The inner self: intelligence

What makes one person more intelligent than another? What makes one person a genius, like the brilliant Albert Einstein, and another person a fool? Are people born intelligent or stupid, or is intelligence the result of where and how you live? These are very old questions and the answers to them are still not clear.

We know, however, that just being born with a good mind is not enough. In some ways, the mind is like a leg or an arm muscle. It needs exercise. Mental exercise is particularly important for young children. Many child psychologists think that parents should play with their children more often and give them problems to think about. The children are then more likely to grow up bright and intelligent. If, on the other hand, children are left alone a great deal with nothing to do, they are more likely to become dull and unintelligent.

Parents should also be careful what they say to young children. According to some psychologists, if parents are always telling a child that he or she is a fool or an idiot, then the child is more likely to keep doing silly and foolish things. So it is probably better for parents to say very positive things to their children, such as "That was a very clever thing you did" or "You are such a smart child."

What do you think?

Vocabulary:

genius - обдарований, геніальний

brilliant - видатний

fool - дурень

intelligent - розумний

stupid - дурний

bright - здібний, тямущий, кмітливий

dull - нудний, тупий, дурний

unintelligent - неосвічений

idiot - ідіот, дурень

silly - дурний

foolish - дурний, дурнуватий

clever - розумний

smart - дотепний, кмітливий

Questions:

1. Are people born intelligent or do they become intelligent with the help of good parents and teachers?

2. Do intelligent people always do well at school? Why? Why not?

3. Do you know any intelligence problems?

 

Text 5

THE INNER SELF: LOVING

Sally Jones is fifteen years old and she has never been in love. She likes boys. She goes out with them and sometimes she even kisses them. There are several boys she is fond of, and there are several boys who care about her. But she has never felt true love for anyone. And, oh, how she wants to adore someone and be adored, the way it is in the movies. She is very worried. Maybe, she thinks, there is something wrong with her. Maybe she will never fall in love. Maybe, and this is the worst possibility of all, there is no such thing as true love.

Her friend, Darsy, is very different. She is always falling in and out of love and goes out with a different boy each week. Last week she was madly, passionately in love with Micky. This week she has decided to stop seeing Micky and is dating Jim, who she is crazy about.

Next week she probably won't be interested in Jim any more, but will be going out with Dave. She fancies Dave and is attracted by him very much.

 

Vocabulary:

to be in love (with) - бути закоханим (в)

to go out (with) - виходити в люди, зустрічатися (з)

to kiss - цілуватися(ся)

to be fond of smb. - любити, захоплюватися, цікавитися ким-н.

to care about smb. - цікавитися ким-н., любити

to adore - обожнювати

to fall in love - закохатися

to fall out of love - розлюбити

passionately - пристрасно, безумно

to be madly in love with smb. - пристрасно закохатися

to date smb. - призначати побачення, зустрічатися з ким-н.

to be crazy about smb. - бути закоханим до безтями у кого-н.

to fancy - подобитися, любити

to attract - привертати

 

Questions:

1. What advice would you give to Sally Jones?

2. Do you believe in true love?

3. Are there different types of love?

4. What do you think these English expressions mean:

a) Love is blind.

b) Love me, love my dog.

c) All is fair in love and war.

 

Text 6

THE INNER SELF: MARRIAGE

 

Dolores Valentine knows all about love. She is sixty-five years old and has been married six times. The first time she was a bride, her wedding was on her seventeenth birthday. The last time she got married, she was sixty-two. Her bridegroom that day was seventy-five and he died two weeks later.

Dolores Valentine has been married six times, but the remarkable thing is that she has never been divorced. All six of her husbands died while they were married to her. Six times she has been a loving wife and six times she has been left a widow.

Now she is engaged again and is going to be married in six weeks' time. But this time she is going to marry a man much younger than herself. Her fiancй is a thirty-nine-year-old farmer - strong and healthy. This time Dolores feels pretty sure that she is going to be the one to die first and leave her husband a widower. But Dolores isn't worried. Until then she is going to have a good time and enjoy life, because Dolores knows that you are only as old as you feel.

 

Vocabulary:

to be married - бути одруженим (заміжньою)

bride - наречена

wedding - весілля

bridegroom - жених

to be divorced - бути розлученим

husband - чоловік

wife - дружина

widow - вдова

to be engaged - бути зарученим

fiancй - жених

widower - вдівець

Questions:

1. What do you think is the best age to get married?

2. At what age do people usually get married in your country?

3. Do you think it is better to marry someone older or younger than yourself? Why?

4. In your country, who usually keeps children if parents get divorced?

 

 

PART II

 

Text 1

MEMORY

If you do not use your arms or your legs for some time, they become weak; when you start using them again, they slowly become strong again. Everybody knows this, and nobody would think of questioning this fact. Yet there are many people who do not seem to know* that the memory works in the same way. When someone says that he has a good memory, he really means that he keeps his memory in practise by exercising it regularly, either consciously or unconsciously. When someone else says that his memory is poor, he really means that he does not give it enough opportunity to become strong. The position is exactly the same as that of two people, one of whom exercises his arms and legs by playing tennis, while the other sits in a chair or a motor car all day.

If a friend complains that his arms are weak, we know that it is his own fault. But if he tells us that he has a poor memory, many of us think his parents are to blame,** or that he is just unlucky, and few of us realize that it is just as much his own fault*** as if it was his arms and legs that were weak. Not all of us can become extremely strong or extremely clever; but all of us can, if we have ordinary bodies and brains, improve our strength and our memory by the same means - practice.

Have you ever noticed that people who cannot read or write usually have better memories than those who can? Why is this? Of course, because those who cannot read or write have to remember things: they cannot write them down in a little notebook. They have to remember dates, times, and prices, names, songs and stories; so their memory is the whole time being exercised. ****

So if you want a good memory, learn to practise remembering.

Notes

*do not seem to know - певно, не знають

    ** his parents are to blame - треба звинувачувати його батьків

    *** just as much his own fault - тією ж мірою його власна провина

    **** is … being exercised - тренується

Vocabulary:

memory - пам'ять

to question the fact - сумніватися у якомусь факті

to mean - мати на увазі

either consciously or unconsciously - свідомо чи несвідомо

poor memory- погана пам'ять

to complain - скаржитися

one's own fault - чиясь власна провина

brain - мозок

by the same means - тим же самим способом

Questions:

1. Why do people who cannot read or write have better memories? Do you think it is always so?

2. Whose fault is it that a person's memory is poor? Do you agree that it is his or her own fault?

3. Have you ever thought about the quality of your own memory?

4. Why is it necessary to give it enough exercise?

5. What sort of information do you remember better: names, numbers, dates, times?

 

Text 2

TRAIN YOUR BRAIN

Your brain is like a muscle. The more you use it, the stronger it gets. And because remembering is such a big part of your brain's job, you can strengthen your memory too.

Here are some easy tricks you can use to help you remember anything, from football plays to shopping lists to information on tests at school.

Build Chain Links

Chain links are memory tricks in which you link the unfamiliar with something familiar. One type is an acronym, a word made up of the first letters of other words. For example, to recall the names of the Great Lakes - Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie and Superior - just remember the word "homes". It has the first letter of each lake.

Rhyming is another helpful chain link tool. You can make up your own rhymes to recall those hard-to-remember facts. For example, to remember the capital of Texas, just think, "I got lost in Austin".

Use Peg Words

When you have to remember a list of words, create a set of rhyming words to associate with your list. These words will serve as mental pegs on which to hang the words on your list.

First make the pegs: Number one might be a ton because it rhymes with one…two a shoe…three a tree, and so on. Now, when you must remember a set of items, think of some sort of image to match your item to the peg word.

Let's say you're shopping for a patrol hike and the first item to buy is apples. Picture a ton of apples. If hot chocolate is second on your list, visualize a shoe, for two, stepping into a puddle of hot chocolate. Crackers next? Picture a tree with crackers for leaves. The wackier you make the picture, the easier the item will be to remember.

Read and Remember

To get an A in history class, you have to remember what you read in that thick textbook. Cramming the night before a test rarely works. Here's one method suggested by Ron Fry, author of a set of how-to-study books, including "Improve Your Memory":

§ Skim pages to get the general idea of the chapter.

§ Go back and read the text carefully. Take notes on important parts. Just the act of righting notes will help you remember.

§ Review notes. Come up with questions you think will be on your test - and make sure you know the answers.

Study in Your Sleep

A good night's sleep can help you remember what you learned the day before. Experiments have found that students who sleep after studying recall more information than students who stay up all night studying. Other experiments have found dreaming may cement information into your memory.

Jog Your Memory

Playing basketball, running or swimming may make you smarter. Any kind of exercise sends more blood, oxygen and glucose, your body's fuel, to the brain. Studies show that people who exercise remember more than people who don't exercise.

O.K., so you're going to give these tricks a try, but you're still nervous about that big history test. What to do? Start studying. Don't wait until the last minute. You'll remember more if you learn a little at a time rather than during a weekend of cramming. One more thing: Relax. You'll do just fine.

Vocabulary:

to strengthen - зміцнювати

chain - ланцюжок

link - зв'язок

familiar - знайомий

acronym - акронім

to rhyme - римувати

tool - тут засіб

to get lost - заблукати

peg - вішалка, гачок

list - список

to hang (hung; hung) - вішати

item - окремий предмет (у списку); пункт

patrol - загін бойскаутів

hike - подорож пішки

puddle - калюжа

wacky - жарг. дивний, ексцентричний

an A - "відмінно"

cramming - розм. зубрячка

rarely - рідко

to suggest - пропонувати

to improve - покращувати

to skim - поверхово переглядати

to recall - згадувати

to cement - цементувати, скріплювати

oxygen - кисень

fuel - паливо

Questions:

1. What should one do if he/she wants to have a good memory?

2. What easy tricks can help us remember anything?

3. What is an acronym?

4. Can you create any "peg" words of your own?

5. Do you cram the night before exams? Does it work?

6. Have your ever noticed any connection between your physical exercising and the quality of your memory?

7. What other useful means of training one's memory could you suggest?

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

Text 3