that worry you.

Alison: I’m sorry but I have to disagree. Most of the misuse of data come from applications that are
originally designed for innocent purposes, and allowed by laws. Let me give you an example.
Someone could write an application to help people find their friends among crowds. However, this
application can later become a part of police surveillance. You may think this is a good thing as the
police needs to identify criminals to catch them. You may argue that there were face recognition
software that was used even before AI systems. The police used to check a suspect’s photo against
their database, for example. However, you must understand that with AI, this is very different. The
main problem with AI is the scale of identification that it enables. AI basically allows you to match
thousands of photos from social media to your company’s New Year’s Dinner photos that are made

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available online. What I mean is, AI combines data from multiple sources. This is the main difference.
You will face constant surveillance if your government is an authoritarian one.

Host: All right. What about education? I guess it is be the one and only area you will all say AI will be
useful for, am I right?

Tony: Yes, it’s easy to see technology helping education, I guess. I would certainly agree that
technology makes things so much more efficient for students when they do research, and so on.
There are so many educational applications. Also, we have examples of programs that have focused
on bringing education to the less educated by using technology – like distributing tablets in Africa. So,
on the one hand, yes technologies do help in certain ways. But on the other hand, I think we are
maybe placing blind faith in the positive effects that technology can bring. Let me ask you a question.
Why then do technology company executives send their kids to schools like Waldarf that ban any
electronic technology until the 8th grade? They also ask the parents to limit technology use at home.
Even Steve Jobs admitted that his kids didn’t have iPads. If AI and technology in education is such a
great thing, why have these great minds of technology kept their kids away from it?

Host: I must say I have no idea.

Alison: Let me have the word from here. When you use technology to educate, it carries the risk of
training people to be machine readable.

Host: What do you mean by that?

Alison: Well, you are trained to produce something, like an essay or a conversation that will be
understood by machines… and even marked by machines. There are programs that grade college
student essays. Now if you know that a machine will score, or grade, your paper, you will produce an
essay, or speech, that a machine can understand. It will have to follow certain patterns, use certain
words, style or content. This means that you can’t be creative with words, and you can’t
demonstrate a unique style.

Host: Oh, I see.

Tony: I’d like to add another point. Students who receive technology-based education become so
analytical that they struggle with problems that require common sense. I mean problems that need
to be considered in context. They can’t get the big picture.

Brian: Yes, well you were right, this is one area that we all seem to agree on. I also do not believe
that AI in education is not necessarily a great thing together. It’s good, but only when used in a
limited, purposeful way.

Host: Ok, so you all agree on that point. We are coming to the end of our panel. Would you like to
take the ground once more for your final comments?

Alison: I would like to reiterate what I said at the beginning of the panel. I think that Artificial
Intelligence should be used in very restricted areas. However, what worries me the most is the lack
of control over AI projects and programs that are already in use. Like the violation of privacy rights.
And secondly, I am not that convinced that humans will be able to control Artificial Superintelligence,
either. I am with Stephen Hawkings that Artificial Super Intelligence is likely to bring the end of
humanity. Thank you. I think this is all from me.

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Tony: I completely agree with Alison that controlling AI is a challenge and the technology isn’t
mature yet to be sure that we can keep it under control. AI is a black box. AI programs work in ways
that the human mind cannot comprehend, cannot check. Many AI programs today work on deep
learning – they use millions of terabytes of information from thousands of different resources. They
use this vast data to draw conclusions, to make predictions, and decisions. If you think that the
decision that the AI made does not make sense, that there is something wrong with it, there is
absolutely no way that you can trace back the problem. Find out what may have gone wrong and fix
it. The programs today cannot explain why they made a specific decision, either. They cannot
produce a report that is readable by a human – so we basically have no idea why the AI made a
specific decision. That is a major concern in many areas, especially in justice and employment. And a
lot of courts use certain AI programs that decide, for example, which suspects are more likely to
commit a crime. There are firms that use AI to predict which female job candidate is more likely to
have a baby in the near future, or which candidate is more likely to switch jobs after a couple of
years. My view on this is that it is ethically wrong. Human beings are unpredictable. We must always
remember this. But, I must say I don’t disagree with the use of AI technologies or Artificial Super
Intelligence as strongly as Alison does. I just think that we need better control systems, and
governments must allocate more budget to understand how AI systems work, and AI security
systems. Also, we must have a clear ethical framework. Ethical boundaries should be very clearly
specified. For example, the government should clearly state what kinds of decisions are safe to be
taken by AI algorithms. And finally, robotic research should need ethical approval just like in medical
research.

Host: And Brian, you’re a believer that the benefits of AI far outweigh the downsides, is that right?

Brian: Yes, I do. I’m afraid I can’t agree with most of the concerns that were raised today. And I worry
that if we focus too much on the concerns, we will not be able to advance our technologies.
Advancement is a part of human nature. It’s unstoppable. Alison and Tony may have a point when
they say we need better control systems, but I think they might be ignoring the obvious benefits. We
cannot and should not give up on the enormous benefits AI brings because of some technical issues.
Just to give you an example, AI is extremely good at analysing images. They can do a much better job
at analysing MRI, tomography, or X-ray images of patients and much more accurately diagnose
diseases. And one last comment. Tony referred to AI as a black box, saying we can’t know why it
makes a decision in a certain way. I would like to raise the question then: do you always know why
you decided to do a certain thing? Many times, we simply don’t know. Sometimes it’s just because of
a feeling. And we can’t study humans to understand why they employed someone but not the other.
At least we can study AI, and as our technology improves, we may better understand the rationale
behind the decisions they make.

Host: Well, thank you all very much for joining us today. You have given us a lot of food for thought.
It’s clear that AI has many benefits, and it will continue to be a part of our lives. But there are also
great risks that we need to get ready and take precautions for.

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