Listening

You are going to listen to the presentation of Sherry Turkle. Sherry Turkle is the Professor of Massachusets Institute of Technology.

Task 1. Make sure you know the words.

to text smb for good luck; getting the text; rock; embody; TED Talk; to be on the cover; WIRED magazine; to experiment with smth; chat room; online virtual community; to explore; to unplug; to be excited; the virtual world; the real world; fast-forward; cellphone; technology mobile communication; odd; disturbing; to seen familiar; do email; board meeting; go on Facebook; the skill of doing smth; to matter; to relate to smb; to put one’s attention; to pay attention; bits

Task 2. Study this information and listen to the first part of the recording - 03.03 and answer the questions.

1. What course of lectures does Sherry read? What is her speciality?

2. What has Sherry studied?

3. Who has she interviewed?

4. What has she found?

Task 3. Answer the questions to the second part of the video (03.04 – 05.09)

1. When do people text or do email?

2. What is the important new skill that people talk to Sherry?

3. What do children complain about?

4. What does Sherry say about «being alone together’?

5. What is the thing that matters most to people?

Task 4. Decode one of the 4 parts of the presentation:

Part 5. 03.04 “So just take…” – 03.33 “…it can be done.”

Part 6. 03.33 “People explain…” – 04.08 “…into our phones.”

Part 7. 04.08 “Why does this…” – 04.40 “…they want to be.”

Part 8. 04.40 “People want to…” – 05.09 “…to each other.”

Task 5. Read the words combinations and give Russian equivalents.

catch off guard; a profound question; sip of; add up to; big gulp of real conversation;

gather; discreet bits of information; for kids growing; the bedrock of development

Task 6. Listen to the next part and fill in prepositions.

07.36 – 09.02

I was caught ______ guard when Stephen Colbert asked me a profound question, a profound question. He said, "Don't all those little tweets, don't all those little sips ______ online communication, add ______to one big gulp ______ real conversation?" My answer was no, they don't add up. Connecting ______ sips may work ______ gathering discreet bits ______

information, they may work ______ saying, "I'm thinking ______ you," or even ______ saying, "I love you," - I mean, look ______ how I felt when I got that text ______ my daughter - but they don't really work ______ learning about each other, ______ really coming to know and understand each other. And we use conversations ______ each other to learn how to have conversations ______ ourselves. So a flight ______ conversation can really matter because it can compromise our capacity ______ self-reflection. For kids growing up, that skill is the bedrock ______ development.

Task 7. Listen to the next part of the text and fill in the gaps. Define the tense of the verbs.

09.02 – 10.08

Over and over I hear, "I __________ rather __________ than talk." And what __________ is that people get so used to being short-changed out of real conversation, so used to getting by with less, __________ __________ __________ almost willing to dispense with people altogether. So for example, many people __________ with me this wish, that some day a more advanced version of Siri, the digital assistant on Apple's iPhone, __________ __________ a best friend, someone who __________ __________ when others __________. __________ this wish __________ a painful truth that __________ __________ in the past 15 years. That feeling that no one __________ me is very important in our relationships with technology. That's why it's so appealing to have a Facebook page or a Twitter feed - so many automatic listeners. And the feeling that no one __________ me make us want to spend time with machines that seem to care about us.