Video Worksheet

Why You Always Seem to

Have Room for Dessert

About the Video

Have you ever been too full to eat another bite of dinner, but still wanted dessert?
Well, you’re not alone, and science can actually explain why. “Sensory-Specific
Satiety” is the biological drive that makes you want more dessert, and it’s not a bad
thing! This video explains this fact and how it helps you to stay healthy.
Why You Always Seem to Have Room For Dessert

Instructions
How to Use This Worksheet

Follow the steps below to get the most benefit from this worksheet.
We recommend writing your answers and examples in a journal or a notebook, and
reviewing the words you’re learning regularly.

STEP 1

Complete the ‘Vocabulary’ section before watching the video.

You will understand more of the video if you familiarize yourself with the
vocabulary first. This will also help you retain what you’re learning. We’ve provided
the answers for the exercises on page 12.

STEP 2

Watch the video the first time without subtitles or the transcript.
If you always watch English videos with the subtitles, you’ll never give your
listening skills a chance to improve. It’s okay if you don’t understand everything at
first. You’ll notice a big improvement in a few weeks if you practice regularly.

STEP 3

Watch it a second time with the transcript if needed.

We have provided a transcript for the video on page 8.

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Why You Always Seem to Have Room For Dessert

Vocabulary
1. WORDS IN CONTEXT

Match the words or phrases in bold to their synonyms or meanings.

absurd to evaluate couldn’t eat anymore flavored sauces serving

1. You said you were full.

2. I ate a ridiculous amount of mac and cheese.

3. They were less interested after their second helping.

4. We asked them to rate their interest.

5. That’s why you prefer to eat your french fries with condiments.

2. FILL IN THE BLANKS

Complete the sentences with the correct words.

You might have to change verb forms (talk – talking or talked).

ridiculous be full helping rate condiments

1. I think it’s _____________________ that we have to wait six weeks.

2. How would you _____________________ your experience with this app?

3. We had a salad with dinner to get another _____________________ of vegetables.

4. My brother puts too many _____________________ on his cheeseburgers.

5. If you _____________________ you can just put your food in the fridge for later.

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Why You Always Seem to Have Room For Dessert

Vocabulary
3. DEFINITIONS

Match the words or phrases to their definitions.

turn out appeal susceptible to backfire

1. _________________________: have a bad or opposite effect

2. _________________________: happen or end in a particular way

3. _________________________: be attractive or inviting

4. _________________________: easily influenced or affected by

4. WHAT’S ANOTHER WAY TO SAY…?

Rewrite the sentences with one of the words above.

You might have to make some changes to the sentences, or add/change a preposition.

1. Young people are the most influenced by advertisements.

___________________________________________________________________________________________

2. It happened that I was right in the end.

___________________________________________________________________________________________

3. The idea of dessert has lost its attractiveness, hasn’t it?

___________________________________________________________________________________________

4. Our plan failed so now it’s time to start again.

___________________________________________________________________________________________

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Why You Always Seem to Have Room For Dessert

Watch the Video

▶ Click here to watch the video (or search for ‘Why You Always Seem to Have Room For
Dessert’ on YouTube). Watch it at least once without subtitles or the transcript. Watch it a
second time with the transcript if needed.

Speaking Practice
DISCUSSION

Discuss the following questions.

Try to give as much detail as you can. Elaborate with examples or stories whenever possible.

1. Even after eating so much, do you typically have room for dessert? What is
the one dessert or sweet you couldn’t live without? Are you more fond of
sweet or salty food?

2. Describe the experiment that Dr. Rolls conducted. What did they give
people to eat? What was the second serving they offered? What happened
when they offered an alternative second serving?

3. According to the video, we need to eat a variety of nutrients and food to

stay healthy. What are some healthy foods that are common in your native
country but difficult to find in other places? Why are those foods nutritious?
Do you enjoy eating them? Why/why not?

4. Do you always eat dessert after dinner? What desserts are your native
country's specialty? How are the flavors different from other countries?

5. Do you prefer your food with or without condiments? Do you think they add
flavor, or do they overpower the taste? Which are your favorite? Are there
any condiments that are common in your native country but difficult to find
in other parts of the world?

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Why You Always Seem to Have Room For Dessert

6. What kind of food do you crave the most? Were you a picky eater as a child?
Did that change, or are you still the same?

7. If you had to give up one food forever, which would it be? What food could
you absolutely not give up?

8. In the video, the experiment shows that when you feel full, it’s not
necessarily that your stomach is physically full. What's something you could
eat a ridiculous amount of? What's the weirdest thing you've eaten for a
snack?

9. More and more people today seem to be developing allergies to gluten,

dairy, and nuts. Do you have any food allergies? Do you know anyone who
has a severe food allergy?

10. What are your thoughts on dieting? How would you rate the success levels
of most diets? Have you ever been on a diet? Did it work, or did your efforts
backfire?

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Why You Always Seem to Have Room For Dessert

Writing Practice
PRODUCTION

Choose 3 - 5 words you learned today, and use them to create one of the following:

1. 6 - 10 separate sentences
2. A paragraph
3. A short story
4. A poem or a song

Tips for Better Writing

USE A VARIETY OF SENTENCE STYLES

Avoid using simple sentences. Instead, try to use a variety of sentence styles and lengths:

Type Definition Example

Simple Consists of only one clause. She likes traveling.

Combines two independent clauses She likes traveling, and she loves
Compound
with and, but, yet, so, etc. exploring new places.

Combines one main clause and one

Even though she likes traveling,
Complex dependent clause with if, even though,
she doesn’t travel often.
because, unless, etc.

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Why You Always Seem to Have Room For Dessert

Transcript
You know the feeling. You finish a full meal and are like, "I’m never eating again."

But then, out comes a beautiful piece of cake. And, well,

“You said you were full!”

“Not for dessert.”

It turns out, you really can "make room” for dessert. And there’s a scientific reason
why.

The thing that gives you room for dessert is called “Sensory-Specific Satiety.”
Satiety!

It’s one of those words.

That’s Dr. Barbara Rolls. She’s a nutritional scientist, and she’s been studying
Sensory-Specific Satiety since the ‘80s. It’s a really important, basic and very
reproducible finding about human eating behavior.

Dr. Rolls says it’s why we often misunderstand that “full” feeling. So, to see it in
action, we ran an experiment similar to ones she’s done before: We gave six people
a giant plate of mac and cheese.

"Wow. That is a lot of macaroni and cheese."

And told them to eat until they were full. And then, for the second course, we gave
them… More.

"Nooo!"

"I’m not happy with this experiment."

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Why You Always Seem to Have Room For Dessert

Then, on a different day, we did it all over again. Except this time, after they were
full, we gave them ice cream.

"Ice cream!"

"Yes."

On average, after they said they were full on mac and cheese, each person could eat
just one more ounce of it in their second serving.

"I got a solid two bites in."

But when we gave them ice cream instead, somehow they could eat three times as
much. They "made room" for dessert.

The experiment shows that when you feel full, it’s not necessarily that your
stomach is physically full. It’s more about how interested you are in eating more.

Sensory-specific satiety is that change in how much you like a food, how much you
want to eat, as you’re eating it.

And to really show that, we asked our participants to rate, on a scale of ten, their
interest in mac and cheese before their first course.

"Probably like a six."

"Five."

"I love macaroni and cheese, so...25."

And after.

"I can’t eat anymore."

"Probably like a one."

"Yeah, zero."

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Why You Always Seem to Have Room For Dessert

They all started pretty interested in the mac and cheese. But after their first
course,

they were less interested. Even less so after their second helping. But we also asked
them, throughout the experiment, to rate their interest in ice cream.

And even after getting full on mac and cheese, they stayed interested. The only
thing that made them lose interest in ice cream was having ice cream.

I’ve just had enough of that food, I want something else, is really what
Sensory-Specific Satiety is.

And that instinct has a purpose: It’s meant to keep us healthy. So it’s a good thing.
We're omnivores and we need to eat a variety.

So it’s going to help to guarantee that you’re going to eat the variety of nutrients
that you need.

It also means that there are certain situations where it makes us extra susceptible
to overeating.

It can backfire though of course, because if we are presented with a variety of

foods, it encourages us to keep eating.

Ever eat too much at a buffet? Or on Thanksgiving? Yeah, me too. That’s because,
when we have a lot of variety, we stay interested in eating for longer.

This change in the appeal of foods during a meal keeps us going, keeps us eating.

In another experiment, Dr. Rolls gave different four-course meals to two groups:

One where every course was the same food, and one where every course was very
different. The people with different foods ate 60% more.

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Why You Always Seem to Have Room For Dessert

Sensory-Specific Satiety is why you’ll eat more french fries with condiments than
without. Why you’ll eat more ice cream if you get multiple flavors than just one.

It’s also why kids will eat more veggies if they can eat a variety of them together,
than if they only have one option.

"That’s interesting. And it only took me eating a ridiculous amount of mac and
cheese to learn it."

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Why You Always Seem to Have Room For Dessert

Answer Key
1. WORDS IN CONTEXT

1. couldn’t eat anymore 2. absurd 3. serving 4. to evaluate 5. flavored sauces

2. FILL IN THE BLANKS

1. I think it’s ridiculous that we have to wait six weeks.

2. How would you rate your experience with this app?

3. We had a salad with dinner to get another serving of vegetables.

4. My brother puts too many condiments on his cheeseburgers.

5. If you are full, you can just put your food in the fridge for later.

3. DEFINITIONS

1. backfire : have a bad or opposite effect.

2. turn out : happen or end in a particular way.

3. appeal : be attractive or inviting.

4. susceptible: easily influenced or affected by.

4. WHAT’S ANOTHER WAY TO SAY…?

1. Younger people are the most susceptible to advertisements.

2. It turned out that I was right in the end.

3. The idea of dessert has lost its appeal, hasn’t it?

4. Our plan backfired, so now it’s time to start again.

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