Week 18 – Listening

HOW and WHERE WE LEARN

I'm pretty good at multitasking – I often do a video call while
I'm cooking, for instance.
I spend a lot of time studying Spanish vocabulary, but I just
can't retain it. It was a hard problem, but we solved it in the
end.

I can't meet you on Monday, but apart from that I'm flexible.

Research on animals has led to some significant medical

advances.
The smell of cabbage reminds me of school lunches.

You will need to complete three written assignments per

semester.

The training session was very intense, so we were very tired at

the end.
It was a hard problem, but we solved it in the end.
Vocabulary

solve to find the answer to a difficult question

retain to keep information in your memory

remind to make someone remember something

to do several different things at the same
multitask
time
Vocabulary

flexible able to change to meet different situations

intense involving a lot of action in a short time

a task given as part of someone’s job or
assignment study
a careful study of a subject/topic,
especially in order to discover new facts or
research information about it

Can you make new sentences with the words above? (Note: Look at the examples given at the beginning of
this session for references, but you must write YOUR own sentences!)
Activity 1: Language practice

You are going to hear a student talking to someone on the telephone

about doing an online course.
Questions 1-5
Complete the form below.
Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER for each
answer.
 Online Writing Course
Request for Brochure

Student’s name: Alex Sachdeva

1 ………………………………..
Address: New Valley Road
Flat 4A, 2 396 …………………….
Town/City: Preston
Postcode: 3 ………………………………..
Phone number: PN6 3BZ
4 ………………………………..
Email address: 0787 345077
Message box: alex7@ptu.com
deliver brochure 5 …..…………………
next week
Question 6-10
Choose the correct letter, A, B, or C.

6. The caller wants to do a writing course to help with…

A his hobby.
B his job.
C his children’s education.

7. What does the course pack include?

A multimedia items
B a list of books to buy
C lesson and assignment dates
8. How much does the course cost?
A 340
B 375
C 400
9. Alex’s first assignment will be about his…
A family life.
B school experiences.
C expectations of the course.
10. What does the feedback include?
A a tutorial
B an exercise
C a discussion group
Activity 2: Read the article and answer the questions below.

Narrator: You will hear a postgraduate student talking about the

research she has been doing into effective study methods.
Postgraduate student:
master
We often read these days that in order to _____________(1) a subject,
you need to spend a certain number of hours studying it or practicing it.
true
We didn't find this to be ____________(2) in our research – it’s the
effectiveness of your study methods, not the total time spent, which is
key
_____________(3).
And not just the total time, either. We found that a brief period of
intense
____________(4) study of roughly only 30 minutes was most effective –
basically, the longer a session continues, the less effectively we
retain
____________(5) information.
 distractions
It is important that the session is focused, without ___________(6). Our
messages
findings confirmed that checking your phone ____________(7) or emails
while studying is unhelpful. "Multitasking" is something we think we can
actually
do, but we __________(8) can't; so if you're studying, then just study.
effective
Regarding what to study, we found it was most ___________(9) to mix
new material with old in each session, with a ratio of, say, 25 percent old to
75 percent new. That way, material is retained better in the long-term
memory
_____________(10) than if you just focused on new material.
When studying, let’s say for example maths, results suggested that it's
a range of
best to work on _____________(11) questions, not problems all of exactly
flexible
the same type. That tends to make you more ___________(12) and better
solve
able to _________(13) a problem when it comes up in an exam.
Homework: Listen and fill in the blanks.

Research is a very important thing. Without research, we’d have no new

products
_____________ 1
. Our food would be more dangerous to eat. And we’d
government 2 spend a lot
never go to the moon. I’d like to see my ______________
more money on research. Especially on research into diseases. Scientists
cancer 3 for years and still have not
have been researching AIDS and __________
technology
found cures. Research into ________________ 4
is also important. There
seems to be loads of research into information and computer technology.
quickly
It’s amazing how ____________ 5
technology is changing. We really need to
global ___________
spend more to research how _________ warming 6 is affecting our
planet. This could be the most important research scientists ever do.
planet 7.
Research to save the __________