UNIT 1. WHAT ARE YOU LIKE?

READING 1. The end of history illusion

1 Read Gaby’s blog post quickly. Match summaries 1–4 to
paragraphs A–D.

Posted by Gaby – 10 October

The end of history illusion

A Have you ever looked back on your former self and thought ‘Was
that really me?’ I certainly have. I clearly remember being fourteen
years old and deciding to paint my bedroom bright green. Five years
later, that’s the last colour I’d choose. But I was a different person
back then – more of a show-off and a risk-taker than I am now, and
with truly dreadful taste in home decor. Of course, it’s not usual to
change during adolescence – we all do. But surely by now, I’ve
become the person I’ll be for the rest of my life, haven’t I? Well, not
according to Professor Dan Gilbert, a psychologist at Harvard
University.

B Gilbert and his colleagues investigated how people aged between

18 and 68 had changed over ten years. The participants provided
information about their current personality, preferences and values.
For example, they were asked about their favourite music and
hobbies, how important success and honesty were to them, and how
extrovert or open to experience they were. They also gave the same
information about themselves ten years ago. The researchers found
that people continually change. The rate of change decreased as
people got older, but even 68-year-olds changed significantly over a
decade.
C Perhaps it’s not so surprising that people change. But the
experiment did have another fascinating conclusion: it showed that
people didn’t expect to change much in the future, despite knowing
that they had changed in the past. As Gilbert explains, we tend to
believe that at some point in our lives, we become the person we’ll
always be, and whether we’re 18 or 68, we assume that critical
moment is right now. Gilbert calls this the ‘end of history illusion’. As
he puts it, ‘human beings are works in progress that mistakenly think
they’re finished’.
D Why do we make this mistake? Gilbert points out that when we look
back then years, we’re remembering real experiences. To predict the
next decade, however, we have to imagine events that haven’t
happened yet and that’s much harder. As a result, we believe – often
incorrectly- that these events are unlikely. This can have important
consequences for our long-term life decisions.
E I’ve recently repainted my bedroom in a delicate pale grey. Will I
look back in horror on this decision in ten years’ time? It’s difficult to
imagine!

1. A possible explanation for the ‘end of history illusion’ D

2. The experiment carried out by Gilbert B
3. A significant discovery from the experiment C
4. How the writer has changed in the last five years A

2. Read the blog post again. Choose the correct options.

1. Gaby is now … .
A fourteen
B eighteen
C nineteen
2. She thinks she has become more … .
A creative
B confident
C cautious
3. Gilbert and his colleagues found that over ten years, 68-year-
olds changed … .
A as much as 18-year-olds
B less than 18-year-olds
C very little
4. Gilbert says that remembering the past … .
 A is easier than predicting the future
B gets more difficult as we get older
C helps us to imagine the future

3. Look for words in the text with these meanings:

a) Paragraph A - past, previous: former
b) Paragraph A - awful, really bad: dreadful
c) Paragraph B - up to date, happening now: current
d) Paragraph C - very interesting: fascinating
e) Paragraph D - not probable: unlikely
f) Paragraph D - having an effect over an extended period of time:
long-term

4. Grammar check. Look for verbs in the Present Perfect

Tense and look for the following examples:
a) an affirmative sentence: I’ve become the person I’ll be for the
rest of my life
b) a negative sentence; events that haven’t happened yet
c) an interrogative sentence: have u ever looked back on your
former self and thought ‘was that really me?