UNIVERSIDAD PONTIFICIA BOLIVARIANA

CENTRO DE LENGUAS
ENGLISH IV
TOPIC 4: MIND AND MACHINE

DATE: THURSDAY, OCTOBER 8TH, 2020

0. TASK REPORT, LESSON ATTENDANCE, COMMENTS AND QUESTIONS

Link de acceso: http://myelt.heinle.com/

1. HOMEWORK CHECKING:

1.1. Brain games: 10 riddles

https://eslkidsgames.com/2013/04/ESL-What-am-I-
riddles.html

1. 2. Adverbial phrases practice:

1.2.1. https://web2.uvcs.uvic.ca/courses/elc/studyzone/410/grammar/advphr1.htm ( 10 exercises)
1.2.2.
https://avi.cuaed.unam.mx/repositorio/moodle/pluginfile.php/3612/mod_resource/content/21/contenid
o/index.html
1.2.3. Extra practice: https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/english-grammar-reference/how-we-make-
adverbials ( 3 sets of exercises)
1.3. Lesson B “Power of the mind” and reading comprehension exercises1 and 2.

Power of the mind

The way we communicate today has changed. Face-to-face interactions are becoming less common
as more people choose to communicate "screen-to-screen." Social media has become such a part of
our everyday lives that researchers at UCLA wanted to find out the effect it might be having on our
brains. 

Using an fMRI scanner, the researchers studied the brains of 32 teenagers as they used a social
media app. It was found that the teen brain’s reward center became very active when a "like" or
message was received. The reward center is the part of the brain that makes us feel good—for
example, when we eat chocolate or win a prize. The findings seem to explain why teens are such
enthusiastic social media users and why they place so much importance on the number of "likes" they
receive from their peers. 

To some experts, this is not entirely surprising. When we speak to people face-to-face, we look at
facial expressions and gestures to try to figure out how our message was received. However, when
we’re talking online we can’t always do this, and so things such as "likes" and retweets become
important. If somebody laughs at a joke we make, it makes us feel good. So perhaps it shouldn’t be a
surprise that a "like" on Facebook has a similar effect. 

But could our time spent on social media make us less effective at face-to-face communication?
Psychologist Dr. Iroise Dumontheil believes this might be so, but she feels it’s nothing to worry about.
"We might be worse at reading subtle expressions on faces," she says, "but we might be much
quicker at monitoring what's going on in a whole group of our friends."

1.4. Vocabulary practice exercises 1 and 2 on: autonomous, breakthrough, evolve, interpret and
signal.

1.5. TED talk “A headset that reads your brain waves” given by Tan Le in TED Global in July 2010.
You can listen to it at:

a. https://www.ted.com/talks/tan_le_a_headset_that_reads_your_brainwaves
b. Lesson D, which is divided into three parts.
Watch it at least two times and get ready to share your ideas on what the talk is all about.

2. WRITING PRACTICE:
You are going to write an email to Tan Le about a new product using her technology. 

1. What is the new product?

2. How does it work? 
3. Think of three questions to ask Tan Le about her technology.
4. How can you let her know you're available?

Think of a new product using Tan Le's technology. Write an email to Tan Le asking to use her
technology in your product. Explain what the product is and how it works.
Example

Dear Tan Le,

I have a great idea for a product that uses your amazing new technology. If you’re not too busy, I’d
like to take some time to explain it to you. ...

3. HOMEWORK:

Choose one of the videos below and write a 10 line-paragraph about it. Answer these questions:

1. What was the video about?

2. What did you learn?
3. Did you like it? Why or why not?

A glimpse of the future through an augmented reality headset

How to control someone else's arm with your brain
Brain to brain communication has arrived. How we did it

That’s it for today.

Have a nice weekend!

Enjoy the long weekend and Take care, please!