21St century communication 4 listening speaking and critical thinking teachers guide

CENTURY COMMUNICATION LISTENING, SPEAKING, AND CRITICAL THINKING TEACHERS GUIDE Australia • Brazil • Mexico • Singapore • United Kingdom • United States 55547_fm.indd 01/11/16 3:47 PM 21st Century Communication: Listening, Speaking, and Critical Thinking Teacher’s Guide Publisher: Sherrise Roehr Executive Editor: Laura Le Dréan Associate Development Editor: Lisl Trowbridge Director of Global Marketing: Ian Martin Product Marketing Manager: Anders Bylund Sr Director, Production: Michael Burggren Manager Production: Daisy Sosa Content Project Manager: Mark Rzeszutek Manufacturing Planner: Mary Beth Hennebury Interior Design: Brenda Carmichael © 2017 National Geographic Learning, a part of Cengage Learning ALL RIGHTS RESERVED No part of this work covered by the copyright herein may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, except as permitted by U.S copyright law, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner “National Geographic”, “National Geographic Society” and the Yellow Border Design are registered trademarks of the National Geographic Society ® ­Marcas Registradas For product information and technology assistance, contact us at Cengage Learning Customer & Sales Support, cengage.com/contact For permission to use material from this text or product, submit all requests online at cengage.com/permissions Further permissions questions can be emailed to permissionrequest@cengage.com Composition: MPS Limited ISBN: 978-1-305-95554-7 National Geographic Learning 20 Channel Center Street Boston, MA 02210 USA National Geographic Learning, a Cengage Learning Company, has a mission to bring the world to the classroom and the classroom to life With our English language programs, students learn about their world by experiencing it Through our partnerships with National Geographic and TED, they develop the language and skills they need to be successful global citizens and leaders Locate your local office at international.cengage.com/region Visit National Geographic Learning online at NGL.cengage.com Visit our corporate website at www.cengage.com Printed in the United States of America Print Number: 01 Print Year: 2016 55547_fm.indd 01/11/16 3:47 PM Table of Contents Welcome to 21st Century Communication: Listening, Speaking and Critical Thinking This four-level series uses powerful ideas from TED Talks to teach learners to think critically and communicate with confidence Through authentic models of effective communication, students build fluency in the listening and speaking skills needed to achieve academic and personal success Teaching a Unit of 21st Century Communication iv Offers strategies and tips for teaching each part of a unit, expansion ideas, and tips for developing critical thinking and other 21st century skills Using the Classroom Presentation Tool xiv Explains the content and features of the interactive teaching tool, including using the embedded Audio/Video Unit-by-Unit Teaching Tips and Answer Keys Provides activity-specific tips for engaging students and enhancing learning Suggested times are offered for each activity; however, timing will depend on your students and course objectives Audio Scripts 55 Video Scripts 71 iii 55547_fm.indd 01/11/16 3:47 PM Teaching a Unit of 21st Century Communication UNIT OPENER Each unit begins with an impactful and thoughtprovoking photograph, THINK AND DISCUSS questions, and an overview of the unit content The PHOTO and UNIT TITLE introduce the theme of the unit and aim to capture students’ attention and curiosity TIPS Ask students questions about the photo and caption • What is the first thing that gets your attention, and why? • What else you see? • What interests you, and why? • What questions you have as you look at it? • Do you like the image? Why, or why not? • What does the caption say? • What part of the image does it explain? • Ask students to explain how a visual helps them understand an exercise or the unit theme • Have students cover the caption of an image and then try to guess what the caption is • Ask students to explain what they think the message of a visual is, and why • Use photos to review and expand target vocabulary by having students describe an image using vocabulary from the current and/ or previous unit The THINK AND DISCUSS questions activate students’ background knowledge of the topic and help them personalize and relate to the theme The OVERVIEW OF CONTENT allows you and the students to preview the skills they will learn and practice throughout TIPS • Does it answer any of the questions you had about the image? • Read, or have a student read, the THINK AND DISCUSS questions • Does it help you understand something else about the image? If so, what? • Have students answer the questions in pairs or small groups before sharing ideas as a whole class See the unit-by-unit tips and classroom presentation tool for specific teaching information 21st Century Skill   Visual Literacy Tips for Using Visuals In addition to the Unit Opener, there are several visuals per unit Many of them are photos, but they also include infographics and graphic organizers Using images taps into and builds students’ multiple literacies Being able to read images is an essential 21st century skill Here are some tips for using the visuals in a unit • Have students respond to what they see in the visual; what does it make them think of and why? • If they are not sure how the photo relates to the unit title or theme, read the titles of the Part and Part input and ask them how the image relates to what they will hear in the audio/video input • Read, or have a student read, the OVERVIEW OF CONTENT • Have the students briefly skim the language skills boxes in the unit Ask them which of the skills they have studied before, what they already know about them, and what they think they will learn about them in the unit • See the unit-by-unit tips and classroom presentation tool for specific teaching information iv 55547_fm.indd 01/11/16 3:47 PM PART 1: LISTENING & SPEAKING PART introduces the listening of the unit The listening may be one of several genres such as a university lecture, a podcast, an interview, or a student discussion Where appropriate (and as indicated in unit-by-unit tips), the listening is accompanied by video slides to enhance and clarify the content The purpose of Part is to prime students for the authentic and inspirational content they will meet in the TED Talk in Part The BEFORE YOU LISTEN section helps students further build schema about the content of the unit It gets students thinking about and discussing the topic of the listening (top-down processing), and it also familiarizes them with essential vocabulary to understand the listening and the speaking tasks (bottom-up processing) TIPS • For each exercise, read, or have a student read, the directions • Elicit from and/or provide to the students any information relevant to the activity (such as definitions of words, examples, relevant background information) • Put students in pairs or small groups to discuss questions before sharing ideas as a whole class • See the unit-by-unit tips and classroom presentation tool for specific teaching information 21st Century Skill   Communicating and Collaborating Tips for Working in Groups Students have many opportunities to work in pairs or groups through the builtin COMMUNICATE and COLLABORATE exercises Additionally, individual exercises can be extended into group exercises by having students share their work The ability to communicate clearly and to collaborate are essential 21st century skills Here are some suggestions for arranging diverse pairs and groups, as well as for getting students to work effectively, efficiently, and respectfully during collaborative work throughout the unit Arranging Diverse Pairs and Groups • Have students count off according to how many groups you use Assign one part of the room to each number, and have the groups convene in their assigned areas (Alternately, have students “count off” with a set of vocabulary words instead of numbers, and review the meanings of the words with their group members before starting the exercise.) • Place students of similar levels together, especially when you need to devote more time to working with the lower-level students in a multi-level class • Place higher-level students with lower-level students Tutoring peers reinforces learning for higher-level students, and lower-level students benefit from learning from their peers Working in Pairs and Groups • Have students introduce themselves to anyone they don’t know in order to build a positive learning community This is especially helpful in large classes • Tell students what the end requirements are of the pair or group work, so they know what the expectations of each exercise are (e.g., to share a comment they agreed/disagreed with and why) • Explain to students that they should not only share their own ideas, but should also ask for their classmates’ opinions about the topic • Assign roles so that everyone participates The group leader keeps the conversation on track The time keeper keeps track of the time The recorder takes notes on the discussion The reporter uses the recorder’s notes to report back to the whole class v 55547_fm.indd 01/11/16 3:47 PM VOCABULARY introduces the target vocabulary Words are selected according to several criteria: frequency, utility, Academic Word List, and CEFR (Common European Framework of Reference for Languages) level Contentspecific words or phrases that are important for comprehension are glossed in Words in the Lecture All of the vocabulary words are on the audio program, so there is always an aural and written model of pronunciation TIPS • Read, or have a student read, the directions before having the students work individually Then, share answers as a class Alternately, ask students to compare their work with a partner or small group before sharing as a class • Refer students to the online workbook activities for more vocabulary practice • See the unit-by-unit tips and classroom presentation tool for specific teaching information The VOCABULARY presentation is always followed by a COMMUNICATE activity This is an opportunity for students to show they understand the words and can use them in a familiar context TIPS • Encourage the students to use the words and phrases in bold, which are the targeted vocabulary words • Have students work in pairs or small groups before coming back to share as a whole class • You may want to go over all of the questions as a class to make sure students understand them, and also provide a model for them • See the unit-by-unit tips and classroom presentation tool for specific teaching information 21st Century Skill   Independent Learning General Tips for Teaching Vocabulary In 21st Century Communication, target vocabulary is recycled throughout a unit and across the series giving students multiple opportunities to work with each word However, in order to truly learn new words, students need to develop vocabulary learning strategies on their own The ability to work independently and to be self-directed learners are essential 21st century skills Here are some tips for helping students to build their word knowledge on their own • Have students keep a vocabulary log in which they record the unit vocabulary, including definitions, sample sentences, information about pronunciation, and any other important information (i.e., first-language translation, synonyms and antonyms, and collocations) See example in Independent Student Handbook • Have students make flash cards On one side, they should write the word On the other side, they should draw a four-square grid and distribute the following information into the squares: definition, first-language translation, sample sentence, synonyms • Encourage students to study more than just the definitions of new words In order to have a deep understanding of new vocabulary, students need to understand meaning, as well as connotation, level of formality, word family, pronunciation pattern, and spelling The LISTEN section in Part provides levelappropriate content that encourages students to think critically and creatively about the theme of the unit This section includes two comprehension activities: LISTEN FOR MAIN IDEAS and LISTEN FOR DETAILS It also includes a LISTENING SKILL presentation and practice, and often a NOTETAKING SKILL presentation and practice vi 55547_fm.indd 01/11/16 3:47 PM TIPS • Before having the students LISTEN FOR MAIN IDEAS, remind them that the listening is on a topic they have been discussing, so they should keep in mind what they know about the topic as they listen • Read, or have a student read, the directions Explain that when they listen for main ideas, they listen for the most important points, so they shouldn’t worry if they don’t understand everything • Play the audio, or video if available Have students complete the exercise individually, and then go over the answers as a class Or, have students check their work with a partner before sharing with the class • When the LISTEN FOR MAIN IDEAS exercise is accompanied by a slideshow, ask the students how the visuals helped them understand the main ideas of the listening • Before having the students LISTEN FOR DETAILS, explain that for this exercise, they need to listen for specific information Read, or have a student read the directions and the items in the exercise so that students listen with a purpose • Play the audio Have students complete the exercise individually, and then go over the answers as a class You could also have students check their work with a partner before sharing with the class • See the unit-by-unit tips and classroom presentation tool for specific teaching information 21st Century Skill   Working with Multimedia General Tips for Using Audiovisuals An audiovisual slideshow presentation accompanies many of the listening inputs in Part to support student learning As students will be exposed to multimedia presentations of information at school and work, learning how to understand them and determine their effectiveness are essential 21st century skills Here are some tips for helping students learn with multimedia in the unit • Have students watch the slideshow without the audio first to predict the main ideas of the talk • After watching the slideshow with the audio, ask the students how the information on the slides did or did not support their understanding of the listening • Have the students work in pairs or small groups to discuss how they might change the slideshow to enhance how effectively it supports the message of the speaker(s) The LISTENING SKILL explicitly teaches a key academic listening skill and provides an example drawn from the listening in Part It gives students a listening strategy to help them better understand the listening in the unit and to develop their overall listening skills The listening skill may come before or after students LISTEN FOR DETAILS TIPS • Read, or have a student read, the information in the box, and play the audio if included • Answer any questions the students may have • Read, or have a student read, the directions to the follow-up exercises Explain to students that they should focus on practicing the specific skill, and not worry if they miss some other information • Play the audio Have students complete the exercises individually, and then go over the answers as a class Alternately, have students check their work with a partner before sharing with the class • See the unit-by-unit tips and classroom presentation tool for specific teaching information The NOTE-TAKING SKILL explicitly teaches a key note-taking skill to help students build their repertoire of note-taking strategies It focuses students’ attention on strategies for taking notes that they can apply to the listening input The notetaking skill falls either in Part or in Part vii 55547_fm.indd 01/11/16 3:47 PM TIPS • Answer any questions the students may have • Have students think about and share what they liked/didn’t like and agreed/disagreed with about the listening prior to completing the exercises • Read, or have a student read, the directions to the follow-up exercises Explain to students that they should focus on practicing the specific skill, and not worry if they miss some other information • Have students respond to the listening from a different perspective How would someone much older react to the listening? Much younger? Of a different gender? An elected official? • Play the audio Have students complete the exercises individually, and then go over the answers as a class You could also have students check their work with a partner before sharing with the class • Have students make text connections Ask them to relate the listening input and/or follow-up exercises to something in their own lives (text-to-self connection), to another text they have heard, watched, or read (text-totext connections), and to other real-world events in the past and/or present (text-toworld connections) • Read, or have a student read, the information in the box, and play the audio or video if included • Emphasize that note taking is an individual skill and therefore their notes will likely vary from their classmates’ The key to effective and efficient note taking is for students to develop a comprehensible system that works for them • Refer students to the online workbook for more note-taking practice • See the unit-by-unit tips and classroom presentation tool for specific teaching information The SPEAKING SKILL explicitly teaches a key speaking skill to help students express their ideas more effectively It focuses students’ attention on strategies the speakers use in the listening input in Part 1, and gives them opportunities to immediately practice the skill in discussion with classmates TIPS The AFTER YOU LISTEN section gives students the opportunity to think critically about and discuss the ideas that have been presented It includes presentation and practice of both a SPEAKING and PRONUNCIATION SKILL This section also typically includes the unit INFOGRAPHIC, although it may fall in Part Students are asked to interpret the visual and are given the opportunity to personalize Refer students to the online workbook for more listening practice 21st Century Skills   Critical Thinking Tips for Teaching Critical Thinking Students have ample opportunities for critical thinking through built-in THINK CRITICALLY exercises that appear throughout a unit These exercises ask students to analyze, apply, compare, evaluate, infer, interpret, personalize, reflect, support, and synthesize, among other skills Thinking critically is an essential 21st century skill Here are some tips for helping students to think critically throughout a unit viii 55547_fm.indd • Read, or have a student read, the information in the box, and play the audio if included • Answer any questions the students may have • Read, or have a student read, the directions to the follow-up exercises Explain to students that they should focus on practicing the specific skill presented • Have students complete the exercises individually or in pairs/small groups, as indicated Then, go over student responses as a class • Refer students to the online workbook activities for more speaking practice • See the unit-by-unit tips and classroom presentation tool for specific teaching information The PRONUNCIATION SKILL explicitly teaches a key pronunciation skill to help students better understand the listening in the unit Additionally, it helps them to be better understood by their listeners when speaking and/or presenting 01/11/16 3:47 PM TIPS • Read, or have a student read, the information in the box, and play audio if included • Answer any questions the students may have • Read, or have a student read, the directions to the follow-up exercises Explain to students that they should focus on practicing the specific skill presented • Have students complete the exercises individually or in pairs/small groups, as indicated Then, go over student responses as a class • Refer students to the online workbook activities for more pronunciation practice • See the unit-by-unit tips and classroom presentation tool for specific teaching information The INFOGRAPHIC is additional content relevant to the theme presented visually in a diagram, chart, graph, or other visual Students interpret and discuss the information in the visual, deepening their understanding of the topic It also gives students the opportunity to build the skill of interpreting visual information TIPS • Read, or have a student read, the directions • Elicit from and/or provide to the students any information relevant to the exercise (such as explanations of key terms, what’s being depicted or compared, what forms of measurement are being used, etc.) • Haves students work in pairs/small groups, as indicated, before sharing ideas as a whole class • See the unit-by-unit tips and classroom presentation tool for specific teaching information PART 2: TED TALKS PART introduces the TED speaker and idea worth spreading Students watch a carefully curated and sometimes edited TED Talk to inform, inspire, and excite Using the skills they have learned in Part 1, students are ready to enjoy and be motivated by authentic talks from a wide range of subject areas Students are encouraged to think critically about the topic and share their ideas about the talk The BEFORE YOU WATCH section helps students build and activate background knowledge about the TED speaker and the idea worth spreading The sequence of exercises loosely corresponds to that of Part 1, further encouraging students to use the prior knowledge they established in the first part of the unit TIPS • For each exercise, read or have a student read the directions • Elicit from and/or provide to the students any information relevant to the activity (such as definitions of words, examples, relevant background information) • Put students in pairs or small groups to discuss questions before sharing ideas as a whole class • See the unit-by-unit tips and classroom presentation tool for specific teaching information The VOCABULARY section in Part introduces the target vocabulary, which is chosen according to the same criteria as in Part All target words are on the audio program so students can hear the correct pronunciation Content-specific words or phrases that are important for comprehension are glossed in Words in the Talk Refer students to the online workbook for more vocabulary practice For step-by-step teaching strategies, please refer to the VOCABULARY tips in Part ix 55547_fm.indd 01/11/16 3:47 PM 21st Century Skills   Creative Thinking Tips for Reviewing Vocabulary In order for students to really learn new vocabulary words, they need repeated exposure to and practice with them While students have the responsibility to study the words at home, it is beneficial to provide repeated exposure to the words in class, as well Here are some suggestions for interactive games that can be used throughout the unit to review and get students thinking about words in new ways • BINGO: Have students draw a three-by-three table in their notebooks While they this, write nine vocabulary words (from Part and/ or 2) on the board Direct students to write one word in each box of their table in any order they want Then, call out the definitions of the words in random order The first student to get three words in a row (vertically, horizontally, or diagonally) calls BINGO! For an extra challenge, ask the student to use the three words accurately in sentences • Spin a Story: Have students work individually, or in pairs/small groups, to describe an image in the unit using vocabulary words from Part 1 and/or For this exercise, the students should pay particular attention to meaning and use Set a time limit The winning student or pair/small group is the one that used the most words correctly • Tic-Tac-Toe: Draw a three-by-three grid on the board and number each square 1–9 The numbers correspond to nine vocabulary words you want to review Divide the students into two teams, Team X and Team O, and pick one team to go first The first team picks a number, and you tell them a word As a group, they must come up with a sentence in which the word is used and pronounced correctly If their use and pronunciation of the new word is correct, they get to mark the box with their letter (X or O), and then the other team gets a turn If their use and/or pronunciation is incorrect, they not get to mark the box, and the turn moves to the other team The first group to get three Xs or three Os in a row (vertically, horizontally, or diagonally) wins the game You may choose to have the students spell the words in this game, too The WATCH section in Part presents the TED Talk, the culminating listening experience that students have been building to throughout the unit In addition to watching for MAIN IDEAS and DETAILS, students also complete exercises in which they apply the skills they learned in Part to help them better understand and take notes on the TED Talk TIPS • Before having the students WATCH FOR MAIN IDEAS, remind them that the TED Talk is on a topic they have been discussing, so they should keep in mind what they know about the topic as they watch Additionally, explain to them that the TED speaker also exemplifies the language skills they have been learning, so they should apply their knowledge of these skills to help them better understand (and take notes on) the TED Talk • Read, or have a student read, the directions Explain that when they watch for main ideas, they watch for the most important points, so they shouldn’t worry if they don’t understand everything This is especially important when listening to authentic English delivered at natural speeds Remind them that they will watch the talk more than once • Play the TED Talk Have students complete the exercise individually, and then go over the answers as a class Or, have students check their work with a partner before sharing with the class • Before having the students WATCH FOR DETAILS, explain that for this exercise, they need to watch for specific information Read, or have a student read, the directions and the items in the exercise so that students watch with a purpose • Play the TED Talk Have students complete the exercise individually, and then go over the answers as a class Alternately, have students check their work with a partner before sharing with the class • Before having students complete the remaining exercises, explain to them that some of the exercises are opportunities for them to apply the skills they learned in Part x 55547_fm.indd 10 01/11/16 3:47 PM What does blunder around mean? a abandon places b make mistakes c reduce opportunities ‘What we do, we work one-on-one, and to work one-onone, you have to create a social infrastructure that doesn’t exist.’ What does one-on-one mean? a alone b in a partnership c directly with another person ‘I started this as a tryout in Esperance, in Western Australia.’ What does it mean to start or something as a tryout? a to discuss its popularity b to study its flexibility c to test its potential VIDEO TRACK 1.16  2:13 Page 60, Exercise C Segment However, there is a secret to work with entrepreneurs First, you have to offer them confidentiality Otherwise they don’t come and talk to you Then you have to offer them absolute, dedicated, passionate service to them And then you have to tell them the truth about entrepreneurship The smallest company, the biggest company, has to be capable of doing three things beautifully: The product that you want to sell has to be fantastic, you have to have fantastic marketing, and you have to have tremendous financial management Guess what? We have never met a single human being in the world who can make it, sell it and look after the money It doesn’t exist This person has never been born So we can create the community where we have facilitators who come from a small business background sitting in cafes, in bars, and somebody who will say to you, “What you need? What can you do? Can you make it? Okay, can you sell it? Can you look after the money?” “Oh, no, I cannot this.” “Would you like me to find you somebody?” We activate communities We have groups of volunteers supporting the Enterprise Facilitator to help you to find resources and people and we have discovered that the miracle of the intelligence of local people is such that you can change the culture and the economy of this community just by capturing the passion, the energy and imagination of your own people Unit VIDEO TRACK 1.17  6:23 Part 1, Page 66, Exercise E, Listen for Main Ideas PROFESSOR  Good morning, everyone Today we’re going to be discussing big data—what it is and why it’s important A basic definition is that big data refers to the way companies use very large amounts of information to produce successful new products and services In future classes, we’ll focus on the impact of big data on business and, especially, commerce Today, though, we’ll focus on how big data helps the entertainment industry make more money Let’s begin with the movie industry In the past, movie studios would typically decide on a script, hire a director and some actors, make the movie, market it, 78 and hope to make some money Let me repeat that—they would hope to turn a profit Analysis shows that the cost of making and marketing a major studio movie today averages over $100 million Given the cost, I’m sure you will agree that hoping for revenue is hardly a good business strategy Analyzing big data allows studios to predict more accurately whether their next movie is going to be a hit And I’d say that this is the main reason big data has become so important How does big data work? Film studios can use a wide variety of data about people’s opinions Take social media, for example How many of you have liked a movie on Facebook? Or tweeted about a film on Twitter? Or written a review on IMDB, the Internet Movie Database? I can see a lot of heads nodding Well, studios can access all of that data to learn which genres are popular, which stars are on the rise, which kinds of promotions work best, and so on The data even allows studios to get answers to very specific questions Want to know which type of movie is most likely to appeal to 20-year-old college students studying art history in Los Angeles, for example? Big data can tell you Why is this important? If the studio knows a Particular film is going to be popular among a Particular demographic, it can customize the movie’s marketing materials to appeal to that sector of the population And as a basic rule, better marketing means better sales Now, personally I’m not convinced that big data is purely beneficial Like many people, I find many movies to be rather predictable and formulaic; that is, they follow a formula, or pattern, that rarely changes Movie studios generally copy things that have been popular in the past hoping those things will be popular again Studies show that big data is great at letting studios see what has been popular, but less good at predicting if something new will well So in my view there’s definitely a danger that we’ll be seeing a narrower variety of movies Now everything I’ve said about the impact of big data on movies could apply equally well to other forms of entertainment, from TV shows to video games, from books to music So let’s discuss big data in another sector of the entertainment industry: sports Interestingly though, the example we’re going to look at is also an example of big data in movies and books But it’s an example of a movie and book about big data rather than ones influenced by big data I’m talking about Moneyball, which is about a baseball team, the Oakland Athletics, or Oakland As During the 2002 baseball season, Oakland had the third lowest payroll, or team salary, among all teams in professional baseball at just under $40 million Now that sounds like a lot of money, but it was around 40 percent below the average payroll, and two thirds lower than the team with the highest payroll Why is this important? Well, teams with high payrolls can pay for the star players, and we could expect them to better than teams that spend less Usually that would be true, but not in this case Why? Big data You see, a huge amount of data is logged about every baseball game The A’s management team knew they could not afford to pay for the best players, so they decided to analyze that data looking for information that would allow them to be successful at a reasonable cost I don’t want to get too technical here, but basically the analysts in Oakland recognized some key data that others had overlooked This data showed them that certain players were likely to prosper despite not having the kinds of skills that baseball managers traditionally looked for So Oakland signed a number of players who had the skills that big data had suggested would lead to team success VIDEO SCRIPTS 55547_video.indd 78 26/10/16 10:59 AM And what happened? Well, I’d say the results were pretty amazing No other baseball team won more games than Oakland that year Not only that, but at one point in the season, Oakland won a record 20 games in a row To my mind, Oakland’s success is especially notable because three of its star players left before the 2002 season because Oakland could not afford to pay them as much as other teams Oakland’s success was very notable Other baseball teams soon began to copy its revolutionary approach to using big data And these days, big data is having a big impact in most other sports The reason? Big data allows teams and individual athletes to prosper, both in terms of winning games and in terms of making money VIDEO TRACK 1.18  2:03 Part 2, Page 72, Exercise B, Think Critically: Predict Segment KENNETH CUKIER  America’s favorite pie is? AUDIENCE   Apple CUKIER  Apple Of course it is How we know it? Because of data You look at supermarket sales You look at supermarket sales of 30-centimeter pies that are frozen, and apple wins, no contest The majority of the sales are apple But then supermarkets started selling smaller, 11-centimeter pies, and suddenly, apple fell to fourth or fifth place Why? What happened? Okay, think about it When you buy a 30-centimeter pie, the whole family has to agree, and apple is everyone’s second favorite (Laughter) But when you buy an individual 11-centimeter pie, you can buy the one that you want You can get your first choice You have more data You can see something that you couldn’t see when you only had smaller amounts of it Now, the point here is that more data doesn’t just let us see more, more of the same thing we were looking at More data allows us to see new It allows us to see better It allows us to see different In this case, it allows us to see what America’s favorite pie is: not apple VIDEO TRACK 1.19  8:30 Page 74, Exercise E, Watch for Main Ideas KENNETH CUKIER  America’s favorite pie is? AUDIENCE  Apple CUKIER  Apple Of course it is How we know it? Because of data You look at supermarket sales You look at supermarket sales of 30-centimeter pies that are frozen, and apple wins, no contest The majority of the sales are apple But then supermarkets started selling smaller, 11-centimeter pies, and suddenly, apple fell to fourth or fifth place Why? What happened? Okay, think about it When you buy a 30-centimeter pie, the whole family has to agree, and apple is everyone’s second favorite (Laughter) But when you buy an individual 11-centimeter pie, you can buy the one that you want You can get your first choice You have more data You can see something that you couldn’t see when you only had smaller amounts of it Now, the point here is that more data doesn’t just let us see more, more of the same thing we were looking at More data allows us to see new It allows us to see better It allows us to see different In this case, it allows us to see what America’s favorite pie is: not apple Now, you probably all have heard the term big data In fact, you’re probably sick of hearing the term big data It is true that there is a lot of hype around the term, and that is very unfortunate, because big data is an extremely important tool by which society is going to advance In the past, we used to look at small data and think about what it would mean to try to understand the world, and now we have a lot more of it, more than we ever could before What we find is that when we have a large body of data, we can fundamentally things that we couldn’t when we only had smaller amounts Big data is important, and big data is new, and when you think about it, the only way this planet is going to deal with its global challenges—to feed people, supply them with medical care, supply them with energy, electricity, and to make sure they’re not burnt to a crisp because of global warming—is because of the effective use of data So what is new about big data? What is the big deal? Well, to answer that question, let’s think about what information looked like, physically looked like in the past In 1908, on the island of Crete, archaeologists discovered a clay disc They dated it from 2000 B.C., so it’s 4,000 years old Now, there’s inscriptions on this disc, but we actually don’t know what it means It’s a complete mystery, but the point is that this is what information used to look like 4,000 years ago This is how society stored and transmitted information Now, society hasn’t advanced all that much We still store information on discs, but now we can store a lot more information, more than ever before Searching it is easier Copying it is easier Sharing it is easier Processing it is easier And what we can is we can reuse this information for uses that we never even imagined when we first collected the data In this respect, the data has gone from a stock to a flow, from something that is stationary and static to something that is fluid and dynamic So what is the value of big data? Well, think about it You have more information You can things that you couldn’t before One of the most impressive areas where this concept is taking place is in the area of machine learning Machine learning is a branch of artificial intelligence, which itself is a branch of computer science The general idea is that instead of instructing a computer what to do, we are going to simply throw data at the problem and tell the computer to figure it out for itself Machine learning is at the basis of many of the things that we online: search engines, Amazon’s personalization algorithm, computer translation, voice recognition systems Researchers recently have looked at the question of biopsies, cancerous biopsies, and they’ve asked the computer to identify by looking at the data and survival rates to determine whether cells are actually cancerous or not, and sure enough, when you throw the data at it, through a machine-learning algorithm, the machine was able to identify the 12 telltale signs that best predict that this biopsy of the breast cancer cells are indeed cancerous The problem: The medical literature only knew nine of them Three of the traits were ones that people didn’t need to look for, but that the machine spotted Now, there are dark sides to big data as well It will improve our lives, but there are problems that we need to be conscious of [ .] Big data is going to steal our jobs Big data and algorithms are going to challenge white collar, professional knowledge work in the 21st century in the same way that factory automation and the assembly line challenged blue collar labor in the 20th century Now, we like to think that technology creates jobs over a period of time after a short, temporary period of dislocation, and that is true for the VIDEO SCRIPTS 79 55547_video.indd 79 26/10/16 10:59 AM frame of reference with which we all live, the Industrial Revolution, because that’s precisely what happened But we forget something in that analysis: There are some categories of jobs that simply get eliminated and never come back The Industrial Revolution wasn’t very good if you were a horse So we’re going to need to be careful and take big data and adjust it for our needs, our very human needs We have to be the master of this technology, not its servant It’s a little bit like the challenge that was faced by primitive man and fire This is a tool, but this is a tool that, unless we’re careful, will burn us Excerpt Big data is going to transform how we live, how we work and how we think It is going to help us manage our careers and lead lives of satisfaction and hope and happiness and health, but in the past, we’ve often looked at information technology and our eyes have only seen the T, the technology, the hardware, because that’s what was physical We now need to recast our gaze at the I, the information, which is less apparent, but in some ways a lot more important Humanity can finally learn from the information that it can collect, as part of our timeless quest to understand the world and our place in it, and that’s why big data is a big deal So we’re going to need to be careful and take big data and adjust it for our needs, our very human needs We have to be the master of this technology, not its servant VIDEO TRACK 1.20  1:58 Segment Page 74, Exercise F, Watch for Details Segment One of the most impressive areas where this concept is taking place is in the area of machine learning Machine learning is a branch of artificial intelligence, which itself is a branch of computer science The general idea is that instead of instructing a computer what to do, we are going to simply throw data at the problem and tell the computer to figure it out for itself Machine learning is at the basis of many of the things that we online: search engines, Amazon’s personalization algorithm, computer translation, voice recognition systems Researchers recently have looked at the question of biopsies, cancerous biopsies, and they’ve asked the computer to identify by looking at the data and survival rates to determine whether cells are actually cancerous or not, and sure enough, when you throw the data at it, through a machine-learning algorithm, the machine was able to identify the 12 telltale signs that best predict that this biopsy of the breast cancer cells are indeed cancerous The problem: The medical literature only knew nine of them Three of the traits were ones that people didn’t need to look for, but that the machine spotted VIDEO TRACK 1.21  2:24 Page 75, Exercise G, Distinguish Facts from Opinions and Exercise H, Think Critically: Analyze Segment Excerpt KENNETH CUKIER  America’s favorite pie is? AUDIENCE  Apple CUKIER  Apple Of course it is How we know it? Because of data You look at supermarket sales You look at supermarket sales of 30-centimeter pies that are frozen, and apple wins, no contest The majority of the sales are apple Excerpt Now, you probably all have heard the term big data In fact, you’re probably sick of hearing the term big data 80 In 1908, on the island of Crete, archaeologists discovered a clay disc They dated it from 2000 B.C., so it’s 4,000 years old Excerpt One of the most impressive areas where this concept is taking place is in the area of machine learning Machine learning is a branch of artificial intelligence, which itself is a branch of computer science Excerpt Excerpt Big data is going to transform how we live, how we work and how we think It is going to help us manage our careers and lead lives of satisfaction and hope and happiness and health VIDEO TRACK 1.22  1:38 Page 76, Exercise I, Watch and Note Causes and Effects Excerpt But then supermarkets started selling smaller, 11-centimeter pies, and suddenly, apple fell to fourth or fifth place Excerpt Big data is an extremely important tool by which society is going to advance Excerpt So what is the value of big data? Well, think about it You have more information You can things that you couldn’t before Excerpt When you throw the data at it, through a machine-learning algorithm, the machine was able to identify the 12 telltale signs that best predict that this biopsy of the breast cancer cells are indeed cancerous Excerpt Now, we like to think that technology creates jobs over a period of time after a short, temporary period of dislocation VIDEO TRACK 1.23  3:47 Page 77, Exercise K, Expand Your Vocabulary ‘Now, you probably all have heard the term big data In fact, you’re probably sick of hearing the term big data.’ What does it mean to be sick of something? a not feel well due to illness b feel tired after experiencing too much c feel sad or upset ‘Big data is important, and big data is new, and when you think about it, the only way this planet is going to deal with its global challenges — to feed people, supply them with medical care, supply them with energy, electricity, and to make sure they’re not burnt to a crisp because of global warming — is because of the effective use of data.’ What does burnt to a crisp mean? a destroyed with heat b heated with a fire c left in the sun VIDEO SCRIPTS 55547_video.indd 80 26/10/16 10:59 AM ‘And what we can is we can reuse this information for uses that we never even imagined when we first collected the data In this respect, the data has gone from a stock to a flow, from something that is stationary and static to something that is fluid and dynamic.’ What does in this respect mean? a concerning a new situation b regarding a specific point c relating to a previous idea ‘Through a machine-learning algorithm, the machine was able to identify the 12 telltale signs that best predict that this biopsy of the breast cancer cells are indeed cancerous.’ What are telltale signs? a signs that are hard to distinguish b signs that clearly indicate something c signs that only experts recognize ‘Big data and algorithms are going to challenge white collar, professional knowledge work in the 21st century in the same way that factory automation and the assembly line challenged blue collar labor in the 20th century.’ What is an assembly line? a a group of people who share responsibility for the development of an idea b a location in an office or other workplace where people discuss production c a series of workers or machines in a factory that put together a product ‘Now, we like to think that technology creates jobs over a period of time after a short, temporary period of dislocation, and that is true for the frame of reference with which we all live, the Industrial Revolution, because that’s precisely what happened.’ What is a frame of reference? a an idea or set of values that people understand and use as the basis for judging something b a period of time that many people know about during which historical events took place c the way that media sources refer to specific events or situations over and over again Unit VIDEO TRACK 1.24  1:36 Part 2, Page 95, Exercise E, Watch for Main Ideas Segment One day in 1819, 3,000 miles off the coast of Chile, in one of the most remote regions of the Pacific Ocean, 20 American sailors watched their ship flood with seawater They’d been struck by a sperm whale, which had ripped a catastrophic hole in the ship’s hull As their ship began to sink beneath the swells, the men huddled together in three small whaleboats These men were 10,000 miles from home, more than 1,000 miles from the nearest scrap of land In their small boats, they carried only rudimentary navigational equipment and limited supplies of food and water These were the men of the whaleship Essex, whose story would later inspire parts of “Moby-Dick.” Even in today’s world, their situation would be really dire, but think about how much worse it would have been then No one on land had any idea that anything had gone wrong No search party was coming to look for these men So most of us have never experienced a situation as frightening as the one in which these sailors found themselves, but we all know what it’s like to be afraid We know how fear feels, but I’m not sure we spend enough time thinking about what our fears mean VIDEO TRACK 1.25  7:24 Page 95, Exercise F, Communicate In English, fear is something we conquer It’s something we fight It’s something we overcome But what if we looked at fear in a fresh way? What if we thought of fear as an amazing act of the imagination, something that can be as profound and insightful as storytelling itself? Well let’s return to the year 1819 for a moment, to the situation facing the crew of the whaleship Essex Let’s take a look at the fears that their imaginations were generating as they drifted in the middle of the Pacific Twenty-four hours had now passed since the capsizing of the ship The time had come for the men to make a plan, but they had very few options In his fascinating account of the disaster, Nathaniel Philbrick wrote that these men were just about as far from land as it was possible to be anywhere on Earth The men knew that the nearest islands they could reach were the Marquesas Islands, 1,200 miles away But they’d heard some frightening rumors They’d been told that these islands, and several others nearby, were populated by cannibals So the men pictured coming ashore only to be murdered and eaten for dinner Another possible destination was Hawaii, but given the season, the captain was afraid they’d be struck by severe storms Now the last option was the longest, and the most difficult: to sail 1,500 miles due south in hopes of reaching a certain band of winds that could eventually push them toward the coast of South America But they knew that the sheer length of this journey would stretch their supplies of food and water To be eaten by cannibals, to be battered by storms, to starve to death before reaching land These were the fears that danced in the imaginations of these poor men, and as it turned out, the fear they chose to listen to would govern whether they lived or died Now we might just as easily call these fears by a different name What if instead of calling them fears, we called them stories? Because that’s really what fear is, if you think about it It’s a kind of unintentional storytelling that we are all born knowing how to And fears and storytelling have the same components They have the same architecture Like all stories, fears have characters In our fears, the characters are us Fears also have plots They have beginnings and middles and ends You board the plane The plane takes off The engine fails Our fears also tend to contain imagery that can be every bit as vivid as what you might find in the pages of a novel Picture a cannibal, human teeth sinking into human skin, human flesh roasting over a fire Fears also have suspense If I’ve done my job as a storyteller today, you should be wondering what happened to the men of the whaleship Essex Our fears provoke in us a very similar form of suspense Just like all great stories, our fears focus our attention on a question that is as important in life as it is in literature: What will happen next? In other words, our fears make us think about the future And humans, by the way, are the only creatures capable of thinking about the future in this way, of projecting ourselves forward in time, and this mental time travel is just one more thing that fears have in common with storytelling VIDEO SCRIPTS 81 55547_video.indd 81 26/10/16 10:59 AM Now, some of us naturally read our fears more closely than others I read about a study recently of successful entrepreneurs, and the author found that these people shared a habit that he called “productive paranoia,” which meant that these people, instead of dismissing their fears, these people read them closely, they studied them, and then they translated that fear into preparation and action So that way, if their worst fears came true, their businesses were ready And sometimes, of course, our worst fears come true That’s one of the things that is so extraordinary about fear Once in a while, our fears can predict the future But we can’t possibly prepare for all of the fears that our imaginations concoct So how can we tell the difference between the fears worth listening to and all the others? I think the end of the story of the whaleship Essex offers an illuminating, if tragic, example After much deliberation, the men finally made a decision Terrified of cannibals, they decided to forgo the closest islands and instead embarked on the longer and much more difficult route to South America After more than two months at sea, the men ran out of food as they knew they might, and they were still quite far from land When the last of the survivors were finally picked up by two passing ships, less than half of the men were left alive, and some of them had resorted to their own form of cannibalism Herman Melville, who used this story as research for “Moby-Dick,” wrote years later, and from dry land, quote, “All the sufferings of these miserable men of the Essex might in all human probability have been avoided had they, immediately after leaving the wreck, steered straight for Tahiti But,” as Melville put it, “they dreaded cannibals.” So the question is, why did these men dread cannibals so much more than the extreme likelihood of starvation? Why were they swayed by one story so much more than the other? The problem was that they listened to the wrong story Of all the narratives their fears wrote, they responded only to the most lurid, the most vivid, the one that was easiest for their imaginations to picture: cannibals But perhaps if they’d been able to read their fears more like a scientist, with more coolness of judgment, they would have listened instead to the less violent but the more likely tale, the story of starvation, and headed for Tahiti, just as Melville’s sad commentary suggests And maybe if we all tried to read our fears, we too would be less often swayed by the most salacious among them Maybe then we’d spend less time worrying about serial killers and plane crashes, and more time concerned with the subtler and slower disasters we face: the silent buildup of plaque in our arteries, the gradual changes in our climate Just as the most nuanced stories in literature are often the richest, so too might our subtlest fears be the truest Read in the right way, our fears are an amazing gift of the imagination, a kind of everyday clairvoyance, a way of glimpsing what might be the future when there’s still time to influence how that future will play out Properly read, our fears can offer us something as precious as our favorite works of literature: a little wisdom, a bit of insight and a version of that most elusive thing—the truth Thank you (Applause) VIDEO TRACK 1.26  8:27 Page 96, Exercise G, Watch for Details One day in 1819, 3,000 miles off the coast of Chile, in one of the most remote regions of the Pacific Ocean, 20 American sailors watched their ship flood with seawater 82 They’d been struck by a sperm whale, which had ripped a catastrophic hole in the ship’s hull As their ship began to sink beneath the swells, the men huddled together in three small whaleboats These men were 10,000 miles from home, more than 1,000 miles from the nearest scrap of land In their small boats, they carried only rudimentary navigational equipment and limited supplies of food and water These were the men of the whaleship Essex, whose story would later inspire parts of “Moby-Dick.” Even in today’s world, their situation would be really dire, but think about how much worse it would have been then No one on land had any idea that anything had gone wrong No search party was coming to look for these men So most of us have never experienced a situation as frightening as the one in which these sailors found themselves, but we all know what it’s like to be afraid We know how fear feels, but I’m not sure we spend enough time thinking about what our fears mean In English, fear is something we conquer It’s something we fight It’s something we overcome But what if we looked at fear in a fresh way? What if we thought of fear as an amazing act of the imagination, something that can be as profound and insightful as storytelling itself? Well let’s return to the year 1819 for a moment, to the situation facing the crew of the whaleship Essex Let’s take a look at the fears that their imaginations were generating as they drifted in the middle of the Pacific Twenty-four hours had now passed since the capsizing of the ship The time had come for the men to make a plan, but they had very few options In his fascinating account of the disaster, Nathaniel Philbrick wrote that these men were just about as far from land as it was possible to be anywhere on Earth The men knew that the nearest islands they could reach were the Marquesas Islands, 1,200 miles away But they’d heard some frightening rumors They’d been told that these islands, and several others nearby, were populated by cannibals So the men pictured coming ashore only to be murdered and eaten for dinner Another possible destination was Hawaii, but given the season, the captain was afraid they’d be struck by severe storms Now the last option was the longest, and the most difficult: to sail 1,500 miles due south in hopes of reaching a certain band of winds that could eventually push them toward the coast of South America But they knew that the sheer length of this journey would stretch their supplies of food and water To be eaten by cannibals, to be battered by storms, to starve to death before reaching land These were the fears that danced in the imaginations of these poor men, and as it turned out, the fear they chose to listen to would govern whether they lived or died Now we might just as easily call these fears by a different name What if instead of calling them fears, we called them stories? Because that’s really what fear is, if you think about it It’s a kind of unintentional storytelling that we are all born knowing how to And fears and storytelling have the same components They have the same architecture Like all stories, fears have characters In our fears, the characters are us Fears also have plots They have beginnings and middles and ends You board the plane The plane takes off The engine fails Our fears also tend to contain imagery that can be every bit as vivid as what you might find in the pages of a novel Picture a cannibal, human teeth sinking into human skin, human flesh roasting over a fire Fears also have suspense If I’ve done my job as a storyteller today, you should be wondering what happened to the men of the whaleship Essex Our fears provoke in us a very similar form VIDEO SCRIPTS 55547_video.indd 82 26/10/16 10:59 AM of suspense Just like all great stories, our fears focus our attention on a question that is as important in life as it is in literature: What will happen next? In other words, our fears make us think about the future And humans, by the way, are the only creatures capable of thinking about the future in this way, of projecting ourselves forward in time, and this mental time travel is just one more thing that fears have in common with storytelling Now, some of us naturally read our fears more closely than others I read about a study recently of successful entrepreneurs, and the author found that these people shared a habit that he called “productive paranoia,” which meant that these people, instead of dismissing their fears, these people read them closely, they studied them, and then they translated that fear into preparation and action So that way, if their worst fears came true, their businesses were ready And sometimes, of course, our worst fears come true That’s one of the things that is so extraordinary about fear Once in a while, our fears can predict the future But we can’t possibly prepare for all of the fears that our imaginations concoct So how can we tell the difference between the fears worth listening to and all the others? I think the end of the story of the whaleship Essex offers an illuminating, if tragic, example After much deliberation, the men finally made a decision Terrified of cannibals, they decided to forgo the closest islands and instead embarked on the longer and much more difficult route to South America After more than two months at sea, the men ran out of food as they knew they might, and they were still quite far from land When the last of the survivors were finally picked up by two passing ships, less than half of the men were left alive, and some of them had resorted to their own form of cannibalism Herman Melville, who used this story as research for “Moby-Dick,” wrote years later, and from dry land, quote, “All the sufferings of these miserable men of the Essex might in all human probability have been avoided had they, immediately after leaving the wreck, steered straight for Tahiti But,” as Melville put it, “they dreaded cannibals.” So the question is, why did these men dread cannibals so much more than the extreme likelihood of starvation? Why were they swayed by one story so much more than the other? The problem was that they listened to the wrong story Of all the narratives their fears wrote, they responded only to the most lurid, the most vivid, the one that was easiest for their imaginations to picture: cannibals But perhaps if they’d been able to read their fears more like a scientist, with more coolness of judgment, they would have listened instead to the less violent but the more likely tale, the story of starvation, and headed for Tahiti, just as Melville’s sad commentary suggests And maybe if we all tried to read our fears, we too would be less often swayed by the most salacious among them Maybe then we’d spend less time worrying about serial killers and plane crashes, and more time concerned with the subtler and slower disasters we face: the silent buildup of plaque in our arteries, the gradual changes in our climate Just as the most nuanced stories in literature are often the richest, so too might our subtlest fears be the truest Read in the right way, our fears are an amazing gift of the imagination, a kind of everyday clairvoyance, a way of glimpsing what might be the future when there’s still time to influence how that future will play out Properly read, our fears can offer us something as precious as our favorite works of literature: a little wisdom, a bit of insight and a version of that most elusive thing—the truth Thank you (Applause) VIDEO TRACK 1.27  4:37 Page 96, Exercise I, Recognize Repetition Segment In English, fear is something we conquer It’s something we fight It’s something we overcome But what if we looked at fear in a fresh way? What if we thought of fear as an amazing act of the imagination, something that can be as profound and insightful as storytelling itself? Well let’s return to the year 1819 for a moment, to the situation facing the crew of the whaleship Essex Let’s take a look at the fears that their imaginations were generating as they drifted in the middle of the Pacific Twenty-four hours had now passed since the capsizing of the ship The time had come for the men to make a plan, but they had very few options In his fascinating account of the disaster, Nathaniel Philbrick wrote that these men were just about as far from land as it was possible to be anywhere on Earth The men knew that the nearest islands they could reach were the Marquesas Islands, 1,200 miles away But they’d heard some frightening rumors They’d been told that these islands, and several others nearby, were populated by cannibals So the men pictured coming ashore only to be murdered and eaten for dinner Another possible destination was Hawaii, but given the season, the captain was afraid they’d be struck by severe storms Now the last option was the longest, and the most difficult: to sail 1,500 miles due south in hopes of reaching a certain band of winds that could eventually push them toward the coast of South America But they knew that the sheer length of this journey would stretch their supplies of food and water To be eaten by cannibals, to be battered by storms, to starve to death before reaching land These were the fears that danced in the imaginations of these poor men, and as it turned out, the fear they chose to listen to would govern whether they lived or died Now we might just as easily call these fears by a different name What if instead of calling them fears, we called them stories? Because that’s really what fear is, if you think about it It’s a kind of unintentional storytelling that we are all born knowing how to And fears and storytelling have the same components They have the same architecture Like all stories, fears have characters In our fears, the characters are us Fears also have plots They have beginnings and middles and ends You board the plane The plane takes off The engine fails Our fears also tend to contain imagery that can be every bit as vivid as what you might find in the pages of a novel Picture a cannibal, human teeth sinking into human skin, human flesh roasting over a fire Fears also have suspense If I’ve done my job as a storyteller today, you should be wondering what happened to the men of the whaleship Essex Our fears provoke in us a very similar form of suspense Just like all great stories, our fears focus our attention on a question that is as important in life as it is in literature: What will happen next? In other words, our fears make us think about the future And humans, by the way, are the only creatures capable of thinking about the future in this way, of projecting ourselves forward in time, and this mental time travel is just one more thing that fears have in common with storytelling Now, some of us naturally read our fears more closely than others I read about a study recently of successful VIDEO SCRIPTS 83 55547_video.indd 83 26/10/16 10:59 AM entrepreneurs, and the author found that these people shared a habit that he called “productive paranoia,” which meant that these people, instead of dismissing their fears, these people read them closely, they studied them, and then they translated that fear into preparation and action So that way, if their worst fears came true, their businesses were ready And sometimes, of course, our worst fears come true That’s one of the things that is so extraordinary about fear Once in a while, our fears can predict the future But we can’t possibly prepare for all of the fears that our imaginations concoct So how can we tell the difference between the fears worth listening to and all the others? VIDEO TRACK 1.28  3:28 Page 97, Exercise L, Expand Your Vocabulary ‘Even in today’s world, their situation would be really dire, but think about how much worse it would have been then No one on land had any idea that anything had gone wrong.’ What is a dire situation? a one that is completely unexpected b one that is extremely serious c one that is surprisingly unsuccessful ‘These people, instead of dismissing their fears, these people read them closely, they studied them, and then they translated that fear into preparation and action.’ What does it mean to dismiss one’s fears? a abandon them b forget them c ignore them ‘So how can we tell the difference between the fears worth listening to and all the others? I think the end of the story of the whaleship Essex offers an illuminating, if tragic, example.’ What is an illuminating example? a one that causes a controversy one that leads to a discussion b c one that makes something clear ‘After much deliberation, the men finally made a decision Terrified of cannibals, they decided to forgo the closest islands and instead embarked on the longer and much more difficult route to South America.’ What does embark on mean? a begin a journey b learn a lesson c take a vote ‘After more than two months at sea, the men ran out of food as they knew they might, and they were still quite far from land When the last of the survivors were finally picked up by two passing ships, less than half of the men were left alive, and some of them had resorted to their own form of cannibalism.’ What does resort to mean? a something arrogant b something extreme c something urgent ‘Herman Melville, who used this story as research for MobyDick, wrote years later, and from dry land, quote, ‘All the sufferings of these miserable men of the Essex might in all human probability have been avoided had they, immediately after leaving the wreck, steered straight for Tahiti.’’ 84 What does steer for mean? a depart quickly from b spend time in c travel directly towards Unit VIDEO TRACK 1.29  6:10 Part 1, Pages 106 and 107, Exercise E, Listen for Main Ideas and Exercise G, Collaborate Segment PROFESSOR  We’ve been discussing different aspects of the global food crisis Among other issues, these include people not having access to enough food and the high environmental cost of food production, especially meat Some people are convinced technology will help solve the food crisis They argue that genetic engineering, for instance, could produce crops that resist disease or are better for us Others feel that using technology to change nature in this way could not only make the food crisis worse but perhaps cause ecological problems Personally, I’m neutral on the value of technology as a potential solution to the food crisis For me, it’s just one among several options Still, I asked all of you to research ways that technology might help Let’s hear what you found out, starting with Amal AMAL  One technology that fascinates me is 3D printing, which I think will benefit society hugely When I heard some 3D printers can print food, I was sure they would help with the food crisis However, my opinion changed during my research These printers work by printing layers of powdered ingredients on top of each other to produce an item of food It’s pretty amazing—almost like science fiction But I’m not sure it will become an important technology These printers might be able to add protein or other needed nutrients to foods in the future Now, however, the machines are slow, expensive, and mostly produce non-essential foods like chocolate or candies So I feel that printing food will be a niche technology at best, and I’d like to discuss aquaponics instead Traditional agriculture involves either growing plants or raising animals for food And aquaculture, or fish farming, involves raising fish in tanks or pens Aquaponics combines growing plants and farming fish into a single system For me, it has great potential to provide healthy, sustainable food To understand aquaponics, think of two layers On top are plants growing in nutrient-rich water rather than in soil Below that is a tank of fish Normal fish farms have a problem In order for the fish to live in a healthy environment, farmers must filter and discard the waste that fish produce The clever part of aquaponics is that instead of throwing away the waste, farmers use it as a nutrient for the plants Aquaponics has some benefits over traditional agriculture First, it produces vegetables and fish protein for people to eat And although it looks like it needs a lot of water, the water can be recycled I read that aquaponics systems use 90 to 98% less water than conventional agriculture, which is great for sustainability Another benefit is that aquaponics doesn’t require large areas of land The farms are inside buildings, and these can VIDEO SCRIPTS 55547_video.indd 84 26/10/16 10:59 AM be located anywhere, even in city centers So food can be produced close to where people live, reducing energy and pollution costs from transportation and distribution And aquaponics requires far less energy and resources than conventional farms I even read that companies are developing LED lightbulbs for this kind of farming These bulbs use less energy than traditional lights They also produce no heat, meaning they can be positioned close to the plants, which saves space And different LEDs can produce specific types of light that are perfect for different crops So, for instance, farmers might have one LED to help sweet potatoes grow, another just for strawberries, and one more for lettuce PROFESSOR  Thanks, Amal That was interesting And for what it’s worth, I agree that 3D printing of food does not seem like an obvious solution to the food crisis Segment PROFESSOR  Austin, are you ready? AUSTIN  OK, well, my experience was the opposite of Amal’s I started researching a technology for growing meat in a laboratory At first, I was skeptical and didn’t think the technology would be important As I researched, though, I came to think it has a lot of potential as a sustainable solution to the food crisis The technology is pretty simple to explain Scientists take cells from the muscle of an animal, such as a cow, chicken, or fish They add a special enzyme to the cells that makes them divide, and over time they grow into a sheet of edible meat Some of you may remember a news story about this from a few years ago Some Dutch scientists made a burger from meat grown in their lab At the time there were two problems: the flavor apparently wasn’t perfect, and the burger cost a crazy $325,000 Still, growing cells is basic technology, so the price has dropped substantially and will continue to so According to my research, the same hamburger would now cost closer to $10 and taste much better And the process of growing cells can easily be scaled, meaning it will be possible to produce meat or fish cells cheaply and in enough quantity to feed a lot of people The process doesn’t need huge amounts of agricultural land, water, or energy, so it’s sustainable And there is one other thing that excites me about this technology The process doesn’t harm animals I know many people don’t eat meat because of concern for animals, and I think some of them might be willing to eat this meat If my local store started selling meat grown in a lab for a decent price, I’d buy it for sure! PROFESSOR  Thank you, Austin Also interesting VIDEO TRACK 1.30  12:18 Part 2, Page 114, Exercise E, Watch for Main Ideas So, I’ve known a lot of fish in my life I’ve loved only two That first one was, uh, it was more like a passionate affair It was a beautiful fish: flavorful, textured, meaty, a bestseller on the menu What a fish (Laughter) Even better, it was farm-raised to the supposed highest standards of sustainability So you could feel good about selling it love—the tunas, the halibuts, the salmons, swordfish— they’ve collapsed There’s almost nothing left So, for better or for worse, aquaculture, fish farming, is going to be a part of our future A lot of arguments against it: Fish farms pollute—most of them anyway—and they’re inefficient Take tuna, a major drawback It’s got a feed conversion ratio of 15 to one That means it takes fifteen pounds of wild fish to get you one pound of farm tuna Not very sustainable It doesn’t taste very good either So here, finally, was a company trying to it right I wanted to support them The day before the event, I called the head of P.R for the company Let’s call him Don “Don,” I said, “just to get the facts straight, you guys are famous for farming so far out to sea, you don’t pollute.” “That’s right,” he said “We’re so far out, the waste from our fish gets distributed, not concentrated.” That feed conversion ratio? 2.5 to one,” he said “Best in the business.” 2.5 to one, great “2.5 what? What are you feeding?” “Sustainable proteins,” he said So the next day, just before the event, I called Don I said, “Don, what are some examples of sustainable proteins?” He said he didn’t know He would ask around Well, I got on the phone with a few people in the company; no one could give me a straight answer until finally, I got on the phone with the head biologist Let’s call him Don, too (Laughter) “Don,” I said, “what are some examples of sustainable proteins?” Well, he mentioned some algaes and some fish meals, and then he said chicken pellets I said, “Chicken pellets?” I said, “What percentage of your feed is chicken?” Thinking, you know, two percent “Well, it’s about 30 percent,” he said I said, “Don, what’s sustainable about feeding chicken to fish?” (Laughter) There was a long pause on the line, and he said, “There’s just too much chicken in the world.” (Laughter) This second fish, it’s a different kind of love story It’s the romantic kind, the kind where the more you get to know your fish, you love the fish I first ate it at a restaurant in southern Spain A journalist friend had been talking about this fish for a long time She kind of set us up (Laughter) It came to the table a bright, almost shimmering, white color The chef had overcooked it Like twice over Amazingly, it was still delicious Who can make a fish taste good after it’s been overcooked? I can’t, but this guy can Let’s call him Miguel—actually his name is Miguel (Laughter) And no, he didn’t cook the fish, and he’s not a chef, at least in the way that you and I understand it He’s a biologist at Veta La Palma It’s a fish farm in the southwestern corner of Spain The farm’s incredible I mean, you’ve never seen anything like this You stare out at a horizon that is a million miles away, and all you see are flooded canals and this thick, rich marshland I was in a relationship with this beauty for several months One day, the head of the company called and asked if I’d speak at an event about the farm’s sustainability “Absolutely,” I said Here was a company trying to solve what’s become this unimaginable problem for us chefs: How we keep fish on our menus? I was there not long ago with Miguel For the past 50 years, we’ve been fishing the seas like we clear-cut forests Ninety percent of large fish, the ones we And don’t get me wrong, that was really fascinating, you know, the biotic community unplugged, kind of thing, I asked him how he became such an expert on fish He said, “Fish? I didn’t know anything about fish I’m an expert in relationships.” And then he’s off, launching into more talk about rare birds and algaes and strange aquatic plants VIDEO SCRIPTS 85 55547_video.indd 85 26/10/16 10:59 AM you know? It’s great, but I was in love And my head was swooning over that overcooked piece of delicious fish I had the night before So I interrupted him I said, “Miguel, what makes your fish taste so good?” Well, he goes on to tell me it’s such a rich system that the fish are eating what they’d be eating in the wild The plant biomass, the phytoplankton, the zooplankton, it’s what feeds the fish The system is so healthy, it’s totally selfrenewing There is no feed Ever heard of a farm that doesn’t feed its animals? Later that day, I was driving around this property with Miguel, and I asked him, I said, “For a place that seems so natural, unlike any fish farm, unlike any farm I’d ever been at, how you measure success?” At that moment, it was as if a film director called for a set change And we rounded the corner and saw the most amazing sight: thousands and thousands of pink flamingos [ .] “That’s success,” he said “Look at their bellies, pink They’re feasting.” Feasting? I was totally confused I said, “Miguel, aren’t they feasting on your fish?” (Laughter) “Yes,” he said (Laughter) “We lose 20 percent of our fish and fish eggs to birds I said, “Miguel, isn’t a thriving bird population like the last thing you want on a fish farm?” (Laughter) He shook his head, no He said, “We farm extensively, not intensively This is an ecological network So the pinker the belly, the better the system.” Okay, so let’s review: a farm that doesn’t feed its animals, and a farm that measures its success on the health of its predators I didn’t mention the skin of my beloved fish, which was delicious [ .] It tasted sweet and clean, like you were taking a bite of the ocean I mentioned that to Miguel, and he nodded He said, “The skin acts like a sponge It’s the last defense before anything enters the body It evolved to soak up impurities.” And then he added, “But our water has no impurities.” And then I realized when he says, “A farm that has no impurities,” he made a big understatement, because the water that flows through that farm comes in from the Guadalquivir River It’s a river that carries with it all the things that rivers tend to carry these days: chemical contaminants, pesticide runoff And when it works its way through the system and leaves, the water is cleaner than when it entered The system is so healthy, it purifies the water So, not just a farm that doesn’t feed its animals, not just a farm that measures its success by the health of its predators, but a farm that’s literally a water purification plant [ .] What we need now is a radically new conception of agriculture, one in which the food actually tastes good (Laughter) Right? (Applause) But for a lot people, that’s a bit too radical We’re not realists, us foodies; we’re lovers We love farmers’ markets, we love small family farms, we talk about local food, we eat organic And when you suggest these are the things that will ensure the future of good food, someone, somewhere stands up and says, “Hey guy, I love pink flamingos, but how are you going to feed the world?” How are you going to feed the world? Want to feed the world? Let’s start by asking: How are we going to feed ourselves? Or better: How can we create 86 conditions that enable every community to feed itself? (Applause) Look to Miguel, farmers like Miguel Farms that aren’t worlds unto themselves; farms that restore instead of deplete; farms that farm extensively instead of just intensively; farmers that are not just producers, but experts in relationships Because they’re the ones that are experts in flavor, too And if I’m going to be really honest, they’re a better chef than I’ll ever be You know, I’m okay with that, because if that’s the future of good food, it’s going to be delicious Thank you (Applause) VIDEO TRACK 1.31  5:22 Page 115, Exercise F, Watch for Details Segment Who can make a fish taste good after it’s been overcooked? I can’t, but this guy can Let’s call him Miguel—actually his name is Miguel (Laughter) And no, he didn’t cook the fish, and he’s not a chef, at least in the way that you and I understand it He’s a biologist at Veta La Palma It’s a fish farm in the southwestern corner of Spain The farm’s incredible I mean, you’ve never seen anything like this You stare out at a horizon that is a million miles away, and all you see are flooded canals and this thick, rich marshland I was there not long ago with Miguel I asked him how he became such an expert on fish He said, “Fish? I didn’t know anything about fish I’m an expert in relationships.” And then he’s off, launching into more talk about rare birds and algaes and strange aquatic plants And don’t get me wrong, that was really fascinating, you know, the biotic community unplugged, kind of thing, you know? It’s great, but I was in love And my head was swooning over that overcooked piece of delicious fish I had the night before So I interrupted him I said, “Miguel, what makes your fish taste so good?” Well, he goes on to tell me it’s such a rich system that the fish are eating what they’d be eating in the wild The plant biomass, the phytoplankton, the zooplankton, it’s what feeds the fish The system is so healthy, it’s totally selfrenewing There is no feed Ever heard of a farm that doesn’t feed its animals? Later that day, I was driving around this property with Miguel, and I asked him, I said, “For a place that seems so natural, unlike any fish farm, unlike any farm I’d ever been at, how you measure success?” At that moment, it was as if a film director called for a set change And we rounded the corner and saw the most amazing sight: thousands and thousands of pink flamingos [ .] “That’s success,” he said “Look at their bellies, pink They’re feasting.” Feasting? I was totally confused I said, “Miguel, aren’t they feasting on your fish?” (Laughter) “Yes,” he said (Laughter) “We lose 20 percent of our fish and fish eggs to birds I said, “Miguel, isn’t a thriving bird population like the last thing you want on a fish farm?” (Laughter) He shook his head, no He said, “We farm extensively, not intensively This is an ecological network So the pinker the belly, the better the system.” VIDEO SCRIPTS 55547_video.indd 86 26/10/16 10:59 AM Okay, so let’s review: a farm that doesn’t feed its animals, and a farm that measures its success on the health of its predators I didn’t mention the skin of my beloved fish, which was delicious [ .] It tasted sweet and clean, like you were taking a bite of the ocean I mentioned that to Miguel, and he nodded He said, “The skin acts like a sponge It’s the last defense before anything enters the body It evolved to soak up impurities.” And then he added, “But our water has no impurities.” And then I realized when he says, “A farm that has no impurities,” he made a big understatement, because the water that flows through that farm comes in from the Guadalquivir River It’s a river that carries with it all the things that rivers tend to carry these days: chemical contaminants, pesticide runoff And when it works its way through the system and leaves, the water is cleaner than when it entered The system is so healthy, it purifies the water So, not just a farm that doesn’t feed its animals, not just a farm that measures its success by the health of its predators, but a farm that’s literally a water purification plant [ .] VIDEO TRACK 1.32  3:31 Page 116, Exercise I, Note Who Says What Segment Excerpt The farm’s incredible I mean, you’ve never seen anything like this You stare out at a horizon that is a million miles away, and all you see are flooded canals and this thick, rich marshland I was there not long ago with Miguel I asked him how he became such an expert on fish He said, “Fish? I didn’t know anything about fish I’m an expert in relationships.” VIDEO TRACK 1.33  2:39 Page 116, Exercise J, Watch for the Speaker’s Position Segment What we need now is a radically new conception of agriculture, one in which the food actually tastes good (Laughter) Right? (Applause) But for a lot people, that’s a bit too radical We’re not realists, us foodies; we’re lovers We love farmers’ markets, we love small family farms, we talk about local food, we eat organic And when you suggest these are the things that will ensure the future of good food, someone, somewhere stands up and says, “Hey guy, I love pink flamingos, but how are you going to feed the world?” How are you going to feed the world? Want to feed the world? Let’s start by asking: How are we going to feed ourselves? Or better: How can we create conditions that enable every community to feed itself? (Applause) “That’s right,” he said “We’re so far out, the waste from our fish gets distributed, not concentrated.” Look to Miguel, farmers like Miguel Farms that aren’t worlds unto themselves; farms that restore instead of deplete; farms that farm extensively instead of just intensively; farmers that are not just producers, but experts in relationships Because they’re the ones that are experts in flavor, too And if I’m going to be really honest, they’re a better chef than I’ll ever be You know, I’m okay with that, because if that’s the future of good food, it’s going to be delicious Excerpt Thank you (Applause) So the next day, just before the event, I called Don I said, “Don, what are some examples of sustainable proteins?” VIDEO TRACK 1.34  2:56 He said he didn’t know He would ask around Well, I got on the phone with a few people in the company; no one could give me a straight answer until finally, I got on the phone with the head biologist Let’s call him Don, too (Laughter) ‘So, for better or for worse, aquaculture, fish farming, is going to be a part of our future.’ So here, finally, was a company trying to it right I wanted to support them The day before the event, I called the head of P.R for the company Let’s call him Don “Don,” I said, “just to get the facts straight, you guys are famous for farming so far out to sea, you don’t pollute.” “Don,” I said, “what are some examples of sustainable proteins?” Well, he mentioned some algaes and some fish meals, and then he said chicken pellets I said, “Chicken pellets?” I said, “What percentage of your feed is chicken?” Thinking, you know, two percent “Well, it’s about 30 percent,” he said I said, “Don, what’s sustainable about feeding chicken to fish?” (Laughter) There was a long pause on the line, and he said, “There’s just too much chicken in the world.” (Laughter) Excerpt Who can make a fish taste good after it’s been overcooked? I can’t, but this guy can Let’s call him Miguel—actually his name is Miguel (Laughter) And no, he didn’t cook the fish, and he’s not a chef, at least in the way that you and I understand it He’s a biologist at Veta La Palma It’s a fish farm in the southwestern corner of Spain Page 116, Exercise L, Expand Your Vocabulary What does for better or for worse mean? a whether the outcome is good or bad b until things get better of medium quality c ‘Well, I got on the phone with a few people in the company; no one could give me a straight answer until finally, I got on the phone with the head biologist.’ What is a straight answer? a a clear written response b a direct, honest response c an easy-to-understand response ‘This second fish, it’s a different kind of love story It’s the romantic kind, the kind where the more you get to know your fish, you love the fish I first ate it at a restaurant in southern Spain A journalist friend had been talking about this fish for a long time She kind of set us up.’ What does set somebody up mean? a arrange for two people to meet in the hope that they might begin a relationship b organize a situation in which one person takes on an important task for another person VIDEO SCRIPTS 87 55547_video.indd 87 26/10/16 10:59 AM c p  lan an event that will make one or two people feel encouraged about a situation ‘I mentioned that to Miguel, and he nodded He said, “The skin acts like a sponge It’s the last defense before anything enters the body It evolved to soak up impurities.’’ What does soak up mean? a absorb something b cancel something c discover something ‘It’s a river that carries with it all the things that rivers tend to carry these days: chemical contaminants, pesticide runoff And when it works its way through the system and leaves, the water is cleaner than when it entered.’ What does work its way through mean? a carry an important or needed item b go through a long process or journey c react to a negative event or situation Unit VIDEO TRACK 1.35  5:07 Part 1, Page 127, Exercise E, Listen for Main Ideas PROFESSOR  Hello, everyone Today we’re going to be discussing two painters from the Dutch Golden Age: Rembrandt van Rijn and Johannes Vermeer Today, their paintings sell for millions of dollars at auction, and they are considered among the greatest artists in history But for one of them, this was not always true Rembrandt was born in 1606 in Leiden, where he opened an art studio before he was 20 years old In 1631, he moved to Amsterdam and quickly gained a reputation as an excellent portrait artist He produced a lot of paintings in his life The exact number is unknown, but it was at least several hundred paintings, a similar number of prints, and a few thousand drawings These works sold well, but despite this, Rembrandt had money problems later in life, and died in poverty in 1669 Vermeer was born in 1632 in Delft, where he became a member of a local association of painters when he was 20 or 21 years old He gained some degree of success and fame selling his works to local people He worked slowly, however, and probably produced no more than three or four paintings a year Again, it’s hard to give an exact figure, but evidence suggests that he might have painted just 40 works in his entire career As with Rembrandt, when he died in 1675, Vermeer had financial problems and left his family with large debts You can see a number of parallels between the lives of the two artists, but after their deaths, things were different Rembrandt had a reputation as a great artist in his lifetime and his reputation grew after his death In contrast, after his death Vermeer’s name was virtually unknown for nearly 200 years Why? Several factors stand out First, let’s consider the number of works by each artist As we’ve seen, Rembrandt produced many more works than Vermeer did Why does this matter? Well, simply put, more art lovers bought, sold, and discussed works by Rembrandt than works by Vermeer And reputations tend to decline if people are not discussing an artist or his or her work A second point, and one that’s related to the first, is that we know Rembrandt tutored a number of other artists I mention 88 this because Rembrandt’s students produced works in his style, allowing his name to spread more widely There is no evidence that Vermeer took on any students, however, and so he lacked this advantage Third, we can think about where each artist lived and worked Rembrandt was born in Leiden and moved to Amsterdam, both of which were major centers of art in the Dutch Republic This is important because we can conclude that people with influence knew about and talked about Rembrandt In comparison, far fewer people knew of Vermeer or talked about his works The reason? He spent his entire life in Delft, a small city that was not a center of art The final reason comes down to social position Rembrandt married into a family with a high social position He also had a wealthy patron, that’s a kind of investor, who helped him receive commissions from members of the upper classes, including a prince The upper classes were considered more important, more newsworthy, if you like, and Rembrandt’s higher social status meant that he was more widely discussed than Vermeer both before and after his death OK, so we’ve seen why and how the reputation of Rembrandt grew while Vermeer’s diminished But the contemporary assessment is that both Rembrandt and Vermeer are true Dutch Masters So why did Vermeer’s standing improve? One word: quality Simply put, Vermeer’s paintings are great works of art Many of his works were seen as great art and people continued to acquire and collect them even during the time when few people knew the name of Johannes Vermeer And that’s a surprisingly common thing to happen, as we’ll see in future classes An artist’s name may be forgotten, but if he or she creates art of exceptional quality then, eventually, his or her reputation will grow VIDEO TRACK 1.36  8:47 Part 2, Page 134, Exercise E, Watch for Main Ideas Segment So if someone asked you for the three words that would sum up your reputation, what would you say? How would people describe your judgment, your knowledge, your behaviors, in different situations? Today I’d like to explore with you why the answer to this question will become profoundly important in an age where reputation will be your most valuable asset I’d like to start by introducing you to someone whose life has been changed by a marketplace fueled by reputation Sebastian Sandys has been a bed and breakfast host on Airbnb since 2008 I caught up with him recently, where, over the course of several cups of tea, he told me how hosting guests from all over the world has enriched his life More than 50 people have come to stay in the 18th-century watchhouse he lives in with his cat, Squeak Now, I mention Squeak because Sebastian’s first guest happened to see a rather large mouse run across the kitchen, and she promised that she would refrain from leaving a bad review on one condition: he got a cat And so Sebastian bought Squeak to protect his reputation Now, as many of you know, Airbnb is a peer-to-peer marketplace that matches people who have space to rent with people who are looking for a place to stay in over 192 countries The places being rented out are things that you might expect, like spare rooms and holiday homes, but part of the magic is the unique places that you can now access: treehouses, teepees, airplane hangars, igloos If you VIDEO SCRIPTS 55547_video.indd 88 26/10/16 10:59 AM don’t like the hotel, there’s a castle down the road that you can rent for 5,000 dollars a night It’s a fantastic example of how technology is creating a market for things that never had a marketplace before It’s an economy and culture called collaborative consumption, and, through it, people like Sebastian are becoming micro-entrepreneurs They’re empowered to make money and save money from their existing assets Segment But the real magic and the secret sauce behind collaborative consumption marketplaces like Airbnb isn’t the inventory or the money It’s using the power of technology to build trust between strangers This side of Airbnb really hit home to Sebastian last summer during the London riots He woke up around 9, and he checked his email and he saw a bunch of messages all asking him if he was okay Former guests from around the world had seen that the riots were happening just down the street, and wanted to check if he needed anything Sebastian actually said to me, he said, “Thirteen former guests contacted me before my own mother rang.” (Laughter) Now, this little anecdote gets to the heart of why I’m really passionate about collaborative consumption, and why, after I finished my book, I decided I’m going to try and spread this into a global movement Because at its core, it’s about empowerment It’s about empowering people to make meaningful connections, connections that are enabling us to rediscover a humanness that we’ve lost somewhere along the way, by engaging in marketplaces like Airbnb, like Kickstarter, like Etsy, that are built on personal relationships versus empty transactions But the key reason why it’s taking off now so fast is because every new advancement of technology increases the efficiency and the social glue of trust to make sharing easier and easier Segment Now, I’ve looked at thousands of these marketplaces, and trust and efficiency are always the critical ingredients Let me give you an example Meet 46-year-old Chris Mok, who has, I bet, the best job title here of SuperRabbit Now, four years ago, Chris lost his job, unfortunately, as an art buyer at Macy’s, and like so many people, he struggled to find a new one during the recession And then he happened to stumble across a post about TaskRabbit Now the way TaskRabbit works is, people outsource the tasks that they want doing, name the price they’re willing to pay, and then vetted Rabbits bid to run the errand Yes, there’s actually a four-stage, rigorous interview process that’s designed to find the people that would make great personal assistants and weed out the dodgy Rabbits Now, there’s over 4,000 Rabbits across the United States and 5,000 more on the waiting list Now the tasks being posted are things that you might expect, like help with household chores or doing some supermarket runs I actually learned the other day that 12 and a half thousand loads of laundry have been cleaned and folded through TaskRabbit But I love that the number one task posted, over a hundred times a day, is something that many of us have felt the pain of doing: yes, assembling Ikea furniture (Laughter) (Applause) It’s brilliant Now, we may laugh, but Chris here is actually making up to 5,000 dollars a month running errands around his life And 70 percent of this new labor force were previously unemployed or underemployed Now, when you think about it, it’s amazing, right, that over the past 20 years, we’ve evolved from trusting people online to share information to trusting to handing over our credit card information, and now we’re entering the third trust wave: connecting trustworthy strangers to create all kinds of people-powered marketplaces Segment Reputation is the measurement of how much a community trusts you Let’s just take a look at Chris You can see that over 200 people have given him an average rating over 4.99 out of There are over 20 pages of reviews of his work describing him as super-friendly and fast, and he’s reached level 25, the highest level, making him a SuperRabbit Now—(Laughter)—I love that word, SuperRabbit And interestingly, what Chris has noted is that as his reputation has gone up, so has his chances of winning a bid and how much he can charge In other words, for SuperRabbits, reputation has a real world value Indeed, reputation is a currency that I believe will become more powerful than our credit history in the 21st century Reputation will be the currency that says that you can trust me You know, at the end of my tea with Sebastian, he told me how, on a bad, rainy day, when he hasn’t had a customer in his bookstore, he thinks of all the people around the world who’ve said something wonderful about him, and what that says about him as a person He’s turning 50 this year, and he’s convinced that the rich tapestry of reputation he’s built on Airbnb will lead him to doing something interesting with the rest of his life I believe that we are at the start of a collaborative revolution that will be as significant as the Industrial Revolution In the 20th century, the invention of traditional credit transformed our consumer system, and in many ways controlled who had access to what In the 21st century, new trust networks, and the reputation capital they generate, will reinvent the way we think about wealth, markets, power and personal identity, in ways we can’t yet even imagine Thank you very much VIDEO TRACK 1.37  2:43 Page 135, Exercise F, Watch for Details Segment Now, I’ve looked at thousands of these marketplaces, and trust and efficiency are always the critical ingredients Let me give you an example Meet 46-year-old Chris Mok, who has, I bet, the best job title here of SuperRabbit Now, four years ago, Chris lost his job, unfortunately, as an art buyer at Macy’s, and like so many people, he struggled to find a new one during the recession And then he happened to stumble across a post about TaskRabbit Now the way TaskRabbit works is, people outsource the tasks that they want doing, name the price they’re willing to pay, and then vetted Rabbits bid to run the errand Yes, there’s actually a four-stage, rigorous interview process that’s designed to find the people that would make great personal assistants and weed out the dodgy Rabbits Now, there’s over 4,000 Rabbits across the United States and 5,000 more on the waiting list Now the tasks being posted are things that you might expect, like help with household chores or doing some supermarket runs I actually learned the other day that 12 and a half thousand loads of laundry have been cleaned and folded through TaskRabbit But I love that the number one task posted, over a hundred times a day, is something that many of VIDEO SCRIPTS 89 55547_video.indd 89 26/10/16 10:59 AM us have felt the pain of doing: yes, assembling Ikea furniture (Laughter) (Applause) It’s brilliant Now, we may laugh, but Chris here is actually making up to 5,000 dollars a month running errands around his life And 70 percent of this new labor force were previously unemployed or underemployed Now, when you think about it, it’s amazing, right, that over the past 20 years, we’ve evolved from trusting people online to share information to trusting to handing over our credit card information, and now we’re entering the third trust wave: connecting trustworthy strangers to create all kinds of people-powered marketplaces VIDEO TRACK 1.38  1:47 Page 136, Exercise I, Identify the Speaker’s Purpose Segment Excerpt This side of Airbnb really hit home to Sebastian last summer during the London riots He woke up around 9, and he checked his email and he saw a bunch of messages all asking him if he was okay Former guests from around the world had seen that the riots were happening just down the street, and wanted to check if he needed anything Sebastian actually said to me, he said, “Thirteen former guests contacted me before my own mother rang.” (Laughter) Now, this little anecdote gets to the heart of why I’m really passionate about collaborative consumption, and why, after I finished my book, I decided I’m going to try and spread this into a global movement Excerpt But I love that the number one task posted, over a hundred times a day, is something that many of us have felt the pain of doing: yes, assembling Ikea furniture (Laughter) (Applause) It’s brilliant Now, we may laugh, but Chris here is actually making up to 5,000 dollars a month running errands around his life And 70 percent of this new labor force were previously unemployed or underemployed VIDEO TRACK 1.39  1:22 Page 136, Exercise J, Follow Ideas Segment Excerpt 1 What does catch up with someone mean? a move more quickly than someone else b spend time learning what someone has been doing c stay at someone’s home for a few days ‘Sebastian’s first guest happened to see a rather large mouse run across the kitchen, and she promised that she would refrain from leaving a bad review on one condition: he got a cat.’ What does refrain from mean? a avoid doing something b consider doing something c delay doing something ‘But the real magic and the secret sauce behind collaborative consumption marketplaces like Airbnb isn’t the inventory or the money It’s using the power of technology to build trust between strangers This side of Airbnb really hit home to Sebastian last summer.’ What does hit home mean? a become clear b cause confusion c feel pain ‘There’s actually a four-stage, rigorous interview process that’s designed to find the people that would make great personal assistants and weed out the dodgy Rabbits.’ What does weed out mean? a get something that is either useful or beneficial b propose something that is both costly and hard c remove something neither wanted nor needed ‘Chris here is actually making up to 5,000 dollars a month running errands around his life And 70 percent of this new labor force were previously unemployed or underemployed.’ What is a labor force? a all the people who are required to go to work every month b all the people who make good money and work either full-time or part-time c all the people who work in a particular industry or for a particular company How would people describe your judgment, your knowledge, your behaviors, in different situations? Today I’d like to explore with you why the answer to this question will become profoundly important Unit Excerpt VIDEO TRACK 1.41  6:47 Now, as many of you know, Airbnb is a peer-to-peer marketplace that matches people who have space to rent with people who are looking for a place to stay in over 192 countries Part 2, Page 155, Exercise E, Watch for Main Ideas Segment VIDEO TRACK 1.40  2:59 If you go on the TED website, you can currently find there over a full week of TED Talk videos, over 1.3 million words of transcripts and millions of user ratings And that’s a huge amount of data And it got me wondering: If you took all this data and put it through statistical analysis, could you reverse engineer a TED Talk? Could you create the ultimate TED Talk? (Laughter) (Applause) And also, could you create the worst possible TED Talk that they would still let you get away with? Page 137, Exercise K, Expand Your Vocabulary Complete Talk ‘Sebastian Sandys has been a bed and breakfast host on Airbnb since 2008 I caught up with him recently, where, If you go on the TED website, you can currently find there over a full week of TED Talk videos, over 1.3 million words Excerpt Because at its core, it’s about empowerment It’s about empowering people to make meaningful connections, connections that are enabling us to rediscover a humanness that we’ve lost somewhere along the way 90 over the course of several cups of tea, he told me how hosting guests from all over the world has enriched his life.’ VIDEO SCRIPTS 55547_video.indd 90 26/10/16 10:59 AM of transcripts and millions of user ratings And that’s a huge amount of data And it got me wondering: If you took all this data and put it through statistical analysis, could you reverse engineer a TED Talk? Could you create the ultimate TED Talk? (Laughter) (Applause) And also, could you create the worst possible TED Talk that they would still let you get away with? To find this out, I looked at three things: I looked at the topic that you should choose, I looked at how you should deliver it and the visuals onstage Now, with the topic: There’s a whole range of topics you can choose, but you should choose wisely, because your topic strongly correlates with how users will react to your talk Now, to make this more concrete, let’s look at the list of top 10 words that statistically stick out in the most favorite TED Talks and in the least favorite TED Talks So if you came here to talk about how French coffee will spread happiness in our brains, that’s a go (Laughter) (Applause) Whereas, if you wanted to talk about your project involving oxygen, girls, aircraft—actually, I would like to hear that talk, (Laughter) but statistics say it’s not so good Oh, well I think I’m not the first one who has done this analysis, but I’ll leave this to your good judgment So, now it’s time to put it all together and design the ultimate TED Talk Now, since this is TED Active, and I learned from my analysis that I should actually give you something, I will not impose the ultimate or worst TED Talk on you, but rather give you a tool to create your own And I call this tool the TEDPad (Laughter) And the TEDPad is a matrix of 100 specifically selected, highly curated sentences that you can easily piece together to get your own TED Talk You only have to make one decision, and that is: Are you going to use the white version for very good TED Talks, about creativity, human genius? Or are you going to go with a black version, which will allow you to create really bad TED Talks, mostly about blogs, politics and stuff? So, download it and have fun with it Now I hope you enjoy the session I hope you enjoy designing your own ultimate and worst possible TED Talks And I hope some of you will be inspired for next year to create this, which I really want to see If you generalize this, the most favorite TED Talks are those that feature topics we can connect with, both easily and deeply, such as happiness, our own body, food, emotions And the more technical topics, such as architecture, materials and, strangely enough, men, those are not good topics to talk about Thank you very much (Applause) How should you deliver your talk? TED is famous for keeping a very sharp eye on the clock, so they’re going to hate me for revealing this, because, actually, you should talk as long as they will let you (Laughter) Because the most favorite TED Talks are, on average, over 50 percent longer than the least favorite ones And this holds true for all ranking lists on TED.com except if you want to have a talk that’s beautiful, inspiring or funny Then, you should be brief (Laughter) But other than that, talk until they drag you off the stage Segment (Laughter) Now, while (Applause) While you’re pushing the clock, there’s a few rules to obey I found these rules out by comparing the statistics of four-word phrases that appear more often in the most favorite TED Talks as opposed to the least favorite TED Talks I’ll give you three examples First of all, I must, as a speaker, provide a service to the audience and talk about what I will give you, instead of saying what I can’t have Secondly, it’s imperative that you not cite The New York Times (Laughter) And finally, it’s okay for the speaker—that’s the good news—to fake intellectual capacity If I don’t understand something, I can just say, “etc., etc.” You’ll all stay with me It’s perfectly fine (Applause) Now, let’s go to the visuals The most obvious visual thing on stage is the speaker And analysis shows if you want to be among the most favorite TED speakers, you should let your hair grow a little bit longer than average, make sure you wear your glasses and be slightly more dressed-up than the average TED speaker Slides are okay, though you might consider going for props And now the most important thing, that is the mood onstage Color plays a very important role Color closely correlates with the ratings that talks get on the website (Applause) For example, fascinating talks contain a statistically high amount of exactly this blue color, (Laughter) much more than the average TED Talk Ingenious TED Talks, much more this green color, etc., etc (Laughter) (Applause) Now, personally, Thanks VIDEO TRACK 1.42  2:07 Page 155, Exercise F, Watch for Details Excerpt Now, to make this more concrete, let’s look at the list of top 10 words that statistically stick out in the most favorite TED Talks and in the least favorite TED Talks So if you came here to talk about how French coffee will spread happiness in our brains, that’s a go (Laughter) (Applause) Whereas, if you wanted to talk about your project involving oxygen, girls, aircraft—actually, I would like to hear that talk, (Laughter) but statistics say it’s not so good Excerpt I’ll give you three examples First of all, I must, as a speaker, provide a service to the audience and talk about what I will give you, instead of saying what I can’t have Secondly, it’s imperative that you not cite The New York Times (Laughter) And finally, it’s okay for the speaker—that’s the good news—to fake intellectual capacity If I don’t understand something, I can just say, “etc., etc.” You’ll all stay with me It’s perfectly fine Excerpt Color plays a very important role Color closely correlates with the ratings that talks get on the website (Applause) For example, fascinating talks contain a statistically high amount of exactly this blue color, (Laughter) much more than the average TED Talk Ingenious TED Talks, much more this green color, etc., etc (Laughter) (Applause) VIDEO TRACK 1.43  1:12 Page 156, Exercise G, Watch and Recognize the Speaker’s Attitude Segment There’s a whole range of topics you can choose, but you should choose wisely, because your topic strongly correlates with how users will react to your talk Now, to make this more concrete, let’s look at the list of top VIDEO SCRIPTS 91 55547_video.indd 91 26/10/16 10:59 AM 10 words that statistically stick out in the most favorite TED Talks and in the least favorite TED Talks So if you came here to talk about how French coffee will spread happiness in our brains, that’s a go Whereas, if you wanted to talk about your project involving oxygen, girls, aircraft—actually, I would like to hear that talk, but statistics say it’s not so good Oh, well VIDEO TRACK 1.44  1:27 Page 156, Exercise H, Watch for Strongly Expressed Views Segment Excerpt First of all, I must, as a speaker, provide a service to the audience and talk about what I will give you, instead of saying what I can’t have Secondly, it’s imperative that you not cite The New York Times Excerpt And finally, it’s okay for the speaker—that’s the good news—to fake intellectual capacity If I don’t understand something, I can just say, “etc., etc.” You’ll all stay with me It’s perfectly fine Excerpt And analysis shows if you want to be among the most favorite TED speakers, you should let your hair grow a little bit longer than average, make sure you wear your glasses and be slightly more dressed-up than the average TED speaker VIDEO TRACK 1.45  3:32 Page 156, Exercise J, Expand Your Vocabulary ‘Now, to make this more concrete, let’s look at the list of top 10 words that statistically stick out in the most favorite TED Talks and in the least favorite TED Talks.’ What does stick out mean? a be formal b be obvious c be surprising ‘So if you came here to talk about how French coffee will spread happiness in our brains, that’s a go Whereas, if you 92 wanted to talk about your project involving oxygen, girls, aircraft — actually, I would like to hear that talk, but statistics say it’s not so good.’ What does that’s a go mean? a an approved idea b an optional decision c an unusual choice ‘TED is famous for keeping a very sharp eye on the clock, so they’re going to hate me for revealing this, because, actually, you should talk as long as they will let you.’ What does keep a sharp eye on something mean? a look at something sometimes b observe something closely c watch something with others ‘The most favorite TED Talks are, on average, over 50 percent longer than the least favorite ones And this holds true for all ranking lists on TED.com except if you want to have a talk that’s beautiful, inspiring, or funny Then, you should be brief.’ What does hold true mean? a act honestly become positive b c remain accurate ‘Finally, it’s okay for the speaker—that’s the good news—to fake intellectual capacity If I don’t understand something, I can just say, “etc., etc.”’ What is intellectual capacity? a a person’s intelligence a person’s knowledge b c a person’s skills ‘And the TEDPad is a matrix of 100 specifically selected, highly curated sentences that you can easily piece together to get your own TED Talk.’ What does piece together mean? a assemble b discover c educate VIDEO SCRIPTS 55547_video.indd 92 26/10/16 10:59 AM