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09 SCIENCE AND NATURE

In this unit, you learn how to:


• talk about the weather
• talk about animals and pets
Grammar
• The past perfect simple
• Reporting speech 1
Reading
• Man's best friends
• The Milgram experiment
• talk about scientists and research
• discuss and respond to news stories Vocabulary Listening
• report what people said • Science and nature • Science and nature in the
• Animals news
• The Milgram experiment

VOCABULARY Science and nature

A Put the words i n the box into the list they are connected with. C Complete the sentences w i t h one word
from exercise A i n each space.
a discovery freezing snow a horse 1 racing is cruel.
experiments mosquitoes boiling a bee 2 Launching a into space is a
a storm investigate windy rain waste of money.
a rocket nuclear protect extinct 3 We should do more to protect animals like
a whale pets sunny space whales or they'll become
4 Scientists shouldn't conduct
on animals.
Science The weather Animals
5 They should build more
power stations.
6 The government should spend more
money on research to the
causes of cancer.
7 Electricity is the greatest scientific
ever.
8 are the most dangerous
animals in the world because they spread
so much disease.
B Work i n groups. Tell each other about w h e n you last 9 Cats are the best kind of for
experienced each of the different kinds of weather i n exercise children.
A. Say something about at least two of the following things i n
each case: Work i n groups. Vote on whether or not
how you felt about the weather you agree w i t h each of the sentences. For
what temperature it was example:
how strong the wind was How many people think horse racing is cruel?
how long the storm / rain / snow, etc. lasted
how much rain / snow fell
if you suffered because of the sun / rain / heat / snow, etc.

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64 OUTCOMES
Responding to news and comments
We can comment on news we hadn't heard about by
saying:
Really? That's bad news / nice /great / awful /
interesting, etc.

We can agree with a comment or opinion by saying:


(Yes) I know. It's good news / really good /fantastic /
terrible, etc.
We can agree to a suggestion by saying:
Good idea.
Absolutely / Definitely.

* Look at the audioscript on page 170 and find


LISTENING examples of each kind of response. Then read all the
conversations i n pairs.
You are going to hear four short conversations about
science and nature i n the news. Write a response to each of the sentences below.
1 They've opened a new park near my house.
A 4 9.1 Listen and decide which conversation 2 Really? That's awful.
mentions: 3 We should have a party to celebrate.
1 a discovery to help people? 4 That's fantastic news.
2 a government policy to help the environment? 5 They should do something about it.
3 a problem with very negative effects? 6 They're doing an experiment to investigate how the
4 a change in the weather? Big Bang worked.
7 It's going to be freezing tonight.
Compare your ideas i n pairs and discuss what 8 They should ban it.
happened i n each conversation. Then listen again to
check your ideas. C I n pairs, take turns saying 1-8 above. Your partner
should say their own response.
LANGUAGE PATTERNS
Write the sentences in your language. Translate
them back into English. Compare your English to the C O N V E R S A T I O N PRACTICE
original.
They should do something - fund research or You are going to have conversations like the ones i n
something. Listening.
We should go out - go to the beach or somewhere.
I can't remember who told me - Harry or someone. Student A: look at the news i n File 11 on page 158.
I was bitten by a mosquito or something like that. Student B: look at the news i n File 13 on page 158.
They live in Chicago or somewhere near there.
You should ask a friend or someone you trust. Now take turns starting conversations about your
pieces of news. Use the plan below.

Did you see / hear...?


No.
It said / It's ...
Really? That's...
1 know. It's...
(make a suggestion)
(agree)

09 SCIENCE AND NATURE 65


Which of the animals i n the box can you see i n the
pictures above?

rat dog cow shark pigeon D Work i n groups. Discuss these questions.
lion fly sheep rabbit parrot • What pets do people you know have?
• Which of the animals in exercise A can help humans?
B Decide if each a n i m a l i n exercise A could be described How?
as a w i l d animal, a farm animal, an insect or a pet?

READING

You are going to read some short newspaper stories about animals helping humans i n some way.

A Read the stories on the oppsite page and match each D Work i n groups. Discuss the questions.
to one of the headlines below. There is one you w i l l • What animals can you think of that have an amazing
not need to use. sense of smell / hearing / sight?
Barking witness Wedding goes with a ' w o o f • Can you think of eight things dogs are often trained to
Jail bird Milk of human kindness do?
Tips for birds Dinner not well done • How can pets boost your health?
From zero to hero • Which other animals are used to detect things?
• Have you heard of anyone being arrested recently?
B Work i n pairs. Discuss the following: What are they suspected of?
• What do you think the headlines mean?
• One of the texts isn't true. Which one do you think
NATIVE SPEAKER ENGLISH
is invented? Why? (Now look at File 9 on page 157 to
check.) the big day
• Explain why you think each story is nice, interesting, We often refer to important days for people - often
silly, surprising or boring. weddings - as the big day.

C I n pairs, discuss what you think the words i n bold i n His dog was the best man on the big day.
the stories mean. Check your ideas i n the Vocabulary When's the big day?
Builder. Are you ready for the big day?
You need to be prepared for the big day.

66 OUTCOMES
G R A M M A R The past perfect simple Check your answers w i t h a partner and discuss w h y
the past simple or past perfect is used i n a - h .
The past perfect is had / hadn't + a past participle.
We use it to emphasise that something happened • Need help? Read the grammar reference on page 148.
before another past action.
A Dorset couple got married yesterday. C Write endings to 1-5 using the past perfect. Then
The dogs had brought the couple together. compare what you've written.
1 I was hungry because
If we write the sentences in the order in which they 2 She was quite upset because
really happened, we usually use the past simple. 3 I was really tired
Three dogs brought a Dorset couple together. 4 I was quite nervous because
Yesterday, the couple got married. 5 Before I was 18, I'd never

D Work i n groups. Discuss what you think happened


Match 1-8 w i t h a - h to make complete sentences. before each of these events. Use the past perfect.
1 The ground was wet 1 A pigeon was caught and arrested at a jail.
2 We found a cat which had been abandoned 2 A woman's pet dog was found on a desert island.
3 They took him to court 3 A couple were saved by their pet rabbit.
4 There was a long line of traffic
5 I had to wait outside home until my mum got back E Find out what actually happened by reading File 7
6 I was very nervous on page 157.
7 I was really shocked
8 My dog was going crazy when I got home SPEAKING

a because I'd forgotten my keys. Work i n pairs. Choose one of the following:
b because it had rained the night before.
c because I hadn't made a speech in public before. A Have you heard any other a n i m a l stories i n the news
d because there were roadworks. recently? Tell a partner what happened.
e because he hadn't paid his bills.
f because I hadn't taken him for a walk all day. B Do a n Internet search for a n i m a l stories i n the news
g so we took it home and looked after it. and then tell your partner about the one you liked
h when I saw the rat in the kitchen! most. Who found the best story?

M A N ' S BEST F R I E N D S
1 A Dorset couple, Andrew and Harriet Athay, got married 4 Rats may have a bad reputation, but, says a spokesman
with their dogs acting as best man and maids of honour on for the charity HeroRats, they are saving hundreds of
the big day because they had brought the couple together. lives in Africa because of their incredible sense of smell
Andrew and Harriet met when they were walking their and intelligence. The rats are trained to detect mines and
respective pets along a beach.They started chatting when bombs lying in the ground. Being so small, they don't cause
the dogs were playing with each other. the mines to explode when they stand on them. They can
2 Avery rare shark, which has only been seen on 40 occasions, also detect some diseases in humans.
has been eaten by a Filipino fisherman.The megamouth 5 Researchers from Newcastle University have discovered
shark died in a net after it had been caught by mistake. The that farmers who are friendly and talk to their cows can
World Wildlife Fund, which wants to protect the sharks from boost milk production. They found that cows that had been
extinction, tried to persuade the fisherman to let scientists given names by their farmers produced over 300 litres more
have the body, but the fisherman insisted on using it to milk a year than those which hadn't been named.
prepare a traditional Filipino dish called kinunot. 6 A dog called Scooby has appeared in court in a murder
3 A Japanese restaurant is employing two parrots as waiters. case. The animal's owner had been found dead in her flat
The parrots take drinks orders from customers and repeat and the family had asked for an investigation. Scooby,
them to a waiter at the bar, who then brings the drinks to the who had been in the flat, was brought into court to see
table.The parrots had previously lived in a cage in a corner how he would react to the man suspected of the crime. It
of the restaurant. One day the owner, Mr Otusaka, heard the barked very loudly. The police now need to decide if there is
parrots copying his customers' requests and after that, he enough evidence to take the case further.
trained them to actually take orders.
09 SCIENCE AND NATURE 67
READING C Work i n pairs. Discuss the following
questions.
You are going to read about one of the most famous • Have you heard of this experiment - or any
experiments of the 20th century. others like it - before? If yes, what did you
hear?
A Complete the text w i t h the words i n the box. • Would you participate in an experiment like
this? Why? / Why not?
button list participants purpose research results • What do you think happened during the
experiment?
• What percentage of people doyou think gave
the maximum electric shock? Why?
In 1961, a psychologist called Stanley Milgram conducted
40 experiments at Yale University. Each experiment involved
three people: a 'scientist' in a white coat, and a 'learner' and LISTENING
a 'teacher'. The 'scientists' and the 'learners' were actors and
knew the real aim of the 1
The'teachers'were You are going to listen to two radio extracts
just normal people. Milgram told them that the 2
giving more details about the Milgram
of the experiments was to study memory and learning, but experiments.
this wasn't true.
A % 9.2 Listen and see if your ideas about what
The'teacher'was given a 3
of pairs of words to happened during the experiment were correct
teach the 'learner', who was in another room and was out of or not.
sight.The 'teacher'first read the whole list to the 'learner'.
Then the 'teacher' repeated the first word of each pair and B Listen again and decide if 1-6 are true or false.
the 'learner' had to remember the other word in the pair. If 1 The'learners'didn't actually get electric
they were wrong, the 'scientist' told the 'teacher' to press a shocks.
4
to give the 'learner' an electric shock - and with 2 Some of the'learners' had heart problems.
every wrong answer, the shock got stronger. The experiments 3 Some participants found the experiments
were stopped after the 'teacher' had given the maximum 450- f u n ny.
volt shock three times. 4 After hearing the banging and screaming,
several participants got very worried.
Milgram observed all the experiments and recorded the point 5 If they complained, the'teachers'were told to
at which the 5
refused to continue giving shocks. carry on with the experiment.
Before conducting his experiments, Milgram had asked his 6 A minority of people gave the maximum
students what they expected t h e h
to be. They shock.
predicted that only 1.2% of the'teachers'would give the
maximum shock. C The second radio extract describes the a i m of
the experiments. You w i l l hear all the words
below. I n pairs, discuss how they might be
B Label the picture below and discuss the roles of each person i n connected to the experiments.
the experiment w i t h a partner.
the Second World War terrible crimes
cruel people in authority
cause pain kill someone

D 4 9.3 Now listen and check your ideas.

E Work i n groups. Discuss how the words i n


exercise C are actually connected.

F I n groups, discuss these questions.


• How do you feel about the experiment now?
Do you agree with the findings?
• Do you think the results would be the same if
the experiment was done today? Why? / Why
not?
• What effects do you think the experiment
had on the participants? Think about both the
short-term and the long-term effects.

68 OUTCOMES
G R A M M A R Reporting speech 1 B Try to complete these sentences i n
interesting or funny ways. The sentences
We use lots of different verbs to report what people say. should be true for you.
The most common are say, tell and ask. Look at some of the 1 When I was growing up, my parents often
patterns used with each verb: told me to ....
2 My mum / dad once told me to never....
The 'scientist'said (that) the experiment required them to 3 One of my teachers once said I . . . .
continue. He then said (that) it was absolutely essential that 4 My mum / dad / brother / sister once said
they continued. she / he....
5 I'd like to ask my parents / grandparents
The 'scientist'told the 'teacher'to give the 'learner' an electric 6 Someone once asked me ....
shock.
Milgram told them (that) the purpose of the experiments was C Compare your sentences i n groups. Who
to study memory and learning. has the most interesting / the funniest?

Many people asked to stop the experiment. SPEAKING


The 'teachers' asked the 'scientist' if he was sure.
A Work i n groups. Discuss these questions.
Note that other patterns are also possible with these verbs. • Which science subjects do / did you study
at school? Are / were you good at them?
A Complete the sentences with past simple forms of say, tell or ask. • What are / were your science teachers like?
1 When I was younger, my dad often me to just do • What experiments were you asked to do
what I love doing - and that's what I've done! at school? How did they work? What were
2 I to see the manager, but they he they for?
wasn't available. • Have you ever taken part in any kind
3 A: What you to your boss? of research (scientific research, market
B: I just him I didn't want to work for him any more. research, etc.)? What did you do?
4 My older sister once me to never date anyone more • Who are the most famous scientists from
attractive than me! your country? Why? What do / did they do?
5 Last year I my grandfather to me • Do you know anything about any of the
about his childhood. Some of the things he he'd scientists below? Where were they from?
seen were just unbelievable! What did they do research on? What did
6 My last English teacher always I asked too many they discover?
questions!
7 I if she wanted to leave a message, but she Archimedes Galileo Galilei
she'll call back tomorrow. Isaac Newton Ivan Pavlov
8 I once a friend when her baby was due - and then Louis Pasteur Marie Curie
found out she wasn't actually pregnant! Charles Darwin Alexander Fleming
Guglielmo Marconi Albert Einstein
• Need help? Read the grammar reference on page 148.

09 SCIENCE AND NATURE 69

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