Earliest memories

Goal: Abstract nouns, word stress, suffixes

1 You're going to hear about some research

that has been done on first memories. Before
you listen, discuss the following questions.

1 How far back in our lives can we usually

remember?
a To when we were a baby (0-2 years old) 3 Discuss
b To when we were a toddler (2-4 years)
c To when we were a small child (5+) Do you have any very early
2 Why can’t we remember things before that memories of the feelings or
age? incidents below?
3 What kinds of a) emotions and b) events Do you know approximately how
might people be more likely to remember? old you were at the time?
4 Are our first memories mostly visual or of feeling surprised
sounds and smells? feeling pain
5 Why might some people’s first memories feeling shame or embarrassment
be unreliable? the birth of a brother or sister
a day out
2 Listen and check your answers with what managing to do something for the
the speaker says. Were you surprised by first time
anything? the death of a pet
a festival or celebration
getting a wonderful or
disappointing present
word building: abstract
nouns; word stress with
suffixes

An abstract noun is one that is used to express an idea,

a concept, an experience, or a quality, rather than an
object. Embarrassment and memory are abstract nouns,
whereas bed and pants are not.
 a Make abstract nouns from the
words below and put them in the
right columns
adult afraid ashamed believe bored
celebrate child compete dead free
friend happy hate imagine sick kind
lose member neighbor partner poor
relation sad wise

Listen and check the pronunciation in

these words. Which ending(s) cause(s)
a change in stress?

1 adult adulthood 4 free freedom

2 celebrate celebration 5 happy happiness
3 compete competition 6 relation relationship
Guess which of the abstract nouns in a is missing from each quotation.

Say in your own words what the quotations mean. Do you agree with
them?