Counting Sheep

Reading

A) The test is a sort of experiment to see if somebody is sleep deprived. In fact it shows that if a person doesn’t wake up when the spoon falls on the plate positioned near the bed, he needs to sleep. In fact he sleeps so deeply that he doesn’t perceive the heavy noise. The last sentence means that it is necessary to give more importance to sleeping. According to P.Martin we should give sleeping the same importance that we give to diet.

B, C & D)

1- The invention of the electric light change our sleep because now people don't get up any more with the sun and go to bed at nightfall. Nowadays our hours of sleep are mainly determined by an alarm clock.

3- Research has shown that naps are useful because they give more energy.

4- The average person sleeps only 6.2 hours at night during the week, but research has shown  that is necessary to sleep eight or even eight and an half hours. The time of our sleeping can change according to profession. For example doctors are often sleep deprived especially when they are on “night call” and may get less than three hours sleep.

6- “Sleep debt” is the sleep not satisfied. We become sleep deprived for this sleep dept that can improve every day in which we don’t recover it.

7- The most popular drug is caffeine it’s used because it helps to keep us awake but it makes us more nervous and irritable.

8- According to resource driving very tired is as dangerous as driving when drunk. The difference is that driving when drunk is strictly forbidden by the law, whereas driving when exhausted isn’t.

9- People sleep less than they used to because in the modern age there are a lot of reasons not to sleep. For example in our society there are shops and services that are available all hours; mobile phones, TV and internet tempt us away from our beds.

11- Tiredness of engineers contributes to the worst nuclear incident in history at Chernobyl in 1986. This happened because the engineers, in the early hours of the morning, made a series of mistakes with catastrophic results.

12- The average person needs eight or even eight and half hours whereas the average adult sleeps only 6.2 hours a night during the week and this aspect causes the ‘sleep debt’.

F) 

1- I agree with Paul Martin that we live in a sleep deprived society because in modern society the most people sleep less than they need to fell at their best. Firstly in our society there are a lot of reasons as distractions and amusements not to sleep. TV, mobile phones, internets tempt us away from our beds. Secondly our society is always on the move, most of the people have some engagements and cares that contribute to limit the time to sleep. In conclusion the result of sleep deprivation is a society irritable, unhappy and exhausted.

2- I think that it’s right that doctors who are ‘on night call’ sleep less than three because they don’t have the possibility to recover “sleep debt”. In fact in my opinion there’s a great difference between sleeping during the day and sleeping in the night. The first category of people sleep less because some activities must be done on the hours of daylight: for example taking child to school or making shopping. Therefore I agree with Paul Martin.

3- Yes I think it should be illegal to drive when the driver is exhausted and tired. The problem is how calculate when a person is completely worn out. I think tiredness is a subjective state and so each person should understand when the state of weariness is so deeply that is necessary to stop driving.

4- I think that the best three sleep tips are:

1) give a sleep a high priority in our life;

2) Listen to our body, if we feel tired, we probably need more sleep;

3) have a regular routine, try to go to bed at roughly the same time every day.

The first sleep tip is very important because sleeping is necessary to fell us better, happier and more relaxed. Therefore we should give sleeping the importance it deserves, otherwise we risk our health.

The second sleep tip is very interesting because if we listen our body we can fell happier and satisfied. The needs and the lacks of our body condition our behaviour. When a person is relaxed, he is happier outgoing and sociable.

The third sleep tip is important because it indicates the way to avoid sleep deprivation and to recover out sleep debts. This tip is strictly connected to the firs tip, in fact a regular life without excesses is fundamental to give sleep an high priority in our life

Listening practice using a DVD

I watched the movie ‘I’m legend’: in the first five minutes there were two characters who spoke about football during a TV show, and then an interview to an important doctor who said about a cure for the cancer.

Step 1

Listening the first five minutes of the film without subtitles I’ve found a lot of problems.

First of all I have understood only disconnected words because the characters spoke too fast and therefore my level of comprehension was low. I’ve realized only the general situation that will be not quite right at the moment of the third step.

Step 2

Listening the first five minutes of the film with English subtitles I’ve understood the context but the characters spoke too fast and therefore I couldn’t understand some parts of the phrases.

Regarding the vocabulary I didn’t know only these words: nutshell, measles, harmful, cancer-free.

Step 3

Listening the first five minutes of the film with English subtitles and stopping every sentence of the subtitles, the comprehension was better because I read and listened every sentence slowly.

Regarding the vocabulary, the meaning of the words wasn’t difficult except the four unknown words.

Reading and listening several time have permitted to repeat the first step more easily.

In conclusion the difficulty was the too fast speech and the fact that a lot of words were linked and they were not pronounced distinctly, and also the presence of the American slang made the understanding more difficult. On the contrary I didn’t have particular problems for the meaning of the worlds.

Here there is the dialog that I didn’t understand at the first step because the two voices were too fast:

-..spring training camp and he's definitely got the inside track. Word is that they're having some 

problems with injuries.

-Really? Are they looking into free-agent signings last second, anything like that?

-Possibly, and they've got a strong farm club too.

They've got some triple-A ballplayers they might bring up.

Peter would certainly be able to tell us more about that.

Who do you like?

So far, I like what I'm seeing in New York. They've got a strong ball club, as usual. 

That's in the American. And in the National, I'm still liking Chicago with a little bit of a twist 

here for Los Angeles.

Okay, so we're looking at New York-Chicago World Series possible Los Angeles. 

Could be a dark horse.

Hold him to it at the end of the season.

That's gonna do it for us from the Sports Desk.

Back to the studio. Thanks, Dave.

Thanks for nothing, Eddie.

Here I understood more because the actress spoke slowly to explain her theory:

Um, I'm not... I find the best way to describe it is, if you can imagine your body as a highway 

and you picture the virus as a very fast car being driven by a very bad man...imagine the damage 

that car could cause.But then if you replace that man with a cop the picture changes. 

And that's essentially what we've done.

What’s your soundtrack??

Reading: a-b-c-f page 71

I think that “what kind of music do you like?” is a good question to know information about character and lifestyle of people. According to psychologists, I retain that musical tastes can show some important aspects about somebody because every kind of music conveys particular and specific feelings and sensations. Therefore everyone chooses and loves a type of music on the basis of own character, political position and lifestyle. So I fit myself into the first category of the article: “upbeat and simple music”. In fact I love listening to pop and country music, according to this article I am cheerful, sociable and outgoing and I enjoy helping people.

Therefore I agree with the psychologists who think that personality clues are revealed in the music’s tempo and lyrics ; and I assent to the article about what it say about  people personalities.

 In fact, for example, one of my friends loves listening to energetic and rhythmic music as hip hop. As the article rightly says she is extrovert, romantic and she often speaks their mind without thinking; another friend, who is quite vain and intellectual, often listens to jazz music.

In conclusion I think that this article gives correct and true information through musical tastes, and I retain that music is very often the mirror of our personalities.

Reading e: read the article again and underline new words or phrases that you would like to learn , and compare with a partner.

Adverb: unnecessarily - adjective: unnecessary - noun: uselessness

Unnecessarily is an adverb used to say that something is useless. Example: My mother is unnecessarily fussy because I’m in love with him. / “People who like country and pop music try to avoid their lives unnecessarily complex.”

Adjective: Upbeat -synonymous: cheerful, offbeat, well being, optimistic.

Example: I saw a film with an upbeat ending.

 Adverb: remarkably – adjective: remarkable noun: remarkableness

Remarkably is an adverb used to say that something or somebody is extraordinary unusual. Examples: Mario is a man remarkable for his courage because he enjoys helping people. / “their research has shown that knowing another person’s musical tastes can provide remarkably accurate personality predictions.”

Phrase: “people with dramatic personalities, whose moods go up and down a lot, are attracted to opera, not influenced by it”.

 It is an expression used to say that a person is moody, changeable. –Adj: moodily noun: moodiness

The psychology of music (10/06/2011)

Question D, page 69: 

N° 1: On a typical day when and where do you listen to music?

N°2:  Do you listen to different kinds of music at different times of day?

My answer:

I often listen to music during different moments of day.

Firstly, as soon as I got up I turn on the radio and listen to music while I’m having breakfast and wearing myself. I turn up the volume to sing the most famous songs especially while I’m taking the shower.

Secondly, I never  forget to take my ipod so I can listen to music on the bus on the way to university.

I’ll listen to music on my car as soon as I’ve acquired a driving licence.

Listening to music helps me to relax before a difficult and heavy day. In addition I love listening to music after the university while I’m returning to home;  music helps me to change activities and to take my mind off my studies and all the cares of everyday life.

Finally I take my favourite cd and listen it before to go to bed because it almost sends me to sleep. I don’t listen to different kinds of music because I like exclusively pop music. Obviously I listen the same genre of music but different songs during the different moments of the day. Therefore I choose the songs according to my emotions and feelings.

I would like to learn to play the guitar because I want to write songs by myself and play them for everybody. I think playing a guitar is a good way to influence a person to be nice and good.

In conclusion I believe that listening to music is very important because it helps to intensify my emotions and it can change how I feel;  music can also be used to bring a more positive state of mind, helping to keep depression and anxiety away.

Question D:

N° 3: what music would you play..?

My answers:

If I were feeling sad and I wanted to feel more cheerful I would play a music with fast and high rhythms , for example a pop music song.

If I were feeling depressed and I wanted to feel even worse I would play a slow and low music, for example a song of soul genre.

If I were feeling furious about something and I wanted to feel even angrier I would play loud music with irregular rhythms.

If I were feeling nervous or stressed and wanted to calm down I would play a slow and low music, for example an ambient or blues song.

If I wanted to create a romantic atmosphere for a special dinner I would play a music with a regular rhythms and with a voice that speaks  lower and more slowly, for example an Adele’s song.

Some of my favourite English songs are:

1)      In my place – Coldplay

2)      Iris – Goo Goo Dolls

3)      Something about you – Five For Fighting

4)      Someone like you – Adele

5)      Trouble – Pink

6)      Paradise – Coldplay

7)      Home – Michael Bublè

8)      Superman - Five For Fighting

9)      Don't you remember – Adele

10)   Forever young - Alphaville